Lycurgus and Solon reforms

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Lycurgus and Solon reforms
Introduction
Unlike in modern societies where laws are legislated based on certain principles and after a forum of discussion involving many stakeholders, ancient societies were pretty different. There were no distinct sources of law and each society had unique ways of coming up with principles and guidelines that would set boundaries. In the early Greek society, there were two main societies namely Athens and Sparta. Although the two were part of the larger Greece community, there are certain aspects that made them different. One such aspect is the laws that guided them. Each of these two societies had specific laws that were in similar to some extent and different to a great extent. This discussion looks at the extent of differences and similarities that the Spartan and Athenian laws had. In focusing on this issue, their leaders will form the foundation of the discussion. The main man in Sparta was known as Lycurgus and in Athens; it was Solon who would come up with reformative laws.
Equality
Both Lycurgus and Solon came up with laws that would ensure equality and justice in society. On his side, Lycurgus believed that the only way to have a fair and just society is to place every person on the same platform. This he did by subdividing the land into equal shares as per the number of people who were in Sparta at the time. Lycurgus argued that by ensuring that every person had an equal share, the elements of greed and envy would be eliminated. Further, Lycurgus was hailed for having eliminated the system of ownership of property and especially land which was hereditary in nature. He argued that this system deliberately locked out some sections of the society from owning land.
On his part, Solon of Athens eliminated inequality and injustice by taking away all the debts. Anybody who was held as a slave because of the debts they owed was freed. This was meant to place every person at a level platform and to ensure that no person was at a level of advantage than all others. The other noble thing that Solon did to bring about equality and justice in society was to ensure that all existing laws were applicable to every person in Athens. Previously, some people would hide behind their social status and would get away with a lot of mistakes. Solon argued that if laws were to have an impact on society, then they had to be applied unilaterally.
The other aspect that Solon introduced which brought a lot of controversy was taxes. According to him, taxes ought to be applied depending on the income one makes. He therefore came up with a formula that ensured that those who earned more contributed more taxes and those who earned less contributed less tax. He argued that this would ensure fairness as everybody would be subjected to a burden they can comfortably carry.
Economy
Both Lycurgus and Solon contributed positively towards the growth of their respective s...