18. A Workable Solution
Despite the discontent, the Athenians kept their promise to accept Solon’s decision. That done, and to avoid having to constantly defend and explain the reforms, Solon left his countrymen to work out the kinks in his new system. He went traveling, informing fellow Athenians that he would be gone for at least ten years. Solon’s reforms alleviated the immediate crisis and averted civil war. However, they did not resolve many underlying tensions that continued to plague Athens for years. Solon took the first steps by making all citizens equal before the law and reducing the power of the aristocracy. It would take generations of reformers, however, to build upon and fine tune what he had created before Athenian democracy was established.
