I have this notion, someone in the times of Solon, Pysistrates and Clystenes,was an Athenian ruler who gave a lot of benefits to the very poor, against the interests of the aristocracy/oligarchy, he forgave debts, but most clearly I remember something about this ruler giving land and some property to soldiers and thetes/poor citizens so they could build themselves up.
I remember reading an insight about this that stated that this policy prevented a rebellion, helping the development of Athens,which could flourish, the author also stated how this was a healthy policy for it kept the lower classes busy in their own development rather than resentful against the powerful aristocracies that wanted to withold even more power. Hell, this author said that this Athenian ruler had discovered that the best policy is to have a strong middle classs that would stop the underprivileged classes from attacking the most privileged ones!!And that in contrast with the Spartan Oligarchy the Athenians would floursh and not stagnate because they didnt have to live in constant war/intimidation against its slaves!!!
And for the life of me I cant find the pages in which I read all this, I remember everything except the name of this Greek ruler that imposed said policy!
This is pretty much like Tip of my tongue, I cant quite remember the name and i cant find the pages of the book I read on the subject, but im in need of this fact for a public policy paper im working on any help is appreciated!!!
Thanks!!
Edit: this could be flaged "labor"? I mean it kinda goes with the topic of the week doesnt it?
Okay, so there's quite a lot to address here, but it's rather late where I am so I won't be able to do it all in one go! (Hopefully the mods won't mind an incomplete answer)
I have this notion, someone in the times of Solon, Pysistrates and Clystenes,was an Athenian ruler who gave a lot of benefits to the very poor, against the interests of the aristocracy/oligarchy, he forgave debts, but most clearly I remember something about this ruler giving land and some property to soldiers and thetes/poor citizens so they could build themselves up.
So first of all, it's worth clearing up that the 'Athenian ruler' you are referring to was in all likelihood Solon. (It's worth noting, quickly, that Solon, Peisistratos, and Kleisthenes were not all contemporaries - essentially belonging to a separate generation each). We believe Solon was elected archon (essentially chief magistrate) in 595/4BC, and our main sources for what he did during this time are (1) contemporary fragments of archaic poetry apparently written by Solon himself and (2) some relevant passages from [pseudo-]Aristotle's 'Constitution of the Athenians' written near the beginning of the 4thC BC (i.e. about 200 years later!). Both of these sources are highly problematic: the first, although perhaps preferable for its chronological proximity and the fact that it seems to be Solon himself describing what actions he took, that he is writing poetry often makes it hard to discern genuine historical realities from elaborate metaphor and potentially self-aggrandising descriptions. As for the second, the sort of historical traditions for archaic Athenian history which tend to have been preserved on the whole tend to be those which most clearly satisfy the democratic consciousness of classical Athens – i.e. those stories which depicted Solon as a hero of the people against the higher classes may well have survived for the reason that they are most appealing in a democratic context (to put it simply). It's worth noting that the author clearly had access to at least some of Solon's own poetry, since he quotes it throughout his work – yet whether we can trust his analysis is debatable.
It seems that the majority of the information you have come across has most likely been derived from this latter source (pseudo-Aristotle), so tomorrow I'll try to work out exactly where he says these things. If you want to give it a read yourself, you can find it at Perseus here.
If you can get hold of it, I'd seriously recommend R. Osborne's Greece in the Making: 1200-479 (2009) – this gives one of the most up-to-date and solid survey/analysis of the archaic Greek world as a whole.
I'm aware I haven't really answered your question fully, but I'd like to pick this up tomorrow. :)