Draco (legislator) in the context of "Ancient Athenians"

Athens is one of the oldest named cities in the world, having been continuously inhabited for perhaps 5,000 years. Situated in southern Europe, Athens became the leading city of ancient Greece in the first millennium BC, and its cultural achievements during the 5th century BC laid the foundations of Western civilization.

The earliest evidence for human habitation in Athens dates back to the Neolithic period. The Acropolis served as a fortified center during the Mycenaean era. By the 8th century BC, Athens had evolved into a prominent city-state, or polis, within the region of Attica. The 7th and 6th centuries BC saw the establishment of legal codes, such as those by Draco, Solon and Cleisthenes, which aimed to address social inequalities and set the stage for the development of democracy.

The Draconian constitution, or Draco's code, was a written law code enforced by Draco in Athens near the end of the 7th century BC; its composition started around 621 BC. It was written in response to the unjust interpretation and modification of oral law by Athenian aristocrats. As most societies in Ancient Greece codified basic law during the mid-seventh century BC, Athenian oral law was manipulated by the aristocracy until the emergence of Draco's code. Around 621 BC the people of Athens commissioned Draco to devise a written law code and constitution, giving him the title of the first legislator of Athens. The literate could read the code at a central location accessible to anyone. This enactment of a rule of law was an early manifestation of Athenian democracy.

Punishments for breaking the laws were severe, often death. The term "draconian", meaning excessively severe, thus derives from Draco's name and his law code. It is often applied to laws or other government measures.