Solon was Athenian by birth, and of the old royal line.  He had served his country in war, and had travelled to study the habits of other lands, when the Athenians, wearied with the oppressions of the rich and great, and finding that no one attended to the laws of Draco, left it to him to form a new constitution.  It would be of no use to try to explain it all. The chief thing to be remembered about it is, that at the head of the government were nine chief magistrates, who were called Archons, and who were changed every three years.  To work with them, there was a council of four hundred _aristoi_, or nobles; but when war or peace was decided, the whole _demos_, or people, had to vote, according to their tribes; and if a man was thought to be dangerous to the state, the _demos_ might sentence him to be banished.  His name was written on an oyster shell, or on a tile, by those who wished him to be driven away, and these were thrown into one great vessel.  If they amounted to a certain number, the man was said to be “ostracised,” and forced to leave the city.  This was sometimes done very unjustly, but it answered the purpose of sending away rich men who became overbearing, and kept tyrants from rising up.  There were no unnatural laws as there were at Sparta; people might live at home as they pleased; but there were schools, and all the youths were to be taught there, both learning and training in all exercises.  And whether it was from Solon’s laws or their own character, there certainly did arise in Athens some of the greatest and noblest men of all times.