Solon (15.5-15.6)

But most writers agree that the disburdenment was a removal of all debt, and with such the poems of Solon are more in accord For in these he proudly boasts that from the mortgaged lands

He took away the record-stones that everywhere were planted

Before, Earth was in bondage, now she is free

uttering no longer Attic speech,

So long and far their wretched wanderings

And some who here at home in shameful servitude

Were held

This undertaking is said to have involved him in the most vexatious experience of his life. For when he had set out to abolish debts, and was trying to find fitting arguments and a suitable occasion for the step, he told some of his most trusted and intimate friends, namely, Conon, Cleinias, and Hipponicus, that he was not going to meddle with the land, but had determined to cancel debts. They immediately took advantage of this confidence and anticipated Solon’s decree by borrowing large sums from the wealthy and buying up great estates.