Illustration of the death of Charondas from 1787

Charondas ( grc-gre, Χαρώνδας) was a celebrated lawgiver of

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also b ...

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

. It is uncertain when he lived; some identify him as a pupil of

Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos ( grc, Πυθαγόρας ὁ Σάμιος, Pythagóras ho Sámios, Pythagoras the Samian, or simply ; in Ionian Greek; ) was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His poli ...

(c. 580 – 504 BC), but all that can be said is that he lived earlier than Anaxilas of Rhegium (494 – 476 BC), as his laws were in use by the Rhegians until they were abolished by Anaxilas. His laws, originally written in verse, were adopted by the other Chalcidic colonies in Sicily and Italy. According to

Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ...

, there was nothing special about these laws except that Charondas introduced actions for

perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...

, but he speaks highly of the precision with which they were devised, while

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

speaks of him positively in The Republic. The story that Charondas killed himself because he entered the public assembly wearing a sword, which was a violation of his own law, is also told of

Diocles of Syracuse Diocles of Syracuse ( el, Διοκλῆς) was a legislator, orator, and political and military leader in the Greek city-state of Syracuse toward the end of the 5th century BC. Only a few years of his life have an historical account, from 413 to 408 ...

and Zaleucus. cites ''Diod. Sic.'' xii. 11-19. The fragments of laws attributed to him by

Stobaeus Joannes Stobaeus (; grc-gre, Ἰωάννης ὁ Στοβαῖος; fl. 5th-century AD), from Stobi in Macedonia, was the compiler of a valuable series of extracts from Greek authors. The work was originally divided into two volumes containin ...

and

Diodorus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...

are of late (

Neo-Pythagorean Neopythagoreanism (or neo-Pythagoreanism) was a school of Hellenistic philosophy which revived Pythagorean doctrines. Neopythagoreanism was influenced by middle Platonism and in turn influenced Neoplatonism. It originated in the 1st century BC a ...

) origin. Charondas is said to have commanded that if the nearest relative of an '' epikleros'' (something close to an heiress) did not wish to marry her, he was required to provide a

dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment ...

Notes

References

Attribution

* Endnotes: ** R. Bentley, ''On Phalaris'', which (according to Benedikt Niese s.v. in Pauly, ''Realencyclopädie'') contains what is even now the best account of Charondas ** A. Holm, ''Geschichte Siciliens'', i. ** F. D. Gerlach, ''Zaleukos, Charondas, und Pythagoras'' (1858) {{Authority control Jurists from Sicily People from Catania 6th-century BC Ancient Greek statesmen Ancient legislators Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown