Illustration of the death of Charondas from 1787

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

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 politic ...

(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 Chalkidiki (; el, Χαλκιδική , also spelled Halkidiki, is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region co ...

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 Greece, Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatet ...

, 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 institutio ...

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 and Zaleucus. cites ''Diod. Sic.'' xii. 11-19. The fragments of laws attributed to him by Stobaeus and Diodorus are of late ( Neo-Pythagorean) 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