28.4
And that man, conjecturing this future from what he then saw, bade me look to the end of my life, and let not insecure conjectures embolden me to be proud and insolent. When this was reported to Cyrus, since he was a wiser man than Croesus, and saw the word of Solon confirmed in the example before him, he not only released Croesus, but actually held him in honor as long as he lived. And thus Solon had the reputation of saving one king and instructing another by means of a single saying.
29.1
But the people of Athens were again divided into factions while Solon was away. The Plain-men were headed by Lycurgus; the Shore-men by Megacles the son of Alcmaeon, and the Hill-men by Peisistratus.Cf. Aristot. Const. Ath. 13.4. Among the last was the multitude of Thetes who were the bitter enemies of the rich. As a consequence, though the city still observed the new laws yet all were already expecting a revolution and desirous of a different form of government, not in hopes of an equality, but each party thinking to be bettered by the change, and to get the entire mastery of its opponents.
29.2
Such was the state of affairs when Solon returned to Athens. He was revered and honored by all, but owing to his years he no longer had the strength or the ardor to speak and act in public as before. He did, however, confer privately with the chiefs of the opposing factions, endeavoring to reconcile and harmonize them, and Peisistratus seemed to pay him more heed than the others. For Peisistratus had an insinuating and agreeable quality in his address, he was ready to help the poor and was reasonable and moderate in his enmities.
