I completed the fifth chapter from Durant, this one was on Athens. The chapter basically describes the gradual shift from an oligarchic system to one verging on civil war between the rich and the poor to a system of written laws instituted by Draco, to those developed by Solon. Solon is generally credited with averting civil war and with developing a system of laws that provided a basis for much of Greek and western civilization.

However as Solon neared the end of his days, his system was overthrown by a disctatorship led by Peisistratus. Although this was a tyrrany, it also helped provide some much needed stability and was generally viewed as a positive phase in Athen's history. However when he died his sons were unable to maintain the legacy, and Athens soon resorted back to a democracy.

The next chapter describes the "Great Migration" of Greeks out from Greece to shorelines along the Mediterranean. Many of these "colonies" soon surpassed mainland Greece in their development of wealth, art, and science.