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Bribery in Athenian Politics Part I: Accusations, Allegations, and Slander
Claire Taylor
Greece & Rome, 2nd Ser., Vol. 48, No. 1. (Apr., 2001), pp. 53-66.
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Greece Rome Vol.
48
No. 1 April 2001
B RI BE RY I N A T H E N I A N P O L I T I C S P A R T I :
A C C U S A T I O N S , A L L E G A T I O N S , A N D
SLANDER*
By
C L A I R E T A Y L O R
Corruption, intrigue, treachery, all common elements in the darker side
of Athenian politics, and if many sources are to be believed, part of the
essential make-up of the democracy.' The impression gained from the
evidence is that Athenian leaders were well known for their profiteering,
and the demos consistently supported their behaviour by electing them to
positions of responsibility and following their advice. The simple truth
was that money ruled in Athens: it got things done. Every level of
Athenian politics was riddled with corruption, from the most important
orators to the smallest deme election. The opportunities for self-
enrichment were seemingly endless. Bribery could influence magis-
trates, ambassadors, decisions in the Assembly, issues discussed in the
Boule, elections, and in the courts. However, is this an accurate
reflection of Athenian politics? Was corruption really so prevalent?
There are numerous extant accusations and allegations of venality,
some more believable than others, and this enables a picture to be
built of the extent to which bribery was tolerated in the political arena
and the cultural context of accusations.
The Greek word most commonly used for 'bribery' is dorodokein,
which simply means 'to receive a
gift'.2 It is a neutral word without any
moral connotations attached to it: dora is not a euphemistic term, but
actually means both 'gifts' and 'bribes'. Although dorodokia is not the
only word used for briber^ ^ it is the most frequent, and the most readily
applied to political bribery. If dora are both gifts and bribes, bribery has
close connections to the institutionalized social practice of gift-giving,
and it is in the context of mutual obligations and reciprocity that political
payments should be analysed. Moral assumptions should therefore be
avoided, or at least pushed to the ba~kground.~
In this article it is necessary to consider bribery as distinct from
embezzlement: bribery is giving something to influence someone else to
behave in a certain way or make a certain decision, and embezzlement is
the misappropriation of public funds. The two are often coupled
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5 B R I BE R Y I N A T H E N I A N P O L I T I C S P A R T I
together and are closely connected: politicians often grew rich through
their political activities and questions were often asked if, particularly
poorer men, accumulated too much money. The sources often delib-
erately confuse the two allegations to imply that the accused is especially
~ o r r u p t . ~aking money from office was to some extent legitimized and
this enabled the line between acceptable profit and unacceptable reward
to be easily blurred.
This article also distinguishes bribery from ~ ~ k o p h a n c y ~lackmail
arising from the threat of legal action. Sykophancy can be described as a
form of bribery (paying money to someone to avoid a court appear-
ance), but I have not discussed accusations of sykophancy as forms of
bribery here for the following reason^ ^ Th e term sykophant does not
necessarily denote corrupt motives and is often applied to any prose-
cutor without a good case, or a case which is based on assumptions
rather than evidence. It is also not necessary for the alleged
sykophant
to
make money out of his intended prosecutions, although this is fre-
quently what actually happens. Sykophancy can be interpreted as an
important mechanism in the upholding of the democracy in Athens,
insofar as it prevented wealthy men withdrawing from public life by
refusing to fulfil their duty that was participation in the life of the polis.
In other words,
sykophancy
was arguably an essential feature of the
Athenian democracy which sought to include all citizens in polis life and
it only receives a bad press because it sought to forcibly include those
men who had the resources to complain. These are the people of which
we hear the most. However, it is difficult to interpret bribery in an
advantageous way. Bribery did not seek to strengthen the democracy,
only to harm the state through skewed obligations and venal transac-
tions.
ources and their problems
Accusations of bribery were common in Athens, and they are preserved
mainly in oratory and comedy. The corpus of fourth-century law court
speeches is the main medium of preservation and there are many
references to bribery therein. These include references which led to a
real trial, and those which are clearly unfounded slander. Trials could be
brought about by the discovery of a venal transaction (such as the trial of
a magistrate in Lysias
21 , but were commonly combined with other
charges to form a more serious accusation of treason. In these cases it is
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B R IB E R Y I N A T H E N I A N P O L I T I C S P A R T I
often difficult to know to what extent the accusation of bribery was
tacked onto other charges, and not the main subject of the trial. Also,
there is no way of knowing how many of the references in law court
speeches were simply popular charges, even rumours, not brought to
trial in any formal way, or whether they referred to actual legal decisions.
Many accusations may be exaggerated or distorted in order to furnish
the speaker s argument further. The golden rule in reading law court
speeches is: if a statement does not add anythmg to the argument it is
probably true, otherwise question it. A cynical approach maybe, but it
must be remembered that the speakers were only trying to win the votes
of the jury, not trying to establish the truth of the matter that came
before them. It is, therefore, crucial to remember that no accusation can
be accepted without question.
The other main source for bribery allegations is comic drama: a
medium where politicians frequently endured severe personal abuse,
including accusations of corrupt activities. Allegations against a poli-
tician ranged from insults about his family background to his sexual
preferences and his motives for his political actions. Although these
insults must shed some light on how the Athenians viewed individual,
prominent men they should not be taken too much out of context: they
were designed to make the audience laugh. Aristophanes was telling
jokes. His plays were written in order to win a drama competition and
not to pursue an anti-sleaze political campaign. This said, in order to be
a successful comic poet, the accusations must have had at least some
basis in reality, otherwise the Athenian audience would have not found it
funny, indeed they would not have had a clue what he was talking about.
There are, therefore, limitations in the acceptance of many bribery
accusations. The seriousness of many of these accusations can be called
into question, even outright disputed, and they should not always be
seen as true reflections of the political climate.
Accusations and allegations
In all the Greek states not in some of them but in every one of them it chanced that
there had sprung up the most abundant crop of traitorous, venal and profligate
politicians ever known within memory of manlund. (Dem. 18.61)
Bribery accusations, both general and specific, were numerous in
ancient Athens and although it is impossible to tell the extent of bribery
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56 B R IB E RY I N T H E N I N P O L I T I C S P R T I
in political life, or the extent to which it was ignored, politicians very
frequently took the opportunity to hit each other with allegations and
tried to prosecute their opponents in the law courts. Included is a table
of some of the most important incidences of bribery from Athens 58
61).
It is not a definitive list, nor is it meant to be, but it is included
simply to give some indication of the range of incidences of bribery in
Athens as the sources give them. Throughout the article the numbers in
bold)
denote the catalogue numbers as they appear in the table.9
A glance at the table demonstrates that bribery accusations were
widespread in Athenian politics. Th e table shows that large numbers of
strategoi (9, 11 28), ambassadors (19, 26, 29), and other important
politicians (27, 30) were at risk from allegations, and that some of these
were unfounded (5) or relied on little evidence (30). Also evident is the
attempt to bribe large numbers of people in juries (13, 23). However,
there are no examples of electoral bribery and little evidence for bribery
in the lower levels of political life (32).1 Many of the accusations that
came to trial employed the procedure of eisangelia (5, 17, 20, 22, 25,
27, 28, 29, 31, 33), a procedure reserved for very serious crimes
against the state, which demonstrates the gravity of bribery accusations
in Athenian politics. Other accusations use different procedures of
prosecution, such as the euthyne (16). It is also apparent that large
numbers of accusations and trials resulted from defeats in battle (8, 9,
11
14, 28). The main accusers in many cases are political rivals (5, 28,
29, 30, 31, 34): men who would benefit the most from their opponent s
conviction.
The table shows that all categories of important political figures
seem, at one time or another, to have been at risk of allegations of
corruption: strategoi, if they were unsuccessful in a military operation;
ambassadors, if they were successful in bringing about a peace
settlement; orators, if they proposed controversial decrees. The natural
rivalries of Athenian political life, combined with the vast opportunities
for self-enrichment and the need for the demos to hold its politicians to
account ensured a situation where allegations were very frequently
made. It was not just in the Assembly where accusations were made:
the law courts served as an arena for political battles and sometimes the
stakes were so high that corruption of a jury was an attractive, if
expensive, prospect (13, 23). The Athenians worked hard to prevent
law court bribery in particular and were fairly successful. The daily
selection of dikasts and the stiff penalties awarded to anyone found
either giving or taking bribes firmly told potential bribers to stay away.
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B R IB E R Y I N A T H E N I A N P O L I T I C S P A R T I 7
However, attempts were still made to bribe large numbers of men and
were, in at least one case, successful
(13).
Why did the Athenians take bribes
Combine the potential for economic advancement with opportunity and
the essential motivation behind most cases of
dorodoki
can be
explained. It is widely accepted that most magistrates, after the
oligarchic revolution of 41 1, did not receive any financial compensation
for their time in 0ffice.l This lack of remuneration realistically enabled
only rich men to participate fully in the democracy at the highest level. It
was these men who ran for the higher offices of state and who controlled
Athens through regular public
spealung in the Assembly.12 The tempta-
tion to increase income through illegal means must have been too great
for some to bear. Financial profit was to some extent acceptable and it
was a recognized part of politics, if not entirely approved of. There was,
however, a widely held perception that poorer men were more at risk of
temptation than their wealthy counterparts and that they were more
susceptible to bribes. Rich men should not have felt the need to
supplement their income with theft from the state or the acceptance
of gifts which would sway their opinions.13 Demades is the classic
example of a poor man turned bad by bribery, but this is no more
than an assumption.14 It is not necessary to follow the Athenian
prejudice and believe that Demades was poor: he could not have been
as poor as he is often portrayed since he had sufficient resources to start
a political career. Accusations of poverty should not always be taken
seriously. fivals regularly accused each other of low birth and link this
with bribe taking: Demosthenes accuses Aeschines of escape from
poverty through the acceptance of gifts from Philip of Macedon. The
purpose of this accusation comes not from a desire to attack corruption
in Athenian politics, but from the need to portray Aeschines as a beggar
who has become wealthy through venality:
You were raised from servitude to freedom, and from beggary to opulence, by the
favour of your fellow citizens, and ye t. you take the pay of their enemies and conduct
political intrigues to their detriment. (Dem. 18.13
1)
l 6
It is perhaps better, therefore, to see these views as the prejudices of the
Athenian political elite and consider them in this light rather than simply
take them at face value.
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58
Cat no.
1.
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10.
B R I BE R Y I N A T H E N I A N P O L I T I C S P A R T I
Table 1. Accusations Of Bribery In The Sources
Source(s)
Ath Pol 19.4
Hdt. 5.5
Hdt. 9.2
Nepos, Milt 7
Nepos, Cim 1
Hdt. 6.132-6
Plut. Cim 4.3
Dem. 26.6
Diod. 10.29
Plut. Them 23
Nepos, Them 8.2
Diod. 11.54.4
Ath Pol 27.1
Plut.
Per
10.5
Plut. Cim 14.4
Nepos, Milt 7.5
Dem. 19.273-5
Thuc. 6.60
Thuc. 2.21.1
Thuc. 5.16.3
Eph. fr. Hist. 70, F193
Diod. 13.106
Plut. Per 22
Plut. Nik 28
Ar.
Wasps 960-1
240-2
894-7
Thuc. 4.65.3 4
Philochorus fr. 127
Ar
Peace 18
Description
The Alcmaeonids bribe the Delphic Oracle to
ensure Spartan support, before 50817.
Thebes tells Persia an invasion of Greece is
unnecessary due to the power of bribery in Greek
diplomacy, 490.
Miltiades accused of accepting bribes from
Persia to withdraw from Paros, 489. Probably
fined 50 talents.
Sparta bribes Themistocles' opponents in Athens.
Eisangelia of Cimon for allegedly receiving bribes
not to invade Macedon, 463. Probably a false
accusation.
Possible eisangelia of Callias for accepting bribes
from Persia to bring about the 'Peace of Callias',
c.449. Fourth century fabrication?
Pericles allegedly bribes Spartan
strategoi
Pleistoanax and Cleandrides to retreat from
Athens, 431.
Strategos Laches is accused by Cleon of bribery
and embezzlement after his return from Sicily,
425. Probably acquitted.
(Probable) eisangelia of strategoi Sophocles,
Eurymedon, and Pythodorus accused of accepting
bribes to withdraw from Sicily, 424. Sophocles
and Pythodorus exiled. Eurymedon fined.
Athens bribes Sparta to agree to 'Peace of
Nicias', 421
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Cat no.
11
12
13.
14.
15
16
17
18.
19.
20
21
BRIBERY
Source s)
Thuc . 7.48.4
Lys. 25.25
Ath. Pol. 27.5
Isoc. 18.23
Diod. 13.64.6
Xen. Hell. 2.1.32
Lys. 14.8
Plut. Alk. 37
Paus. 4.17.3
Paus. 10.9.1 1
Lys. 12.9
Lys. 21.21-2
Lys. 30.2, 9, 23
Xen. Hell. 3.5.1
Hell. Oxy. 7.2-5
Paus. 3.9.8
Lys. 27.3-4
Dem. 19.277-9
Andoc. 3
Lys. 27.14
IN ATHENIAN POLITICS PART I
59
Description
Strategoi in charge of the Sicilian Expedition
refuse to return to Athens due to fear of
prosecution for bribery, 4 13.
Epigenes, Demophanes, Cleigenes sykophants)
accused of taking bribes to drop prosecutions,
409.
Anytos successfully bribes a jury to acquit
him
after failing to keep Pylos out of the hands of the
Spartans, 409.
Adimantus accused of accepting bribes to betray
the Athenian fleet at the Battle of Aegospotamoi
he was the only commander the Spartans did
not execute), 405.
Willingness of the regime of the Thirty to accept
bribes Lysias offers Peison money to ensure his
safety, 403.
Unnamed magistrate charged at euthyne with
taking bribes, 40312.
Eisangelia of Nicomachus for taking bribes and
attempting to overthrow the democracy. Death
penalty proposed, outcome unknown, 399.
Persia sends Timocrates to Athens to distribute
bribes. Epicrates and Cephalus accept money,
395.
Epicrates, Onomasas, and colleagues on embassy
to Persia, 39413 or 39312. Epicrates acquitted,
Onomasas convicted.
Eisangelia of Epicrates, Andocides, Eubulides,
and Cratinos for accepting bribes on embassy to
Sparta. Sentenced to death in absentia, 39211.
Epicrates and fellow envoys attempt to bribe
prosecution to drop case. Possibly connected
with no. 20, but more likely a separate
prosecution for embezzlement, 39211.
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60 BRIBERY IN ATHENIAN POLITICS PART I
Cat no.
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
Source(s)
Lys. 28.3
Lys. 29.5
Lys. 30.2
Dem. 19.180
Lys. 29.1 1
Dem. 24.134
Ar
Wealth
174
Lys. 26.24
Xen. Hell. 5.1.26
Dem. 24.134
Xen. Hell. 7.1.33-40
Plut. Pel. 30-1
Dem. 19.137
Hyp. 3.1-2
Din. 1.14-17
Din. 3.17
Diod. 16.21.4
Aes. 2.6
Aes. 3.79-81
Dem. 19.116
Din. 1.28
Hyp. 4.29
Aes. 1
Aes. 1
Dem. 19
Plut. Dem. 15
Table 1
cont.)
Description
Eisangelia of Ergocles for taking bribes and
embezzlement. Convicted and executed, 389.
Apographe against Philocrates after execution of
Ergocles. Officially accused of complicity in
Ergocles offence, but also accused of taking
bribes and attempting to bribe the jurors (1 100
men) in Ergocles trial, 38918.
Philepsios accused of financial irregularities,
probably bribery, 388.
Eisangelia of Thrasybulus of Collytus for
demanding a bribe of 30 rninae from Athenian
POWs to arrange their release, 38817.
Leon accuses Timagoras of accepting bribes
from Persia on embassy for King s Peace.
Sentenced to death, 367.
Eisangelia of Callistratus accused of accepting
bribes to propose decrees against the interests of
the people in the Assembly, 36110.
Eisangelia of Timotheus, Iphicrates, and
Menestheus for accepting bribes from Chios and
Rhodes after losing the Battle of Embata, 35615.
Eisangelia of Philocrates for accepting bribes
from Philip for the Peace of Philocrates. Fled
before verdict and condemned to death in
absentia,
34613.
Aeschines accused of taking bribes. Never came
to trial (due to Aeschines prosecution of
Timarchus for a sexual offence), 346.
Eisangelia of Aeschines for accepting bribes from
Philip on Second Embassy to Macedon in 346.
Demosthenes prosecutes and loses by 30 votes,
343.
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61RIBERY IN ATHENIAN POLITICS PART I
Cat no. Source(s)
Description
32
Hyp. 3.3
Eisangelia
of Agasikles for bribing the
Din. fr. 16 Halimousioi to enroll him as a citizen when he
was a public slave. Outcome unknown, 3361324.
33
HYP. 3
Eisangelia
of Euxenippos for accepting bribes to
make a report against the interests of the people.
Also charged with being pro-Macedonian and
other crimes. Death penalty proposed, outcome
unknown, 330-24.
34
Din. 1
Apophasis
against Demosthenes for accepting 20
HYP.
talents from Harpalus. Nine others also accused.
Diod. 17.108 Demosthenes convicted and exiled, 32413.
The opportunity, and the temptation that goes with it, was undoubtedly
present in the Athenian political system. Financial gain was a legitimate
reward of office, and although some restrictions were placed on
politicians through accountability measures such as the euthyne, strategoi
were allowed to gain wealth through, for example, booty gained in war.
Rhetores could increase their income through speech writing, as did
Demosthenes. Once a politician had a high profile his regular business
dealings must have had the potential to improve. Such legitimate
methods of profit were complemented by illegitimate ways of making
money through the acceptance of gifts and filching state finances. In a
society of supposed political equals, there were still certain inequalities:
wealth bestowed influence in the democracy as it had done in archaic
aristocratic societies, and the acquisition of wealth, by any means,
increased the power a person had over
others.18
Slander and personal vendetta
It is clear, therefore, that Athenian politicians had the means, the
mechanism, and the opportunity to be involved in bribery, and also to
allow the wealth of allegations and accusations against opponents to
flow. The role of politico-personal relationships was important to this
process and a closer look at many accusations suggests an ulterior
motive on the part of the accuser. Many trials were enacted by the
defendant s arch-rival 26, 28 30, 31, 33, 34), and the majority of
allegations, of any sort, naturally come from the accused s political
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6
B R I BE R Y I N T H E N I N P O L I T I C S P R T I
enemies. In the context of these personal vendettas there is often an
allegation of bribery, and it has been suggested that many accusations
were little more than rhetorical discrediting tactics along the same lines
as your father was a slave , or your mother was a whore , and should
not be taken too seriously (17).19 It was thus common to prosecute a
rival out of sheer malevolence. Demosthenes suggests that Aeschines
motives for prosecution over the receipt of the gold crown were far from
legitimate: the chosen line of the present trial, he complains, contains
the spite of personal enmity, insult, slander and mud-slinging in equal
measure (Dem.
18.12).
This is difficult to disagree with, since
Aeschines motivation definitely seems to be deeply rooted in his intense
rivalry with Demosthenes and a large section of his speech is devoted to
an attack on Demosthenes political career.20
This personal vendetta and feuding can be seen in many trials
involving bribery allegations. The accused was often a victim of
undisguised political manoeuvrings, for example the trials of Cimon
(5), Aeschines (30, 31), and Demosthenes (34). Slanderous accusations
served to reaffirm political opposition, disguised the shady actions of
accusing politicians, and removed rivals from power. These three
examples show how bribery allegations were heavily indebted to the
political atmosphere of the time, and serve as a caution to the reader to
be wary of the political circumstance in which an accusation was made.
Cimon was accused of receiving bribes not to invade Macedonia in 463
by Pericles and Ephialtes (5). Sealey describes the trial as a prelude to
the great rivalry between Cimon and Pericles, signifying the beginning
of Athenian opposition to Cimon, which eventually led to his ostracism.
The young Pericles part in the trial sought to propel
him
onto the
political stage. Pericles is accused of prevarication in the trial and
making a deal with Cimon, which sought to further Pericles career
whilst saving C i m ~ n s . ~ hatever the circumstances, Cimon was
acquitted of an almost certainly false charge which was not pursued
by his opponents. This accusation, therefore, can be categorized as a
fabrication, designed to attack a political rival, and was merely a
symbolic attempt at opposition to the political dominance of Cimon.
Political wranglings can also be detected in the trial of Aeschnes for
receiving bribes from Philip on the Second Embassy to Macedon in 346
(31). Th e trial, in which Demosthenes accused Aeschines of accepting
Philip s gifts, took place in the aftermath of the failure of the Peace of
Philocrates, and Philocrates conviction for taking bribes from Philip on
the same embassy (29). The prosecution of Aeschines should not merely
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B R I B E R Y I N T H E N I N P O L I T I C S P R T I
63
be seen in the context of an attack by Demosthenes on his rival an
attack not supported by any evidence of misdeeds but also as Demos-
thenes need to justify hls own behaviour concerning the Peace. Demos-
thenes had originally supported the treaty, but after Philocrates
conviction for bribery he needed to distance himself from it and the
methods by which it was allegedly obtained. This he did by accusing his
fellow envoy of accepting bribes to give false reports to the Assembly.
The trial, and Aeschines near conviction, came about due to the
political circumstances and needs of the day. Philocrates trial and the
rejection of the Peace by the Assembly had made speaking for alliance
almost a treasonable offence in itself: popular feeling was incredibly
hostile to Philip. Demosthenes, who had been in favour of alliance
originally, now needed to attack before he himself was attacked.22
The trial of Demosthenes resulting from the Harpalus affair should
also perhaps be seen in the wider political context 34). The Areopagus
delay in publishing its findings suggests not so much procrastination,
but an attempt to make full political capital from the decision. It is likely
that the publication of the report coincided with the news that Demos-
thenes embassy to Alexander on the question of the Exiles Decree had
failed,23 so the Areopagus accused Demosthenes to placate Alexander.
Internal politics ensured that Demosthenes was prosecuted, and his new
rival Hypereides now controlled the foreign policy of the city. No piece
of firm evidence was offered at the trial (in both surviving speeches), and
of the nine others accused, at least three were acquitted.24This has led
some to believe that Demosthenes was the victim of a plot to remove
him from active politics due to his anti-Macedonian beliefs.25Unfortu-
nately there is simply not enough surviving evidence to be able to say
that Demosthenes was innocent of the charges his behaviour during
the affair suggests a certain degree of guilt26 however the background
to the trial demonstrates that political manoeuvrings had a decisive effect
on the outcome.
All three examples show that bribery accusations were not neces-
sarily based on firm evidence that the accused had taken bribes. In
most cases it is impossible to tell whether the accused was guilty or
not, but it is evident that bribery allegations were used as political
weapons against rivals. This is also demonstrated by the numerous
cases where
dorodoki
is not the main charge, but an add-on offence
(20, 22, 23), and the high number of unsubstantiated accusations.
Accusing opponents of accepting
dor
was a tactical ploy in the
political game. Since slanderous personal attacks were so common in
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64 B R I BE R Y I N A T H E N I A N P O L I T I C S P A R T I
Athenian politics, and accusations were so impossible to substantiate,
politicians could easily mobilize support against a rival by accusing
him
of accepting bribes.
Dora
were probably frequently offered and
equally frequently accepted, and the Athenian public seems to have
accepted this situation so long as the politicians did not betray the
interests of the Political circumstances generated suspicion
between politicians, but also allowed them to exploit their differences
through bribery accusations. The upshot: it was ridiculously easy to
slander an opponent.
( to be continued)
NOTES
A version of this article was written for submission as my undergraduate dissertation. My
deepest thanks goes to John Salmon for his advice and encouragement. For its failings, however, the
author bears sole responsibility.
1. e.g., Dem. 25.15-16; Hyp. 1.24-5; P1. Rep. 359B-60D.
2. For discussion of the vocabulary of bribery see F. D. Harvey, Dona Ferentes: Some Aspects
of Bribery in Greek Politics in P. A. Cartledge and F. D. Harvey (edd.), Cru x: Essays Presented to
G . E . M . de Ste Croix on his 75th Birthday (Exeter, 1985), 82-9. Also see G. Herman, Ritualised
Friendship and the Greek City
(Cambridge, 1987), 75ff.
3. Chremata money , misthos rewards or pay are also used. Dekazein Yenning is most
often used for bribing a jury. See Harvey, op. cit., 88-9, D. M. Macdowell, Athenian Laws About
Bribery , R I D A 30 (1983), 63 ff.
4. For the importance of reciprocity in Athenian society see A. Missiou in C. Gill,
N. Postlethwaite, and R. Seaford (edd.), Reciprocity in Ancient Greece (Oxford, 1988), 188-91;
M. Schofield in P. Cartledge, P. Millett, and S . von Reden (edd.) , Kosmos: Essays in Order, Conflict
and Com mun ity in Classical Athens
(Cambridge, 1998), 37-51; S. von Reden,
Exchange in Ancient
Greece (London, 1995), 93-5; T. W. Gallant, Risk and S urv ival in Ancient Greece: Reconstructing the
Domestic Economy (Cambridge, 199I), 143-69.
5. e.g., Demades. See J.K Davies, Athenian Propertied Families (Oxford, 1971), no. 3230, 100-
1 (hereafter A P F ) .
6. For discussion of the relationship between bribery and embezzlement see Harvey, op. cit.,
79-80.
7. I have followed Todd s spelling of 'sykophancy' (habitual prosecutor) as distinct from the
English sycophancy (flatterer) to avoid confusion. See S. C. Todd, The Shape ofAthenian Law
(Oxford, 1993), 92-3.
8. For discussions of sykophancy see the articles by R. Osbourne and
F.
D. Harvey in P. A.
Cartledge, P. Millett, and S. C. Todd (edd.), Nomos: Essays in Athenian Law Politics and Society
(Cambridge, 1990); also D. M. Macdowell, Law
in ClassicalAthens
(London, 1978), 62-6, Todd ,
op. cit., 92-4, R. J Bonner and
G.
Smith, The Administration ofJustice from Homer to Aristotle, Vol.
II (Chicago, 1938), 39-74.
9. T he table will also be referred to throughout my companion article, Bribery in Athenian
Politics Part 11 , G R (Oct. 2001).
10. For electoral bribery in the Roman Republic see M. Jehne in M . Jehne (ed.),
Demokratie in
Rom ? Die Rolle des Volkes in der Politik der romischen Republik (Stuttgart, 1995), 51 ff., P. Nadig,
Ardet Ambitus (Frankfurt am Main, 1997), E. A. Bauerle, Procuring an Election: Amb itus in the
Roman Republic (Univ. Of Michigan Diss. 1990), A. Lintott, J H S 80 (1990), 1 ff., L. R. Taylor,
Par ty Politics in the Age of C aesar (Berkeley, 1949), 67 ff.
11. Ps-Xen. 1.3 implies that high offices were not paid by saying that the demos only hold offices
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which involve the receipt of money where there is a chance of making a person profit ,
distinguishing these offices with those of
strategos
or cavalry commander. See also M . H . Hansen,
The Athen ian Democracy in the Age ofDem osthenes
(Oxford, 199l ), 240-1, R. K. Sinclair,
Democracy
and P articipation i n Classical Athe ns
(Cambridge, 1988), 110. The restoration of the democracy in
403 saw the reintroduction of state pay for jurors, the Boule, and (the introduction of pay in) the
Assembly, but not for magistracies (except archons). See
Ath . Pol.
62, 41.3.
12. For arguments of the sovereignty of the Athenian law courts as opposed to that of the
Assembly see Hansen, op. cit. (n. 1I), 12, 179ff. and
The Sovereignty of the People s Court in Athens
(Odense, 1974), 17. For the reverse view see Sinclair, op. cit., 78,
J
Ober,
Mass and Elite in
Democratic Athens
(Princeton, 1990), 146ff.
13. Ober, op. cit., 238 describes the Athenian viewpoint succinctly: the possession of wealth did
not ensure incorruptibility, but the Athenians felt that it
should
do so. For another view on the
relationship between poverty and bribery see Sinclair, op. cit., 185: men of wealth presumably did
not require such perks to commit themselves more or less to full-time public life, but that does not
mean that they declined such perks.
14. Din. 1.89, 104, 2.15, Diod. 17.15.3, Hyp. 5.25 all accuse him of bribery, and attribute it to
poverty. However it simply shows that these type of accusations were common Athenian insults.
A. Andrewes,
The Greek Tyrants
(London, 1956), 57 acknowledges this in a different context: the
ingrained Greek habit of attributing low birth to a political opponent.
15.
A P F
3230, 100-1; the very fact that he is included in this book demonstrates his wealth.
Davies is perhaps too ready to attribute his wealth to the receipt of bribes. See also Sinclair, op.
cit., 45.
16. See R. Kulesza,
Die Bestechung im politischen Leben Athe ns i m
5.
und J h v . Chr .
(Konstanz,
1995), 74: Sein Ziel war, den Beweis herbeizufuhren, daO Aischines durch verbrecherische
Tatigkeit vom Bettler zum reichen Mann geworden sei.
17. Iphicrates was supposedly a self-made cobbler s son ,
O C D 3 , A P F
7737, 248-50. The
generals of the Corinthian War greatly increased their wealth through booty. See
J
K. Davies,
Wealth and the Power of Wealth in ClassicalAthen s
(New York, 1981), 66 ff. However, he comments:
reliable (i.e. unprejudiced) quantified information is almost impossible to come by.
18. For the connection of wealth and power see Arist.
Pol.
1284a19-22 who sees it as a reason
for the use of ostracism in democratic cities: the
demos
pass a sentence of ostracism on those
whom they regard as having too much influence owing to their wealth. See also Sinclair, op.
cit., 186.
19. Some accusations include personal insults such as in
17):
Nicomachus was accused of being
bribed to record certain laws, but the prosecution also accuse him of being the son of a public slave,
of being taken in late to a phratry, and of being employed as an under-clerk to a magistrate.
Accusations in comedy also have a ring of personal attack about them, instead of being a firm
accusation. See the numerous accusations made against Cleon in
Ar. Eq in particular. For the use
of bribery allegations as a discrediting tactic see H. Wankel in W. Schuller (ed.),
Korruption in
Altertum
(Munich and Vienna, 1982), 32 ff.
20. See especially Aes. 3.49ff.
21. For Pericles motives in prosecuting Cimon see R. Sealey,
Hermes
84 (1956), 234-7.
22. See E. M. Harris,
Aeschines and Athenian Politics
(Oxford, 1995), 116-18; J B. Bury and
R. Meiggs,
A History of Greece
4th ed. (London, 1975), 433 ff.
23. The Exiles Decree meant that all exiles in Greece would have to return to their country of
origin. This was an unfavourable measure for Athens since it would effectively mean the restoration
of Samos to the returning Samians. Another result of the embassy was that Demosthenes changed
his mind and accepted Alexander s demands for his deification, which put suspicion on him. See
I. Worthington,
A Historical Commentary on Dinarchus: Rhetoric and Conspiracy in Later Fourth
Century Athens
(Michigan, 1992), 59.
24. Aristogeiton, Hagnonides, and Polyeuctus of Sphettus were acquitted. Demosthenes,
Demades, and Philocles were condemned. Demades fled before the trial and was condemned
in
absentia.
It is unknown what happened to the three other accused men. See Worthington, op.
cit., 52.
25. See Worthington, op. cit., 58-65: the verdict of Demosthenes guilt was politics, designed to
remove him from active participation in politics. See also E. Badian,
J H S
81 (1961), 16-43.
26. He changed his story: first he denied outright taking any money, proposing the
apophasis
and
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the death penalty for those found guilty, then admitting that he took the money as a loan for the
Theoric Fund after the Areopagus published its findings.
27. Hyp. 1.24-5. See Harvey, op. cit., 106-7, B. Strauss, ncient
orld
11 1985), 71,
C
Taylor,
G R
Oct. 2001).