BRIBERY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS Kellam ... - Historia Antigua

Conover Bribery in Classical Athens Chapter Two
Yet if the dōrodokos played such a pivotal role in this economy of imperial
monies, so too did an elite figure like Cimon. The stratēgos is unabashed about his
central position within this economy of money and power: he himself “derives honor” by
enriching the city (a)ga/llesqai, Plut. Cim. 14.4). Indeed, he confesses, the pursuit of
such honor is more important to him than the riches themselves. Cimon’s claim points to
a second space occupied by the dōra—the realm of domestic politics—and hence to a
second relationship negotiated by those monies: that between elite citizen and
community.
Strikingly, the dōra in this second space took on the same valence of political
authority as the monies of empire. So, for example, Plutarch draws an analogy between
Athens’ relation to the rest of Greece and Cimon’s famed generosity toward the
Athenians (Plut. Cim. 10.6). 29 Such generosity was considerable, as he spent vast
unprecedented resources on public works and feeding his fellow citizens. In addition to
constructing the Theseion and helping finance the Long Walls, he planted trees in the
Agora and gardens in the Academy (Plut. Cim. 13.8); opened his fields to all (Plut. Cim.
10.1); gave money to the poor (Plut. Cim. 10.3); and provided dinner every night, it is
reported, for either his demesmen (AP 27.3) or any Athenian (Plut. Cim. 10.1-2). 30
use of it—but in being able to control when and how that money is used. Like Athens’ use of the monies
of empire, Cimon accepts Rhoisakes’ friendship so that he can control how the gold and silver is
distributed.
29 Plutarch compares the golden age under Cimon with the civilizing effect other Athenians—and, by
extension, Athens herself—had on the rest of the Greeks. Such Athenian mythologizing—emphasizing the
autochthony of the Athenians, the civilizing conquests of her first king Theseus, or her patron-like role over
the rest of Hellas—was a potent political metaphor for empire: see variously Herter (1939), Barron (1964),
Loraux (1981b), Walker (1995), Miller (1997: esp. 1-86). Important here is the way that elite citizens
inserted themselves into the iconography of empire: Miltiades was given a statue alongside Apollo and
Athena at Delphi (Paus. 10.10.1); under his son Cimon’s influence, he was featured in a painting of the
Stoa Poikile next to Theseus’ defeat of the Amazons (Paus. 1.15.1-4); likewise, a statue of Themistocles
stood in the Temple of Artemis Aristoboule (Plut. Them. 22.1-2).
30 On Cimon’s civic works, see further Schmitt-Pantel (1992: 180-6), Domingo Gygax (forthcoming: 197-
202).
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