BRIBERY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS Kellam ... - Historia Antigua

Conover Bribery in Classical Athens Chapter Two
with the Springhouse Decree, I suggest, we can imagine that the dēmos actively
competed with elites for the authority to control these monies.
We can see this story play out in the development of misthophoria, or pay for
public officials and jurors. Typically, these monies are understood as necessary steps to
enable mass participation in the ‘radical’ democracy following Ephialtes’ reforms: by
paying citizens for serving in public office or on a jury, the dēmos ensured that even the
poorest citizens could participate in politics and, hence, the democracy could truly
achieve ‘rule of the people’. 81 Doubtless this was one potential result of misthophoria—
though it is impossible for us to assess either way whether or not the poorest citizens
actually participated more often as a result—but we should be wary about positing this as
the motivation behind the reforms. After all, it is striking that no source mentions such a
motivation; in fact, all of our sources suggest that misthophoria was established as a way
for the masses to profit from empire. 82 Yet it is surprising to find even this motivation
posited by ancient testimonia, since pay for both public office and jury duty was funded
not by the hellēnotamiai, who were in charge of the tribute, but by the kōlakretai, who
administered Athens’ public treasury (to dēmosion). 83 When the Athenians set up the
funds for misthophoria, in other words, they consciously did not treat those funds as
similar to the monies used to pay the army and the fleet. Why, then, was jury pay ever
associated with empire?
81 See Rhodes (1981: 339-40 ad AP27.4), Markle (1985), Ostwald (1986: 182), Ober (1989: 143), Stadter
(1989: 117 ad Per. 9.3), Hansen (1991: 188). Cf. Sinclair (1988: 71).
82 AP 24.1, [Xen.] Ath. Pol. 1.16. Cf. Ar. V. 655-64. Samons (2000: 65).
83 Samons (2000: 57-9) on the kōlakretai. On the meaningful distinction between imperial and domestic
funds, see Kallet-Marx (1994: 246-7), Kallet (1998: 47), and Samons (2000: esp. 55). Note how, after the
public treasury was combined with the Treasury of Athena in 411, jurors were paid by the Treasurers of
Athena: IG ii 2 1629.213-17.
114