BRIBERY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS Kellam ... - Historia Antigua

Conover Bribery in Classical Athens Chapter Three
gave the oligarch Peison (Lys. 12.8-11). Peison swears an oath that he would rescue
Lysias from death were he to receive one talent of silver, which Lysias duly provides
even though he suspects that Peison was untrustworthy. Not only does Peison break his
oath, but he takes far more than just the promised talent. His dōrodokia thereby
constitutes an act of greed, an unjust transgression in its own right and a symbol for the
unjust power that Lysias’ money would be used to support. So the oligarchs profited from
the city’s misfortunes, and their profiting caused the city added misfortune.
As Balot outlines, the dominant image of greed at this time was of an aristocrat
plundering the dēmos’ possessions—providing bads to the community—and it is in this
light that we find the Thirty’s actions linked closely to a social type or kind of
character. 26 Oligarchs in particular were thought prone to covet and steal the property of
others, although it is unclear whether they were so stereotyped because of the Thirty or
the Thirty were so stereotyped because they were oligarchs. 27 In any case, their shameful
profiting (ai)sxroke/rdeia) was thought to be an inherent part of their character (tro/pou,
Lys. 12.19), and here again we are reminded of Plato’s character sketches of tyrant and
dōrodokos alike.
This emphasis on financial crimes, on ‘taking’ from the city rather than providing
it with a good return, is characteristic of stories about all sorts of ‘bad’ politicians in the
26 Balot (2001: 179-233) illuminates the concept of greed in the late fifth and early fourth centuries, and his
analysis provides a helpful foundation for our investigation of how this newly defined social category was
implicated in broader discursive practices. Hence, as will be clear below, one of the central questions this
chapter attempts to answer is why the Athenians described greed at this time using such highly monetized
language as they did, and why, more importantly, it was greed and not some other motive that was posited
for politicians’ misdeeds during this period.
27 E.g. Lys. 25.17, 34.5; cf. Lys. 25.25-26. Certainly these stereotypes existed before the Thirty and were
used to describe the oligarchs of 411/0, on which see Balot (2001: 212-19); but I am inclined to think that
the generic figure of the oligarch further crystallized after the Thirty in direct response to their actions: see
further below.
136