BRIBERY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS Kellam ... - Historia Antigua

Conover Bribery in Classical Athens Chapter Three
Indeed, Ergocles’ actions align himself and his philoi against the polis as they
assume a relationship of negative reciprocity with the community precisely as the Thirty
had done. As financial crimes conceptualized as ‘taking’, both embezzlement and
dōrodokia reveal this relationship. No longer are Ergocles and his men considered philoi
of the city (Lys. 28.17), for, by acquiring their wealth, they effectively demonstrate ill-
will towards the people (cf. a3ma ga\r ploutou=si kai\ u(ma\j misou=si, Lys. 28.7; cf.
e1xqran, Lys. 28.16). As a result, the only charis they and others like them have is for the
money they have given and taken. They show no charis to the people (Lys. 28.16).
Thus, if the flow of money marks relations of goodwill, then embezzlement and
dōrodokia equally signal how Ergocles only ‘takes’ from or ‘harms’ the people; there is
no reciprocity, as he and his men treat the city even worse than do her enemies (Lys.
28.15).
As in our analysis of the financial crimes of the Thirty, dōrodokia qua a kind of
financial ‘taking’ here symbolizes the political injustice of Ergocles’ relation to the rest
of the community. The imbalance of profiting ‘at the polis’ expense’ acts as a conceptual
frame for understanding his purported oligarchic aspirations and particularly how he
provides negative reciprocity—active harm—to the people. Because the defendants have
but ‘taken’ from the city, they merit not the ‘giving’ of charis but the ‘taking’ of
vengeance; one bad turn deserves another. 36
It was already noted that dōrodokia plays a prominent role throughout Lysias 29,
too, but by now it should be clearer why this might be the case. With Philocrates’ guilt
36 A point forcefully made in the speaker’s last words: “by the same act you should give thanks to your
friends and take vengeance on the guilty” (a3ma toi=j te fi/loij toi=j u(mete/roij a)podou=nai xa/rin kai\
para\ tw=n a)dikou/ntwn th\n di/khn labei=n, Lys. 28.17). The parallel structure of the clause strongly
contrasts the city’s philoi with the defendants themselves. Moreover, by counterpoising a)podou=nai xa/rin
and di/khn labei=n, the speaker effectively underscores how like merits like.
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