BRIBERY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS Kellam ... - Historia Antigua

Conover Bribery in Classical Athens Chapter Three
display of his largesse, the defendant’s catalogue of liturgical expenses signifies his
innocence and illustrates how irrational his opponent’s claim surely must be.
This is a remarkable argument in context. In other speeches defendants cite their
liturgies as an argument from ethos: a demonstration of their good character and,
occasionally, a reason why they should be treated leniently by the courts. 75 Indeed, this is
how the defendant in Lysias 21 opens his speech, and he draws attention to this exact
phenomenon after finishing his own catalogue of liturgies (Lys. 21.11, 17). Yet his
argument from ethos subtly shifts into an argument from logos, or reason, in two different
ways. He claims that, because elites plunder the city’s coffers, it would be “worth it”
(a1cion) for the community to continue relying on a sure source of revenue, i.e. the
defendant’s financial contributions, rather than to confiscate his property and to have the
city manage it (Lys. 21.13-14). The defendant’s phrasing here is particularly strong, as
he claims that he would make a better tamias—treasurer—than the official tamiai of the
city (Lys. 21.14). 76 Precisely because the financial returns accrued by the city would be
greater if the defendant were to keep his money than if the city were to take it,
confiscating his property would be tantamount to injustice (cf. a)dikh/sete, Lys. 21.14).
75 See above note 57.
76 Schmitz (1995: 87-8) rightly discusses this passage in conjunction with the common rhetorical refrain
that the polis would beneft most by letting the rich manage their own money, but it should be noted that the
defendant here presents a variation on the standard topos. Rather than say that the polis would benefit less
by taking his property than by leaving it alone, the defendant insinuates that the people would not benefit at
all, for others would ‘divide it amongst themselves’ (diane/mountai, in the middle voice, Lys. 21.14). This
subtle variation allows the defendant to transform his version into an argument about political justice. As a
matter of justice, he assumes, the community is owed reciprocity, and only by letting the defendant remain
tamias of his own property could that just outcome be obtained; otherwise, the community would suffer
from negative reciprocity at the hands of plundering elites.
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