BRIBERY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS Kellam ... - Historia Antigua

Conover Bribery in Classical Athens Chapter Four
ai)sxu/nhn, Din. 3.7)—both of which variations were relevant concerns for dōrodokia
from an external source, too (e.g. Dem. 18.63; kataisxu/naj, Dem. 19.255).
Yet there is a third variation that seems best to encapsulate the dishonor done the
city by pervasive domestic bribery, a frame which has the added advantage of bringing
together all of the elements at play in conceptualizing domestic dōrodokia as treason.
Dinarchus seems to get at the heart of the matter when he posits that leaders like
Demosthenes disgraced the city—literally, made it ‘base’ or ‘lowly’ (tapeinh/, Din.
1.98)—by so flagrantly defying its laws. According to this condemnation, corrupt
leaders who were part of a broader network of corruption were debasing the city precisely
by the way they placed themselves above the law.
There were two interrelated elements in this condemnation: Demosthenes and
others had contempt for the laws, and they displayed a more general contempt for the
values of the city. It was obvious that anybody guilty of dōrodokia had broken the law,
but Dinarchus’ more damning point is that Demosthenes thought himself above the law
when he broke it. So Demosthenes is contrasted with the general Timotheus, who
captured over 24 cities yet willingly acquiesced to the penalty imposed upon him for
taking money from the Chians and Rhodians (Din. 1.14-17, cf. 3.17). 71 Despite
Timotheus’ great services to the city, Dinarchus notes, the general did not ask for pardon,
but rather submitted himself to the law and the jury’s decision. By contrast,
Demosthenes seemed to think himself above the law, as if his previous services for the
city, incidentally far less impressive than Timotheus’, outweighed his current crime. 72 In
71 On Timotheus, see further Worthington (1992: 148-57 ad 1.14). Isoc. 15.129; Din. 1.14, 31.17; Diod.
16.21.4; Nep. Timoth. 3.4-5, Iphicr. 3.3; Aelian, Var. Hist. 14.3; DH Din. 677, Lys 680; [Plut.] Mor. 605f.
72 Dinarchus later expands on this argument by pointing out that even the gods fairly submitted themselves
to trial at Athens (Din. 1.84-7). That Demosthenes first proposed that the Areopagus investigate the
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