BRIBERY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS Kellam ... - Historia Antigua

Conover Bribery in Classical Athens Chapter Four
It was therefore noteworthy when a citizen manifestly did not act corruptly, that
is, when he was vindicated for having pursued public office—and the timē it might win
him—not for the sake of gain, but for the sake of the community and its system of
honors. In fact, we find this concept attested in three honorary inscriptions from the
middle of the fourth century, where citizens are praised for their actions: in one, a
thesmothetēs is given an olive crown for doing his job “[well,] justly, and adōrodokētōs”;
in another, a judge of the Thargelia festival is honored for judging the winner of a
competition in the same manner; and in the last the public speaker Phanodemos is
honored and crowned for having given counsel “well, in pursuit of honor, and
adōrodokētōs.” 80
Although some scholars have posited that the adverb adōrodokētōs means
“placing communal ahead of personal obligations,” 81 if we turn to the orators’ usage of
the adverb (and cognate adjective), we find a clear indication that, as might be expected
of an alpha-privative formation, the adverb simply and literally meant “not engaging in
dōrodokia.” 82 What is striking about this usage is that in five of the seven passages, the
adverb is used in contradistinction either to an accusation that an official had committed
dōrodokia or to another person who demonstrably had committed dōrodokia (Aeschin.
3.82; Dem. 19.4, 19.27, 19.232, 58.35). Of the two remaining passages, one probably has
80
Respectively, IG ii² 1148.4-5 (before mid-fourth century): [kalw=j kai\ d]ikai/wj kai\ a)dwr/[odokh/twj
h]rcen] th\n a)rxhn; Veligianni-Terzi (1997: C8, 206). IG ii² 1153.5-7 (mid-fourth century): kalw=j ka/i\
dikai/wj kai\ a)dworodokh/twj e)/krine th\n [f]ul[h\n] nika=n Qarg/h/lia; Veligianni-Terzi (1997: C12,
206). IG ii² 223A12 (342): kal[w=j k]ai\ f[i]loti/mwj kai\ \ a)dwrodokh/twj; Veligianni-Terzi (1997:
B5A, 207). For post-classical uses of the word, Whitehead (1993: n.68) helpfully collects the following
citations: IG ii² 649.29-30, 1011.44, 1165.23-4, 1215.9, 1299.2, 1304.31, SEG xxv.112.9-10.
81
So Whitehead (1993: 68n.12) follows Herman (1987: 77-8) in understanding the adverb adōrodokētōs
as signifying that an official had put communal obligations before the personal ones entailed in giftexchange,
in other words, that one had actually abstained from gift exchange (cf. Herman [1987: 77]).
Similarly, Harvey (1985: 98n.78). Veligianni-Terzi (1997: 289) rightly questions Herman’s conjecture
but offers no better substitute.
82
Cf. Aeschin. 3.82, Dem. 18.250, 19.4, 19.27, 19.232, 19.274, 58.35.
207