BRIBERY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS Kellam ... - Historia Antigua

Conover Bribery in Classical Athens Chapter Five
under their domain of authority. 80 Inasmuch as any derelict official had offended both
the gods and the community at large, it was the Areopagus that properly assessed this
offense and determined the proper recompense. 81 Although the people themselves would
judge the justice of a magistrate’s specific judgment in an ephesis, the Areopagus was the
natural choice to restore the larger relationship of reciprocity between official and
community. Thinking in terms of domains of authority, therefore, allows us to make
better sense of the Solonian law in action.
By probing changes in the substance, punishment, and procedure entailed in the
original law on dōrodokia, we have been able to reconstruct a much richer context for the
original Solonian legislation. Although a functionalist approach might explain why
Solon created some legislation on dōrodokia, the significance of this legislation,
including its penalty and process, has been gleaned only by uncovering the process of
‘translating’ the dōrodokos into a legal entity. As we extend this legal history in the
following chapter, we will find that a number of hallmarks of the democracy—including
standardized public accountability and institutional bulwarks for collective action—were
articulated in opposition to dōrodokia. By carving out a legal space for the dōrodokos,
the Athenians established firm legal grounding for democratic politics.
A number of key issues that surfaced within the Demosthenic law will be raised
again in the next chapter. Solon’s concern that a single official or board might
subordinate the community’s interests would trouble the Athenians for at least another
80 The Areopagus’ role as protector of the laws can be understood, in part, as an outgrowth of its role in
policing religious pollution. After all, the Areopagus was renowned as a hallowed body: Dem. 59.80, IG
ii² 204.16-33 (decree granting Areopagus authority over certain religious sanctuaries, 352/1). Note how the
penalty for most of these crimes was exile, a purging of the offender from the community: so Allen (2000:
210-11).
81 Archaic literature depicts corrupt judges as offensive to especially Zeus and the goddess Dikē (Justice):
Hom. Il. 16.386-8, Hes. WD 250-1, 256-62, Theog. 330.
250