BRIBERY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS Kellam ... - Historia Antigua

Conover Bribery in Classical Athens Chapter One
Bribery, Politics, and the Problem of Definition
Every inquiry into bribery must grapple with the question of definition: what is
bribery? Typically, bribery is assumed to be an illicit payment to an official to obtain
services or to avoid costs; that is, bribery is considered a particular type of abuse of
public power for private gain. 1 So, for instance, paying a policeman not to write a
speeding ticket, paying a legislator to vote a particular way, or paying a bureaucrat for a
public contract or to expedite some public service are all classic examples of bribery in
action, according to this definition. But what about paying a student to get good grades, a
referee or athlete to throw a sporting event, or a bureaucrat who demands additional
compensation for the provision of a public service? Are these not bribery, as well? Are
they somehow qualitatively and meaningfully distinct from the above definition?
One response might be to narrow our scope to include only ‘political’ bribery—so
that pay-for-grades and athletic bribery are not included—and to differentiate between
bribery and extortion, which might eliminate the last example given. In this way, we
might arrive at a satisfactory set of actions, all firmly located within the public sphere
(however that is defined), and all readily described as bribery. This is, in fact, the course
adopted by most scholars, and there is much to recommend it, as it allows us to compare
cross-culturally what does and does not constitute bribery. In the case of ancient Athens,
1 On this definition, see the recent discussion in Johnston (2005: 10-12). Alternatively, bribery is
conceptualized as a means to corrupt a person’s (sc. public official’s) judgment, a definition used by
Harvey (1985: 77) and Taylor (2001: 53) in their examinations of ancient bribery. Such a definition,
however, quickly blends into an “illicit payment”: if it were licit, there would be no corruption of
judgment; and the payment would not be necessary if the official was already going to do what was being
paid for. The definition of bribery given above can thus be taken, simply, as an elaboration of why a
corrupting payment is successful (because it succeeds in creating an abuse of public power for private
gain).
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