BRIBERY IN CLASSICAL ATHENS Kellam ... - Historia Antigua

Conover Bribery in Classical Athens Chapter One
provision of a “payment” (misqw| =). 34 Although we might think of bribery when someone
persuades with gifts or money, as in Themistocles’ case, we should be aware that such a
phrase by itself did not denote bribery, as it need not entail a violation of norms. 35
Again, just as we might expect, the exact same description of an unproblematic
giving or receiving of dōra never denoted, on its own, the highly problematic idea of
bribery. Instead, there was always some additional clue to indicate that a speaker
intended ‘bribery’ (compensation + norm violation): a distinct verb, euphemism,
additional phrase, or contextualizing details. What we are after, therefore, is those
additional clues, a set of lexical tools that an Athenian had at his disposal to communicate
the social frame of bribery. Let us call this the Athenian vocabulary of bribery.
It was noted in the Introduction that, in evaluating a scene, the Athenians stressed
the outcome of any transaction. This outcome was conceptualized in two different ways.
The Athenians measured the result of a gift, meaning they tried to establish whether
something had been given in exchange for something else (i.e. compensation); and they
measured the acceptability of the final result, whether the outcome was to be deemed
good or bad (norm violation). Perhaps unsurprisingly, therefore, we find that the
vocabulary of bribery was broken down into two groups of words, each consonant with a
different way of conceptualizing an ‘outcome’: those that conveyed compensation, and
those that signaled a violation of some norm. In other words, the Athenians’ focus on
outcomes inclined them well towards a relational model of bribery.
34 Even the verb anapeithein (cf. a)nepe/peisto, a)napepeisme/noi, Hdt. 8.5), though often used in
dōrodokia contexts—e.g. Ar. Pax 622, Eq. 473, V. 101—is no clear indication of wrongdoing: LSJ s.v.
a)napei/qw 1-2.
35 Far from it: as Baragwanath (2008: 292) plausibly argues, Themistocles’ reputation may have been
enhanced, not hurt, by the fact that he profited while reconciling Greek and Euboean interests; similarly,
Frost (1980: 10). Persuasion with gifts or money need not entail bribery: e.g. Hom. Il. 9.112-13, Hdt.
8.134.1, Lys. 21.10, Xen. Cyr. 1.5.3. Cf. Theog. 192-3.
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