Oligarchy, Democracy, and Monarchy

Question 1

At what point in Hdt does the constitutional debate occur?

Answer 1

3.80-82

Question 2

Who are the speakers in Hdt’s constitutional debate and what do they each support and why?

Answer 2

Otanes, democracy, men are less likely to fall to vices if held accountable and ‘the people’ essentially equates to the state
Megabyzus, oligarchy, masses are not to be trusted with their ignorance and irresponsibility; the ‘best men’ have better education and qualities suited to government
Darius, monarchy, having a good man in government is the ultimate form which failures in the others often lead to.

Question 3

What does Simonton argue about the emergence of oligarchy? (2)

Answer 3

it was contemporary to the emergence of democracy
it developed as a counteraction to democracy

Question 4

What is the Old Oligarch’s praise for democracy in respect to what he understands its aims to be?

Answer 4

Main aim: preserve its constitutional form
Praise: they effectively achieve this

Question 5

What is the fundamental indication that a state is oligarchic?

Answer 5

property requirement for political engagement (usually membership in assembly)

Question 6

What conflict runs through the Old Oligarch and Thucydides?

Answer 6

natural social tension between the masses, who support democracy, and the wealthy, who are more oligarchic

Question 7

What is an economic reason naval power was equated with democracy in the ancient world?

Answer 7

it was cheaper on an individual level to be an oarsman than a hoplite

Question 8

Why does the Old Oligarch fundamentally oppose the system of democracy?
refence?

Answer 8

it places ‘worthless’ men, who are ignorant and undisciplined, in power over their valuable peers
1.1, 1.5

Question 9

What is the general content of chapters 1 and 2 of Old Oligarch?

Answer 9

Imagined criticisms of democracy with the explanation repeatedly being that they are deliberate as they ensure the maintenance of the demos’ power

Question 10

What is the content of chapter 3 of Old Oligarch?

Answer 10

how administration and public business is done very slowly in Athens

Question 11

When was the oligarchic Revolution of the Four Hundred? In what context was it est?

Answer 11

413. Post-failure at Sicily when morale was very low and a change was perceived as needed

Question 12

How was the government formed from the council of 400?

Answer 12

a group of 100 from the larger pool of 400 would be selected by lot to govern for one year

Question 13

What reason does Aristotle give for the demos supporting the council of 400 oligarchy? Thucydides?

Answer 13

believed it would win them valuable support from Persia (Ath Pol.29)
need for discipline in a time of uncertainty (8.1)

Question 14

When did The Thirty come to power? In what context?

Answer 14

404. The loss of Aegospotami and victory of Sparta over Athens, then Lysander coming to the city and installing the new oligarchic regime

Question 15

Under what pretence did the Thirty act on once they were in power?

Answer 15

restoring the ancestral Athenian constitution

Question 16

What does Aristotle refer to as the popularity turning point in the early phase of the Thirty?

Answer 16

mass executions of any who could threaten their power

Question 17

How did the Thirty regime come to an end?

Answer 17

Overwhelmed by pro-democracy rebels led by Thrasybulus (ath pol 37-8)

Question 18

What replaced the Thirty regime?

Answer 18

democracy headed by a council of 10 elected men with the enactment of the constitution happening in 403

Question 19

In what context did the Four Hundred fall? What replaced it?

Answer 19

Failures at Eretria and revolt of Euboea
Council of 5000 that required military equipment to be owned by the members and offered no salary

Question 20

What and when were the main reforms of Solon? Their significance?

Answer 20

c594 BCE
Properties for magistrate offices was based on wealth, replacing a birth system - dissolved the disparity between new money indivs and birth elites.
Athenian debts and those in debt-bondage were forgiven - contrib to the idea of Athenian identity that differentiated lower class poor Athenians from slaves w their pol status.
established Council of 400 that chose the agenda for assembly

Question 21

What appears to have been the intentions behind Solon’s reforms?

Answer 21

Ease social tension by loosening birth ties and privileges in upper classes AND strengthening rights among the lower classes

Question 22

What was the effect of the Pisistratid regime on the role of the elites in Athens?

Answer 22

reduced the awe the masses had for them in power with one individual serving them better than the elites ever had

Question 23

What does Eder say crucially formed in Ath politics after Pisistratid regime?

Answer 23

‘civilian self-conciousness’

Question 24

What and when occurred prior to Cleisthenes getting into power?

Answer 24

510-508
Civil war as a result of aristocratic competition

Question 25

What was the fundamental reform Cleisthenes introduced? (3) Significance?

Answer 25

Introduced the demotic system which contributed to the definition of citizenship and unity of the masses.
Demotic councils then contributed to new council of 500.
Institution of ostracism.
Asserted the idea of collective responsibility and Athenian identity on multiple levels, providing important political foundations for the next century.

Question 26

What changes did NOT necessarily occur under Cleisthenes?

Answer 26

Open debate
Abolish property qualifications for magistracies
Brought pay for government service

Question 27

What were the major ‘post-Cleisthenes’ reforms? Significance?

Answer 27

487 Selection by lot of archons and other magistracies.
462 Reforms that restricted the powers of the Areopagus meaning they could no longer halt decisions of the masses.
post-462 Intro/Greater emphasis on isegoria - the right for all citizens to speak in the Assembly which meant such greater engagement by the masses.
457/6 all offices no longer had property qualifications then government pay was introduced so working classes could afford to take on pol leadership.
451/0 new rules for citizenship based on the mother being an Athenian citizen.
440s state pay introduced for jurors, changing the way in which any individual was tried.
Last remains of elite monopoly of politics were lost and collective power of the masses was solidified.

Question 28

What intellectual theme in Thuc would likely have influenced his view on oligarchic revolutions?

Answer 28

stasis and its sheer negative impact, it was the greatest of evils

Question 29

What does Thuc say the 400 did once they sensed their popularity had declined? What does this indicate about the cause of the fall of oligarchies?

Answer 29

properly set up the 5000, having not done so due to their promotion by private ambition
self-interest was the destruction of oligarchies, especially emerging from a democracy

Question 30

What does Thuc suggest happens to rationality as a result of stasis? Significance?

Answer 30

rationality degenerates, emotion and ambition takes over
he himself loses a degree of rationality on the oligarchic coups

Question 31

How do oligarchs succeed in their power seeking acc to Thuc?

Answer 31

promote the community and polis in word (and word only)

Question 32

Why does Thuc appear to oppose the 411 oligarchy?

Answer 32

rejection of values and descent into disorder as to morals and political alliances; tyranny - like his disapproval of demagogues

Question 33

Which oligarch was treacherous in contacting Antyochos (sp admiral)? What appears to have been his motive?

Answer 33

Phrynichus
preoccupied by self-interest and protecting his own position, esp in opposition to Alcibiades

Question 34

What are the characteristics of the Ath oligarchs in 411?

Answer 34

immoral
no real patriotism

Question 35

Who does Thuc place at the forefront of the 400 revolution? Signif?

Answer 35

Antiphon, attic orator.
Thuc was v praising of his intelligence and virtue.
For his involvement in olig coup, he was executed.

Question 36

What does Antiphon outline as reasons some may support constitutional change?

Answer 36

individuals who had behaved dubiously in office under democ; they felt or had been hard done by current govt (disenfranchisement); risk of punishment under current govt; property could be restored under a new authority
i.e. wrongs done under current govt could be ignored/reversed and/or benefits could be reaped from a new govt

Question 37

What does Antiphon say on the role of oratory in democ vs olig?

Answer 37

It has no/little role in oligarchy but in democracy, it is v important, enabling him to be a ‘man who is all-powerful’

Question 38

What were the key areas in which slaves are known to have been exploited the most in classical athens?

Answer 38

craftsmanship
mining

Question 39

What was the economic justification for slave labour in classical Athens?

Answer 39

-using slaves was beneficial for revenue as they would earn back their initial price within c4-5 years
-in craft production, every day counted so using a slave meant the citizen owner could have leisure time (e.g. attending festivals) or engage in politics
-profits from low skilled labour was not good enough to fund dependants, of which citizens would have had but slaves would not have

Question 40

What reasons does Xenophon give for avoidance of labour by citizens?

Answer 40

The work slaves did was disfiguring and damaging for the body.
One’s soul looses strength.
Time to contribute to relationships and civic life is severely limited.

Question 41

How does Osborne explain Aristotle’s assertion that ‘the best city will not make labourers citizens’?

Answer 41

labourers were by vast majority slaves; this element of the population had to be excluded from citizenship in order for democracy to continue without contradicting itself to destruction - ‘citizens’ had to be, at least theoretically, equal and thus the jobs of service, in which a person was working FOR another had to be done by non-citizens

Question 42

What does the slapstick violence against slaves theme in Old Comedy show abt the attitude to slaves and comparison to citizens?

Answer 42

slaves’ bodies were not inviolable but rather used as a mechanism to maintain their subservience; citizens could keep their bodies safe

Question 43

What does Finley argue w respect to democracy and slavery? Justification? Pros and cons of this argument?

Answer 43

They grew in symbiotic relationship.
Slavery enabled the citizen man leisure time in order to engage politically.
Pros: slaves enabled the ‘fiction of citizen equality’ (Osb) to be maintained especially in the political sense of citizens being superior and thus not deserving of working under the command of another.
Cons: agricultural work, base of citizen economy, was not consuming all year round and afforded those involved decent periods of free time THUS no need for slaves

Question 44

How does Osbourne summarise the relationship between Ath democ and slavery?

Answer 44

‘It was not democracy as such which slavery
enabled in Athens, but a particular conception of the citizen body as made up of an
essentially homogeneous body of men, none of whom were subject to constraints
imposed by other individuals.’

Question 45

What particular set of circumstances does Osborne refer to as being almost inevitably causal to slavery?

Answer 45

certain conception of citizenship, to some extent informed by prejudice
+
economic units larger than a household

Question 46

For how long did the institution of ostracism last? What was an alternative?

Answer 46

first use = 487; last use = 416
BUT the practice had gone out of use with penultimate being in 440
Exile was used extensively - difference was that you get removed from city indefinitely AND property was taken away

Question 47

Context of Oath of Amnesty?

Answer 47

404/3: after all the oligarchic regimes, Pausanias had come in and forced parties involved in stasis to comromise and come to an agreement of amnesty

Question 48

Key points in Oath of Amnesty from Ath Pol?

Answer 48

-‘those who wished to emigrate should occupy
Eleusis, retaining their civic rights, with power and authority over their own property and receiving their revenue’; this group became eominated by the 30
-these migrants were not permitted to hold offices in athens whilst they resided there
-any trials for homicide would be done in usual process
-exclusion clause ‘nobody should
be permitted to recall wrongs against anybody, except against the Thirty, the Ten, the Eleven and the men who had ruled the Piraeus, and not even against these if they submitted euthynai’

Question 49

What was the tool of euthunai used against previous oligarchs in amnestry treaty? unususal abt the process in this context?

Answer 49

the audit of office that occured at the end of the term of office for any magistrate in athens
usually, the results were heard by a jury of any ath citizen BUT in this case - the governors of Periaeus were to be heard only by those living there, and those in main city should be heard by those living there who met a certain property requirement

Question 50

What does the use of euthunai in oath of amnesty represent? Tweeks made to its application?

Answer 50

attempt of the demos to impose accountability upon those who had ruined their constitution - culture of ‘accountability mentality’ v much present in democratic athens

Question 51

Which oligarchs appear to have gone through process of euthunai? Signif?

Answer 51

The Ten.
They were praised for this, being represented as respectful democratic citizens - almost a process of repentance? ESPECIALLY pertinent since the 30, many of whom at Eleusis, essentially got out of it and thus out of a punishment - underlying feeling of needing someone/thing to blame

Question 52

What are the problems around the purpose of 30 in restoring ancestral constitution?

Answer 52

accounts of assembly meeting in which this responsibility would have been bestowed vary
IF they did pursue with this purpose, was it genuine or rhetorical

Question 53

Who were the eleven?

Answer 53

councillors/officials who essentailly functioned as 30’s puppets
Ath Pol has them as prison guards

Question 54

What ‘unconsititutional’ things happened under the thirty?

Answer 54

juries no longer applied fully
trials not offered fairly
regime of violence and executions of those who may pose a threat

Question 55

Who were the Peiraeus Ten?

Answer 55

governors who had been put in charge of the Piraeus by the 30

Question 56

Who were the Ten?

Answer 56

successors of the 30
only shortlived as the exiles, led by Thrasybulus, were a continued major threat so Spartans brought in to defeat them after which, Pausanius brought oath of amnesty