Review of E. Caire, Penser l'oligarchie à Athènes aux Ve et IVe siècles (Paris 2016) (original) (raw)

An oligarchic democracy: Manipulation of democratic ideals by Athenian oligarchs in 411 BC

This paper explores the stratagems of the Athenian oligarchs on their way to power in 411 BC. It focuses on political propaganda-- the cynical manipulation of democratic ideals, principles and procedures for the purpose of promoting oligarchy as a different form of democracy. The study challanges the widely accepted view of a moderate Theramenist faction in an attempt to demonstrate that until the oligarchs have usurped power there is no justification for differentiating between extremists and moderates among them. As to the historiography of the revolution, the paper argues that, for all its weaknesses and deficiencies, on the whole Thucydides' account is a genuine attempt to free history from the distortion of propaganda, whereas the parallel account of the Aristotelian Athenaion Politeia , despite recent attempts at its rehabilitation and validation, appears by and large to have achieved precisely the opposite effect -- perpetuating by means of systematic omission and commission the historical distortion generated by propaganda.

Review of M. Simonton Classical Greek Oligarchy: A Political History

The Classical Review, 2018

Simonton (M.) Classical Greek Oligarchy. A Political History. Pp. xviii + 355, map. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2017. Cased, £37.95, US$45. ISBN: 978-0-691-17497-6. Oligarchy has long been the odd-man-out in the study of ancient Greek constitutional history. Democracy, as the form of government of the city which produced the majority of extant Classical literature, comes with a plethora of evidence on which modern scholars can draw. Tyranny and kingship were objects of fascination for Classical writers, and have received major attention from historians of Greek politics and thought. Oligarchy, however, has received far less scholarly attention. The paucity of evidence for oligarchic politics, coupled with the fact that much of the evidence that does exist comes from hostile, pro-democratic writers make it difficult to create a coherent picture of how oligarchic states actually functioned. With this book, Matthew Simonton (henceforth 'S') sets out to remedy this ommission by providing a political history of Classical Greek oligarchy. By 'political history', S explains, is meant a focus on the institutions, both legal and extralegal, by which oligarchic poleis kept the governing minority in power and ensured that the poorer majority remained docile (p. 3). S's first thesis is that Classical oligarchy should not be seen simply as a continuation of Archaic elite rule; rather, it represented a new, more exclusive and more repressive type of regime, created in reaction to the threat posed by democracy to elite dominance. S's second contention comes as a result of this historical perspective: oligarchy should be seen as a form of authoritarianism, in which the governing wealthy minority relied heavily on force and the threat of force to check any aspirations by the majority for greater political access. Finally, S argues, oligarchy was a fundamentally unstable system. Not only did oligarchic regimes face threats from a discontented demos, but also from within their own ranks. Individual oligarchs, eager for status and mistrustful of each other, might well be tempted to abandon their comrades and champion the interests of the demos, perhaps with an eye to eventual tyranny. Individual oligarchs thus found themselves trapped in the the famous Prisoners' Dilemma, obliged to choose between the certain, but smaller, benefits brought by intra-elite cooperation , and the larger, but much more risky prizes that came from abandoning the regime in quest of personal power. As a result of this instability, S concludes, the period in which oligarchies flourished was actually very short: the fifth century BCE marked the high-water mark of oligarchy in Ancient Greece; the fourth century saw a steady decline in oligarchies, and by the high Hellenistic period, democracy, not oligarchy, was the standard form of government in the majority of poleis.

Opposing the Panhellenists: The Oligarchic Resurgence in Athens, 413-411

The purpose of this thesis is to suggest why Athenian oligarchs reacted against the democratic agenda of Panhellenism in 413–411. Panhellenism was a gradual process of Greek cultural unification, which took on a politicized connotation after the Persian Wars calling for the accession of a hegemon to oppose the Persian Empire. This thesis examines the differences in political ideology between oligarchs and democrats, the increasing economic burdens on oligarchs to finance the Peloponnesian War, and the rift between oligarchic restraint (sophrosyne) and democratic courage (andreia) as the reasons for the oligarchs’ opposition to Panhellenism after the failed Sicilian Expedition. By examining Thucydides’ History, various speeches of the Attic orators and Athenian plays, as well as incorporating inscriptionary evidence, this thesis shows that Panhellenism was indeed not a universally held notion in Athens, and that further study must be done on the fragmentary nature of Athenian Panhellenism in the Classical Period.

Polis and Revolution: Responding to Oligarchy in Classical Athens

2011

During the turbulent last years of the fifth century BC, Athens twice suffered the overthrow of democracy and the subsequent establishment of oligarchic regimes. In an in-depth treatment of both political revolutions, the volume examines how the Athenians responded to these events, at the level both of the individual and of the corporate group. Interdisciplinary in approach, this account brings epigraphical and archaeological evidence to bear on a discussion which until now has largely been based on texts. It particularly focuses on the recreation of democracy and the city, both ritually and physically, in the aftermath of the coups and demonstrates that, whilst reconciliation after civil strife is difficult and contentious, it is also crucial for rebuilding a united society. Theories of remembering and forgetting are applied and offer a new way of understanding the dynamics in Athens at this time. Shortlisted for the Runciman Award 2012.