71 definitions
The book's index
The Athenian Constitution
60 concepts · 71 definitions
- acquittal1
- amnesty1
- Areopagus1
- assembly1
- authority1
- citizen1
- citizenship1
- corruption1
- courage1
- credulity1
- debt1
- demagogue2
- demagoguery1
- democracy3
- disarmament1
- election1
- embezzlement1
- empire1
- exile1
- faction1
- favoritism1
- Franchise1
- free speech1
- generosity1
- golden age1
- guilt1
- homicide1
- indignation1
- indulgence1
- jury2
- justice1
- law3
- legislator1
- mediator1
- moderation1
- neutrality1
- office1
- oligarchy2
- oracle1
- ostracism1
- people1
- Pericles1
- pollution1
- popularity1
- power1
- procrastination1
- prosperity1
- reconciliation1
- revolution1
- sea power1
- serf1
- sortition2
- statesman1
- terror1
- tribe1
- tyranny3
- tyrant1
- vote1
- war1
- wealth2
Law (n.) written in general terms can never be perfect, so its vagueness hands the final word to whoever judges it.
Law (n.) can be written to fit one man: the Thirty passed two laws whose only purpose was to strip Theramenes of the franchise so they could kill him.
Law (n.) is how might and right get yoked together.
Tyranny (n.) starts by doing what the city wants: the Thirty first destroyed the informers and were applauded, then killed anyone eminent for wealth, birth or character.
Tyranny (n.) can begin with a self-inflicted wound: Pisistratus cut himself, blamed his rivals, and was voted the bodyguard he used to seize the Acropolis.
Tyranny (n.) turns harsh after a failed assassination: once his brother was killed, Hippias became distrusted and embittered, and the regime with him.
Democracy (n.) earns its power justly when it wins its own return by its own exertions.
Democracy (n.) is master of everything and administers everything by votes and courts, at its height.
Democracy (n.) is usually lenient: Athens let the tyrants' partisans stay in the city, provided they had not joined in the crimes.
A Demagogue (n.) is outbid by the next demagogue: Cleophon gave the people two obols for the theatre, and Callicrates ousted him by promising a third.
A Demagogue (n.) arrives with coarseness: Cleon was the first to shout and abuse from the speaker's platform, cloak hitched up, where all before him had spoken decently and in order.
A Jury (n.) gave the masses their strength through the court: whoever is master of the vote is master of the constitution.
A Jury (n.) at Athens was shuffled at every step so no one could know his court in advance or collect the jurors of his choice.
Wealth (n.) can become a fleet — a windfall a people wants to divide among themselves: Themistocles turned the silver-mine profit into the hundred triremes that won Salamis.
Wealth (n.) must restrain its swelling soul, when a man is sated and overflowing: 'Ye shall not have all at your will, and we will not for ever obey.'
Oligarchy (n.) came to Athens as a foreign-policy move: the real argument was that the king of Persia would rather ally with a few than with the people.
Oligarchy (n.) keeps its base on paper: the Five Thousand were only nominally selected, while the Four Hundred sat in the Council-house and ruled.
The Sortition (n.) is democracy's answer to the fixer: even the man who hangs the jurors' tickets is chosen by lot, lest the same person could tamper every time.
The Sortition (n.) mocks the law of property qualifications: treasurers must legally be of the richest class, yet whoever the lot falls on serves, even a poor man.
A Citizen (n.) who is good can live under any constitution, but under none will he countenance illegality.
The Golden age (n.) was what Athenians called a tyranny — because the tyrant's sons were so much worse.