The Fall of the Athenian Empire-(A New History of the Peloponnesian War) Donald Kagan - (1987)

110 . THE FALL OF THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE
By 411 the practical problems facing the democracy, its failures,
and its blunders intensified discontent with its institutions at the same
time that they provided the opportunity to attack them. The removal
from the scene of respected leaders such as Cimon, Pericles, and even
Nicias and their replacement by the likes of Cleon, Hyperbolus, and
even the nobly born but personally disreputable Alcibiades made democratic
rule harder for noblemen to accept. The absence of strong,
respected political leaders created and intensified divisions among the
Athenians. In 411 the vacuum of leadership seems to have been filled
increasingly by the hetairiai, the clubs that played an ever more important
part in Athenian politics, especially among the enemies of
democracy. 14
The members of these clubs, as well as others in the propertied
classes, had borne and were still bearing unprecedented financial burdens.
The costs of waging the war were higher than in the earlier years
because of the existence of a Peloponnesian navy that threatened the
Athenians' empire and food supply and required them to keep as large
a fleet as possible at sea the year round. Meanwhile, the expenditure
from the public treasury to civilians had not diminished but probably
had increased. 15 At the same time, public revenue was severely curtailed
by rebellions of tribute-paying allies and the reduction of income
from customs duties caused by the war's interference with commerce.
The problem was made more intense by a reduction in the number
of Athenians wealthy enough to assume the financial burden of religious
and military services required by the state. On the eve of the
war in 4 31, the number of Athenian men of hoplite census or above,
the status required for eligibility to perform these liturgies, may have
been as high as 2 5 ,ooo." By 411 the great plague and war casualties,
especially the losses in Sicily, seem to have reduced that number to
about 9,ooo. 17 Neither figure is either precise or secure; yet any reasonable
adjustment will still reveal a stunning diminution in the number
of Athenians available in 411 to pay the state's expenses.
Those expenses must have been very high if the speeches that have
come down to us under the name of Lysias are any indication. In one
of them, a certain Aristophanes is said to have spent almost 15 talents
14 For a discussion of the hetairiai, see Kagan, Peace of Nicias, 204-205.
15
See above, 3·
16
That is the estimate ofR. Thomsen, Eisphora (Copenhagen, 1964), 162-16J.
17 See above, 2. This is the figure given by the speaker in Lys. 20.13 as the number
of those enrolled as being capable of bearing arms, that is, as hoplites or cavalrymen.