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

148 THE FALL OF THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE
anyone trying to make use of it. 64 Thucydides is firm in saying that
the commission proposed nothing else." Perhaps the syngrapheis could
not agree, some wanting to propose a narrow oligarchy, others preferring
a moderate reform, and still others opposing any change at
all."' More probably, the conspirators wanted nothing more than a
removal of the legal barriers to revolutionary proposals and got exactly
what they wanted from the commissioners-zealous, resigned, or intimidated
as each might be.
The provision inviting any Athenian to make any proposal he liked
suggests an atmosphere of freedom of speech totally at odds with the
menacing and tightly controlled mood at Colonus. The only speaker
was Peisander, who now openly revealed the program of the conspirators."
For the duration of the war, pay for public service not connected
with the war was abolished, except for the nine archons and
the prytanies, that is, the nominal and effective heads of state, who
would be paid only 3 obols a day. 68 The core of the program, however,
was the establishment of a council of Four Hundred "to rule in whatever
way they thought best, with full powers. " 69 The Four Hundred
were to be chosen in a most unusual way. The assembly would select
a board of five called "presidents" (proedroi) who in turn would select
a hundred men who then would each choose three more to make up
the council of Four Hundred. In the threatening circumstances, the
M8.6p; Ath. Pol. 29-4-
'ss8.67.2.
66
Such is the suggestion of HCT V, 167.
67
8.67. 3; 68. 1. It is possible that Peisander was a member of the board of ryngrapheis
and that his proposal was formally on their behalf, but I prefer to think he acted
independently of that group. Thucydides' account fits that more closely. Aristotle's
account can be understood either way. He begins his description of the program
proposed at Colonus in this way: J.LE'Tcl. &E 71x&ra "Tijv 1TOAL'TEW:v ~hk"Ta£av T0v8e T0v
'rp01Tov. The subject of 8t.€To.£cxv may be the syngrapheis (as Rhodes [Commentary, J8I]
believes) or the Athenian people (as HCT V, 217, argues). After the fall of the Four
Hundred, everyone involved would have wanted to shift the responsibility for the
introduction of that regime to someone else or at least to share the guilt. Aristotle's
account provides a greater sense of due process and legality; the commission, including
the probouloi, produces the program that will do away with the democracy; it is not
the work only of Peisander and his collaborators. This accords perfectly with the
general, and entirely misleading, picture he provides of a legal and gentle transition.
For a shrewd analysis of the reasons for the differences in the accounts, see E. Will,
Le mondegrec et /'orient, vol. I, Le V" sitcle (510-403) (Paris, 1972), 377-378.
66
Ath. Pol. 29.5; Rhodes, Commentary, 382. Thucydides' compressed account of this
measure is that "no one should hold office any longer under the present constitution
nor receive pay" (8.67.3). For the reasons for this compression, see HCT V, 168.
69 8.67.3: O.pxELv O'rrfl &.v O.pW'To. 'YL'YvWcrKwcrLv a:lrroKpli'Topa.;;.