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

THE COUP 149
assembly would choose the proedroi designated by the conspirators.
The Five Thousand, publicly mentioned in previous discussions, 70
consisting of the men of the hoplite census and above, were also to be
drawn up, and the Four Hundred were empowered to call them together
whenever they saw fit." The assembly passed these measures
without dissent and dissolved. The democracy that had reigned for
almost a century would be replaced by a regime that excluded the
lower classes from political life and turned the present management
of the state over to a narrow oligarchy.
Thucydides, writing long after the event and fully aware of the
outcome, treats this occasion as the plain and simple establishment of
the oligarchy of the Four Hundred and dismisses all talk of the Five
Thousand as a smokescreen. But to the participants, without the benefit
of hindsight, the program must have seemed consistent with the
plans of the moderates that had already been the basis of public discussion.
The elimination of payment for almost all public services
except those related to the war and the establishment of an active
citizen body of about five thousand men limited to those of the hoplite
census or higher were the elements of their program. The introduction
of a smaller body of Four Hundred, temporarily charged with the
conduct of affairs until the Five Thousand could be brought into being,
was an entirely reasonable addition. None of this should have caused
any anxiety for the moderates in the movement. The only question
708.65·3·
71
8.67.3; Ath. Pol. 29-5· The divergence between Thucydides and Aristode is very
stark at this point. Thucydides does not mention the appointment of the Five Thousand,
since he regards their existence as theoretical and inconsequential at this time. Aristotle
does not mention the Four Hundred here. Instead, he describes the plan as turning
the state over to "those of the Athenians most capable of serving the state with their
persons and their property, to the number of not less than five thousand" (29-5). He
pictures the Four Hundred as coming into being only later. In his version, the Five
Thousand met and elected a committee of 100 to draw up a permanent constitution
for the future and another for the present. This latter, temporary constitution established
the rule of the Four Hundred in a perfectly legal way. The proposal was made
by the commission of 100 and ratified by the assembly of the Five Thousand. Although
they contain some complementary elements, there is no way to reconcile these accoums,
and Thucydides' version is clearly superior. In fact, Aristotle contradicts himself, for
after describing the activities of the Five Thousand related above, he says that after
the establishment of the Four Hundred, the Five Thousand were selected "in name
only." It is plain that Aristotle is following two sources, one of them Thucydides, and
has not resolved the differences between them. The result is a not fully coherent account
that is far inferior to the terse but consistent narrative of Thucydides. The simplest
and most attractive explanation for the divergence at this point is that "Aristotle was
deceived by a single deceitful document" (HCT V, 255).