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

I6o
THE FALL OF THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE
was incomplete, omitting any reference to the judiciary, for instance.
It appears to have been influenced by the federal constitution of Boeotia
and smacks of theoretical discussion with the Sophists. The state was
to be managed by a council of unspecified number drawn from members
of the Five Thousand over the age of thirty who would serve
without pay. Unexcused absences from meetings of the council would
be punished by a fine. The council itself was to be divided into four
sections, each section serving, in rotation, on behalf of the full council
for one year. Since the generals and other major officials must be chosen
from the council in office at the time, they could serve only one year
in four, just one of many inconveniences in this draft constitution that
reveal it to be the work of impractical theorists. 7 The extremists cared
little about such details, since they had no intention of giving way to
a new regime. They were willing to assent to any scheme for the future
as long as they kept a firm grip on power in the present. Shrewder
moderates no doubt recognized the weaknesses of the draft constitution
but were glad to get any promise of a change to a broader regime in
the future. Details could be worked out when the situation permitted.
It was probably on the twenty-second ofThargelion (June I7, 4I I),
eight days after seizing power, that the Four Hundred formally inaugurated
their rule with the customary prayers and sacrifices. At the
same time, no doubt, the anagrapheis published their two new constitutions,
one for the prest;nt and one for the future, claiming the two
had been voted by the Five Thousand.' But the vote of approval was
entirely a fiction, for the body of the Five Thousand had not been
designated and, therefore, could not assemble. The Four Hundred
probably presented the constitutions in the form of a decree of the
Five Thousand, complete with the name of the president of the meeting
and the date of enactment, to lend verisimilitude to the fraud. 9 Although
this would not have fooled the moderates or those outside the
Four Hundred who were well connected and alert to events, most
Athenians were frightened, confused, and ignorant. Both before and
well after this public event, most Athenians believed that the Five
7
Atb, Pol. 30 describes the constitution for the future. For valuable discussions of
its provisions and of previous scholarship, see HCT V; and Rhodes, Commentary, ad
loc.
8
Such is the very plausible reconstruction of events by Rhodes (Commentary, 406).
He follows the general approach of Meyer (Forscb, 11, 425-435) and I-lignett (HAC,
l5