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

196 J'HE FALL OF THE ATHENIAN EMPIRE
destruction of the fortifications that could permit the betrayal of the
city to Sparta and the beginning of a movement toward the constitution
they had sought from the beginning, the rule of the Five Thousand,"
Thucydides says that those chanting the slogan were concealing behind
it their true desire, a return to the full democracy. But they were afraid
to reveal their true desire, fearing that the Five Thousand might already
exist and that demanding the full democracy might expose each man
to danger, since his neighbor might be a member of the ruling group.
However, such reasoning could not apply to the moderate leaders or
to any other members of the moderate faction within the Four
Hundred, for they knew with certainty that the Five Thousand did
not exist, but even when applied to the ordinary soldiers, Thucydides'
assertion raises doubts. Why should men who had arrested their general,
had been prepared to fight a battle, and were beginning to tear
down a fortification ordered by the reigning government shrink from
joining in a general shout in favor of restoring democracy? What significant
additional danger would they incur by such an act? No doubt
many, if not most, of the hoplites would have preferred a restoration
of the democracy, had they thought about it. However, it seems better
to believe that they were not shouting out of fear but were simply
joining a chorus instigated by the moderates. 22
Shouting, however, would not bring down the oligarchy and replace
it with a moderate government. What was needed was a way to exert
pressure on the extremists without starting a civil war. The moderates
were aware that the Spartans had been counting on open civil strife
among the Athenians to give them an easy victory. We may well believe
that the men who had calmed the people when the news of the arrest
of Alexicles had filled the city with fear by reminding them that the
enemy was near had been inspired by the moderate leaders," On the
next day, therefore, they followed a moderate course meant to force
the extremists to yield but not to fight. The army in the Piraeus
completed the destruction of the fortifications and released the oli-
21
Andrewcs (HCT V, 314) thinks that the slogan was shouted by the hoplites to the
citizens of the Piracus. So it may have been, but I believe that the first shouts came
from those in on the plan, instructed by the moderate leaders.
ncaucion is always advisable in rejecting what Thucydides tells us. In this case,
however, he is revealing to us the thoughtr of a large body of men. We might wonder
how he could know them even ifhe were present, but he was not. We are thus dependent
on an opinion about so difficult a subject by an unknown informant. In such circumstances,
an independent judgment seems permissible.
lJ8.92.8.