Investing in Democracy: The Practice and Politics of Jury Pay in Classical Athens By Robert Sing, B.A. (Hons.) This thesis is presented for the degree of Master of Arts of The University of Western Australia School of Humanities, Classics and Ancient History 2010 Abstract From the mid-fifth century the Athenian democracy paid every citizen who volunteered as a juror for each day of service. This system of civic pay had the effect of reducing the loss in earnings ordinary citizens incurred by participating in government. Since the popular courts were a powerful institution of the democracy, civic pay strengthened the power of the demos and helped ensure that Athens remained a democracy, of the direct Athenian kind, in fact and not just in name. Compared with other disbursements made by the Athenian state, comparatively little is known about jury pay and the aim of this study is to provide an over-due reassessment of this important political and financial phenomenon. There is no clear-cut evidence for when jury pay began, but the introduction is conventionally dated to shortly after the Ephialtic reforms of 462/1. This date is not, however, problem free, and the possibility of a later dating and a connection with the citizenship law of Perikles (451/0) should be acknowledged. The implications of juror remuneration extend beyond adjusting the makeup of juries. The provision of public money was an investment in popular sovereignty and, at a time when the courts were being incorporated into the administration of the Athenian empire, an investment in the empire itself. The radicality of the dikastikon resides in the way it not only transcended but also synthesised traditional, private benefaction with the distributions of surplus revenue the state had long made to its citizens as shareholders in the polis. Analysis of the likely purchasing power of jury pay during the Peloponnesian War suggests it provided most citizens with only partial compensation for lost earnings. That ordinary Athenians appear to dominate juries nevertheless, is an additional reason not to dismiss outright as comic distortion the Aristophanic characterisation of jurors as lower-class elderly men. The members of this group, after all, were less likely to lose regular incomes by serving. The comedies of Aristophanes, especially Knights and Wasps, focus intensely on the roll of jury pay in Athenian politics. Once a distinction is made between the poet’s criticism of the abuse of jury pay and jury pay itself, it appears that Aristophanes does not transgress the convention of not directly criticising the institutions of the democracy. His criticisms of Kleon, who increased the rate of jury pay in 425/4, are indeed scathing, but Aristophanes never questions the legitimacy of pay for jury service. The plays serve to suggest that there was ample room for criticism within the public discourse on pay. The period of Ionian War, particularly the temporary abolition of jury pay under the oligarchies of 411/10 and 404/3, nevertheless illustrates the tenacious commitment of the demos to jury pay and helps to explain Aristophanes self-restraint. The most striking feature of jury pay in the fourth century is its failure to keep pace with assembly pay and general wage inflation. When viewed in relation to the complex procedures introduced in the fourth century to render the courts resistant to bribery, and the greater allocation of responsibility to the courts, it is argued that a decision was made to maintain the dikastikon at a fixed rate in light of its vulnerability, and that of the courts, to political manipulation in the late fifth century. i ii Acknowledgements I am fortunate to have had in Dr. Lara O’Sullivan a supervisor of tremendous dedication and knowledge who has contributed so much to the pleasure of research. Her unending encouragement will always be greatly appreciated. Dr. Neil O’Sullivan also cast his discerning eye over the final manuscript and made several helpful suggestions. Any errors that remain are of course my own. What direct use I have been able to make of German scholarship is due to the generosity of Mrs. Gabby Meiner in providing me with excellent translations. This thesis is dedicated to my parents. iii Contents Abstract i Acknowledgements iii Note on the Text and Abbreviations vi Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Periclean Athens The Growth of Athenian Power and the Ephialtic Reforms 7 The ‘Rivalry Tradition’ 11 The Early and Late Datings 17 Accounting for Jury Pay: Participation 21 Accounting for Jury Pay: Benefaction 27 Conclusion 31 Chapter 2: Imperial Athens at War (431-15) Measuring the Cost and Effect of Jury Pay in the Fifth Century 33 The Increase of 425/4 42 The Politics of Pay and Aristophanes 45 Conclusion 65 Chapter 3: Revolution and Opposition (415-403) Sicily and the Desire for Pay 67 The First Abolition (411/10) 70 The Restoration and Second Abolition (410/09-404/3) 76 Anti-Democratic Thought and Jury Pay 82 Conclusions 89 iv Chapter 4: The Fourth Century (403-323) The Restoration of Democracy 91 The Stability of Jury Pay and the Composition of Juries 92 Jury Pay and the Democracy 98 Conclusion 100 Conclusions 101 Appendices A. Cimon’s Ostracism 103 B. The Cost of Jury Pay 105 C. How much could 3 obols buy? 109 D. Payments for the Diobelia (410/09, 407/6-406/5) 111 E. The Ekklesiastikon 113 F. The Date of the Theorikon 121 G. Jury Pay after 322/1 123 Bibliography 125 v Note on Text and Abbreviations For consistency and comprehension, Latinised spellings of Greek names and places have been preferred except when transliterating individual words or phrases i.e. ‘dikastikon’. The original Greek is provided where the original wording is of special interest. Translations of the Aristotelian Athenian Constitution are from the Penguin edition by P. J. Rhodes. All other translations are taken from the Loeb editions. Athenian monetary denominations, with abbreviations, are as follows: 6 obols (ob) = 1 drachma (dr), 6000 drachma = 1 talent. The abbreviations of ancient authors and works are those of the Oxford Classical Dictionary (rev. 3rd edition, 2003) and the following are used for modern publications: AC L’Antiquité Classique AJA American Journal of Archaeology AJAH American Journal of Ancient History AJPh American Journal of Philology AncSoc Ancient Society APF J. K. Davies, Athenian Propertied Families, 600-300 B.C. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971) Ath.Pol. Pseudo-Aristotle, The Athenian Constitution ATL Benjamin Dean Meritt, H. T. Wade-Gery, and Malcolm Francis McGregor (eds.), The Athenian Tribute Lists iii (Princeton: American School at Athens, 1950) C&M Classica et Mediaevalia CA Classical Antiquity CJ Classical Journal ClAnt Classical Antiquity vi CPh Classical Philology CQ Classical Quarterly CR Classical Review CW Classical World Fornara Charles Fornara, Archaic times to the end of the Peloponnesian War (2nd edn., Cambridge: CUP, 1983) G&R Greece & Rome GHI P. J. Rhodes and Robin Osborne (eds.), Greek Historical Inscriptions 404-323 BC (Oxford: OUP, 2003) GRBS Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies HCT A. W. Gomme, A. Andrewes, K. J. Dover, A Historical Commentary on Thucydides, i-v (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1945- 81) Hignett, AC C. Hignett, A History of the Athenian Constitution (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1952) Hornblower, CT Simon Hornblower, A Commentary on Thucydides, i-iii (Oxford: Clarendon Press and OUP, 1991-2008) HSPh Harvard Studies in Classical Philology Jacoby, FGrH Felix Jacoby, Die Fragmente der Griechischen Historiker, i-iii (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1923-1954) JHS Journal of Hellenic Studies KA R. Kassel and C. Austin, Poetae Comici Graeci, i-viii (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1983-2001) L.S. Immanuel Bekker, Anecdota Graeca, i: Lexia Segueriana (Berlin: G. C. Nauck, 1814) vii LCM Liverpool Classical Monthly Loomis, WWCI William T. Loomis, Wages, Welfare Costs and Inflation in Classical Athens (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1998) LSJ H. G. Liddell and R. Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (9th edn., Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1996) Meiggs, AE Russell Meiggs, The Athenian Empire (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975) ML Russell Meiggs and D. M. Lewis (eds.), A Selection of Greek Historical Inscriptions (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1988) RE Paulys Realencyclopadie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft RhM Rheinisches Museum Rhodes, CAAP P. J. Rhodes, A Commentary on the Aristotelian Athenaion Politeia (Clarendon Press: Oxford, 1981) TAPhA Transactions of the American Philological Association YClS Yale Classical Studies ZPE Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik viii Introduction The Athenian experiment in popular government was breathtaking in scale. The great civic performances that showcased the power of the citizenry, the demos,1 are familiar enough: the presentation of tribute at the Dionysia, the mass juries which were as emblematic of the city as Athena’s owl (Ar. Nub.197-200, Av.40, 108; Lucian, Ikaromenippos 16), and the assembly meetings where issues of state were decided by citizens raising their hands and voices. By the middle of the fifth century, a no less profound demonstration of the power of the demos took place upon the close of business in the courts. In the fading light, every citizen who had volunteered his time that day to help conduct the business of the polis came forward to collect his pay. The monetary payment made to citizens who served in the popular jury courts (dikasteria) was one of a number of regular payments made by the state known generally as misthos or trophe.2 The dikastikon is distinct from the stipends paid to officials, such as members of the Council of Five Hundred (boule), in that it was provided to otherwise private citizens who volunteered on a daily basis as jurors (dikasts) and who were not subject to the official scrutiny (euthyna) or term limits that were imposed on magistrates.