Two Misunderstood Statements in [Arist.] Ath. 32.3 and Their Bearing on the History of the Four Hundred

0483892 - FLÚ 2018 RIV IT eng J - Článek v odborném periodiku
Nývlt, Pavel
Two Misunderstood Statements in [Arist.] Ath. 32.3 and Their Bearing on the History of the Four Hundred.
Athenaeum. Roč. 105, č. 2 (2017), s. 717-723. ISSN 0004-6574
Institucionální podpora: RVO:67985955
Klíčová slova: Aristotelian On the Constitution of the Athenians * ancient Athens * ancient Greek history * ancient Greek historiography
Obor OECD: History (history of science and technology to be 6.3, history of specific sciences to be under the respective headings)

This article offers two contributions to better understanding of Aristotelian “Athenian Constitution” 32.3. First, it is argued that the first sentence of the chapter means that the Five Thousand were in fact chosen after the establishment of the Four Hundred, but without any practical consequences. This is compatible with what Thucydides and pseudo-Lysias say about the regime. Second, it is claimed that there is no body of magistrates referred to in either Thucydidean or Aristotelian description of the establishment of the Four Hundred which could confidently be identified with the “ten men with exceptional powers” mentioned in [Arist.] Ath. 32.3. This means that the surrounding narrative does not allude to anything stated in the two constitutions. It thus seems that the author inserted the two constitutions into a pre-existent narrative without realising the resulting contradiction.
Trvalý link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0281754