Democracy in Action Flashcards

Question

Why was Mardonius keen to take revenge on Eretria and Athens?

Answer 1

They had supported the Ionian revolt.

Answer 2

No support from Sparta. Plataeans had agreed to send hoplites. The ten strategoi were divided 5:5 as to whether or not to fight. The polemarch Callimachus was persuaded by Militiades to cast the deciding vote. *Persuasion was criticial in the new democratic polity* -Herodotus as a source: he was not there but the speech he writes may reflect how generals would have sought to persuade others of their policy ideas.

Answer 3

He persuaded Callimachus to vote for battle and he also devised the winning tactics.

Answer 4

Plutarch claims his actions as general were crucial

Answer 5

Pheidippides

Answer 6

Herodotus says that the Alcmaeonids were accused of trying to signal the Persians in the battle's aftermath. He is a little too vigorous in his defence of them, and states they had been in exile for the duration of the Peisistratid tyranny – which was not true.

Answer 7

The Roman biographer Nepos thought that the Greeks were modestly appreciative, but he was writing in an age of excessive praise, and wanted to compare it to what he saw as the modest restraint and dignity of an earlier age In reality, the Greeks gave Miltiades command of 70 ships to attack the Persian supporting islands in the eastern Mediterranean; however, his adventure was a failure and he returned to Athens in disgrace. **He was found guilty of taking a bribe from the King of Paros, **and was thrown in prison as he could not pay the fine, wher he died of his wounds. He was found guilty because he was drawn to power, despite being just with it when it was in his hands, and the Athenians feared him. With respect to the new democracy, it showed that *all* were accountable.

Answer 8

Plutarch's account: From ostraka (plural of ostrakon) - pieces of pottery with a person's name. * 10 years. * No loss of property * Family not affected by the ostracism * Regained full rights on return * Still received income from his property while away Archaeologically, ostraka have been found in the agora and kermeikos (ceramics) districts. Historians are unsure if it was created by Cleisthenes Historians call it a 'cooling off period' for potentially troublesome politicians

Answer 9

Aristotle relates the first recorded ostracism: 487: Hipparchus, son of Charmyus, who seemed to have links with the Peisistratids and a potential tyrant. The next three were linked either to the Alcmaeonids or Persian supporters.

Answer 10

It was put on hold and those ostracised were called back; the last ostracism prior to the Persian wars being Aristides in 483.

Answer 11

1) Plutarch was writing over 500 years later. 2) He was copying others' retelling (e.g., Nepos' account) but no contemporary sources exist. 3) Plutarch was a biographer, not a historian, as such he was more interested in his characters' personalites, values, virtues. 4) As such, he was also keen to show his characters in a positive light, and may have made the story up.

Answer 12

1) Plutarch's account of Aristides does highlight an issue: the poorest and illiterate could still take a part in the process, but they could not write the name of the person they wanted ostracised 2) The system was open to abuse - an individual targeted for ostracism may not have committed any crime - hence Aristides ended up being ostracised. 3) Voters have a tendency to vote with the crowd without consideration of the issues. [And Athenians were renown for regretting their actions, as Aristotle once said - they condemned Socrates to death and then regretted killing one of their great men] 4) One person could write many ostakra - as was found comparing handwriting to ostracise Themistocles [nonetheless, that ploy did not work at the time]

Answer 13

2,264 ostraka have been found with 'Themistocles' written on from the 480s. 190 of them are written by the same 14 people How they were used is not known, maybe distributed among citizens, or smuggled into the counting area of the agora. What is known is that it did not work – he was not ostracised until the 470s.

Answer 14

Miltiades was charged and died of his wounds after his failed expedition to punish Persian supporting islands. Themistocles and Aristides vie for power in the power vacuum that is left (cf. Plutarch's writings).

Answer 15

Plutarch, as a monarchist, has a bias in his retelling of the stories against Themistocles – who he says refused to judge fairly in court. Aristides he held as being just - he was from the aristocracy. May be because he is looking at the Athenian demacracy through the eyes of someone living in the Roman empire. Plutarch's description of the rivalry between them in the assembly gives an insight into the ways in which politicians might manipulate the institutions of the demacracy to carry out their own personal feuds. Plutarch gives a full account of Aristides' behavior in court, so as to support the title of 'Aristides the Just'

Answer 16

In 483, the Athenians found a new seam of silver at the Laurion mines. (Plutarch is our source). As the mines were publicly owned, the people wanted the wealth distributed equally. Themistocles persuaded them to invest in 100 new triremes for potential use against the strong naval power of the island of Aegina. (Nepos has it against Coreya - but scholars think that he was mistaken - Herodotus, e.g., has it against Aegina too - (**hence the importance of cross-referencing**) Themistocles' policy seems to have been a ruse as a defence against Persia - he had been building up the navy for a decade. Plutarch believes that Aristides was ostracised for arguing against Themistcoles - had Themistocles encouraged the people to remove the threat to building his navy?

Answer 17

No one know, but Themistocles thought of a answer to the cryptic message. Themistocles argued that more of the poorer citizens should serve in rowing for the navy, altering the power of the navy relative to the hoplites: the navy was more important to Athenian strength - the oars were the 'wooden walls.' His ploy also reflected a shift towards a more democratic polis, since the poor could always become rowers, while being a hoplite required some means to afford the armour and weaponry. More political power was thus transferred to the lower classes.

Answer 18

Under the Peisistratids, Athens had elected nine archons for ten years to supervise religious, cultural, legal and economic affairs. After Cleisthenes' reforms, each archon could hold office for only a year - a measure designed to avoid tyranny. In 487, Aristotle wrote, the selection changed to random lot from a pool of 500, those entered were scrutinized to make sure they were fit for the office. Other magistrates for different lower level functions had alreadby been drawn from different social ranks though.

Answer 19

Women and slaves could not vote. Yet Pericles is said to have spoken at about the power of the stat being in the hands of the 'whole people.' This was quoted by Thucydides, who may have attended Pericles' funeral oration celebrating the lives of citizens who had died for Athens in the first year of the Peloponnesian war. So was Pericles hinting that all Athenians had some role to play in its politics, even though that role may not have been formalised into voting and representing?