Ephialtes
Ephialtes (Greek: Ἐφιάλτης, Ephialtēs) was an ancient Athenian politician and an early leader of the democratic movement there. In the late 460s BC, he oversaw reforms that diminished the power of the Areopagus, a traditional bastion of conservatism, and which are considered by many modern historians to mark the beginning of the radical democracy for which Athens would become famous. These powers included the scrutiny and control of office holders, and the judicial functions in state trials. He reduced the property qualifications for holding a public office, and created a new definition of citizenship.[1] Ephialtes, however, would not live to participate in this new form of government for long. In 461 BC, he was assassinated, probably at the instigation of resentful oligarchs, and the political leadership of Athens passed to his deputy, Pericles.
Early actions
Ephialtes first appears in the historical record as the
Attack on the Areopagus
Around this time, Ephialtes and his political allies began attacking the
Death and legacy
The success of Ephialtes' reforms was rapidly followed by the ostracism of Cimon, which left Ephialtes and his faction firmly in control of the state, although the fully fledged Athenian democracy of later years was not yet fully established; Ephialtes' reforms appear to have been only the first step in the democratic faction's programme.[12] Ephialtes, however, would not live to see the further development of this new form of government: he was assassinated in 461 BC. The earliest source we have on Ephialtes himself and his death is Antiphon (orator) (5.68), writing in 420 BC, who states that the identity of the murderer was unknown. “Thus those who murdered Ephialtes, one of your citizens, have never been discovered to this day, and if someone expected his [Ephialtes'] associates to conjecture who were his murderers, and if not, to be implicated in the murder, it would not have been fair to the associates. In addition, the murderers of Ephialtes did not desire to hide the body so there would be no danger of betraying the deed.”[13]
Aristotle, writing c. 325 BC in his Constitution of the Athenians (25.4),[14] states that Aristodikos of Tanagra was the culprit. It is possible that Aristodikos of Tanagra was part of an oligarchic plot; his political ally[citation needed] Pericles would go on to complete the governmental transformation and lead Athens for several decades.[15] Scholar Robert W. Wallace reasons that had Ephialtes been murdered by somebody outside the radical faction, the radicals would have made Ephialtes a martyr and led a crusade to find the perpetrator. This didn't happen, so the murderer likely came from within Ephialtes' own faction.[16]
Notes
- ^ Morris & Raaflaaub, Democracy 2500: Questions and Challenges
- ^ "Ephialtes (4)," from The Oxford Classical Dictionary, Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth, ed.
- ^ Unless otherwise noted, all details of this conflict are drawn from Plutarch. (Plutarch’s Cimon 16.8; Scott-Kilvert 1960) Cimon 16.8.
- ^ Plutarch, Cimon 16.8
- ^ Plutarch, Cimon 16.8; Plutarch is quoting here from Ion of Chios.
- ^ Kagan, The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, 72
- ^ Kagan, The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, 64-5. See also Aristotle, Constitution of the Athenians, 23
- ^ Unless otherwise noted, all details of this campaign are drawn from Aristotle, Constitution of the Athenians, 25
- ^ Hignett, History of the Athenian Constitution, 341
- ^ De Ste. Croix, The Origins of the Peloponnesian War, 179
- ^ Kagan, Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, 73-74
- ^ Hignett, History of the Athenian Constitution, 217-18
- ^ Antiphon. On the Murder of Herodes. p. 5.68.
- ^ Aristotle. Constitution of the Athenians. p. 25.4.
- ^ Plutarch, Pericles, 10.6-7
- ^ Robert W. Wallace, "Ephialtes and the Areopagus," Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies XV (1974), pg. 269.
References
- Frederic George Kenyon – via Wikisource.
- ISBN 0-7156-0640-9
- Hignett, Charles. A History of the Athenian Constitution (Oxford, 1962) ISBN 0-19-814213-7
- Hornblower, Simon, and Anthony Spawforth ed., The Oxford Classical Dictionary (Oxford University Press, 2003) ISBN 0-19-866172-X
- ISBN 0-8014-9556-3
- Plutarch (1683). . Lives. Translated by John Dryden – via Wikisource.
- Plutarch (1683). John Dryden – via Wikisource. . Lives. Translated by