Exile, Ostracism, and Democracy: The Politics of Expulsion in Ancient Greece

361 Pages·2005·1.46 MB·English

by  Sara Forsdyke

Exile, Ostracism, and Democracy
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Exile, Ostracism, and Democracy
the politics of expulsion
in ancient greece
Sara Forsdyke
princeton university press
princeton and oxford
Copyright#2005byPrincetonUniversityPress
PublishedbyPrincetonUniversityPress,41WilliamStreet,Princeton,NewJersey08540
IntheUnitedKingdom:PrincetonUniversityPress,3MarketPlace,Woodstock,
OxfordshireOX201SY
AllRightsReserved
ISBN:0-691-11975-9
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Forsdyke,Sara,1967–
Exile,ostracism,anddemocracy:thepoliticsofexpulsioninancientGreece/SaraForsdyke.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-691-11975-9(cloth:alk.paper)
1. Exile(Punishment)—Greece—Athens—History. 2. Power(Socialsciences)—
Greece—Athens—History. 3. Politicalcrimesandoffenses—Greece—Athens—
History. 4. Democracy—Greece—Athens—History. 5. Athens(Greece)—Politicsand
government. I. Title.
JC75.E9F672005
364.6'8—dc22 2004065773
BritishLibraryCataloging-in-PublicationDataisavailable
ThisbookhasbeencomposedinElectra
Printedonacid-freepaper.1
pup.princeton.edu
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Finn, Thomas, and Sophie
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Chronology xi
Abbreviations and Conventions xiii
Introduction
Problems, Methods, Concepts 1
Chapter One
Setting the Stage
Intra-elite Conflict and the Early Greek Polis 15
Continuity and Change: Social Diversity in Dark Age Greece 17
The Eighth Century and the Rise of the Polis 18
Conclusion 28
Chapter Two
The Politics of Exile and the Crisis of the Archaic Polis
Four Case Studies: Mytilene, Megara, Samos, and Corinth 30
Archaic Poetry and History: A Methodological Introduction 32
Mytilene 36
Megara 48
Samos 59
Corinth 69
Conclusion 77
Chapter Three
From Exile to Ostracism
The Origins of Democracy in Athens, circa 636–508/7 79
The Politics of Exile in Archaic Athens: Cylon, Draco, and the
Trial of the Alcmeonidae 80
The Beginnings of Change: Solon 90
A New Type of Politics: Pisistratus and Sons 101
An End to the Politics of Exile: Cleisthenes and the
Democratic Revolution 133
Conclusion 142
Chapter Four
Ostracism and Exile in Democratic Athens 144
The Procedure of Ostracism 146
Ostracism as a Symbolic Institution 149
viii CONTENTS
Ostracisms in Fifth-Century Athens 165
Other Forms of Exile under the Athenian Democracy 178
Exile and the Oligarchic Revolutions of 411 and 404 181
Conclusion 204
Chapter Five
Exile and Empire
Expulsion in Inter-State Politics 205
Athenian Control and Limitation of Exile: The Erythrae Decree 207
Further Regulation of Exile: The Chalcis Decree 210
A Judicial Decree? 223
Thucydides, Isocrates, and the Legitimacy of Athenian Power 226
Exile and the Tyrant City: A Critique of Athenian Power 232
Exile and the Mythical Past: The Defense of Athenian Power 234
Conclusion 239
Chapter Six
Exile in the Greek Mythical and Historical Imagination 240
Myth, History, and Social Memory: Approaching the Greek
Historical Imagination 242
Exile in the Democratic Tradition 244
Exile in the Anti-Democratic Tradition 267
Conclusion 276
Conclusion 278
Appendix One: The Date of the Athenian Law of Ostracism 281
Appendix Two: Ostracism outside Athens 285
Appendix Three: Exile in Spartan Myth and History 289
Bibliography 301
Index Locorum 327
General Index 334
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ThisstudyoriginatesinPrincetonPhDdissertation,buthasbeencompletely
rewritten and expanded. I would like to acknowledge, however, the support
andguidanceIreceivedfromthemembersoftheClassicsDepartmentduring
my years at Princeton. In particular, Josh Ober not only provided a brilliant
exampleofintellectualenergyandinsight,butwasamodelofconscientious
andempatheticmentorship.
IoweagreatdealtomycolleaguesintheDepartmentofClassicalStudies
and the Department of History at the University of Michigan. It is a great
privilegetobesurroundedbysuchagroupofdiverse,talented,andenergetic
scholars.Ihavefrequentlyavailedmyselfoftheirknowledgeandadvice,and
theyhavealways responded withgreatgenerosity.Inparticular,Iwould like
tothankBenjaminAcosta-Hughes,SueAlcock,DonCameron,JohnCherry,
Derek Collins, Beate Dignas, Bruce Frier, Sally Humphreys, Sabine Mac-
Cormack,DavidPotter,RuthScodel,andRayVanDam.Ioweaparticular
debt of gratitude to Sharon Herbert, who as chair provided support in im-
portantways.Iwouldalsolikeaacknowledgethedepartment’stalentedgrad-
uatestudents.Theirinquisitivenessandcriticalthinkinghaveprovidedfurther
stimulustobroadenanddeepenmythoughts.
I would like to thank the members of the Classics Department at the
University of Chicago for their hospitality during a year of leave (2000–
2001). In particular, I benefited from the kindness and learning of Danielle
Allen, Shadi Bartsch, Chris Faraone, Jonathan Hall, and James Redfield. A
symposium on the ritual aspects of ostracism held in Chicago in May 2001
was particularly helpful for clarifying my thoughts on the relation between
ostracism, religion, and magical practices.
Iamgratefultothefollowingscholarswhohavereadchaptersinadvance
or answered my inquiries: Susan Alcock, Ryan Balot, Stefan Brenne, Paul
Cartledge, Walter Donlan, Antony Edwards, Lisa Nevett, Robin Osborne,
Walter Scheidel, Ruth Scodel, James Sickinger, and Peter Siewert. Robert
Chenault read through the entire manuscript with an eagle eye, and saved
mefrommanyerrorsandinconsistencies.IthankCharlesMyersandJennifer
Nippins of Princeton University Press for their expert and friendly editorial
assistance.
Anearlierversionofpartsofchapters2,3,and4appearedinarticleformas
‘‘Exile, Ostracism, and the Athenian Democracy’’ in Classical Antiquity 19
(2000):232–63.Forpermissiontoreprintthismaterial,IthanktheUniversity
ofCaliforniaPress.
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