The Pandemic of Tyranny

This chapter deals with some of the dangers of the “pandemic” of tyranny that can be made worse during a time of a medical pandemic. In any event, it can result in an attempt to subvert a democratic regime towards more conservative and reactionary political forms. The author studies the case of the Thirty Tyrants of Athens (a result of Athens´s defeat by Sparta in the Peloponnesian War and after the death of Pericles during the pandemic that decimated Athens when it was sieged by Sparta) who substituted democracy with an oligarchy. A fierce repression ensued in which Socrates died, a symbol of the free thought of democratic Athens. The author analyzes the effects of tyranny on people and the Renaissance humanists´ desire to always be vigilant about tyrannical government. He focusses on the civic humanists Francesc Eiximenis (Valencian Kingdom, Crown of Aragon) and Coluccio Salutati (Florence).

Neither a New Cold War nor a New Peloponnesian War: The Emerging Cyber-narrative Competition at the Heart of Sino-American Relations

There is much pessimism as to the current state of Sino-American relations, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020. Such pessimism has led to some scholars and commentators asserting that the Sino-American relationship is on the cusp of either a new Cold War or, even more alarmingly, something akin to the Peloponnesian War (via a Thucydides Trap) whereby the United States might take pre-emptive measures against China. This article rejects such analogizing and argues that, due to important technological advancements found at the intersection of the digital and fourth industrial revolutions, most of the real competition in the relationship is now occurring in cyberspace, especially with regards to the aim of asserting narratives of truth. Two key narrative battlegrounds that have raged since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic are examined: where was the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic? and who has had the most successful response to the COVID-19 pandemic?. This article shows that Sino-American competition in cyberspace over asserting their narratives of truth (related to the COVID-19 pandemic) is fierce and unhinged. Part of what is driving this competition is the challenging domestic settings politicians and officials find themselves in both China and the United States, thus, the competing narratives being asserted by both sides are predominately for domestic audiences. However, given that cyberspace connects states with foreign publics more intimately, the international aspect of this competition is also important and could result in further damage to the already fragile Sino-American relationship. Yet, whether this competition will bleed into the real world is far from certain and, because of this, doomsaying via historical analogies should be avoided.

WAS THE POLIS A PERSON IN CLASSICAL ATHENS? CIVIC BODIES AND CHORAL POLITICS IN THE THEATER

In his History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides waits until he has passed the midpoint of Book 1 to introduce an individual speaking ‘character’ into his narrative. He does not do so until the scene of the Congress at Sparta (1.67–88), where it is first ‘the Corinthians’ and then ‘the Athenians’ who plead their cases before the Spartan assembly. One of the functions of this scene is to illustrate the internal division of opinion among the Spartans, and Thucydides now brings two distinct, elite Spartans onstage to voice their conflicting perspectives: King Archidamus addresses his countrymen urging caution (1.80–5), while the ephor Sthenelaidas makes suitably laconic remarks pressing for war (1.86). Before this turning point, Thucydides had carried out his analysis of the war's causes exclusively with reference to foreign rulers and Greek polis-populations (‘the Athenians’, ‘the Spartans’, etc.)—and not to any individual actors or leaders of those poleis, such as Archidamus and Sthenelaidas of Sparta.

CATALYSTS OF BARBARIZATION AND DEBARBARIZATION IN CLASSICAL ATHENS

В качестве факторов, способствовавших нарастанию варваризации в Афинах второй полвины V в. до н.э., в статье указываются создание Афинской морской державы, движение софистов, конфликт поколений, Пелопоннесская война, наступление «эры демагогов». Обратное же движение в сторону деварваризации (с самого конца Vв. до н.э.) было связано в первую очередь с возрождением уважения к законности, с укреплением стабильности и порядка. Новая афинская демократия IV в. до н.э., которую одни специалисты считают «усовершенствованным» вариантом по сравнению с демократией предшествующего столетия, а другие, напротив, ее упадком, кризисом, была в основном свободна как от охлократических, так и от олигархических тенденций; она может с полным основанием быть определена как умеренная демократия, в отличие от радикальной демократии второй половины V в. до н.э. Конфликтов не то чтобы не было, но их старались разрешать мирным путем, по возможности достигая компромисса и избегая насилия. The article cites as factors, which promoted the growth of barbarization in Athens in the last half of the 5thcentury B.C., the following ones: the emergence of the Athenian Empire, the sophistic movement, the conflict of generations, the Peloponnesian War, and the coming of the “era of demagogues”. As to the reverse motion towards debarbarization (from the very end of the 5th century B.C.), it was connected, in the first instance, with revival of the lawfulness’ authority and with strengthening order and stability. The new Athenian democracy of the 4thcentury B.C. (which is considered by some scholars an “improved” version as compared with democracy of the previous century, but by other scholars, on the contrary, its decline and crisis) was in general free from both ochlocratic and oligarchic tendencies; it may be with good reason defined as a moderate democracy, as distinct from the radical democracy of the last half of the 5thcentury B.C. It is not to say that there were no conflicts, but people sought to solve them by peaceful way, as far as possible, to reach compromises and to avoid violence.

Shifting Identities in Thucydides’s Sicily

This chapter explores the politics of identity in the Sicilian theater of the Peloponnesian War. Initially, most poleis in Sicily formed alliances based on ethnicity (either Dorian or Ionian), a form of kinship diplomacy that was typical in Greek politics. Camarina, however, allied with the Ionians despite being Dorian due to its unique polis identity, which had been shaped by hostility toward its mother city, Syracuse. Political decisions were thus conditioned by identities, and these, in turn, were often shaped by political rhetoric. An analysis of two speeches of the Syracusan politician Hermocrates, as rewritten by Thucydides, reveals a series of arguments, based on different identities in different contexts, that persuaded poleis to follow his recommendations. Identity thus played a central role in Greek politics, since the changing salience of different identities enabled poleis to make decisions on the basis of multiple identities over a short time.

Agricultural work on the sacred lands of Attica IV B.C. according to epigraphica

This article deals with the issue of carrying out agricultural work on the sacred lands of ancient Attica (Athens region) in the IV century B.C. The author relies on epigraphic sources, which are inscriptions on stone steles containing texts of lease agreements on sacred lands of the IV century B.C, and also uses information from ancient authors. The author also attracts scientific works of domestic and foreign authors devoted to the problem of agrarian relations in the ancient Greek polis. According to the author, the analysis and study of agricultural work on the territory of the sacred lands of Attica deserves a separate article, since the study of this issue makes it possible to more thoroughly consider agricultural relations in the Athenian polis of the IV century B.C, to present the meaning of sacred land ownership. In the first part of the article, the author analyzes the types and nature of agricultural work on sacred lands (temenos). The second part is devoted to the problem of responsibility of tenants and landlords for the performance of work on the territory of temenos. As a result, the author comes to certain conclusions. In the fourth century B.C, the sacred lands of Attica required special care after the end of the devastating actions of the Peloponnesian War. The temenos were at the disposal of the polis, with demes and religious unions as their landlords. The leasing of land made it possible to ensure the stable preservation of the land fund, to ensure the agricultural development of the temenos. Tenants (private individuals) were required to provide careful care for the leased land. At the same time, the author draws attention to the fact that in some cases the tenants were very well-known, wealthy citizens of the polis, for whom participation in the lease of sacred lands was a kind of liturgy. In such cases, it is difficult to determine who performed agricultural work on the leased land, most likely, it was special employees, whose work was paid by the tenant. At the same time, according to the epigraphica, there was no sublease.

Stasis in Corcyra: who was fighting there?

In this paper, I am attempting to present a different perspective on a famous passage from Thucydides’ Peloponnesian War (Thuc. 3.69–3.85), on the so called stasis in Corcyra island. Many scholars have scrutinized that passage in order to define what the stasis was or to fit it into the historian’s work. My aim is to elucidate the concrete case in Corcyra, not the model of the stasis in general. In this article, I analyse the source to find the answers to the main question, that is, who really was fighting in Corcyra (looking beyond simple dichotomy, which is stressed by Thucydides). I elaborate on the origins of the conflict, the role of individuals, the chief and background groups engaged in the strife and the process of gradation of the stasis, where the neutral status is practically impossible. I am trying to interpret this case of stasis not only as a struggle between democrats with oligarchs, but (what is equally important) as a commixture of different people or bodies of people, who often, in fact, were merely random dwellers (not only citizens) of the island.

Review of Wolfgang Fischer-Bossert, Coins, Artists, and Tyrants. Syracuse in the Time of the Peloponnesian War, Numismatic Studies 33, The American Numismatic Society, New York 2017, 371 pages, 27 plates; ISBN 978-0-89722-341-6

Review of Wolfgang Fischer-Bossert's book Coins, Artists, and Tyrants. Syracuse in the Time of the Peloponnesian War, New York 2017