Page:A History of Ancient Greek Literature.djvu/192

1 68 LITERATURE OF ANCIENT GREECE and speaks to the Assembly,'^ and, as a fact, ^^ does somehow find out %vhat is to his interest and that of the masses. Ignorance plus Vileness plus Loyalty is a safer combination in an adviser of the Demos than Wisdom plus Virtue plus Disaffection!' As for the undue licence allowed to slaves and resident aliens, it is true that you cannot strike them, and they will not move out of your way ; but the reason is that neither in dress nor in face is the true Athenian commoner at all distinguishable from a slave, and he is afraid of being hit by mistake ! The writer goes over the constitution in detail without finding a serious fiaw : everything is so ordered — the elective offices, the arrangements with the allies, the laws about comedy and about the public buildings — as to secure the omnipotence of the Demos. For in- stance, the system of making the allies come to Athens for their lawsuits is oppressive, and sometimes keeps litigants waiting as long as a year before their cases can be heard. But it provides the pay of the jury- courts ! It enables the Demos to keep an eye on the internal affairs of the whole Empire and see that the ' Good ' do not get the upper hand anywhere. It makes the allies realise that the * Mob ' is really their master, and not the rich admirals and trierarchs whom they see representing Athens abroad. Then it brings taxes ; it means constant employment for the heralds, and brisk trade for the lodging-house keepers and the cabmen and those who have a slave to hire out. If only we had a hundred pages of such material as this instead of thirteen, our understanding of Athenian history would be a more concrete thing than it is. It is hard to see the exact aim of the Old Oligarch. He discusses coolly the prospect of a revolution. No