Papers by Sumio Takabatake
An idea of politeia appears to have played an important role in ancient Greek history. In 411 BCE... more An idea of politeia appears to have played an important role in ancient Greek history. In 411 BCE, for example, when some of the Athenians in Samos decided to establish an oligarchy in their homeland, they dispatched Peisander to Athens to do what was necessary to set up the new constitution there. At the same time, however, they also ordered him to change the politeiai of allied subject states on his way into oligarchies. Then Diitrephes, who had been elected to take command of the Thracian district, arrived at Thasos and abolished the democracy there. But Thucydides let us know that "things at Thasos turned out just the contrary to what the Athenian oligarchs expected" ; for the collapse of the democracy was the very state of affairs which some Thasians, who were banished by the Athenians and took the side of the Peloponnesians, coveted for and they revolted from Athens two months after Diitrephes left their country. And Thucydides concluded, "in my opinion this was the case in many of the other subject cities as well." This episode shows that the Athenians who aimed at oligarchical constitution must have thought that if they changed the constitution of the subject states into oligarchy, the same as Athens, they could gain a stronger relationship with them. This belief must have made them induce the upper class in Samos to join them in establishing an oligarchy, the very form of government which the Samians had recently risen to avoid. Although their intention of making oligarchic Athens safer was unsuccessful, a strong belief in politeia can be seen here. Their conduct must have originated from a belief that friends can easily be turned into enemies and vice versa through a change of politeia, which we may call a strong "politeia first" belief.
Seiyo kotengaku kenkyu, 1984
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Papers by Sumio Takabatake