Thucydides
A democracy is the most difficult form of government to run because it depends upon compromises and trust. Voters must trust that the politicians are deciding the tough, divisive issues in the best interests of everyone.
Greek city ruins
When times get tough, demagogues appear with false promises that encourage the voters to distrust the government. Distrust is followed by the death of democracy. This fate was experienced in the first democracy, ancient Athens.
In ancient Athens every adult male was eligible to vote. Their democracy supported an extensive trade network that made Athens wealthy. But Athens was threatened by the rise of Sparta. Both cities wanted to be the world power controlling the Greek city-states and trade routes around the Mediterranean.
Athens Acropolis
In 431 BC Athens enthusiastically went to war with Sparta, no doubt believing they’d be home for the holidays. Each side bribed and intimidated smaller city-states to join the fight. The war alternately favored each side as allies double-crossed the low bidders. One of the worst double-crossers was Alcibiades who eventually sold out everyone. (See my September 9, 2018 blog about Alcibiades: https://www.normashirk.com/history-by-norma/2018/9/9/schemer-traitor-betrayer)
Alcibiades fled his home town of Athens and showed up in Sparta offering to help them defeat Athens. Before long, the Spartans smelled a rat and Alcibiades on the road again. He went to the Persian territory of Lydia. While hiding in Lydia, Alcibiades concocted a brilliantly fiendish scheme that would allow him to return to Athens as a hero.
Tissaphernes coin
First, he convinced the Persian ruler of Lydia, Tissaphernes, to sit on the sidelines while the Greeks killed each other, as this would leave a power vacuum to be filled by the Persians. Then he contacted friends in Athens and offered them a deal they couldn’t refuse. He would convince Tissaphernes to support Athens in exchange for the Athenians allowing him to return and agreeing to end democracy.
At the time, the war was going poorly for Athens. They had just suffered the loss of most of their army and navy invading Sicily. Even though they were able to quickly rebuild the navy the loss was traumatic because Athens prided itself on its sea power.
Greek soldier
The losses in Sicily eroded trust in the government. Athens was being beaten by autocratic Sparta. Poor decision-making by the Athenian politicians eroded support for democracy. That distrust provided an opening for Alcibiades’ friends.
In 411 BC, Alcibiades’ friends, led by Pisander, argued that the only way Athens could win the war was to convince the Persians to enter the war on the side of Athens. The only way that would happen was to use Alcibiades as the negotiator because he had the relationship with Tissaphernes. But Alcibiades would only agree to help Athens if the city ditched its democracy and allowed him to return home.
Athens Acropolis
The offer stank to high heaven as far as most Athenians were concerned. Many people argued that Alcibiades was a low-down skunk who had double-crossed them before and couldn’t be trusted. Besides, inviting him to return would violate existing Athenian law and religious omens. Others were unwilling to give up on democracy.
Pisander won the argument by asking the equivalent of “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” He asked the Athenians if they thought they could win the war when Sparta had a navy equal to theirs, had more allies, and was receiving financial support from the Persians.
Overwhelmed by fear of the unknown future, the Athenians caved. Their decision was eased when Pisander implied that they could revert to a democracy when the immediate crisis was over. Of course, that’s not what happened. Once a small group of oligarchs had control, they sidelined all their political and religious opponents.
History by Peloponnesian War, Thucydides
Pisander went to Lydia to negotiate a treaty with the Persians. But Tissaphernes realized that Sparta was in the ascendancy which meant allying with Athens didn’t make political sense. Alcibiades took over the negotiations when he realized that Tissaphernes was wavering. Alcibiades made outrageous demands that he knew the Athenians couldn’t accept. Then he blamed the Athenians for the failed deal.
In 404 BC, a hit squad finally terminated Alcibiades’ treachery. In 403 BC, Sparta won the war. Democracy disappeared for over 1000 years.
I relied on the History of the Peloponnesian War, by Thucydides (1954 translation by Rex Warner, Penguin Classics edition). Thucydides is considered the first professional historian for his efforts to separate fact from fiction and to present both sides of the war.
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