On the Revolution of the four Hundred at Athens

Abstract

The copious discussion which has been raised in recent years on the subject of the Four Hundred at Athens has brought out at any rate one certain conclusion. Of our two main authorities for the revolution of 411 B.C. neither Thucydides nor Aristotle can be pronounced entirely right or wrong, and it is no longer admissible to settle the differences between them by canonising the one and ruling the other out of order. Both our authorities can be convicted of some palpable mistakes, but again both can be proved right by collateral evidence on many points of detail. In reconstructing the history of the movement our choice between these two sources must therefore not be made on the ground of any a priori preference accorded to the one or the other. The only safe procedure is to adjudicate each question outstanding between them on the special merits of the case. It is not to be expected that even by this method finality can be attained. But a review of recent controversy will show that only by a pragmatic method of treatment is there much chance of collecting a nucleus of agreed truth.