Conclusions and Implications

the apologetic fervour of the early Socratics during the first decade of the fourth century must have caused much consternation, as well as deep resentment, among the so-called Late, or Rhetorical, Sophists, ¹³²⁷ who probably considered themselves the spokesmen of the restored democracy at Athens. The latter apparently saw in the energetic and eloquent efforts of the Socratics to rehabilitate their master a serious threat to the recently restored democratic regime, particularly since the Socratics probably combined their praise of Socrates and their insistence on his complete innocence with a defence of the oligarchic-aristocratic form of government. Also, in all likelihood, the Socratics once more subjected the restored democracy to vitriolic attacks. It could be maintained, therefore, that in their apologies of Socrates the Socratics tried, at least on a literary plane, to carry on the old and bitter struggle between oligarchs and democrats long after history had decided this struggle in favour of the democrats. Hence this ‘literary battle’ could also be regarded as just one particular aspect of, or incident in, the general controversy which had been raging between the partisans of oligarchy or aristocracy and the partisans of democracy. ¹³²⁸ In addition, the Late Sophists might also have considered the apologetic efforts of the Socratics a serious professional competition with their own activities. Should these efforts of the Socratics remain unchallenged, they might prove as dangerous to the Late Sophists and their political or professional aspirations as Socrates possibly had been to the sophistic movement of his day. Perhaps a belated oligarchic victory, after all, might even lead to their banishment or, at least, to a serious restriction of their activities, as had been the case during the reign of the Thirty Tyrants. ¹³²⁹ Obviously, these Late Sophists did not propose to surrender to this new threat or concede victory without a desperate struggle. As a matter of fact, it seems that they soon engaged in a series of sharp literary counter-attacks which left little if anything unsaid. One of these counter-attacks is the ϰατηγοϱία Σωϰϱάτους of Polycrates. ¹³³⁰ Polycrates probably had no personal quarrel with Socrates in particular. ¹³³¹ It may be conceded therefore, that the ϰατηγοϱία, aside from its political implications, was primarily occasioned by the professional ambition of 199Polycrates, ¹³³² who during his lifetime succeeded in becoming one of the more notorious rhetoricians. In this sense it could also be claimed that the Polycratean ϰατηγοϱία was what might be called the ‘masterpiece’ in the polemical exchange of ideas between the earliest Socratics and the Late Sophists. It could even be argued that the ϰατηγοϱία had been occasioned by Anytus, who, through the intermediary of Polycrates’ rhetorical talents, might have wished to counter any dissatisfaction with Socrates’ condemnation and death in 399 (Diogenes Laertius 2.43) by proving once more that Socrates had justly deserved death. This dissatisfaction, if it existed at all outside the Socratic circle, had probably been instigated and promoted by the Socratics.