ABSTRACT

There are many references to bribery in Athenian public life in the fifth and fourth centuries bc. When Aristophanes suggests that politicians receive a constant stream of valuable gifts, no doubt he is exaggerating for comic effect, but his satire would not have been found amusing or effective by his audience if there had not been at least a grain of truth behind it. The surviving oratory of this period also contains many allegations of bribery. By the middle of the fourth century the system of allotment of jurors to courts was changed again; jurors ceased to be assigned to ten panels at the beginning of the year, and so there was no longer any special reason to group them in tens for bribery. There is evidence of one other law relating specifically to bribery of juries. Consequently further laws were made from time to time to impose more severe penalties on what were considered the worst kinds of bribery.