The following year, under pressure from Sparta and her allies, the Athenians voted to write a new constitution in accordance with their “hereditary laws” (patrioi nomoi), a code-word for a conservative polity that would be sympathetic to Spartan concerns and steer clear of the extreme behavior of the radical democracy. A committee of thirty Athenian leaders was chosen to prepare the new constitution.[6] They would become known at first simply as the Thirty, and subsequently as the Thirty Tyrants.
Plato himself recalled the event wistfully: “When I was a young man I had the same aspirations as many of my peers. As soon as I came of age I hoped to get involved in the affairs of the city. And it seemed that events had turned out to be favorable for me. The preceding government, which was widely criticized, was replaced by a group of fifty-one magistrates. A body of Eleven ruled in the city, Ten in the Piraeus, keeping order in the marketplaces, and Thirty held absolute power over the state. Some of these officials happened to be relatives and friends of mine, and they soon invited me to take part in what looked like a valuable enterprise.”
But Plato’s enthusiasm was short-lived. “In light of my youth,” he continues, “it is not surprising that I was flattered by their offer. For I thought that by their leadership they would direct the city from an unjust to a just way of life, so I paid close attention to them to see what they would do. But alas, I soon saw that these men made the previous government look like a golden age.”[7]
Plato’s uncle Charmides (his mother’s brother) was appointed as one of the Ten, and Plato’s cousin Critias (his mother’s first cousin) as one of the Thirty. Indeed, Critias quickly emerged as the de facto leader of the Thirty, the Tyrant of tyrants, pushing the committee, taking the lead in an Oligarchy, as Xenophon rightly called it.[8] Critias was known as a sophist, a professional speaker and educator who had some reputation among intellectuals of the city. He was now thrust into a position of power, indeed, in the absence of a written constitution, of unlimited power.
Like every ambitious young man of good family in Athens, Plato dreamed of being a government leader, showing Athens the way out of her present ruined state. The rule of the democracy had, in recent years, been an unmitigated disaster. Now the “best” people (aristoi), the aristocrats, had the opportunity to show what knowledge, good breeding, and self-control could do for the state. But the closer Plato got to power, the more he observed the folly and utter venality of the new rulers, those of his own class and kin.
Assuming power for themselves, the Thirty began their reign by going after individuals who were professional blackmailers.[9] These “sycophants” or informers would dig up dirt on citizens and demand payment in return for not revealing their illegal business deals, smuggling operations, and the like. The citizens of Athens had no love for the blackmailers and saw prosecution by the government leaders as a burden lifted.
The Thirty were supposed to be preparing a new constitution. But they took their time writing laws and seemed to settle in as the ruling body of the state. They sent to Sparta asking Lysander to send a garrison to maintain order in Athens. In fact, they needed the garrison to prop up their own committee as they expanded their own power and prerogatives. The troops duly arrived from Sparta with Callibius as the Spartan governor (“harmost”) and now chief enforcer.[10]
[6] Xenophon Hellenica 2.3.1-2.
[7].Plato Letter VII, 324b-d.
[8] Xenophon ibid.
[9] Xenophon Hellenica 2.3.12.
[10] Xenophon Hellenica 2.3.11-14