"
Many of these people had to ply their trade in order to make a living,
and could not serve the state gratuitously; and so a salary was
instituted: every citizen who sat in the assembly or in the courts
received for every day of session three obols (about eight cents of
our money), a sum just sufficient to maintain life at that time. From
this day the poor administered the government.
=The Demagogues.=--Since all important affairs whether in the assembly
or in the courts were decided by discussion and discourse, the
influential men were those who knew how to speak best. The people
accustomed themselves to listen to the orators, to follow their
counsels, to charge them with embassies, and even to appoint them
generals. These men were called Demagogues (leaders of the people).
The party of the rich scoffed at them: in a comedy Aristophanes
represents the people (Demos) under the form of an old man who has
lost his wits: "You are foolishly credulous, you let flatterers and
intriguers pull you around by the nose and you are enraptured when
they harangue you." And the chorus, addressing a charlatan, says to
him, "You are rude, vicious; you have a strong voice, an impudent
eloquence, and violent gestures; believe me, you have all that is
necessary to govern Athens.
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