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Loyola University Chicago

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Master's Teses Teses and Dissertations

1957

An Historical Comparison of the FederalConstitutions of the Achaean League and the

United States of America William Henry Hogan Loyola University Chicago

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AX HISTORICAL COMPARISOW OF THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTIONS OF THE

AOBAlWl LEAGUE OD THE Ul'ITED STATES OF AMERICA

By

Wl1li.. Senry Bog.. S.J.

A Thesls Submitted to the Faoulty of the Graduate Sohool

of Loyola University ln Partlal Fulfillment ot

the Requlre.eate tor the Degree ot

Xaster ot Arts

Deoe.ber

195'7



VITA AUCTORIS

William Henry Hogan, S.J . was born 1n Chicago, I l l1nola ,

December 20, 1929.

ae was graduated frQm S t. Ignat1us H1gh School, Ch1cago,

I l l1nois , June, 1947. In August of the same year be entered the

Bovitiate of the Sacred Heart, M11tord, Oh10, a . att l1iate ot

xavier Un1verlity. In the summer ot 1951 he was traasterred to

W.st Bade. College where he received hls degree ot Bachelor ot

Arts ln June, 1952 t r a . Loyola Un1versity. Dur1ng the years ot

1954 to 1957 he taught Greek and Hlstory of Modern Europe a t

8 t . Ignatius H1gh School, Chicago, I l l lnols .

i i



TABLI OF COI'TEftS

C b a p t . ~ Page

I . fBE OaIOII ABD GROWTH OF THE ACHAEAI LEAGUE •••••••••• 1

Early Hlatory ot Achaea - Barly Union amGag theoltlea - Aohaea durlng the PeloponaeeiaD War -Tyranny ot abaeron at F.l len. - Aonaea under theaucc.aaora - Final dieaolution ot the old League -Twelve original citiea - Traoea of tederal aotlonunder the old League - Beginninga of the revived

League - Ext.nelon of the Leagu. to a ll Aohae.-Qul.t and peaceful growth of the League.

I I . ACBAEA. A FEDERAL OIIO••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• l?

Probable enactment of the Pederal Oonatitutionolraca 2?4 B.O. - D •ocratic Oo.atitutl• • of theLeagu. - Difterenc.a b.tw.en Aoha.aa and Atheniaa4eaooraoy - Independence ot the ••veral oltlea -' e .4 .aole . to aa.lml1ation amoDC th ....b.r . ot theVnloD both 1a Aoha.a and the Unlted Stat•• - Th.

League really a natlonal government - Bo ladepend.ntdlploaatl0 aotlon 1& the •• veral olt lea. comparlaonwith America - Partlcular embaaaiea by 110ence ot

the feder. l government. 'j

I I I . HISTORIOAL COMPARISOI': PART 1 ••••••••••••••••••••••••32

The Aaaembly ot the League - Ariatocractio Ele.entIn Aoha.a - Oontralt wlth Ath.na - Achaean Oonati-tutlon a near.r approaoh to Amerloan Conatltution·

Arlatooratl0 element. ln the governmenta of Aohae.and the Unlted Statea - Practioal demooratl0 ele-meata • Methods of voting ln Achae. and the Unlt.dState. - Short and untr.quent meetings of the .a -

aembly - Place of me.tlng.

i i i



1 ..IV. HISTORIOAL COMPARISOK: PART 11 •••••••••••••••••••••••45

The Achaean magistrate. torm a "gover.nment" - Com-

parison with America - Pederal oft lce. ot theAohaean League - The Pre.ident or General - Com-

pari.on with the President ot the United Stat•• -CloBer approach to the Engli.h Iyatem - Memberl otthe government necessarily wealthy men - Unreatrained power or the Oeneral in war - Comparilonwith the Prelident ot the United State . - Pre.ident i a l interregnum - Question ot re-eleotion ot thePresident - Aohaean Oeneral incapable or immediatere-election - The Senate.

v. OO.OLUSIO••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••63

General comparilon between the Achaean League andthe United States - DittereDoes - Analogies aDddiversl t ie . in the poaition ot the Preaident -Aohaea the more demooratio in theory aDd Americain practice - The American Oonstitutioa not aconacious imitation of the Achaean - Remarkabletreatment ot the Achaean League in the Federaliat -.. iT's aocount ot the League tollowed bT theAmerican writers - An unconscious likene.a to theancient paral lel more valuable than a oonscious one.

BIBLIOGRAPIlY • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 15



CHAPTER I

THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE ACHAEAN LEAGUE

Amoag the oi t le . of Greeoe whloh had beoome di.ualted

Maoedoalan influenoe were the ol t le . ot the Peloponn•• ian

I t the half mythloal hi. tory ot the Dorlan migratl0. may

e t ru . ted, the Aohaeans ot P.lopo....u. were tne only lndepen-

remnant ot that mighty raoe whloh, under the Pelopld Klngs

f Myoenae, had ruled over many 1.landa and a l l Argos. l The

f l l l the most promlnent plaoe 1n the Greeoe of Hom.r and

n the Greeoe of Polyblus, but ln the Greeoe of Thuoydlde. they

re utter ly insianlfloant. Polyblus, wlth a oommendable national

oolleot•••veral lnstaaoe. to .how that , i f they were

In power, they were at. leas t h1ghly r ••peoted for

and honorable deallng. 10 people ln Greeoe bore a hlgher

elther for dlsoretlon or for good fal th, and th.y were

than onoe oalled upon to aot as medlators 1n the dissenslons

f more powerful. t a tes .S

lEamer, Th. I l lad, t r . A.T. Murray, (Loeb Classloal Llbrary),York, 19!§j, I, S, 108.

2polyblu., The Hlstorles, t r . W.R. Paton, (Loeb Classloal(lew tOii, 102'), I I , 41.

1



2

That Achaea then conta1ned twelve ci t ie . , democratically

and un1ted by lome sort of tederal t ie , admite ot no

3 But, as in the case of moat of theee early Greek tede

ao detailed account of the old Achaean Constltution

There i s , however, no reason to r the supposltion that

t was a religious rather than a poll t ical uaion, a mere amphic

to the temple of Poeeidon at Helioe.4 The whole history

that a real federal union existed among th.. and that ,

then, the League e o m e t ~ e l extended i tael f to take in cit iea

the at r ic t l imita ot Achaea. Early in the fourth century

Christ the Aetolian town ot Calydon ia not only found an

possesaion, but admltted to the rights of Achaean cit izen

and, oonlequently, enjoying a l l the poli t ical rights and

3 ~ e ~ i a ~ ~ a B Y st, O ~ ~ O X p B ~ { B V ~ ~ v ~ o A I ~ e { B v . A O I ~ & V ~ e ~ O ~ ,~ ~ ~ , xp6vou, ~ l x p , ~ ~ , A A e ~ d v O p o u x ~ l . I A ( ~ ~ O U O u v B ~ t { a ' a A A o ~ e

~ ~ v a A A ~ ' 4 x ~ e l ~ d ~ p d y ~ a ~ ' a 6 ~ o , ' x a ~ B ~ a , ~ e p , ~ d a l " , ~ & ye

~ ~ v XOIV&V ~ O A ( ~ t U ~ x a e d ~ e p e ( p ~ a ~ e v , !v O ~ ~ o x p a ~ { q auv'XCIv

l ~ e , p ~ v ~ o . ~ o G ~ o O ' ~ V 4x OOOatxa X & A t ~ ~ V .They changed thelr government to a democracy. Atter th18,

to the reigna ot Alexander and Phl1ip, their tortunes variedto oircumstanoes, but they always endeavoured, as I

to keep their League a demooraoy. Thia oonsiated of twelveIbid. , I I , 44.

4n ln speaking of the Achaean League .e mUlt distinguish beperiods, aa earl ier and a la ter one. The former,

tormed tor mutual proteot1on, was malnly of a rellgiouswhereas, the l a t ter wae pre-eminently a poli t lcal oonto proteot the town against the domination ot Mace-

ftW. Smlth, W. Wayte, and G.E. Marindin eda., HAoha.cum

ft

, ! Dictionary ~ Greek ~ Roman Antiquit1es, p. 8.



3

prlvileges ot the orlginal members ot the Leagu•• 5 Naupakto8 a ll

appears as held by the Achaeans, but on what terms ls not so

olear.6

In every acoount of these transaotions the Aohaeanpeople are spoken ot as one whole, aotlng with one wll1 both 1n

dlploaatio and military at ta i rs . They placed federal garrisons

in cit ies endangered by the enemy,7 and commissioned federal am-

bassadors to federal states other than tbeir own. 8 At tbe same

time i t ls easy to believe that the tederal t le may have been

mucb less olosely drawn than i t was in the revived contederation

of la ter times.

St i l l that confederation, as shall be seen presently, was

looked on aa a mere revival of a past I ta te of things interrupted

5 M t ~ d 0& ~ o u ~ o 0' 'Axa,ol l x o v ~ t ~ K 4 A u ~ w v a , ~ ~ & nUAuLovA ( ~ W A { U ~ ~ v , xal R O A { ~ U ' n t n o , ~ e v o , ~ o u , KUAUOWV{ou', ~ p o u p r v' l i v u y x d t o v ~ o ~ v a u ~ f i . -.

Atter th l l the Achaeans, who were ln pOlsel.lon of Calydon,in anclent tlmel an Aetollan town, and had made the people ofCalydon Achaean cit lzens, were COMpelled to keep a garr180nthere. Xenopbon, Bellenica, t r . C.L. Brownson, (Loeb Clalsioa1Library), (New York, 1927), VI, 1.

6Dem.osthenea says (Pbl1iSPiC, 111-, 44) tbat Phl11p promisedto take Baupaktos from the Ac aeans and to glve l t to the Aeto-11.. . .aupaktol, therefore, 1n 341 B.C. was a possesslon of tbeAchaean League.

7Xenopbon, Hellenlca, IV, 6, 1.

8 ~ & e t o ~ t v o , o ~ v ~ n ' u 6 ~ & v ot 'AxaLoa ~ p l o ~ e l ~ n l ~ n o u a , v £ t ~~ ~ v A U x t o u ( l J . o v a .

Therefore, belng hard pressed by them, the Achaeans sentambassadors to Laoedaemon. ~ . , IV, 6, 2.



4

tor a while by toreign interferenoe. One 1s hardly enti t led to

judge whether i t was from any laxity in the formal consti tut ion,

or only trom the fluctuationsot

parties socammon

in a l l Greekstates, that the Aohaean League did not, any more than that of

Aoarnania, invariably aot as a united body throughout the Pelo

ponnesian War. When that war broke out, a l l the Aohaean c i t ie .

remained neutral , except Pellene, which took the side ot Sparta;e

but at a la ter stage a l l twelve were enrolled as members of the

Lacedaemonian all ianoe.10 Yet in an intermediate stage, Patrae,

at least , is found on the side ot the Athenian Empire and, under

Athenian intluenoe, extending herself by long walls to the sea. l1

uring the wars ot Epameinondas, Pellene adhered t irmly to her

Spartan pollcy, at a tlme when the other ci t ies were, to say the

leaat , less atrenuous in the Spartan cause.12 At the same time

.

9 n e A o ~ o v v ~ a , 0 , ~ t v 01 e v ~ o ' ( o e ~ o G u a v ~ £ ' ~ A ~ V 'Apye{wv xal

' A x a , ~ v ( ~ o J ~ o . ' 01 " d ~ . o ~ ~ p o u ' "Ala ~ v · n e A A ~ v ~ ' ol ' A x a , ~ v~ & v o , ~ u v e ~ o A l ~ o u v ~ ~ n p ~ o v ) •••

All the Peloponnesians south ot the Isthmus with the exception of the Argiyes and Achaean8 (these la t ter had friendly relations with both sides, and the Pellenians were the only Aohaeanwho at f i r s t took part in the war with the Lacedaemonlans) •••Thucydldes, Hi.tor

tof the pelo,onnealan War, t r . C.F. Smith,

(Loeb Class lear t ! r a r y ~ ( l e w ork, 192?; ; - I I , 9, 2.

lOIbid., VII, 34 •...........

l l Ib ld . , V, 52.

l2Xenopnon, VII, 1, 15. Afterwards Pellene is found on the

Tbeban side. ~ . , VII, 2, 11.



5

80me glimpses of the internal state ot the several cit ies may

also be had. One reads of local oligarohies, whioh Epame1nondaa

found andl e t t

in possesslon, but which the home government ofThebes thought good to expel, and to substi tute demooraoies u n d . ~the proteotlon ot Theban harmosts.l3 This policy, however, did

not answer the problem, as the large bodies of exiles thus tormed

oontrlved to recover the oi t les , and to bring them to a far more

deoided Spartan partisanship than before.l4 But these oligar-

ohles, probably introduced by Spartan influenoe, seem to have

tormed a mere temporary interruption to that general demooratic

oharaoter of the Achaean polity to whlch Polybius bears witness.

Certain i t ia that Aohaea was demooratio at the accession of

Alexander. He established as Tyrant in Pellene one ot her own

oitizens named Chaeron.15 How Pellene had offended the King ot

1 3 ' V O u v ~ ~ c d a , & E K « ~ a , v & v O « ' & o ~ ! ~ ~ ~ u y u O c 6 o u , ~ o d ,x p u ~ t ~ o u ' ~ ~ c ~ O A & ~ ! { « V ~ c ~ « a ~ ~ o a ' ••• 04tc 8 ~ ~ a ( o , ' ~ l ~ . a ,

d p ~ o a ~ a ' at, ~ d , 'AxaaOa' ~ & A & a ' .Epameinondas effected through h i. personal influenoe an

arrangement that their opponents were not to banish the arls to-

crat . or to change the form of government ••• the Thebans resolvedto .end governors to the Achaean oi t ies . ~ •• VII, 1, 41.

1 4 4 A A 4 ~ p o e d ~ ~ ' a u v t ~ d x o u v ~ o r ~ A 4 x e O a , ~ o v ( o & ' •••But they fought zealously in support ot the Laoedaemonians.~ . , VII, 1, 42.

15This Chaeron is not the same as the aha.ron who 1s men-tioned by Plutarch (Alexander, 3), as Grote thinks, to r thela t ter was a citizen ot iegalopolis, while both Pausanlas and

Athenaeus distinotly mark Chaeron the Tyrant as a citizen otPellene.



6

is not known, but i t apysars that the establishMent ot

he tyranny was accompanied by the expulsion of So la11ge proportion

f thl'J citizens .16 This 8ee.'11S to mark80M6

spscial uraund ofwith the particular city of Pellene; to r Alaxander would

have thus punished a single ci ty for the share Which a l l

had taken in the res1stance to his tathAr a t Chaeronea.17

1 I 1 ' ~ s A n c ~ of this domestio Tyrant p:Ntvented Pellene from

oining with the other Aohaean ci t ies in the movement against the

set into motion by Agia, King of Sparta. IS

the disastrous batt le in whioh Agia fe l l , the Aohaeans and

are said to have been oondemned, by the anomalous body

then issued deorees in the name of Greece, to pay a hundrted

as indemnity to Megalopolis, whioh had embraoed the Mace.

and had stood a siege a t the hands ot the a11ie8.19

16Pauaanias, Desoription ot G r . ~ c . , t r . W.H.S. Jones, (LoebLibrary), (Ie. York,-r91S), VII, 27, 7.

17T(5\) lJ.€V ~ v xa.q)(o)velq. ~ ' A { ' J t ' J [ O \ ) "t"4vdv't'lCl or 'AXCl'O(:The Aohaeans shared in the hos t i l i t ies against Philip a t~ . , VII, 6, 5.

1 8 ' H A e r o o ~ o ' a u " t ' o , ~ [AaxeOCl'lJ.ov1o,'J a \ ) l J . l J . € " t ' e ~ d A o v " t ' O xCll'AXCl,ol xdv"t'e' ' J [ A ~ V n e A A ~ v a ( w v xal 'ApxaO(Cl X40Cl X A ~ ~ V M t y d A ~ '

1 t O A e f A ) ~ .The Eleans and the Achaeans, a l l but the people or Pellene,

a d oome over to them, (the Spartans) and so had a l l Aroadia exMegalopolis. Aesoh1nea, A ~ a i n s t Ctes1phon, t r . C . \ ~ . Adams,

(Loeb Classioal L1brary), (New ork, 1919), p. 473.

19They were condemned by Alexander's synod a t Corinth.



8

At what moment the League definitely fe l l asunder is hard to

The process, doubtless, was gradual; but .a Antigonu8 Gona

is mentioned among the kings who had a hand in the evil work

as i t was at no very advanced stage of his reign that the

began again to draw together, i t would seem that the period

f complete isolation cannot have been very long, and that the

of reunion must have been found proportionately easy. Anti

f i r s t began to play a prominent part during his

l ifet ime, about 288 B.C., when he was le f t ln oommand of

garrisons in Greeoe.24 This was probably the tlme

Antigonus completed the dissolution of the League.

The twelve oit ies of the original League, as enumerated by

were Hellce, Olenus, Patrae, Dyme, Pharae, Tritaea,

AegIum, Aagira, Pellene, Boura, and Oaryneia. Of thes

.eems to have been originally the m o ~ t important; I ts,

temple to Poseidon was the seat of the religious meetIngs26

f the Achaean people, and the elty was probably also the seat of

he federal government. However, this ls not neces8arily t rue,

o r Ooroneia was the rellglous oenter of Boetia, while Thebe. was

24Pausani&s, Descrlp!lon ot Greece, t r . W.H.S. Jone8, (LoebLibrary), (lew !ork , -rgla) , VII, 9, 1.

26Polybius, I I , $1.

26Strabo, The Oeoaraphl of Strabo, t r . H.L. Jonel, (Loeb

Library), (lew York,-r9l'" VIII, 7, 2.



9

the pol i t ical head. But Helioe was swallowed up by an earth-

and i t s s i te covered by the sea, long before the dissolu-

of the old League. This destruction is ascribed by Pausaniae

o the wrath of Poseidon at some suppliants being dragged away

his al tar . 27 In th is , as Bishop Thirlwall says, "we perceive

of some violent pol i t ical agitat ion."28 Olenus was also

by i t s inhabitants29 a t some ttme before the revival of

he League. Some authors, as Abbe de Mably,30 maintain that

survived t i l l Roman t ~ e s , and refused to Join the revived

League. But there oan be no doubt that Bishop Thirlwall

Had Olenue remained as a considerable city during the

of the aecond League, one could hardly fa i l to have come

same mention of l t ln the history of Polybius. And Poly-

hlmself dist inctly implles that Olenus had perished before

i a day.3l I t ls an lmportant point . ln the federal history that'j

he revived League was joined by a l l the Achaean ci t ies whioh

27Pausanias, VII, 24, 6.

0. 28Cannop Thirlwall, Hlstory ~ Greece, (London, 1852), VIII,

29Abbe de Kably, Observation sur la H i s t o i r e ~ , (Paria),. 31. --

3Orhirlwall, VIII, 90.

3lpolybius, II , 41. Although Polybius mentlons Olenus insections of his H i s t o r ~ of Greece, i t i8 alwaY8 ln connec-

with an event which too PIace belore the revived League.



10

eXisted.

When the Aohaean League was revived after i ts dissolution by

Gonatas, only ten oities of the original League remained

these, ainoe the 10S8 of Helioe, Aegium was the most impor-

32 I t was the seat ot the federal government under the re-

League in the very la tes t tlmes,33 as i t moat probably had

during the la te r days ot the earl ier one.

Of the exact nature of the federal union under the old system

f the t i t les and duties of the federal magistrates, nothing is

In a ourious story told by Strabo when reoording the de-

ot Helioe, a dis t inct mentioD is found of the Federal

as something appealed to and passing a vote, but i t Is

noted that the vote was dist inotly disobeyed by the oontuma-

city of Helice. The "Ionians expelled trom Helioe", that ls

their desoendants in ASia,:.aked either for the,actual.ot Poseldon, or a t least for leave to make a model of i t .

people of Helioe refused and the Ionians appealed to the te -

body. I t one oan t rust the detal ls ot such a story, the

~ t ~ , a , m i ~ t imply that the Federal Assembly was in sesslon,

d not at Helloe.34


33Ib1d., VII, 24, 4.

34Strabo, VIII, 7, 2.



11

Thus, ~ t the time of the Gaulish invasion, ten Achaean ci tIes

but there was no Achaean Lengue. The ten o l t I e ~ were

en dist inct poli tIcal units , Bome of which were held by Macedo-

garrisons, others by local tyrants. I t was the interest of"

Macedoninn prinoe to prolong this state of things; i t was

he interest of every Achaean, and indeed ot overy Greek, to put

he speediast possible end to it.. At l as t the favorable rr.oment

Several of the kings were dead; Pyrrhus was absent in

:Macedonia was in ut ter conf"usion.

The ait iea of Patrae and Dyme, which, since the desertion of

nere the two most western ci t ies of the Achaean shore,

the f i r s t steps towards the revIval of the old contederaoy.35

e inland oit ies of Tritaea and Pharae soon joined them, and

b ~ c a m e the nucleus of the great federal republic of"

Their union was looked on so oompletely as a mere"

of a past lawful state of" things that i ts terms were not

recorded on a pil lar ,36 as was usually done with the

between separate Grecian states , and as was done in a t t e ~

35Polybius, I I , 41.

36x«l ~ p ~ o , ~ I v a u v l a ~ ~ a « v A u ~ « r o " n « ~ p e r " T p & ~ ~ « L £ r ' ,tup«&tr,· O{oxep oUOt O ~ ~ A ~ V ~ x a p x £ , v a u ~ ~ a ( v t ' ~ ~ v xOAewv

~ o u ~ w v ~ e p l ~ ~ , a U ~ X O A & ~ e ( a ' .The f i r s t citIes to do 80 were Dyme, Patrae, Tritaea, and

and to r thls reason we do not even f"ind any tormal inscri

ed record of theira d h ~ r e n c e

to the League.~ . ,

I I , 41, 12.



on the aooession of new ci t ioe to the League. Of the c i r -

of thAir union nothing is known. Poly-biue does not

the pl"fI'.IsenOA ei ther of garrieons or of tyrants 1n these

oi t ies ; hie- words might eeem rather to il"'ply that they

free froJ'lt el ther 8courge, but only that the oircumstances of

he ttme had led to an opposition of feelings and interests among

3 '7

As to the next stages of the prooess this histor ian is more

t . Aeglum had a ga.rrison, Bours and Caryneia were ruled by

F1ve years B.:t'ter the union of Patrae and Dyrne I the peop1

f Aegium themselves expelled thei r garrison and joined the union.

was freed. and 1ts tyrant s la in by the people of the oi ty ,

by thei r already l iberated brethern.38 Isaae , th6 tyrAnt

f Caryne1a, watohtng the COUrl'!8 of .vente and seeing that he

probably be t.he next to be a t t ~ c k e d , voluntarily surren-

his power, and, having obtained security to r hie own safety.

e annexed his oity to what Polybiu8, now to r the f i r s t time,

by the proud t i t l e ot the Achaean League.39

3 7 a u v l ~ ~ _ d a ~ ' ~ a , X&AE&' x w p & a e £ ( ~ , ~ ~ ' u u ~ w v i v u v ~ ( w ' ~ &a u ~ " p o v «ye,v & A A ~ A a , ' .

All the oit ies separated fram the League and began to acteach others ' in teres t . Po1ybiu8. I I , 41, 9.

38Ibid. , I I , 41, 14.

3 9 ~ ~ o ~ l e ~ £ ~ ~ v ~ & A & V _p&'

H. added h i . ci ty to the

~ & ~ w v 'Axa&wv a d a ~ ~ a .Achaean League. Ibid. , I I , 41, 15

-



13

Seven c i t i e s were now in s t r i c t union; the steps by which the

eastern c i t ies of AeGire, ani: Pel1ene wore recove: 10c f:rf! not

but t h ~ i r annexation coule not heve been long d ~ l e . y e d ; and

he inland city of Leontlum, elready hemmed 1n by the terr i tory

f the l iberated ci t iee , must have beon recovered even sooner.

e ten oi t ies ot Aohaea proper thus formed the revived League

n i t s f i r s t estato, and to r about th i r ty years they grew up i:n

and obscuri ty. Their very insignificance was 110 doubt among

advantages, as sheltering thee from the notice of enemies.

A germ of f r e e d ~ was thus allowed to grow steadily up in a

of Greeoe, which, i f i t had appeared a t Athens or Corinth,

have been a t once crushed in the bud. One ci ty , j.ndeod,

af ter the reconstruction of tho League, suffered a

almost the whole of the external his tory of

during this period. The people of ratrae crossed over to'j

the Aetolians_ with whom they were then on friendly terms, 1n

struggle with the Gaullsh invaders. The Patrian oontingent

so severely that this loss , oom.bined with the general

of the time, led most of the inhabitants to leave the ci ty

and to found smaller town. 1n the adjo1a1ag terr1tory.

t does not , however, appear that this process a t a l l affeoted the

position of Patrae as an Aohaean city;40 the inhabitants

40Pausanias, VII, 18,6. He goes on to lay that the ci ty wasby Augustus and ra1sed to the rank of a Roman colony.



14

f Argyra, Bolime, and the other oountry towns, doubtless retained

patrian franohise, just l ike Athenian cit izens l iving in an

demol. And indeed the Gauliah invasion i t l e l f , by i ts

of the Macedonian power, must have conferred

benefits on the League in general which ta r more than

any losses sustained by the single oity of Patrae

During this time there are only two names of individuals

be oonnected with the course of Aohaean history; these

re two oitizens of the small town of Carynaia, Iseas and Marcus.

neither of them is muoh recorded. Twenty years af ter his f i r s t

Maroul wal ohosen the f i r s t sole General of the League

n office which he served with honor;41 twenty-six years la ter

the noble old man, s t i l l in the aotive service of his

in a sea-fight against the pirates of I l lyr ia .42

would almost appear to have b e e n ~ t h e Walhington of the origina,

-though his fame has been obsoured by the la ter and more

servIoes of Aratus. The very name of the hero, I tal ian

than Greek, raises curiosity as to his orIgin and history.

was a oitizen of Caryneia, but he is found aoting in the inte

of the League, and apparently as the leader of i t s oounoils

t a time when Caryneia i t se l f was s t i l l under the 8way of i t s

41Polybiua, I I , 10.

4 2 ~ . , I I , 43.



15

Marcus was tbe chief leader43 in the movement, of what

nature i t was, by which the l iberated ci t ies were able to

their help to the patriots of Boura. I tis

impossible totbat Marcus can bave been a t this time an inhabitant of

is native town. I t can hardly be doubted tbat be was an exile

n the cause of freedom, who offered his services to the infant

and was most l ikely admitted to the oitizenship of one of

t s members.

Iseas, tbe Tyrant of Marcus' own oi ty , was the f i r s t of se

tyrants who had the wisdom and magnanimity to give up their

and dangerous power, and to oonfine their amb1tion

the bounds of suoh honors as a free state can oonfer upon

t s ci t izens. Of his subsequent oareer nothing is known; Polybiu8

not te l l us whether Iaeas lived to know how much really grea

er is the position of the republican magistrate than th , t of the

pr1noe. But the conduct of Iseas sbows a prudence or a

or ratber an union of the two, whioh a t once stamps

as no common man. And i t is bonorable to the otherwise insig

town of Caryneia to have produoed tbe only two men whose

are known during th1s f i r s t per10d of the League's bistory.

Unobserved, apparently, and uncared for , the ten Achaean

had t1me to strenghten their habi t . of freedom and good

4 3 ~ . , I I , 41.



16

to develop the i r pol i t ical const i tut ion, and gradually

o prepare themselves for the day when the i r League was to step

the general champion of Grecian freedom and as one ot

he great pol i t ical l ights ot Greece and of the world.



18

tbe old League, aoted independently of i t s oonfederates in

be Peloponnesian War.2 Suob a oourse would have been oontrary to

prinoiple or tbe rederal oonstitution in tbe day8 ori t s

Most probably, wben a l l the surviving oit ies of Aonaea

r e ~ n i t e d , the union was intentionally made more intimate, and

ts terms were enaoted and reoorded by oommon oonsent. As Bishop

notesl -A oolumn waa now ereoted, insoribed with the

of the oonrederate towns, and with the oonditions of their

ft3 Ho suoh dooument, however, is preserved to the student

f Aohaean History; and i t is neoessary to form any ideas of the

Constitution ohiefly from the inoidental notioes and

oGmments or Polybius, and rrom suoh further inoidental no

. s are to be found in writers like Plutaroh, Pasuanias, and

Po1ybius unfortunately doe. not begin his detailed ~ a r r a t i v ea la te r period, when in t r ~ t h the most interesting portion

League's history has passed by. or i t . foundation and i t s

fortunes he gives a mere sketoh, but there is abundant

to show that the federal oonstitution was formed while

he League stl11 embraced only the small oities ot the Original

The greater oit ies which afterwards Joined the union were

into a body, the relat lon. and duti8. of whoae members

2See above, p. 43Thirlwall, VIII, 89-90.



19

already fixed and well understood. This will plainly appear,

f only from one or two pOints in the Constitution whioh were

tothe

circumstancesot

the original Aohaean oi t ie . ,to be a Bouroe of inconvenienoe, and even of

when the union was extended over a wider territory_

The whole Oonstitution of the League waa demooratic. In hia

~ Greeoe Polybius constantly praises i t aa the truest and

of a l l demooraoies.4 Yet i t is very easily seen that de-

in Achaea was practioally a very different thing trom de-

a t Athens. I t is possible that Polybius might have looked

the Constitution of Athens as an ochlocraoyS as opposed to

he true democracy ot his own land. But the tact rather is that

n theory Achaea was as s t r ic t ly democratic as Athens, but that

he ciroumstances of the League unaVOidable tempered the Achaean

in praotioe in a way in whIch nothing occured vo temper

he Athenian democraoy. In both alike the sovereign power was

in a popular assembly, in wbioh every free citizen had an

4 ( a ~ o p l a ~ xat x a p p ~ a ( a ~ xal xae&xou O ~ ~ o x p a ~ ( a ~ 4 A ~ l ~ ~a u ~ ~ a xat ~ p o a l p e a , v £ ( A ' x ~ ' v e ~ t p a v OUK lupo, ~ , ~ ~ ~ , ~ a p d~ ~ o r ~ 'AxaIOr,

One could not tind a poli t ical system and prinoiple soto equality and freedom of speech, in a word so sin-

demooratio, as that of the Aohaean League. Polybiua, I I ,9. One can tind many other referenoes to the demooratic spir i tf the League soattered throughout Polybius' entire work.

5Government by the mob.



20

right to attend, apeak, and vote. In both alike the people

d the people alone, enaoted laws, eleoted maglstrates, oontrao-

ed all lanoes, declared war and peaoe. But in Aohaea oonditionsnever arose a t Athens mod1fied thls popular soverelgnty in

ways. Far greater legal power was plaoed ln the hands of the

Far greater power I f an lndirect, though

ot an l l legal , klnd was thrown into the hands both ot maglstrates

d other leading aen. The assembly indeed always remained the

undisputed authority, but the powers even of that

body would have appeared sadly ourtailed in the eyes ot

demoorat whose ideas were tormed solely on Athenian models.

The consti tution of the League was str iot ly federal. Every

remained a dist inot sta te , sovereign for a l l purposes not

with the higher sovereignty of the federation, re-

i ts looal assemblles and local magistrates, and 9rdering

l l exolusively local affalrs without any interference from the

power. There is no evidenoe that the federal government,

n i t s b ~ s t days, ever direotly intertered with the internal laws,

r even with the poll t loal constitutlons, of the several ol t ies .

af ter her union with the League, retained her looal

and Aratus himself was onoe ohosen General of the

of Argos, as an otfioe quite dist inct from that ot General

6Polyblus, IV, 18.



21

f the League. 7 So l i t t l e indeed did the federal power meddle

the internal affairs of the several oit ies that i t tolerated

within theirterr i tor ies

which seem hardly in aowith the prinoiples of ~ n i v e r s a l equality on which the

i t se l f was founded. That the League did not interfere ~ i t hhe peouliar relations between Patrae and her townships is not

they did not interfere with the tu l l Patrian ci t izen

of their inhabitants. 8 But Megalopoli8 oertaInly,9 and

probably,lO had 8ubjeot dis t r io ts , whose inhabitants

to hsve had no direot share in the general federal oit izen-

Though the several oit ies remained internally independent,

t oannot be doubted that their 0108e union for a l l external pur

strongly tended to assimilate them to one another in their

7Plutarch, Aratu8, 44.

Ssee above, p. 12.

9aWe are informed that Philopoemen was moved by resentmentor this affront to aid 8everal of the subJeot Arcandian towns inn attempt whioh they made to deliver themselves from their de

on Megalopolis." Thirlwall, VIII, 364. I t is possiblethese townships may have been more analogous to the Patrlan

mentIoned 10 p. 12.

10strabo's aocount (VIII, 6, 22) ot Tenea in tho CorinthianBounds very much as i f i t had been a subject city ofHe mentions that Tenea prospered more than the other

of Corinth and, at ter having revolted from the Corinjoined the Romans and endured long af ter the destruction

f Corinth.



22

constl tut ion and laws. I t can hardly be supposed that

he pol i t ical consti tut ion of any member of the League was other

denocratic. The same phenomenon is seen in the United States

federal consti tut ion merely provides that each s tate shall

a republican government l l and shal l not grant any t i t l e ot

these l imits i t may be as oligarchic or as

i t pleases. Any s tate that chose might transact a l l

t s affai rs in a primary assembly l ike that of Athens, and might

i t s chief magistrate no higher powers than thOse of an

Archon. Or, to oome to differences which have really

the elective franchise in dif terent s tates has at di t fe-

times varied from universal sutfrage and no property quali-

to the requirement of a considerable freehold both in the

and in the representative. And the Federal Constitution

f the United States respects a l l systems alike; the tederal•

belongs to those, tew or many, who poasess the franchise

n thei r own s ta te . 13 But the different States have, since the

ot the tederal union, moved with remarkable accord

.11The Constitution ot the United States, Article IV, Section--- -- --- ------ ~ - - - -l2Ibid. Article I , Section 10, Clause 1 •

............

l3Ib1d. , Article I , Section 2, Clause 1. " •••The Electorsn e a o h ~ t e shal l have the qual1tioations reqa1s1te to r Eleotor.f the most numeroas Branch ot the State Legislature." Also oon

e r Amendment XVII.



io two dlI'ectlo11s. 1.11 have advanced 1n a democratic path by

Ilbo11shino propert:r qualif1cation, &.nd a l l but one14 have advanoe

in what was once thousht to be an aristocrat ic~ a t h

by establlshins two l e g i s l & t l v ~ chambers.

Co L ~ A c h u e ~ a local oligarchy 1n any p a r t l c ~ l a r city oould

not pOGs1'bly havo kept i ta ijround, while the consti tution of tbe

Loasue 1t se l t and the local const1tut10ns of tho other oi t ias wel"'

a l l o t theQ democratio. ~ t aeeQ8 certain also that a citizen 0 :

an"'] AcbAean ci ty was admi t ted to a"t letls G the pri va te rlgh ts of

cit1zenship, those of i n t e ~ a r r i a o e and poesesc1on of lmlded pro

~ e r t y , 1n the other cit ies of the Loasue. Thls much, at leas t ,

seem.s implied in the words 1tOAI"te&a. and crolJ.1tOAl"te(a. which aI'e so

often used. Accordingly i t 1s t o ~ d that Aratu8, a citIzen of

icyon, had a houae a t Corlnth.15 When the League was broken up

by the Romano, this lntercom:uunionot property between d).!tarent

ci t ies was torbidden. 16 But i t is hardlr l1kely that an Aohaean

oitizen oould, ao a cit izen of the United States oan, exohange a t

i l l , or af ter a short time 01' residenoe, the franch1se of his

at ive state to r that Qf another . l ? B ~ t the tendency to ass1m!-

14Nebl'alka

151'1utarch, i\ra tUB. 41.

16pausanlae, VII, 16, 9.

17The election01' Aratul as General ot

Argo••

.me tohave

been an exoept10n rather than the rule .



34

amo!'lg the severa l oi t ies was vo:.-y stl'OOc;_ L'1 tho l a to r

of the TJeague 1 t seems to ha va d9v91oped w1 t i: incroased fOl'oe

at Inst ?olybla.s could say that a l l ?eloponnseus differeda a ingla ci ty only in :.101; b9ing surrounded by a s ingle

." , 1 18<. l_ • The whole poninsula employed the same coinage, ' N o i ~ h t o ,r.1emmres, and 7 1 l ~ f J governed. bY' the se.;.nEt l aws , aCUY1illistercQ by

But w:1.ile tb.'3 Achaean Cor..stitution s t r i c t ly resvoctoc the

I'ig:'.£. ts of the severa l 01 t i e s . it ill no ~ J i s e &lloiJed the i r

soveI'eignty to trench :.lpon the t.igher sQvoreignt::r of tha

..e . rl'here WS,B an Achaean natlon,19 with a nat ional assembly,

nat ional b O V 6 r n m e ~ t and nat ional t r ibunals , to which every

cit izen owed a direct allegiance. The whole l a n b ~ & g e of

sLows tha t every Achaeul1 c1 t izen 8 tood in a direct re -

.. to the federal Huthority, and was in fu l l s t r i c t n ~ 3 S a.

of the Le8.gne i t s e l f , and not merely of one of the c i t i e s

composed I t . The Achaean ol t i es were not mere municipa-

18polybius, I I , 37. The ident1ty there spoken of seemsto express the resul t of the assimilation spoken of in theI t need not imply any oompulsory introduotion of unifor

s t i l l les8 any extens10n of the powera of the federal bodyn la te r times.

19The differenoe between eavo' and ~ & A " in the pol1t1calof Polybiua, is that between a federal state and a single

L1vy hab1tually represents the words by sene and civi tas .e also often uses £opulus in the sense of atate as a member of a



26

own names without reterence to any superior authority. Even

he rule ot a tyrant d1d not destroy this sort of independence; a

cit izen indeed usurped powers which belonged by right to

he whole body ot cit izens, but they were not transferred to any

or any assembly beyond the l imits of the oity. When

he tyrant was overthrown, this power, with the other powers

he had seized, at once reverted to the people ot the oity.

The right ot direot intercourse with toreign powers is one

t the las t whioh an independent oity or state 1s willing to sur-

to any oentral power, as may be seen in the history ot both

and Germany. For Sicyon, or Mantineia, or Megalopolis to

this high attr ibute ot sovereignty, and to entrust powers

i t had onoe exeroised without restraint to an assembly in

i t had only one voice among many, was really no small saori-tor the publio good. I t is rather to be wondered a t that i t

•s so easily surrendered by so many,Peloponnesian Cities, and

the loss was to r the most part so peaoeably acquiesced in .

But while an ambassador sent to or from New York or Il l inois

s a thing unheard ot, an ambassador sent to or trom Corinth or

was a thing rare indeed, and perhaps i rregular , but

ot absolutely without precedent. The Corinthians, at ter their

with the League, .reoeived separate ambassadors trom Rome,82

S2polybius, I I , 12.



27

Rome was dangerous. On this embassy the explanation of the

breach of rule is probably to be found in the religious

of the mission. TheRoman

envoys were received by the

as members of the Achaean League, but as adminis-

of the Isthmian games. In this character, they must have

in the habit of reoeiving the 6ewp(cu of Greek c i t ies . As

he administration of the games always remained a matter purely

f s ta te , and not at a l l of federal, oonoern, the reoeption of

pol i t ical sort ot embassy must have been held not to in te r ·

with the general external sovereignty of the League. Thus

embassy came on a purely honorary errand; another embassy had

the poli t ical business between Rome and t h ~ League.23

whether of r ight or ot special permission, the single oity

f Corinth dld give audienoe to the ambassadors ot a foreii,fl powell

I t is quite possible that for fi: -Single oity to reoei,ve an

not so s t r ic t ly forbidden by the federal consti tution

s i t was for a single oity to commission an embassy. This las t ,

t is clear , was torbidden by the general law of the League, just

s i t is forbidden by the ConstHiution of the United States .24

23Ibid., I I , 47.-24!h! C o n s t i t u t i o ~ ~ the United States , Artiole I , Section

0, Clause i . The looser Confederation of i778 only forbade theor sending ambassadors "without the oonsent of the

States in Congress assembled." (Articles of Confederation,

VI)



28

however, occur in the course of Achaean history both of the

aw being dispensed with and of the law being vIolated. There

a fu l l aooount of one very ourious instanoe of a singleentering into d1r1O"rlatl0 relations with a foreign power by

permission of the national congress. 25 The faot that such

permission was asked shows that , without i t , the proceeding

have been unlawful, but the fact that the permission was

equally shows that the request was not looked upon as a l-

unreasonable and monstrous. The ocoasion was no other

fa ta l applioation to Macedonia for aid against Sparta,

was f i r s t made by an embassy sent from the single ci ty of

but with the fu l l permission of the federal body.

is perhaps the only reoorded oase of a breaoh of rule during

he good times of the League; and this took place during a time of

danger.

In l a te r times, when unwilling oi t ies were annexed to the

force, and when Roman intrigue was constantly sowing

among i t s members, there are found not unfrequant in

of embassies sent from partioular ci t ies to what was

the suzerain power. The old law now needed speoial

I t was agreed, in the f i r s t t reaty between Acheea

that no e m b a ~ s 1 should be sent to Rome by any part icular

25Polyblus, I I , 48-50.



29

ci ty , but only by the general Achaean body.26 But this

agreement was of course broken whenever i t s violation suited

Roman in teres ts . Sparta especial ly, and Messena, ci t ies joinedto the League against the i r wi l l , were constantly laying the i r

real or supposed grievances a t the feet of the Roman Senate. Her

again may be learned the lesson that a federal body can drive no

strength from the inoorporation or retention of unwilling members

The object of the Achaean League was the union of a l l Pelo-

ponnesus, or, i t may be of a l l Greece, into a free and equal de-

oonfederation. Such a t leas t was the wide scope which i

assumed in the days of i t s ful les t development. Clearly there

defeots in the general consti tut ion of the League, but i t s

objects were as wise, generous, and patr iot io as any s ta te or any

an ever labored to effect . Other Greeks had worked mainly for

the mere aggrandizement of thei r own Cities , but the cit,f,zens of

spent and were spent in the s t i l l nobler cause of Hellas.

From one point of view one is tempted to regret that thei r

lo t had not been cast in an earl1er day, and that an effective

ederal system had not been long before established in Greece.

establishment of suoh I i system might indeed have saved Greeoe

m.any eVilS, but . i t was a t onoe utterly impo88ible and, in

the general interests ot the world, utterly undesirable. A fede-

a l system in the days of the Athenian and Spartan greatness migh




30

spared Greece the miseries of Athenian and Spartan warfare;

t might have saved her from Macedonian oonquest; i t might even

warded off l or a t least delayed, her ultimate subjection toBut Greece, united in a federal bond, oould never have be

the Greece which has challenged the love and admiration of

l l succeeding ages. The br1l11ant development of Hellenio great

1n war, in po11tics, in ar t , in l i te ra ture , was inse

to the system of 1ndependent City-states . The dis

and the wars of Greece are the price whioh she paid for

the world's teaoher for a l l time. Again, had Greeoe

sunk beneath the armed force of Macedonia and Rome, she

never have won the Macedonian and the Roman. as the permanen

of her civi l iza t ion and intel lectual l l f e . I t was well

ha t Greece W&.S dis1.L1'1i ted; i t was well that Greeoe was conquered;

ut i t was well also that she should revive, i f only for"a moment

o give the world the f i r s t great example of a polI t ica l teaohing

f yet another kind.

Greece had already done her work as the land of automonous

she was now to give mankind a less br i l l i an t , but more

lesson 1n the way of free government on a more extended

Positively indeed but l i t t l e was done; a l l Greece was

united even in a nominal bond; even a l l Peloponnesus was at

only nominally united af ter the true glory of the League had

away.Yet is

was something,even

in i t sown day,

tor e ~



31

freedom to a considerable portion of Gt'eece, to give the

ci t ies some generations of free and orderly government,

o render the inevitable fa l l of Greece a t oncemore

gradualand

disgraoeful; and i t was yet more, in the history of the

to give to the pol i t ical thinkers of af ter times one of the

valuable subjects for reflect ion whlch a l l ancient history



CHAPTER II I

HISTORICAL COMPARISON: PART I

The s u p r ~ m e power of the Aohaean Ilsague was vested in the

s o v ~ ! ' ' ' ' i g n popular ass",mbly. This was the Congress of the Union,

from the Congress of the United States mainly in th is ,

that &cco!'ding to the common poll t i ca l inst1not o.f the Greek mind

t was a prim.ary and not ! l r t " , r e s ~ n t a t i v e assembly.1 There can be

o doubt that every oit izen of' every ci ty in the League, a t a l l

v ~ m t 8 every oit izen who had atta1.ned the Ilge of thir ty years ,2

d a r ight to A t t ~ n d , speak, and vote. Every free Aohaean, no

than every free Athenian, oould Bive a direot voice in the

of the magistrates by whom he was to be governed, in the

of the laws which he was to obey, and in the declaration

wars in whioh he m1ght be oalled on to bear a par t . The

Constitution, therefore, 1s r ightly called a democratic

l I t is spoken of as ' ~ X 4 l 0 l , lavo ' , ~ v a 6 0 ' , XAijeO'.(Polybius, IV, 9, 10; V, 1; XXI, 7; XXXVIII, 2; XL, 4)

2So Bishop Th1r1wal1 (VIII, 91) 1nters trom Polyb1us, XXIX,, when he says% "In this assembly every Aohaean who had completedhe age of thir ty had a vote, and was allowed to speak; and 1n

franchise the democratioal charaoter of the consti tut ionconsisted."

~ 2



o their proposals.

I t will be at once seen that these differences a ll tend to

the Achaean Oonstitution approach, ta r more nearly than that

f Athens, to the state ot things to which men are accustomed in

republica and most especially in the United Statea. They

l l spring from the different position of democracy aa applied to

he single city of Athena and democracy aa applied to a federal

embracing a large portion of Qreece. The Athenian Assembly

s held at a mants own door; the Achaean Assembly waa held in

distant city.4 I t tollows at once that the Athenian Assembly

s held much oftener than the Achaean Aasembly and was much more

attended by citizens of a ll claaaes. The Athenian Assem-

ly was held three times each month; the Aohaean Assembly was held

f right only tw1ce each year. 5 The pooreat citizen could regu-

attend at Athena, where a smal l fe . recompensed h1s loss of•

,

the poor Achaean must have been unusually patr10tic 1f he

took two journeys in the year at his own expense to

the Assembly at Aigion. For the Athenian treasury could

480me ot the Attic Demoi were undoubtedly further from Athenssome of the old Achaean towns were from Aigion; but no pOint

f Attica waa so distant trom Athens as Dyme, to r instance, wasAigion, so that , on the whole, the rural Athenians were

to the capital than the Achaeans were to the seat ot thegovernment.

5polybius, I I , 51. A apecial aession of the Achaean Aasemblybe called i f the federal government thought i t nec.ssary.



35

bear the small fee paid to the oitizens for attendance in

he Assembly, but no amount of wealth in the federal treasury ot

could have dndured suoh a charge as the payment of travelexpenses and reoompense for loss of time to tne whole free

of Argos and Megalopolis. The poor Athenian then waa

legally and praotically the poli t ioal equal of his richer

while the poor Achaean, though he labored under no lega

labored under a praotical disqualif ioation a l-

bordering on disfranchisement.

The Aohaean Aaaembly practioally oonaisted of those among the

of each city who were at onoe wealthy men and eager

Thoae oitizens came together who were at onoe weal

hy enough to bear the expenae of the Journey, and zealous enough

o bear the trouble i t entailed. I t was, in faot , praotioally an

body, and i t is sametimes spoken ot aa SUCh. I ts

oharaoter may have been alightly mOdified br the

preaenoe of the whole oit izen population of the oity

the Assembly met. But i t may be doubted whether even they

on ordinary oooa8ion., be so eager to attend an Assembly ot

charaoter as they might have been i t the demooratic spir i t

ad been more predominant in i t . But, i t they did, though sane

is always produced by the presence and the voicea of any

body ot men, a t i l l , aa they oould at most oontrol a

vote, their presenoe would beot

but s tr iot ly consti tu-



36

importance. The Congress, demoorat1c in theory, was aris-

in practioe. This contrast of theory and praot10e, whloh

through thewhole

of theAohaean

1nsti tution,was tul ly

by the framers of the Constitution of the United States

deftly expressed the opinions ot many ot the

politioians ot his day when he wrote:

The people can never err more than in supposing, that bymultiplying their representatives beyond a oertaln l imit ,they strengthen the barrier against the government of a

tew. Experienoe will for ever admonish them, that , on theoontrary, at ter seouring a sutfioient number tor purposesot satety, ot looal information, and ot ditfusive sympathywith the ..hole society, they will counteraot their own vie . sby every addltion to their representatlves. The countenanceof the government may become more democratic; but the soulthat animates l t wl11 be more ollgarchic. The machine may

be enlarged, but the fewer, and otten the more secret , wl11be the springs by whlch i ts motions are dlrected. S

But though the democratlc Constltutionot

Achaea producedwas praotioally an arlstocrat lc assembly, l t must not be

that Aohaean demooratl0 inst1tutions were mere shadows.

h. working of the tederal oonstitution was aristocrat lc , but i t

not oligarchlc. The leading men ot Aohaea were not a olose

d oppressive body, tenced in by dist inct and odious legal prl

their predominance rested merely on sutteranoe and con

and the mass of the people had 1t legally in their

to act to r themselves Whenever they thought good. The

6rhe Federallst . No. LVIII, ed. E.M. Earle, (Wash1ngton, D.C. 382-:--



37

of the Assembly, meeting but rarely, and gathered from

olt ies , oould have had none of that olose oorporate fee

that oommunlty of interest and habitual aotlon, whloh is

of the ollgarohy of a slngle ci ty . An Aohaean who

as led astray trom his duty to the national lnterests, w&. muoh

l ikely to be led a. tray by regard to r the looal interests ot

is own city than by any oare tor the promotion ot aristooraoy or

among the ci t ies in general. The Assembly had a l l the

emotions, a l l the 11te, heart ine.8, and energy, and a l l

he rash impetuosity and oooas10nal short-slghtedness, of a really

body.

The votes in the Assembly were taken, not by heads, but by

7 Th1s mode ot vot1ng was oommon 1n the anoient r e p u b 1 1 0 8 ~or 18 i t at a ll unknown in the Modern world. I t was the rule ot

he Amerioan Confederation of 1778,9 and the present Con_titution

t the United States retains i t in those oases where the election

t a President ta l l s to the Houae of Representativ.a. 10 In a pri-

7Thirlwall, VIII, 92.

8Thi8 mode ot votlng was employed in the Assembly ot theTribes.

9Artl01es ~ Contederation, Article 5, Sect10n 4.

lOConstitution ot the United States, Article I I , Section I ,the l ~ - X ; e n d m . n t . The Confederate Constitution

the same rule, and introduced i t in another case, namely

he votlngot

the Senate on the admissionot

new States.



38

assembly, l ike that of Aohaea, i t was the only way by whioh

he rights of distant oit ies oould be preserved. Had the votes

taken by heads, the people of the town where the meetIng wasoould always have outvoted a l l the rest of the League. This

have been the oase even While the Assembly was held at

and the danger would have been greater s t i l l when, in a f .

er times, Assemblies were held in great oit ies 11ke Corinth and

The plan of voting by oit les at once obviated this evi l .

The same causes which made the Achaean Assembly practlcally

n aristocratio body served also to make i ts sit t ings short and

The League had no oapital; there was nothing to tempt

en to stay at the place of meeting any longer than the affairs of

he nation absolutely required. Every man's heart was in his own

ae went up to do his duty in the Federal Assembly, and to

to the Federal God;-but to remain half tqe year

his own house and his own fields was an idea whioh never

the head of an Achaean polit ioian. The Assembly met of

twioe year ly , l l in spring and autumn. The magistrates were

llThe two yearly meetings are olearly implied in Polybius,2, 3. Roman ambassadors came to the autumn meeting a tI t was agreed that , instead of the Assembly ooming to avote, the ambassadors should meet some of the Achaean

in a diplomatio oonferenoe a t Tegea. Critolaus met themand told them that be oould do nothing without the autho

of the next Assembly, to be held six months after . This was,a ruse, a8 a speoial Assembly oould have been called,

r speoial powers might have been obtalned from the Meeting atbut the pretext ahows the regular oourse of things.



39

elected at the spring meeting, afterwards most pro

in the autumn.12 The sess10n w,s 11mited to three daY8. 13

thetwo

yearly meetings, i t

restedwith the

government toextraordinary meetings, on oocasions of special urgenoy.14

Prom the shortne.1 ot the Assembly'. selsiona there naturally

oertain restriotions on i t l powers, oertain augmentationl

t the powers ot the executive government, whioh to an Athenian

have seemed the ut ter destruotion ot a l l demooratio treedom.

t haa been thought that , in an extraordInary Assembly at least -

d an extraordinary Assembly WOUld, almost by the nature of the

have to deal wIth more Important bUlinesl than an ordinary

majority ot the .xeoutive cabinet could legally refuse to

any question to be put to the vote. 15 This s.ems at least

but i t is evident tha t , in a selsion of three days,


13polybius, XXIX, 9. Livy, XXXII, 22. Both ot these ~ r eI t this rule pre

would i t in the cammon hal t -

ot an extraordinary meetingon suoh oooasions, much more

meetings.

14Polybius, V, 1. In one case (Polybius, IV, 7) we meet w1thstrange phenomenon ot a military assembly. The ordinary assem

ly voted that the General Ihould summon the whole force of thein arms, and that the army thus assembled should debate and

on the courle ot action to be tollowed.

l5Thirlwal1, VIII, 91-92.

16me passage referred to by B18hop Th1rlwall 1 . Livy, XXXII,In the

author'sopinion

thispal.age does not prove

that thelad the. power to retuse to put any question to the vote.



40

he right of private members to bring in bi l l s , or even to move

have been praotioally very much curtai led. No

the ini t ia t ive always praotioally remained in the handsot

he government. In an extraordinary assembly i t was so in the

sense, as such an Assembly could only entertain the

business on which i t was summoned to deoide.17 And in

l l oases, what the Assembly really had to do was to aocept or re-

the ministerlal proposals, or i t may be, to aocept the pro-

of the leaders of the opposltion.

The ordinary Assemblies were, a t least durlng the f l r s t

ot the League, always held a t Algion; but i t seems to have

in the power of the government to summon the extraordirlary

as a t any time, so in any place, which mlght be con-

18 Alglon had been chosen as the place of meeting for the

League19 because i t was the most important of the old

oit ies at ter the destruotion of Helice. In after times 1t

as a t least as well adapted for the purpose for an opposite rea .

I t might have been the ~ r e a t e s t member of the original hoha

but i t was ins1gnificant ln oomparison with the powor-

17Livy, XXXI, 25. Non 11cere legibus Aohaeorum de al l iareterre, quam propter quas convocat1 essent.


19Strabo, VIII, 7, 3.



41

ul C ~ t i 0 8 which wera afterwards enrolled in the League. Aigion

bettor place for the federal government than Corinth or M e g ~to r

the8s.me

reason that Washin3tonis

a bettor placetor

he Amerioan federal govsrnment t h ~ ~ New York. St i l l , however, a

dignity, and some material advantage, must have accrued to

from the holding of the fed9ral assemblies, and from the

frequent presence of the federal magistrates at other

This may well have aroused a certain degree of jealousy

the other ci t ies for a t a la ter period of Aohaean History,

carried a measure which l e f t the League without even

he shadow of a oapital , and prescribed that the federal assem

be held in every oity of the League in turn.20

In disoussing Achaean affa i rs , the author has used the words

ministers, oabinet, and such l ike several times. Thi.

as been done so of set purpose, inordar to mark the mo,t impor

of a l l the differences between the city-demooraoy of Athens

nd the federal demooraoy of Aohaea. In speaking of Athenian

no words oould be more utterly inappropr1ate; Demos was

t onoe magistrate and oongress; the magistrates whOM he elected

simply agents to oarry out his orders. This was perfeotly

a demooraoy whose sovereign assembly regularly met ono

n ten da,.s. Another oourse was equally natural 1n a demooraoy

2Orhirlwall , VIII, 393.



42

sovereign assembly regularly met only twice eaoh year. I t

s absolutely necessary in such a case to invest the magistrates

f the republic withta r

greater otfioial powers than any magis.

possessed at Athens from the days of C1eisthenes onwards.

t was, in short, necessary to glvem them the oharacter of what,

n mod.rn phrase, is und.rstood by a government, and to oonflne

he assembly to the funotions of a congress. The extent of ter

led to the infr.quent m.etlng. of the Assembly, and infre

meetings of the assembly led to the inoreased authority of

he magistrat.s; for a ruling power must be lodged somewhere

the three hundred and f i t ty-nine days when the sovereign

wa. not In .ession.

The federal magistrates of Aohaea are found to act with a l-

a. l i t t le restraint as the members of the exeoutive branch of

he government of the United S t a t e s ~ They are the aotual movers

d doers of everything, while the functions of the A.semb1y are

reduced to hearing their proposals and saying aye or no to

as the magistrates were themselves elected by the As-

i t should naturally be expeoted, what the hlstory of the

at almost every step to have been the case, that the

of the Assembly would be much oftener aye than no. Since the

Ass.mbly wa. addr••••d by minister. whom i t s own vote had

in ot t ic . six months betore, i t would, under a ll ordinary

them a very favorable hearing, and would not



43

that sort of jealousy whioh often exists between the American

and the Amerioan President. In faot, the relations

an Aohaean gevernment and an Aohaean Assembly were in somemore l ike those between an English government and an

House of Commons than the relations between an American

and an American Congress. As the Aohaean magistrates.

Aohaean oitizens, were neoessarily members of the Aohaean

so in England the government ministers are, by impera-

custom, members of the House ot Commons.

In Aohaea therefore, just as in England, the members of the

oould appear personally before the Assembly to make

proposals and to defend their polioy. But in the United

the members of the President 's oabinet are s tr iot ly exolu

d tram seats in Congress,21 and the President oommunioates with

body for the most part only by:a written message. ~ g a i n . as

does not eleot,22 so neither oan i t remove, either the

or members of his oabinet. I t therefore follows that

21The Constitution of the United States, Artiole I , Seotion, Clause 2. - -

22Congress never elects the President freely; under oertain(see Amendment 12) the House of Representatives may

to ohoose a President from among three candidates alreadyPresident again may be (Article I , Seotion 3, Olause

; Article I I , Seotion 4) deposed by a judicial sentence of theon an impeachment by the House of Representatives. But

ot oourse requires proof at some definite orime; there i8 no

way of removing him simply beoause his polioy is



44

he legislative and executlve branches may remain, durlng a whole

ln complete oppositlon to one another. In England the

ot Commons does not elther formally appolnt or formally de-

the government, for the stmple reason that the government haa

legal exlstenoe; but l t does both in a way whloh, l f indlrect ,

s s t i l l highly effectual. In Achae., the government was, not 1n-

but directly, chosen by tne Assembly. There was not, any

than in the Unlted States , any constitutional means of re-

before the end of the term of office; a government

ceased to enjoy the confidence of the Assembly had,

to be oonstltutionally borne with tor one year. But,

s their term of ottice was only one year instead ot tour, such a

ot enduranoe would be much shorter than i t sometimes is in

Even in England, a government must be weak indeed whioh,

in oft ice, cannot contrive to retain power to r as long a,

an unpopular Achaean government would ever bave had to be.

the general praotical working of the Achaean system was

remarkable advance in the dlrection of modern constitutional



CHAPTER IV

HISTORICAL COMPARISON: PART I I

The Aohaean government, when i ta detai ls were finally settled

of ten ministers, who for,med a oabinet oounoil for the

the Aohaean., or, in modern language, the President of

he Union. Besides these great offioers, there was also a Secre

of State , l a Vioe-General,2 and a General of Cavalry.3 I t i .

that the la t ter two funotionaries were merely military

and did not f i l l any important poli t ical position. I t

s olear, for 1nstance, that the V10e-General, was, in civ1l mat

least , a less important person than the Vice-President of

he Un1ted Statea. The American Vice-President 1s ex-off10io

of the Senate,4 and, in oaae of anyao01dental,.vaoancy

the Pres1denoy, he succeeds to the off10e tor the remainder of

he term. 5 But ot the Achaean V1ce-General nothing i8 heard in

IpOlyb1us, I I , 43.

2Ib1d., IV, 59.-3IbId. , V, 95.-4The Const1tut1on of the Un1ted States, ArtI01e I , Seot1on 3,--5IbId. , Article I I , Section I , Clause 6.-

45



46

affa i rs , and i f the General died in off ice, h is place for

he remainder of the year was taken, not DY the Vice-General, but

y the person who had been General the previo'us year.6

The active officers of the League in c iv i l matters were

the General, the Secretary, and the ten ministers. The

of the Seoretary are not described, but i t is eaay

o guess what they were. He was doubtless, as the Secretary of

is now, the immediate author of a l l public despatches, and

minor matters he may often have been ent i t led, aa the Secretary

t State is now, to act on his own responsibi l i ty. I t is evident

the way in which Doth Polybius and Strabo speak ot i t , that

he ott ice was one of high dignity and importance.

The Ten Ministers, the cabinet council of the President, are

by various names.? They seem to have been the federal ma-

of the League in i ta ear l ier and looser state." Their

ten, as Bishop Thirlwall has observed,S evidently points

o the reduced number of the old Achaean ci t ies af ter the loss of

and Olenus. This a t once suggeats a quest10n as to the

of these magistrates when new ci t ies were added to the

6polyb1us, XL, 2.

7Their formal t1 t le was Damiurgi. Polyoiu8, XXIV, 6; PluAratu. , 43; Livy, XXXII, 22.

8rnir lwall , VIII , ~ l .



47

The number remained unaltered;9 and i t has hence been In

that the Cabinet always oontinued to be f i l led by oitizens

f the old Achaean ei t ies .10 Yet i t would be of i t se l f almost

to believe that this important office was confined to

of the old Aehaea, and that an Argive, a Corinthian, or

Megalopolitan would have been inel igible. Had such been the

one would hardly find Polybius, himself a cit izen of a non

using suoh stronS language as he does as to the l i -

of the League in extending fu l l equality of rights to

oity which joined i t , and reserving no exolusive privileges

o the elder members. l l In conformity with these professions, the

as i t clearly known, was freely chosen from any of the

enrolled in the League, and indeed he seems to have been,

than not, a cit izen of a non-Achaean ci ty . These a r g u m . nwould almost lead one to believe that , when tne League had

i t s fu l l development, the old number ten, though s t i l l

9LivY, XXXII, 22.

10I take this to be Bishop Thirlwallts meaning (VIII, 111)he says, "Strange as i t appears, we are led to oonolude that

in both these boards oontinued to be fi l led by Achaeans

1 1 o ~ O e v t ydp o ~ O ! v ~ x o A e a ~ o ~ ~ v ~ ~ A e o v l x ~ ~ ~ a ~ w v ~ ~ e p x ~ ' ,faa O t ~ d ~ a ~ o & o G a a ~ o r , 4 e r · n p o a A a ~ ~ a V O ~ e v o & ' •••

For by reserving no special privileges tor original membersputting a l l new adherents exactly on the same tooting •••

I I , 38. There are many referenoes to Buch equalityPolybius' entire work.



48

oeased to have any praatical referenca to the ancient

of towns, and that the offioe of Minister, as well as the

was open to every citIzen of the League.I t

not un

happens, in the growth of oonsti tutions, that numbers ot

sort are retained long af ter they have ceased to have any

meaning. So the Ten Achaean M1nisters may have once

represented the Ten Achaean Towns, and yet , a t a l l events

the accession of Sicyon, they may have been ohosen IndiscrI

from any of the confederate oi t ies . But i t 1s not neo

to argue the pOint from probabil1tIes. There is a ful l

1n PolybIu8 of the proceedings in an Achaean CabInet

with the names of several of the members. Four of the

tel'S are mentioned, and, of these, three, besides the Genera

re oitizens of Megalopolis;13 the fourth is a oitizen of Aegerra

of the old Aohaean ci t ies .

The exaot relation of the Ten Ministers and of the Secretary

o the executive Chief of the state is not very olearly marked.

t must have been essentIal to the good government of the League

they ehould be able to work together in tolerable harmony,

d that their differenoes, i f they bad any, should not go beyond

12IbId. , XXIII, 10-12.

l3ArIata1nu8 the General, Diophanea, PhI1opoimen, andare a l l from MegalopolIs; Arohon 1s from Aigeira.

himself takes no part in the debate, but his party

Ly-The

is out



49

debate and a division among themselves. For Achaean statesmen

ad certainly not reached that pitch of refinement by which a.

1n the Cabinet is held to oe a thing not to be thought

f. They had not disoovered that a l l differenoes of opinion must

oompromised or conoealed, or that , i f this is impossible, the

must ros1gn his or thei r officos, as 1s the custom in the

of the Uni tee. Sta tes . But the Achaean Cabinet was direot-

eleoted to a defini te office to be held for a defini te time; i t

of opinion arose among i ts members, they were simpl,.

be set t led by a majority, l ike differenoes of opinion in the

i t se l f . In the United Dtates the President ohooses his

Cabinet, and that with great freedom of ohoice. The Aohaean

had his Cabinet ohosen for h1mj but then they were

along with himself , a t the same t ime, and by the same elec

the majority whioh oarried the . laot ion of the President h ~"

would probably seldom give h1m colleagues who were altogether

to him. I f , on some oooa910ns,14 the General 1s

d1sagreeing with his Cabinet, the speoial mention of the

seems to show that i t was something except1onal.

Altogether the science of electioneer1ng seems to have a t-

Q very fa i r development in the League. Polybiua in one

a vivid descr1ption of an Achaean "oaucus," where

l4polybiU8, XXIII, 10; XL, 4.



50

leading men ot a p a ~ t i c u l a r party met to discuss the ge

at ta i rs of that party, and especially to set t le their "tic_

to r the next electlon.15

They agreed upon a President andGeneral ot Cavalry. I t is not expressly sald that they

upon other magistrates as well, but l t may be reasonably

that they did.

In c o m p a ~ i n g the oonstitution of the Achaean League with the

ot the United States, i t ls dlf f icul t to avoid deslg

i t s ohief magistrate by the modern name ot President. But

t must be remembered that his real ot t lc ia l t l t le was Strategos

r General. The Achaeans, for the f l r s t twenty-flve years of

renewed contederacy, elected two Generals. Then an impor

change was made in the oonstitutlon by reducing the number to

In the emphatl0 words ot Polyblus,16 "they trusted one man

a l l their affalrs." "Now," he:oontinuea, "the t l r . ~ man who

this dlgnlty was Marcus of Ceryenia."

The practioal extent of the General ' . powers is here plalnly

et tor th . Everything was entrusted to him; he was not indeed to

15Ibld., XXVIII •...........

16Ibid., I I , 43 •...........

17ETXOOJ ~ e v ouv I ~ ~ ~ a ~ p ~ a xat ~ ~ v ~ a a u v £ ~ o A , ~ £ u a a v ~ o ~ £ e 't a u ~ ~ v al x p o e , p ~ ~ & V O ' ~ & A e l ' . ~ £ ~ a Oe ~ a u ~ a XdA1V i O o ~ £ v a ~ ~ o r ,Iva x a e l a ~ a v e , v xat ~ o u ~ o ~ , a ~ £ u £ l v unep ~ A O O V . xal n p ~ o ' ~ ~ . X £

~ ~ , ~ l ~ ~ ' ~ a u ~ ~ ' Mdpxo' ~ Kapuveu,.



52

affair-- the beginning of a l l legislat ion, the beginning of

negooiation,l7 the bringing of a l l measures up to the point

t which they could be brought torward as motions in the Assembly-in short , which the United States looks tor at the

of i ts PreSident, was lef t to the discretion ot the General,

n concert with a body of colleagues who commonly looked up to him

s their natural leader.

The whole history of the League ahows that the General atood

t the head of the League, in a way in whicb no one stood at the

ot any of the ear l ier Greek democracies, but in a way very

that in wbich the President stands a t the head of the United

He resembled the Amerioan President in being formally

for a definite t1me, empowered with a definite authority:

ut in many reapects his duties came nearer to those of the Eng-

Prime Minister than to those at an American Presideqt. The

differenoe i8 one which has been already hinted a t , namely

the Achaean President was a member, and the leading member,

f the Assembly i t se l f , while the American President is .omething

to Congresa. The Aohaean President did not cammunicate

by a message, whioh is usually done by the American

but by a speech from the floor of the Assembly. I t

17The prooess of negociation 1s clearly set forth in P o 1 1 b 1 u ~7. A diplomatic oammunication ia t i r s t made to the Ge.

who is tavorable to i t ) he then brings the ambassadors perbefore the Asaembly.



53

therefore, that he formally made motions on which the

voted, while in the United States the Houses of Congress

f i rs t and send their conclusions to the President.1S

Anfederal law was a motion of the General passed b.1 the As-

an American federal law is an act of Congress confirmed br

he President. 19

There is no evidenoe that any public offioer of the League

as paid; there is dist inot evidenoe that some important public

were not paid;20 and the office of General is dist inctly

ot as one whioh involved great expense.2l Kone but men who

at onoe rich, ambitious, and zealous, would or oould aooept

whioh involved onerous duties and large expenses, and

oarried with them only honorary rewards. The government of

he United States, i8 , indeed, not an unpaid government but i t is

highest members reoeive salaries b a r e ~ oove-

their expenses, and who, therefore, do not seek tor office

IBme President may recommend measures to Congress (Consti.Article I I , Seotion 3), but he cannot make a motion in

like the Aohaean General.

lSrhe Constitution of the United Statel , Article I , Seotion, Claus. 2. --

20polybiu8, XXIII, 7. Of oourse I 8uppose only the higherto have been unpaid. In Aohaea, as everywhere else,

mU8t have been plenty ot paid subord1nates.

21Ibid., XXVIII, 7. There 1s also mention ot official Achae-

n embassies being sent at the expense of the General.



54

s a source of personal gain.

The author will now attempt to gather what information he can

his authorit1es as to the exact legal powers of the Achaeanand h1s Cab1net. The power of summon1ng extraordinary As-

was vested 1n the General act1ng w1th the concurrence of

1s Cab1net.22 But the formal presidency of the Assembly, and the

of putt1ng quest10ns to a vote, clearly rested w1th the Ten

and not with the General.23 The reason is obvious. The

was necessarily an important speaker; he had to explain

to defend his policy; he would have been as unfi t to act as

of the Assembly as the President of the United States

to aot as Speaker of the House of Representatives. Theo-

the same object1on might seem to apply to his ten col-

they were as responsible as he was for the measures on

they had to take the votes of tha Assembly. But they were

ot 80 personally bound as he was to be act1ve apeakers in thei r

Out of the Assembly, the General and his Ministers doubtless

in concert in a l l important c iv i l business. On 80me great

the whole government is dist1nct1y seen act1ng together.

or instance, Aratus, the most famous General of the teague, and

is Ten Ministers a l l went to meet K1ng Antigonus, and to make

22Ib1d., V, 1 •...........

23Llvy, XXXII, 22.



55

with h ~ for his coming into Peloponnesus.24 Inin a l l civi l and diplO!natic business the General acted to

with the other members of the government. He was chief of

Cabinet. He could not indeed get r id of a retractory colleague,

s the President of the United States can ask for the resignation

f one of his cabinet members, but in the good times of the League

General who was in the least f i t for his place oould always

a majority among his colleagues, and a majority was ~ l lwas needed.

In mIlitary af5.'airs the case was different . The Ten Minis

were a purely civi l magistracy;25 the General, besides being

he poli t ical head of the s ta te , was also, as his t i t le implies,

ts military ohief , and that with fa r more unrestrained power than

e exercised in civi l affa i rs . The Assembly declared war and oon

peace; but while war lasted, : the General had the undivided"

or the Achaean armies. He was allowed to act for himself,

onl,. to the atter-judgement ot the Assembl,., in whioh h i .

might be discussed af ter the tao t .26 The American

is indeed, by the Oonstitution, Commander-in-Ohiet ot

he armed forces of the United State8;27 that is to say, they are

24Plutarch, Aratu8, 43.

25Polybius, V, 8.

26Ib id . , I I , 48.

-270onstitution, Article I I , Seotion 2, Olause 1.



56

a ~ his disposal as the chief executive; but i t is not

that the President shall always be the man personally to

the armies 1nbat t le .

But in the Achaean League the Generals really a generalj his oommand in the f ie ld was as much a mat-

er of course as his ohief influence in the Assembly; his only

t i t le was a mili tary one,28 although i t should be noted

the outward symbol of his office was one purely civi l , a

The General kept the Great Seal ot the League, and his ad-

to , or reSignation of, office is sometimes spoken of as

or laying down the 8e81.29

The union ot military and c iv i l powers in the chief ot sta te

gave greater unity and energy to the League's aotion;

ut i t undoubtedly had a bad side . I t by no means followed ei ther

the wisest statesman would be also the bravest and most ski l -

ul general, or that the bravest and most ski l fu l g e n e r a ~ ~ o u l dbe the wisest statesman. Aratus was unrivalled as a diplO-

and parliamentary leader, but his military career contained

fai lures than suooesses. Could he have divided his

the League might perhaps never have been driven to become

suppliant for Maoedonian protection.

28polybiusis singularly fluctuating in the various t i t l es

he gives to the Assembly and to the Ministers, but I do notthat the General is ever called anything but Strategos.

29Plutaroh, Aratu8, 38.



57

I t is alao clear that the union aggravated one diff icul ty

perhaps can never be entirely a.voided in any government

the magistrates are~ l e c t A d

for ad ~ t i n i t e

time. Once a

or once in tour years, a. governmental cris is comes round as

matter of course. I t is fe l t to be a serious detect in the

system that the President is elected eo long before he

enters into his off ice. A pract ical interregnum of some

takes place; the incoming government are s t i l l private men,

he outgOing government, though s t i l l invested with legal powers,

ventara to use them with anl effect in the face of thei r

successors. A circumstance recorded by Polybiu8 shows

this diff icul ty was also experienced in Achaea.80 The Aeto-

ohose for an attack the time when the off ic ia l year W a ~to i t s close, a t a tiMe when the Aohaean government and

sure to be weak. Ara tU8, the General-elect, ·&'fas not

~ t actually in otf ioe; the outgOing General, Timoxenus, s h r L ~ kenergetio action so la te in the year, and a t l as t yielded his

to Aratu8 before tho legal time. I t is not known exactly

long the Achaean interregnum lasted, but i t is evident that

is found al1. eXS.;."!1ple of the Ame1"1oan diff icul ty , and that ag

by the taot that the President of the League had himself

to take the f ie ld .

30

Polybias, IV, 6, 7.



5[1

I t rna.y perhaps be doubted whother, in anothe r pOint, the

of the LeEl.gue dh1.inished or aggravated an evi l which Me

been pointed out in the American. system. The power given

y the Constitution, and, at one t ~ e , often exercised 1n practice

f re-electing the President, a t leas t for one addit ionel t'3rt1 of

haa often been made the subject of complaint. I t Beems

o phl.cs, I t is argued, the Cllief Exeou t i va of the United nta tea

n the somewhat lowering posit ion of a candidate for the sl).ffragss

f the oi t izens; i t causes hIm too often to adopt a policy, which

y not in i t se l f be the best , but whioh may be the most l ikely to

to re-election; and i t oauses the l a t t e r part of a. Presidenoy

o be often spent in c a ~ v a s s i n g rather than 1n governing the a f-

of the nation.

The ltohaean Prttsident held office for a year only;" he was in

ot immediate re-elect1oll, but he might bt'l chosen <.again the

32 In conformity with this law, Aratus, dur1ng his

was oommonly elected seemingly quite as a matter

f coarse, in the 81ternRte years . In those years when he ' ~ v a 8 not

in off ioe , he was often able to procure the e l ~ c t i o n of

3lrhe Const1tution or1ginally put no res t r ic t ion upon the re of the Preaident; however, i t has been recently amendeda President to t"o terms 1n off ice . The Confederate

ot Amerioa made the Pres1dent incapable of re-e lect ion,ut gave h1m Q longer term of otf ice , namely, for six years .

32Plutarch, Aratus, 24.



60

or disoussion, and perhaps amendment, by this smaller body, be-

they were submitted to the f inal deoision of the Assembly.37

introduoed to i t before their audienoe in the

perhaps in some oases they transaoted business with

he S e n ~ t e alone.31 In other instanoes the Senate might be inves

ed by the Assembly with delegated powers to aot 1n i ts name. Incase, the Senate would praotically disoharge the funotions

f the Assembly.

On the finanoial system ot the Aohaeans i t is hardly our

to enlarge. But a rew pOints must be mentioned whioh

a direot bearing on the Federal Oonstitution. ~ h a t the Aoha

n League was essential ly a national government, that i ts law8 and

were direotly binding upon Aohaean oitizens, oan admit of

o reasonable doubt. But i t ls not equally olear that i t had In

l l oases advanced beyond that system of requisit ions frqm the

members, instead of dlreot agenoy on the part ot the

power. I t would hardly have been in harmony with the

instinots of the Greek mind to have soattered an army ot

offlcers, in no way responsible to the local governments,

a ll the oit ies of Peloponnesus. And, in t ruth, questions of

by no means held that important plaoe In an anclent Greek

37~ . , I I , 46.

38 dIbi . , XXIX, 8 •..........



61

is attaohed to them in every modern sta te .

under the oiroumstanoes of the League, the requisit ion

wasthe more

oonvenient of thetwo; but i t

isperfeotly

that the Federal Assembly and the Federal Magistraoy were

to whioh every oitizen owed a direot obedienoe, and not

an ind1reot one through the government of his own oity.

does exist a glimpse of the federal system of tax, t ion, when

oit1es are found refusing to pay the contributions whioh

to the federal treasury.39 This 8eems to ahow

the Federal Assembly, or the government aoting by i ts autho-

assessed eaoh oity at a certain sum, whioh the oity had to

by whatever form of looal taxation i t thought best . And

though the United Statea prefer a system of more str ic t ly

there seems nothing in the other method whioh ia

inoonsistent with the s tr iotes t federal unitt_

In military matters, the Assembly sometimes required oertain

to furn1sh partioular oontingents,40 and sometimes invested

he General with power to summon the whole mi11tary toroe of the

4l Beside these oitizen soldiers, the League, aooording to

he oustom of the age, made large use of mercenaries, whose pay

39Ibid. , IV, 60.

4 0 I b i d ~ , V, 91.

41Ibid., IV, 7.



62

have oome out of the federal treaaury. Out of these two

of citizen and mercenary soldiers, the League kept up a

a ~ y , enough at least to supply a few important

with federal garrisons. But, beaide what was neoessary for

purposes, the League is not l ikely to have kept any foroe,

of cit1zens or mercenarIes, oonstnatly under a ~ s . Row-

the extensive military reforms of Philopoimen42 show that

he oit1zens m u ~ t bave been in the habit ot trequent m1litary

or he would hardly have had the opportun1ty of introdu-

such oonslderable changes as he dld into both the cavalry and

he infantry ot the League.

42plutaroh, Philopoimen, 1, 9.



CHAPTER V

QONCLUSIOW

In con8idering the Oonstitution of the Aohaeaa League, i t is

to avoid comparing i t , a ~ o 8 t a t every step, with the

of the United States of America. I f same points of

have been pointed out, i t i8 because the general l ike

i . ao clo.e that the sl ightest unlikeness a t onee makes i t

evident. The two constitutions are . s l ike to one another . ~their respective Circumstances, they could be. They arose

n dif terent quarters of the globe, among men ot difterent races

d languages, and with an interval ot two thousand years between

he two.

The elder union was a confederation of single Cities, whioh"

..

ad once been s t r ic t ly sovereign republics, invested with a l l the

ot independent powers. The younger union was a confedera

of large states, and which, before the War of Independence,

thought of pretending to sovereign r ights. Even the W •

oolonies, though the cirCUMstances of their foundation

to their early daY8 much greater independenoe than European

oommonly posaes., were . t i l l oolonies, and tully reoog

their allegianoe to the mother-oountry. With th i . dif te-

63



65

to be himselt a member or one or other house of the les is -

But such a position would be hardly consistent with the

ot a president whose functions are oonferred on him by law

nd not by an unwritten conventionality. St i l l the general posi-

of the chief magistrate in the two constitutions is str iking

y al ike, and the more so when i t is remembered that the his tor i -

al origin ot the two offices was wholly different .

The powers ot the Amerioan President are in many ways supreme

e lacks indeed the power of declaring war, but i t is h is function

o Ilegociate t reat ies of peaoe; he has the command of the nationa

he controls the mass of the national patronage; and he

a legislat ive veto. All these powers are s t r ic t ly roya

when put into the hands of a republican magistrate, they are

limited in various ways. In 80me instances the con-

of the Senate i8 legally required for the val idi ty ot th

acts . In a l l cases his power i . praotical1y limited

y the temporary tenure of his oftice, and by his personal respon

for any i l legal act . St i l l . limited as they are in the

the powers are 1n themselves kingly. The President

into the kingta p1aoe and haa really more power than a

King has personally.

Hamilton. in the Federal ia t , l labora hard, aa h i . argument

1The Federalist , LXIX •.........



66

to show the pOints or difference between the elective

nd reeponsible Presicent and the hereditary and irresponsible

Thati s ,

he bring$r o ~ w a r d

the republican limitations ofhe President 's powers more strongly than the kingly nature or the

themselves. He then compnres the President with the gover

particular _tates, s ~ o w i n g that the President 's power5 do

on the whole, exoeed theirs . But the powers of a state go

are no les l kingly within their own range, and thai are

kingly in their origin. The governor of the independent

suooeeded the Governor of the dependent colony, and 11e, whe

her elected Or nominated, was essential ly a refleoted image of

The governor of the state retained the position of the

of the colony, with sueh ohanges as a republioan system

required. I t ma.y be dOl:lbtea whether republics which

ad had no sort of experience of monarchical instltution,fS would

invested a.ny single magistrate with the large powera posses

ed by the Amerioan governors.

But the Achaean General did not succeed any king. I t there

wns one king who ruled over a l l the old Aohaean oi t ies . i t

s in a long past and mythioal time; the single ae .era l suoceeded

o the functions of the two Generals whom the League or1ginally

There was. theretore, nothing kingly about hls or1s1n.

deliberately decided that one ollie! magistrate was

than two, Qnd thati t

was well to clothe that ch1ef magi.-



67

with powerl unknown to earl ier democraciel.

The general resemblance between the heads ot the two unionl

l obvlous. Whatever be the ditterences in detai l , l t may be seen

n both ca.es, that a hlghly democratic conltl tutlon can attord to

a 11ngle chlet with nearly the whole exeoutive power, and

t may be seen, in both ca.es, that so great an extent ot legal

ls sut t ic lent to gratl ty the aabitlen of the cltizens who

re luceeslively rai .ed to i t . Heither unlon h.si tated to oreate

l ike a temporary king, and neither union ever t e l l unde

he away ot anyth1ng 11ke a permanent tyrant. The Aohaean and the

Unions atand together as the two democraoies whlch have

a slngle chlet magi.trate wlth the greatelt amount of

and those in whlch that power haa been less abused than a ne l . e .

Th. American Senate i l an i n l t i t ~ t i o n to which there ls no

paral lel in the Achaean aystem. The tounders ot the Oonstl

of the Unlted States adopted the general princlple ot the

the constltutlon ot the mother-country. They

l t to republloan ldeas by maklng i ts seats . leot tve in -ot heredltary, and they inve.ted i t wlth powers which the

House ot Lords dld not po . . . . . . I t i . the constltutional

on the power ot the President, and l t 1. the apecial guardla

t the rlghts ot the atatea.

Ibere the a.sembly ls primary, a s.cond chamber, in the aam.



70

property qualification.3 The franohise which the Ameri

confers on every oitizen is far more restrioted in i ta

but i t i8 one whioh every citizen can exercise without

or trouble. The real power of the mass of the people is

ta r greater .

Two constitutions, tramed two thousand years and seven thou-

miles apart, naturally present no small diversity_ Yet afte

the diversity is t r i f l ing in comparl.on with the l ikeness.

no two oonstitutions, produced a t such a distanoe ot t ~ .d place from one another, ever presented 80 oloae a resemblanoe

o each other, aa that whioh exists betw.en the Oonatitution of

he United Stat .s and the Constitution ot the Aohaean League.

The question, then, naturally ariaes, was tho younger of

two oonstitutions, so like in their provisiona, so distant

n t1Me and plaoe, in any degree a consoious imitation of the

The author is inolined to think that i t was not. The

or the United Statea were not primaril , scholars, but

politicAns. They .ere fully disposed to l isten to the

of hietory, but they had small opportunity of know1ng

the true and unoorrupted teaching ot Grecian History really

Those chapters of the Federal1st which are devoted to the

3fhe Federal is t , LVIII, 318.-



71

of earlIer instances or federal government reveal

disposItion to make a praotical use of ancient precedents,

ut they show very l i t t le knowledge as to what those precedents

were. I t J.e clear that Ha..'11il ton and Madison knew hardl,.

more or Greoian II;, a tOl:'1 t '; I. what they had pioked up from

he Observat!ons ot the Abbe Mably. But i t 1s no less clear that

were incomparably better qualified than their French guide to

and apply what they dld know. In t reating of the Acha

League, Mably contounds the Assembly with the Senate;5 He has

any not1on ot the remarkable powers veated in the General,

r as he cal ls h ~ , the Prastorl6 t inal ly, he loads Aratus wlth

to r that act ot h1s 11te whlch Plutarch so emphatically

PolybIu8 has so much ado to defend, his undoing

is own work and laying Greece ORce more prostrate at the teet of

Kacedonlan master. '

4Ibld. , XVIII, 91.

5QOn Cl:'ea un senat cammun de la natlon; 11 stassemblolt deux

l ' an a Eglum, au oommenoement du prlntemps et de Itautomne,

t 11 eto1t compose des deputes de chaque republlque en nombre e s aasaemblee ordon01t la guerre au la paix. Mably, p. 187.

6fte does indeed aaYl "Elle f i t 1a raute heureuse de fte oontleun seul preteur l 'adm1nistrat1on de toutea ses aftalrea."t s , ot oourse, a t ranslat lon ot those tamous words ot Polybiu

ut no words ever stood more 1n need of comment.

700 ne peut, je croia, donner trop de louanges 8 Aratu8 pourreoouru a 18 proteotlon de la Mao.dolne meme, oans une con-

taceuse ou s 'aglssoi t au aalut des Acheens. ~ . , 197.



73

the unfairness which could not fa l l to attend this part of the

Achaean system was carefully guarded against by the opposite con-

st i tut ion of the Houseot R e p r e s e n t a t i v e a . l ~

Had they tully re-allzed the prominent position of the Achaean General, so ditferen

from anything 1n earl ier democracies, what an example they would

have had betore them to just1fy thoae large powers in the Presi-

dent to r which they . 0 strenuously contended. l l

But i t was really better for mankind, to r his tor ical study,

that the la t ter ot these two great experiements was made in pract

cal ignorance ot the tormer. A l iving reproduction, the natural

result of the recurrenoe ot llke oiroumltances, ls worth immealu-

rably more than any oonseious imitation. I t i . ta r more glorious

that the wladom and patriotism of W.lhington and hil assooiates

should have led them to walk unwittingly in the steps ot Aratu.

and h il assooiatel, than that any intentional copying ot their

insti tutions should have detraoted ought from the freshne.s and

singlenes. of their own noble course. Had I t been otherwi.e, the

la ter generatIon ot patriots might have ehone only with a borro.e

l ight . As i t i s , the lawgivers of Achaea and the lawgivers of

American are enti t led to equal honor.

In truth the world has not grown old. The sturf of which

heroes are made has not perished trOM among men. When need de.

10 2Ibid. , LIV, 98 •..........

l l Ib id . , LXIX, 317 •.............



74

them, they s t i l l step forth 1n forms whloh Plutarch himselt

portrayed and worshipped. I t remains to r us to 5 ••

themodern

worldoan at ta in

to anotherno

Isss honorable

ot greatness.



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APPROVAL SHEET

The thes is submitted by William Henry Hogan, S.J .

has been read and approved by three members of the Department of

History.

The f ina l copies have been examined by the di rec tor of the

thesis and the signature which appears below ver i f ies the fact

that any necessary changes have been incorporated, and tha t the

thesis is now given f ina l approval with reference to content,

form, and mechanical accuracy.

The thes is i s therefore accepted in par t ia l f u l f ~ l l m e n t of

the r e ~ u i r e m e n t s fo r the degree of Master of Arts.

An Historical Comparison of the Federal Constitutions of the Achaean League and the United States of...

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