Ἐκκλησία in Greek Literature
Here I will provide a survey of the use of ἐκκλησία in Greek literature from the fifth-century BC to the first century BC. This survey seeks to be comprehensive enough in scope to challenge or confirm previous conclusions on the use of the term; however, it is not a complete survey of all usage: I am not looking at inscriptional or similar evidence, and this survey will focus on authors who use the term a significant amount. Here I will examine a sufficiently representative sample of Greek literature before the first century AD, from a variety of genres,155 beginning in the fifth century BC and working through to the first century BC.
Thucydides’s History of the Peloponnesian War, still largely accepted as generally accurate if incomplete,156 was written from c. 431–c. 400 BC.157 As such, it is one of the first texts to extensively use ἐκκλησία, and therefore a good place to begin this study. In terms of genre, Thucydides writes history, although with literary skill.158 Three features of his use of ἐκκλησία emerge from a survey of his work.
First, ἐκκλησία is a political assembly, called together to make decisions.159 This may involve hearing the arguments of ambassadors from other places, such as History 1.31, where an assembly of the Athenians is called to hear the arguments of the Corcyraeans and Corinthians,160 deciding that a treaty has been broken,161 responding to popular unease,162 responding to attacks or threats,163 meeting in times of revolution,164 a leader defending his conduct,165 and getting ready for war.166 The overwhelming sense here is of the assembly as a place of persuasion and decision in time of war or conflict. The assembly mentioned by Thucydides in 3.36, and again in 3.41, is worthy of particular note, as it is often referred to as an example of the continuous existence of the βουλή, whilst the ἐκκλησία is temporary.167 Certainly 3.36 and 3.41 refer to an assembly which meets and refers back to the decrees of a former assembly, although in 3.36 the former assembly has to be inferred from the context, and the βουλή is not mentioned here. The distinction between βουλή and ἐκκλησία may be maintained, but not from these two references.
Second, the assembly is normally that of a Greek city-state, although there are occasions when an assembly of soldiers is in view.168 When the plural is used, it is used for a series of assemblies meeting consecutively.169
Third, there are some indications of the way in which the assembly operates. There are some observable distinctions between the role of the assembly and the council,170 and comments about the time for the assembly to meet,171 about reinstating the assembly,172 about voting methods,173 about why an assembly was not called,174 and about how the assembly was distracted.175 It is not my concern here to establish the mechanics of Greek city-state politics in the fifth century BC. However, these indications show the concern with the right ordering of and the role of the popular assembly.
Aristophanes also writes about the Athenian assembly, although with the satirical and critical edge of “Old Comedy.”176 In his earlier plays, the assembly gathers, or fails to gather,177 can be wronged or polluted,178 makes decisions,179 should be properly constituted,180and is dissolved.181 Later plays show a more satirical view of the assembly,182 which perhaps climaxes with Thesmophorizusae and Ecclesiazusae, both of which feature women in assembly.183 This suggests a shared understanding of the assembly by Aristophanes’ audience, as certainly not a place for women, which could then be satirized. One final reference in Aristophanes is worthy of note, as it implies the possibility of personification of the assembly: in Ecclesiazusae, Blepyrus misunderstands Praxagora as implying that the assembly has had a child.184 Too much should not be made of this individual reference, but it does suggest, along with Aristophanes’s general satirical tone, that there was flexibility in how ἐκκλησία might be used.
Xenophon, writing in the early years of the fourth century BC, uses ἐκκλησία in a similar way to Thucydides.185 The ἐκκλησία is a political assembly called to make decisions.186 Second, the assembly is that of the Greek city-state,187 although on a number of occasions an assembly of soldiers is in view.188 The plural is used for a series of assemblies.189 Third, there are indications about how the assembly operated,190 including offices, and relationships between ἐκκλησία and βουλή.191
There are comparatively few references to ἐκκλησία in Plato,192 and a similar pattern emerges from them.193 Two points of interests emerge. First, the use of ἐκκλησιασταί for assembly-men, which remains a very rare occurrence in the literature,194 and second, the plural used for assemblies conceived of in general.195
I will consider the ten Attic Orators together for convenience.196 Unsurprisingly, they have a particular focus on the Athenian assembly.197 As in Thucydides, the assembly is a place of decision-making and dispute,198 the place where laws are made,199