# The Peloponnesian War 1.41-43

Greek and Roman Historians, The Peloponnesian War, Lines 1.41-1.43. Latin.

Canonical: https://interlinea.aeterna-institute.org/library/latin/greek-and-roman-historians/the-peloponnesian-war-2/1.41

The Law Against Unconstitutional Proposals, a democratic safeguard, was abolished, as was pay for most kinds of political office, and the old Council of Five Hundred was to be replaced by an elected Council of Four Hundred. These changes and plans did not go unopposed. Despite its losses in Sicily, there was still a fleet, at Samos, which was not at all pleased with what was happening. And the hoplites themselves, whatever theoreticians may have wished for on their behalf, were as enthusiastic for democracy as the thetes. The fleet sent a message to demand that the democracy be restored, and the extreme oligarchs were overthrown in favour of a more moderate oligarchy, the regime of The Five Thousand. This regime probably denied to the thetes the right of voting in the Assembly and lawcourts, though this is controversial. In any case, it lasted a mere 10 months.
Full democracy was restored in 410, and a commission was set up to codify the law: it was evidently felt that constitutional history had been abused in 411 and that the abuse had been made possible through ignorance. Codification was to prevent a recurrence; it was expected to take four months but was still incomplete after six years. A fresh start was to be made in 403.
In 410 Athens had recovered sufficiently to win a battle against the Peloponnesian fleet at Cyzicus (this was a factor in the downfall of The Five Thousand), and the Spartans may have asked for peace; the offer, however, is not mentioned by Xenophon, who now replaces Thucydides as the main source. This was a remarkable reversal of the position in 413 when a Spartan victory must have seemed in sight. Athens, however, refused to come to terms.

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Greek and Roman Historians, The Peloponnesian War. Text: The Latin Library (thelatinlibrary.com), used with permission. Changes: HTML markup removed and the text divided into reading sections by Interlinea.
License: Used with permission (https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/about.html). Source: http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/historians/narrative/peloponnesianwar1.html.