Athens Public Donor System Research

The liturgical system was one of the state systems of ancient Athens. It required rich Athenian citizens to do some civic services by contributing their wealth and time in a paticular year. Focusing on two major classes of liturgies:the trierarchy and the choregy, the author discusses the origin and operation of the liturgical system. On this basis, the author further analyzes the relationship between the wealthy and ordinary citizens and demonstrates the impacts that the liturgical system made on the relationship of those two social classes.Chapter One begins by tracing the origin of the trierarchy. The establishment of the trierarchy was closely related to Athenian democacy. The institution was introduced in a way that democratic Athens exploited the aristocratic ethics and adopted the old aristoctatic practise of naval funding for the new developed state fleet. Then, The author maps out the operation and evoluton of the trierarchy and by investigating how the state appointed trierarchs reveals that both the complusive and voluntary elements can be found in the liturgical system.In Chapter Two, the author first searches for the origin of the choregy. The introdution of the choregy can be traced to the period of tyrants but its real establishment as a formal system had to go after the introdution of Athenian democracy. Then, since civic festivals were the context of the choregy, the author discusses the relationship btween the choregy and the various Athenian civic festivals. At last, Athenian festivals are important occasions to promote the civic ideology, so the author analyses some democratic ethics embodied in the operation of the choregy.In Chapter Three, focusing on a ethic called philotimia, the author analyses the motive behind the performance of liturgies by the Athenian riches. Then the author investigates what impacts the liturgical system made on Athenian democracy in the light of the relationship between the wealthy and ordinary citizens. As an institution and a symbol in orations, the liturgical system produced both positive and negtive effects on the relationship of those two social classes.Through the three chapters of exposition, a conclusion can be made that as the funding sourse of Athenian navy and festival, the liturgical system played a very important role in the public finance of Athens. It was on the one hand the product of Athenian democracy, on the other hand it also economically and ideologically made some effects on Athenian democracy.