A political biography of Agyrrhius of Collytus Een politieke biografie van Agyrrhius van Collytus

My research project aims at reconstructing the political biography of Agyrrhius, an Athenian from the demos of Collytus who was one of the main actors of Athenian politics in the period between the end of the fifth and the first quarter of the fourth century BC. Although Agyrrhius was such an important political figure during the Spartan hegemony, there is still no in-depth study of his political career and his political aims. The relevance and necessity of such a study has been demonstrated by some recent works on Agyrrhius’ Granary Law of 374/3, an inscription edited first by Stroud in 1998.  It confirms the central position of Agyrrhius in Athenian economic policy. I believe that the law itself can be re-examined not only as a crucial document for our understanding the Athenian grain supply system, but also and above all as an expression of Agyrrhius’ political goals. In addition to the reconstruction of the different stages of Agyrrhius’ political biography, I will study the ancient authors who have provided information on his personality and his involvement in financial administration. In particular, Isocrates’ Trapeziticus is of interest here as it shows that Agyrrhius had business relations with the banker Pasion. Finally, I will deal with the various problems concerning the last part of Agyrrhius’ activity. Here I will deal with the question of the date of the trial he underwent as a public debtor. Yet, a purely biographical reconstruction would not be enough for a proper understanding of this man. Such an investigation will have to analyse also the relationship between the various Athenian ‘factions’ in the period following the democratic restauration and the position of Agrrhius within this framework.