Inventing Draco’s Politeia : Political Narrative in Late Fourth Century BCE Athens

Abstract

This article examines chapter 4 of the [ Athenaion Politeia ] and its account of the Draconian constitution, arguing that it reflects late fourth-century BCE political concerns rather than an attempt to reconstruct seventh-century institutions. By situating the Draconian politeia within contemporary debates on the patrios politeia and Aristotelian political theorizing, the article explores its conceptual and structural affinities with both the regime of Demetrius of Phalerum (317–307) and the so-called Theramenean ‘mixed’ constitution of the late fifth century. It argues that the figure of Draco and the constitutional features attributed to him were reconfigured to address the political needs of late fourth-century Athens, functioning as part of a broader narrative strategy through which the past was selectively constructed and mobilized.