Phocion of Athens. Good Citizen in a Divided Democracy

Thomas R. Martin recounts the unparalleled political and military career of Phocion of Athens and his tragic death.
Phocion (402–318 BC) won forty-five direct democratic elections for the highest public office in Athens. He was officially recognized as a “useful citizen.” A student at Plato’s Academy, Phocion rose to influence and power at a time when Athens was facing numerous crises associated with the emergence of Macedonia as an international power under Philip II and his son Alexander the Great.
After Athens’ defeat by Macedonia, Phocion unsuccessfully sought lenient terms of surrender. An oligarchy was imposed on democratic Athens, and over twelve thousand “undesirable” Athenians were exiled. When the oligarchic regime was overthrown and the exiles returned, the dispossessed Athenians vented their volcanic anger on Phocion, who was a harsh and relentless critic of his fellow citizens. His fiery rhetoric contributed to the general conclusion that he lacked a genuine sense of belonging to the community he so desperately wanted to preserve. The Athenians found him guilty of treason at the age of eighty-four and sentenced him to death. In this fresh biography, Thomas R. Martin examines how and why Phocion ultimately failed. His story offers chilling lessons for citizens of modern democracies.