Archinus ( grc, Ἀρχῖνος) was an
Athenian democratic politician who wielded substantial influence between the restoration of democracy in 403 BC and the beginning of the
Corinthian War
The Corinthian War (395–387 BC) was a conflict in ancient Greece which pitted Sparta against a coalition of city-states comprising Thebes, Athens, Corinth and Argos, backed by the Achaemenid Empire. The war was caused by dissatisfaction with ...
in 395 BC.
In the early days of the restored democracy, he acted to weaken the
oligarchic exiles at
Eleusis
Elefsina ( el, Ελευσίνα ''Elefsina''), or Eleusis (; Ancient Greek: ''Eleusis'') is a suburban city and Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in the West Attica regional unit of Greece. It is situated about northwest ...
by ending the period during which citizens could register to emigrate to Eleusis before its announced ending date. He seems to have advocated a moderate democratic policy, opposing motions to expand the
franchise and restore the levels of pay for
civil service
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
that had typified the golden days of
Periclean democracy in Athens in the mid-5th century BC.
Archinus is also said to have encouraged the official adoption by Athens of the 24-letter
Ionic alphabet in 403–2 (
Suda
The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souidas ...
, ), alongside the archon
Eucleides.
References
*Buck, Robert J. ''Thrasybulus and the Athenian Democracy: The Life of an Athenian Statesman''. Franz Steiner Verlag, 1998.
*Fine, John V. A. ''The Ancient Greeks: A critical history''. Harvard University Press, 1983.
*D’ Angour, A.J. "Archinus, Eucleides and the reform of the Athenian alphabet". ''Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies'' 43 (1999) 109-130
5th-century BC Athenians
4th-century BC Athenians
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