Una magistratura finanziaria ateniese poco nota: i poristai

Abstract

Abstract

A little-known Athenian financial magistracy: the poristai

The essay examines the role of the poristai, a financial magistracy that functioned in Athens between the 5th and 4th centuries BC, and to which scholars have devoted scarce attention. The importance that Athens ascribed to the poroi was a central factor in its politics from as early as the 5th century. Management of the Athenian economy underwent a series of substantial changes from the end of the Peloponnesian War onwards, and since the state required increasingly specialized financial management skills, these authorities seem to have played a prominent role. The difficult economic situation that ensued from the Sicilian defeat of 413 had necessitated the creation of this unusual board of magistrates known as the poristai, whose unusual task was most likely that of administering public funds and state revenues. This essay focuses on references to the board in ancient sources, and on the often ‘technical’ use of the verb porizo, in order to shed light on the functions and identity of some of these magistrates, and on the possibility that this initially anomalous office gradually gained a permanent status during the 4th century.