Archinus ( grc, Ἀρχῖνος) was an
Athenian
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
democratic politician who wielded substantial influence between the restoration of democracy in 403 BC and the beginning of the
Corinthian War in 395 BC.
In the early days of the restored democracy, he acted to weaken the
oligarchic exiles at
Eleusis 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
Franchise may refer to:
Business and law
* Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees
* Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...
and restore the levels of pay for
civil service 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
The history of the Greek alphabet starts with the adoption of Phoenician letter forms in the 9th–8th centuries BC during early Archaic Greece and continues to the present day. The Greek alphabet was developed during the Iron Age centuries af ...
in 403–2 (
Suda, ), alongside the archon
Eucleides
Eucleides ( grc-gre, Εὐκλείδης) was archon of Athens towards the end of the fifth century BC. He contributed towards the re-establishment of democracy during his years in office (403–402 BC). He is also believed to have contributed to ...
.
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
{{AncientGreece-bio-stub