Alcibiades Role In Athenian Politics

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Leaders must always struggle to maintain stability; there is an inevitable tension between a leader and those led. Power arouses suspicion and skepticism. Thucydides understood that those who possess great power fear that they may lose it; those who possess less power than their neighbors fear that they may be overwhelmed by those neighbors. These fears provide a sufficient cause of war. Thucydides’ concern was with state power, but the same dynamic may relate to individual politicians seeking power, effect, and then stability. Thucydides addresses the issue of powerful leaders particularly in his narrative of the Sicilian expedition. Nicias attempts, without success, to relinquish his command of the Athenian forces: he wishes not to represent the imperial city in its moment of defeat. Alcibiades is the figure of the crafty leader. He is such an independent individual that he can go over to Sparta and then come back to Athens. Moreover Alcibiades has Athenian virtues. He is clever, a risk-taker, an improviser, and a talker. My point is that some leaders are simply exceptional individuals, and others are more generally representative. And some are both extraordinary in themselves, as Alcibiades was, and have some representational role: they exemplify the virtues and vices of a culture. “Exemplary” carries both senses:…show more content…
He manages to convey an apparent disinterest in power that gains him the trust of his people. He wants to appear not eager for power or personal gain, but instead selfless and true to Roman interests. However, he does on occasion accept posts that are undeniably charitable or altruistic and noble, such as the supervision of the grain supply. He also recalls in great detail his acts of charity towards the Roman public. Theatricality plays a great role in leadership; a leader must appear to satisfy public demands, regardless of whether those demands are actually
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