官员监督与雅典民主政治——阿吉纽西审判再思考

The Scrutiny of Magistrates and Athenian Democracy:A Reconsideration of the Arginusae Trial

长期以来,学界对阿吉纽西审判的评价以负面为主,尤其是对这场审判的法律程序颇多微词,认为塞拉麦涅斯是造成6位将军遭到不公处决的罪魁祸首。然而,史料分析表明,雅典人对将军们的处置并非完全是意气用事,而是履行对官员的监督和问责的结果。塞拉麦涅斯身为雅典公民和将军们的同僚,是以战争亲历者的身份参与对将军们的监督。阿吉纽西审判的结果说明,依靠公民来监督官员的做法存在难以克服的弊端,容易被人利用而导致决策失误。但公民对官员监督的有效参与,所表现的正是民主和法治的精神。

The Arginusae Trial has been long criticized for its illegal procedures,and Theramenes is often considered as the man who was responsible for the unjust execution of the six generals.However,textual analysis suggests that the trial was not entirely a result of emotional impulsiveness,but rather an exercise of magistrate supervision.As an Athenian citizen,a colleague of the executed generals,and a participant of the war,Theramenes played an active role in monitoring the behavior of those generals.The outcome of the Arginusae Trial reveals that relying on citizens to supervise officials could be problematical because the citizens were easy to be misled by somebody.Nonetheless,citizen involvement in overseeing officials is still important for democracy and the rule of law.