The ancient Greek historians (Harvard lectures) by J. B. Bury.

182 ANCIENT GREEK HISTORIANS LECT.

their own ecclesiastical views, place different
interpretations upon historical events.
Aristotle's Constitution of'Athens may itself be
regarded from one point of view as belonging to
the political literature of the fourth century. To
describe it as a pamphlet1 is as absurd as it would
be so to describe the work of Herodotus. Its
main purpose was scientific; but the author was
deeply interested in the politics of the day, and his
book had an intentional bearing on the contemporary situation.2 It was due to his own views as
a politician, and not to his curiosity as a historian,
that he used as authorities flysheet literature,
especially a polemical pamphlet dating from the
last years of the fifth century and expressing the
anti-democratic conception of Athenian history
which prevailed in the circle of Theramenes.
But the Constitution of Athens is only one of
158 Greek constitutions and some not Greek,
which were compiled by Aristotle or under his
direction. Their purpose was to supply actual
material for a scientific study of political phenomena. And thus Aristotle possesses the great
significance that he was the founder of constitutional history, the precursor of Waitz and Stubbs.
The Constitution of Athens, the only one of the
collection we possess, was the one most likely to
be affected by Aristotle's political prejudices. Its
weaknesses are evident. It consists of two partsa sketch of the constitutional changes to the end
As Nissen has done. 2 Compare Bauer, p. 274.