Democracy, Knowledge, and the Hidden Economy of Athens

The economic growth of Classical Athens was fueled largely by the aphanes or “hidden” wealth of the elite, who surreptitiously sheltered their money in non-landed investments in order to avoid both the disesteem of their aristocratic peers and the liturgical obligations imposed by the common people. Therefore, as much as the economic success of Athens was promoted by democratic institutions that encouraged the dispersal of knowledge, it was also furthered by the desire of members of the elite to suppress knowledge of their wealth in order to circumvent both traditional, pre-democratic values (privileging landed wealth) and novel democratic institutions (liturgies).