From the book
Empedocles’ The Testimonia, Volume II
Empedocles of Acragas · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordAthroisma is an assembly, gathering, or body; “of the Thousand” gives its numerical designation.
- In this workDiogenes says Empedocles dissolved the Thousand after it had existed for three years.
- In this editionThe apparatus records a numerical variant, χιλιάδων, and a variant verb for dissolution.
- A place to readReports dissolution after three years and draws a popular-political inference.
Meaning
Athroisma is an assembly, gathering, or body; “of the Thousand” gives its numerical designation. Katelyse means dissolved or overthrew. The phrase itself does not set out the body’s formal constitutional powers.
Use in the book
Diogenes says Empedocles dissolved the Thousand after it had existed for three years. The narrative immediately infers that he was not only rich but also aligned with the people. That inference supports reading the body as associated with elite power in the tradition. Calling it an oligarchy is therefore intelligible, but goes beyond the bare noun athroisma. The passage neither names its members nor explains its selection, offices, laws, or exact relation to other political episodes in the Life. It should not be merged automatically with the dinner-party prosecution or the later anti-faction appeal. Its distinctive evidential contribution is the attribution of institutional disruption to Empedocles, placed within a favorable account of popular politics.
Places to read
- A 1 §§ 64–66 (biography)2Diogenes Laertius VIII 66. Reports dissolution after three years and draws a popular-political inference.
Translation in this edition
The apparatus records a numerical variant, χιλιάδων, and a variant verb for dissolution. The edition’s convenient label “oligarchy” is a constitutional interpretation, not the word used in the displayed Greek.