El crimen de los oligarcas corcirenses (Th. III 70.4)

At Th. 3.70.4, a number of Corcyraean oligarchs are convicted of illegally ‘cutting stakes’ (τέμνειν χάρακας) in two local sanctuaries. The significance of this charge is disputed among commentators. We offer detailed support of Hornblower’s conclusion that the Corcyraean oligarchs are charged with cutting saplings from sacred land for use as vinestakes in their own fields. Our argument places Thucydides’ account of events in a larger philological, ecological and social framework, and suggests that the details of the accusation help establish abuse of communally controlled natural resources and the court system as prodromal stages in the social deterioration that ultimately produces the stasis on Corcyra and by implication elsewhere as well.