It is in 408/7 B.C. that the institution of the joint
trierarchy (syntrierarchia) makes its first appearance. It
was to be the first great concession made by the Athenian state
to the members of the trierarchic class.
Fourth-century Athenians were able to share the obligations of a
trierarchy with two, three, or even four other partners. By
Periander's reforms, in the year 358/7 B.C., the
number of men suitable for undertaking trierarchies annually was
set at twelve hundred. These twelve hundred were organized into
twenty groups on economic and management principles. Such a group
of sixty was called a symmoria ('compartment') and it was
different from the groups established for the payment of the eisphora
(property tax). As a result, the total cost of a trierarchy was
now shared between a plurality of Athenians.
Two further innovations were made at about this time. The first was that although active service was the exclusive responsibility of trierarchs and joint trierarchs, other members of the symmoria could, supposing a serving trierarch were dismissed, undertake his responsibilities. The second was that the symmoriai became answerable for the collection of ship debts.
In the fourth century B.C. there are indications of a determined effort by the body politic to ensure the continued survival of the institution of the liturgy, and above all of the trierarchy. Responsibility for a vessel was laid on a group of men. The number of trierarchs who might absent themselves and hire others to take their place increased. The trierarchs were released from the obligation to manage the ship, and were organized into symmories. Coercion was used to preclude attempts at avoiding the obligations mentioned above. These are the most typical measures taken by Athens.
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