Appendix 5—
Isonomia
It is proper to observe that the existence of isonomia as an anachronism in the Harmodius song, though it proves that the skolion is not archaic, fails to prove that isonomia could not have been an old word in use in the last part of the sixth century as a political expression. In fact, there is reason to infer the contrary—if, that is, Herodotus is a reliable guide and we interpret him correctly. For it is noteworthy that Herodotus restricts his use of this word to archaic contexts—the abolition of tyranny in Samos just after 522 (3.142.3), Aristagoras's alleged renunciation of power in 499 (5.37.2) and, of course, the Great Debate of the Persian nobles c. 522 (3.80). If this is not accidental, it might follow that the word possessed archaic associations broad enough to cover the emancipation of the people from a tyranny, on the one hand, and, on the other, its service as a predicate of fifth-century democracy. These two meanings need not be regarded as mutually exclusive, especially if the term is old, for they are not fundamentally incompatible. We can readily imagine a development of the word whereby "the distribution of equality to all members of the community" might culminate in "the state of equality among all the citizenry of a polis. " As it happens, moreover, Herodotus seems to gloss this word on two occasions of the three in which he uses it. In 3.142.3, Maiandrios says to the people: "I place my rule in your midst " 
. In 3.80.1, Otanes is introduced as desirous of "placing matters in the midst of the Persians" 
. As we know from study of Herodotean style, the leading sentence of a "paragraph"
carries the main weight of meaning for what will follow, so that his introduction of Otanes with these words makes them semantically equivalent to the notion resumed in 3.80.6, where isonomia occurs. Something similar, though not identical, appears in 5.37.2: "releasing the tyranny he established isonomia " (
), and the procedure is precisely the one Cleisthenes followed in his tribal reform, which can accurately be described as "placing the rule in the midst of the people." It is conceivable, therefore, that the term was indeed an old one, which could have been used by Cleisthenes to promulgate his intentions when he reorganized the tribes. But if so, the word had yet to acquire the nobler connotations some scholars have interpolated backward to the year 508/7.