Since the time of Solon there was a rule in Athens that allowed every citizen to act as an accuser on behalf of those wronged in court. However it was not until the only in the 420s BC did people begin to use this right frequently for personal gain. From then on litigants called sycophants attracted attention from Athenian authors for another century. This study is relevant because there is no comprehensive analysis of sycophants in Russian or foreign historiography. Its goal is to identify factors that led to their emergence and to examine this phenomenon in Athens during the late 5th and 4th centuries BC. The study is based on general scientific and general historical methods, which are based on the principles of historicism, systematicity, and objectivity, as well as special methods like problem-chronological and comparative-historical approaches. The study's novelty lies in proposing an original hypothesis about why professional prosecutors proliferated in Athens. The article also presents a new interpretation of changes in the structure of private wealth in Athens through the prism of the concept of "portfolio capitalism". As a result of the study the authors conclude that the economic crisis after the Peloponnesian War's outbreak increased litigators by the late 5th century BC. During this time much of the wealth of Athens' wealthy became "invisible property" easily hidden to avoid performing liturgies. Combined with the collapse of Athens' maritime power and lost foros income, this caused more confiscations of wealth, creating favorable conditions for sycophants' activities. The activity of professional prosecutors in the next century was primarily related to the internal political struggle against the background of Macedonian expansion.
Sivkina et al. (2026) studied this question.