Four Hundred, Council Of The

Council of the Four Hundred, (411 bc) oligarchical council that briefly took power in Athens during the Peloponnesian War in a coup inspired by Antiphon and Alcibiades. An extremely antidemocratic council, it was soon replaced, at the insistence of the Athenian fleet, by a more moderate oligarchy, the Five Thousand. The new council lasted only 10 months, but full democracy was restored in 410 and a commission set up to prevent a recurrence. See also Theramenes.