This paper, focusing on political vocabulary in the Old Oligarch, consists of two parts. In the first section, it is argued that the use (and knowledge) of legal and institutional terms and expressions by the anonymous author throughout his work is more extensive than generally recognized. The author can only be an Athenian. The second section is concerned with class labelling and political and social concepts. It is suggested that, despite the author’s familiarity with the political and technical arguments developed in support of the idea of democracy, the concepts underlying his oligarchic «programme» do not appear to be sufficiently articulated in theoretical terms and point to a date before the oligarchic coup of 411 BC and the «constitutional» discussions that took place prior to it (as
indicated by Arist. Ath. Pol. 30-31). As for the tone of the text, a parallel is offered by the fragments of Andokides’ Pros tous hetairous.
