Don Firth said:

Also worth noting is that Athenians held their leaders accountable. Upon a public official's leaving office, there was a formal examination of how well he did. This was not committee of cronies, but a jury of citizens. And juries often numbered as many as 500. Too many to bribe. Interesting idea!

Maybe 500 is too many to bribe, but not too many to be stampeded. In fact, I think 500 is more likely to succumb to a lynch-law craze than 12.

Remember, it was one of those huge juries that condemned Socrates to death.

Dave Oesterreich