In ancient Athens, accounting was seen as connected to political accountability. From the beginning, a complex system of bookkeeping and auditing was the heart of democratic government. In this context, comment on the following:

• Athenians struggled with the concept of accountability. A certain level of fraud was expected and tolerated, with aggressive audits seen as threatening the status quo.
• Athenians preferred public slaves as auditors because they could be tortured on the rack and freeman could not!