The Prefident of the Proedri was term'd 'Exisάrns. To his Cuftody was committed the publick Seal, and the Keys of the Citadel, and the publick Exchequer. This therefore being an Office of fo great Trust and Power, no Man was permitted by the Laws to continue in it above one Day, nor to be elected into it a second time *.

There are faid to have been nine Proedri diftinct from the former, and chofen by the Epiftata at every Convention of the Senate, out of all the Tribes, except that of which the Prytanes were Members. Both of thefe were different from the Ἐπιςάτης, and Πρόεδροι in the popular Affemblies.

One thing more there is remarkable in the Election of Senators, that befide those who were immediately admitted into the Senate, they chofe Subfidiaries, who, in Cafe any of the Senators were depos'd for MaleAdministration, or died before the Expiration of their Offices, fhould without any farther Trouble supply their Places; and these they call'd Επιλαχόντες m.

The Authority of the Prytanes confifted chiefly in affembling the Senate, which, for the moft Part, was done once every Day, (Festivals only excepted) and oftner if Occafion requir'd. And that they might be ready to give Audience to all fuch as had any thing to propofe, that concern'd the Commonwealth, they conftantly reforted to a common Hall, near the Senate-house, call'd Prytaneum, in which they offer'd Sacrifices, and had their Diet together ".

Every time the Senate was affembled, they offer'd Sacrifices to Jupiter Beda, and Minerva Byλaia, the Counsellors, who had a Chapel near the Senate-boufe: This they term'd epic Dues P.

If any Man offer'd any thing, that deferv'd to be taken into Confideration, they engrav'd it on Tablets, that all the Senators might beforehand be acquainted with what was to be difcufs'd at their next Meeting, in which, after the Prytanes, or Epiftata had propounded the Matter, every Man had Liberty to declare his Opinion, and give his Reafons either for, or against it. This they did ftanding, for it is every where obfervable in ancient Authors, that no Perfon, of what Rank or Quality foever, prefum'd to speak fitting; and therefore whenever poetical Hero makes an Oration, he is always first faid to rife:

Τοΐσι δ' άνες άμμο μετέφη πόδας ὠκὺς ̓Αχιλλεὺς,

faith Homer; and Ovid, to trouble you with no more Inftances, mentions the fame Custom,

Surgit ad hos clypei Dominus feptemplicis Ajax.

When all had done fpeaking, the Bufinefs defign'd to be pafs'd into 4 Decree, was drawn up in Writing by any of the Prytanes, or other Senators, and repeated openly in the Houfe ; after which, leave being given by the Epiftata, or Prytanes, the Senators proceeded to vote, which they did in private, by cafting Beans into a Veffel plac'd there for that

Purpofe. The Beans were of two Sorts, black and white, and if the Number of the former was found to be the greatest, the Propofal was rejected; if of the latter, it was enacted into a Decree', which they call'd Ψήφισμα, and Προβέλευμα, becaufe it was agreed upon in the Senate with a Defign to have it afterwards propounded to an Affembly of the People, that it might receive from them a farther Ratification, without which it could not be pafs'd into a Law, nor have any Force or obligatory Power, after the end of that Year, which was the time that the Senators, and almost all other Magiftrates laid down their Commiffions.

The Power of this Council was very great, almost the whole Care of the Commonwealth being devolv'd upon them; for the Commonalty being by Solon's Conftitutions invested with fupreme Power, and entrufted with the Management of all Affairs, as well publick as private, it was the peculiar Charge of the Senate to keep them within due Bounds, and to take Cognizance of every thing before it was refer'd to them, and to be careful that nothing fhould be propounded to them, but what they, upon mature Deliberation, had found to be conducive to the Publick Good. And befide the Care of the Affembly, there were a great many things that fell under the Cognizance of this Court, as the Accounts of Magiftrates at the Expiration of their Offices, and the Care of poor Perfons, that were maintain'd by an Allowance out of the publick Exchequer. It was their Business to appoint Goalers for the publick Prisons, and to examine and punish Perfons accus'd of fuch Crimes, as were not forbidden by any pofitive Law", to take Care of the Fleet, and look after the building of new Men of War", feveral other things of great Confequence.

with

Now, because these were Places of great Truft, no Man could be admitted to them, till he had undergone a ftrict Aoxarix, or Probation, whereby the whole Courfe of his Life was enquir'd into, and found to have been manag'd with Credit and Reputation, elfe he was rejected *.

68

And to lay the greater Obligation upon them, they were requir'd to take a folemn Oath, the Substance whereof was this; "That they "would in all their Councils endeavour to promote the publick Good; "and not advise any thing contrary to the Laws. That they would fit as Judges in what Court foever they were elected to by Lots, (for feveral of the Courts of Juftice were fupply'd with Judges out of the Senate.) "That they would never keep an Athenian in Bonds, that "could give three Sureties of the fame Quality, except fuch as had bought, or collected, or been engag'd as a Surety for the publick "Revenues, and did not pay the Commonwealth, and fuch as were guilty of treasonable Practices against the Government. But

66

this (as Demofthenes interprets it) muft be understood only of Criminals before their Condemnation, for to put them in Fetters after Sentence pafs'd upon them, was no Breach of the Laws. But the highest Punishment, which the Senate was allow'd to inflict upon Cri

Ulpianus.

Pollux, lib. VIII. cap. 8.

Demofthen. Timocrat.

t Harpocration.

# Pollux.

* Æfchines in nimals,

w Ariftoph. Avibus, & Libanius Arguiment, in Androtianam. Timarch.

minals, was a Fine of five hundred Drachma. When this was thought not enough, they transmitted the Criminal to the Thefmotheta, by whom he was arraign'd in the usual Method *. It must not be omitted, tha after the Expulfion of the thirty Tyrants, they took an Oath to obferve Thr ansiar, the A&t of Oblivion, whereby all the Disorders committed during the Government of the Tyrants were remitted.

After the Expiration of their Truft, the Senators gave an Account of their Management: And therefore to prevent their being expos'd to the Rage and Malice of the Multitude, they feverely punish'd whatever Offences were committed by any of their own Members. If any of the Senators was convicted of breaking his Oath, committing any Injustice, or behaving himself otherwife than as became his Order, the reft of his Brethren expell'd him, and substituted one of the 'AriaÓTES in his Place. This they call'd 'ExQuλλopopñσai, from the Leaves which they made Ufe of in giving their Suffrages, in the fame manner that the "Ospana were us'd by the Commonalty in decreeing the Ostracism. But this Custom was not very ancient, being invented upon the Account of one Xenotimus, an Officer, that by changing the Beans (which till that time were always made Ufe of) was found to have corrupted the Suffrages z. It was lawful τὰς εκφυλλοφορηθέντας ἐν τῷ δικαςηρία navadxe, to admit thofe Men to be Judges, who had been expell'd out of the Senate. Whence we may conclude, that it was customary to deprive Senators of their Office for very fmall Offences.

On the contrary, fuch as had behav'd themselves with Justice and Integrity, were rewarded with an Allowance of Money out of the publick Exchequer. Every Senator receiv'd a Drachm by the Day for his Maintenance. Whence Bran λaxsi, to be elected by Lots into the Senate, is all one, according to Hefycbius's Explication, with pa

pas λuxiv, to obtain a Drachm every Day. And if any Men of War had been built during the Regency, the People in their publick Assembly, decreed them the Honour of wearing a Crown; if not, the Law prohibited them for fuing for this Privilege, as having been wanting to the Commonwealth, whofe Safety and Intereft depended upon nothing fo much, as the Strength and Number of their Ships . This feems to have been enacted after the Fight near Salamis, that being the first Occasion that mov'd the Athenians to think of encreasing their Fleet.

T

CHAP. XIX.

Of the Senate and Court of Areopagus.

HE Name of this Senate was taken from the Place in which it was wont to be affembled, being an Hill not far diftant from the Citadel, call'd 'Apesañávos or "Apesos way, that is, Mars's Hill, from

* Demofthenes in Energ..& Mnefibulum, Pollux, lib. VIII. c. 9. VIII. c. 5. Harpocration. Etymolog. Suidas.

Androtiana.

2 Pollux, lib.

2 Demofthen. Timpcras.

bidem.

Herodotus, lib. VIII.

H 3

Mars,

३

Mars, the God of War and Blood, because all wilful Murders came under the Cognizance of this Court; or, as Fables tell us, from the Arraignment of Mars, who was the firft Criminal that was try'd in it ? or, laftly, because the Amazons, whom the Poets feign to have been the Daugh ters of Mars, when they befieg'd Athens, pitch'd their Camps, and offer'd Sacrifices to the God of War in this Place f.

When this Court was first instituted is uncertain. Some make it as ancient as Cecrops, the firft Founder of Athens, others think it was begun in the Reign of Cranaus; and laftly, others bring it down as low as the times of Solon. But this Opinion, tho' defended by Authors of no lefs Credit than Plutarch, and Cicero h, is in exprefs Terms contradicted by Ariftotle, and one of Solon's Laws cited by Plutarch himself, wherein there is mention of Judgments made in this Court, before Solon had reform'd the Commonwealth. What feems moft probable, is, that the Senate of Areopagus was first instituted a long time before Solon, but was continued, regulated, and augmented by him; was by him made fuperior to the Epheta, another Court inftituted by Dracok, and inyefted with greater Power, Authority, and larger Privileges, than ever, it had enjoy'd before.

The Number of the Perfons that compos'd this venerable Affembly is not agreed upon; by fome it is retrain'd to nine, by others enlarg'd to thirty one, by others to fifty one, and by fome to no more. Maximus tells us it confifted of fifty one, πλην ἐξ εὐπατριδῶν καὶ πλέτῳ και βίω σώφρονι Διαφερόντων, befide fuch of the Nobility as were emi nent for their Virtue and Riches; by which Words he seems to mean the nine Archons, who were the conftant Seminary of this great Affembly, and, having discharg'd their several Offices, pass'd every Year into it; others affirm, that not all the nine Archons, but only the Thefmotheta were admitted into the Areopagus. This was the reafon why their Number was not always the fame, but more, or lefs, according as thofe Perfons happen'd to continue a greater, or leffer time in the Senate. Therefore when Socrates was condemn'd by this Court, (as the Nature of his Crime makes it evident he was) we find no less than two hundred fourfcore and one giving their Votes against him, befides those who voted for his Abfolution: And in an ancient Infcription upon a Column in the Citadel at Athens, erected to the Memory of Rufus Feftus, Proconful of Greece, the Senate of Areopagus is said to confift of three hundred.

7

All that had undergone the Office of an Archon, were not taken in to this Senate, but only fuch of them, as had behav'd themselves well in the Discharge of their Truft; and not they neither, till they had given an Account of their Administration before the Logista, and obtain'd their Approbation, after an Enquiry into their Behaviour, which was not a mere Formality, and thing of Courfe, but extremely fevere, rigorous, and particular. This being done, after the Performance

Paufan. Ariftides Panathen. Suidas.
& Solone. h De Offic. l. I.

ffchylus Eumenidib. Ety

i Polit. I. 11. k Pollux, lib. Libanius in Argumento Androtiana.

d Suidas. mologici Auctor. VIII. cap. 10. A Plutarch. Salone. & Pericle. Plutarch. Pericle, Pollux, 1. VIII. c, 10. Demofthen. Timocrat.

of

of certain Sacrifices at Limnæ, a Place in Athens dedicated to Bacchus, they were admitted upon fet Days. Thus it was order'd by Solon S Constitutions, which were nicely and punctually obferv'd for many Ages; but towards the Declination of the Athenian Grandeur, together with many other ufeful and excellent Ordinances, were either wholly laid afide and abrogated, or which was all one, neglected and not obferv'd. And then not the Archons only, but others, as well those of loofe Lives and mean Fortunes, as Perfons of high Quality, and strict Virtue, nay, and even Foreigners, were taken into this Affembly, as appears by feveral Inftances produc'd by the learned Meurfus, and particularly that of Rufus Feftus, mention'd in the aforefaid Infcription, as a Member of it.

Arifides tells us, this Court was τῶν ἐν τοῖς Ἕλλησι δικαςηρίων τιμιώτατον dratov, the most facred and venerable Tribunal in all Greece; and if we confider the Juftice of their Sentences and judicial Determinations, the Unblameablenefs of their Manners, their wife and prudent Behaviour, and their high Quality and Station in the Commonwealth, it will easily appear that this Character was not unreasonable or undeferv'd. To have been fitting in a Tavern or publick Houfe, was a fufficient Reason to deny an Archon's Admiffion into it P; and though their Dignity was ufually continu'd to them as long as they liv'd, yet if any of the Senators was convicted of any Immorality, he was without Mercy or Favour presently expell'd. Nor was it enough that their Lives were ftrictly innocent and unblameable, but fomething more was requir'd of them, their Countenances, Words, Actions, and all their Behaviour must be compos'd, ferious and grave to a Degree beyond what was expected from other (the most virtuous) Men. To laugh. in their Affembly, was an unpardonable Act of Levity 9; and for any of them to write a Comedy, was forbidden by a particular Precept of the Law'.

t

Nay, fo great an Awe and Reverence did this folemn Affembly strike into those that fate in it, that Ifocrates tells us, that in his Days, when they were fomewhat degenerated from their primitive Virtue, however otherwife Men were irregular and exorbitant, yet once chosen into this Senate, they prefently ceas'd from their vicious Inclinations, and chofe rather to conform to the Laws and Manners of that Court, ἢ ταῖς αὐτῶν κακέκις ἐμμλύειν, than to continue in their loofe and debauchd Course of Life. And fo exactly upright and impartial were their Proceedings, that Demofthenes tells us, that to his Time there had never been fo much as one of their Determinations that either Plaintiff or Defendant had any juít reafon to complain of. This was fo eminently remarkable in all Parts of Greece, that even foreign States, when any Controverfies happen'd among them, would voluntarily fubmit to their Decifion: Paufanias" reports in particular of the Mejenians, that before their first Wars with the Spartans, they were very defirous that their Quarrel fhould be refer'd to the Areopagites, and both Parties ftand to their Determination.

• Demofthen. in Neeram.
[ Blutarch. de Gloria Athenienf.

P Athenens, lib. XIV.
Areopagitica.

f

9 Afchen, in Timarch. Ariftocrasca. Meffeniacis.