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THE CONSTITUTION OF ATHENS.

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ARISTOTLE'S

Constitution of Athens

TRANSLATED

FOR ENGLISH READERS AND STUDENTS

BY

THOMAS J. DYMES, B.A.

LATE SCHOLAR OK LINCOLN COLLEGE, OXFORD,
AND EDITOR OF * A GOLDEN TREASURY OF LUCRETIUS '

LONDON
lND CO.,

ESSEX STREET, STRAND
1891

^^

INTRODUCTION.

The treatise on ' The Constitution of Athens '
has been translated by me primarily for such
English readers as may feel curiosity about
a book which has excited, and is still excit-
ing, so much interest in the learned world.

The recovery of such a book, after its loss
for so many centuries, is an event in litera-
ture ; at the same time its argument, largely
concerned as it is with the development
of democracy at Athens, provides matter
of political and practical, rather than of
academic, interest for the English reader of
to-day.

I have the pleasure of acknowledging here

vi Introduction,

the courtesy of the Trustees of the British
Museum in allowing me to translate from
their Text, as edited by Mr. Kenyon, and
my great obligations to his labours ; they
form, unquestionably, a contribution of the
highest value, particularly on the subject-
matter of the book. It can hardly be
expected that, minor corrections excepted,
any substantive addition of importance can
be made for some time ; indeed, not until the
' experts ' of Europe have had the oppor-
tunity of severally recording their views,
both as to the text and its matter.

The gaps and corruptions in the text, how-
ever interesting to the critic and emendator,
will not long detain the English reader or
the student. The hiatuses would seem to be
few and generally slight, while some of the
corrupt passages open up a wide field for the
learned and ingenious. In my translation

Introduction. vii

I have taken the text with its difficulties as I
found it, reproducing as nearly as I could
in English what the Greek, corrupt as it
might be, appeared to me to contain. In
one or two cases, where the text is obviously
corrupt, I have perhaps used a little freedom
in my endeavour to extract something like
an intelligible meaning. I have had no
higher ambitions. There has been no
attempt or desire on my part to offer a
solution of difficulties which are now being
dealt with by more competent hands.

The first forty-one chapters, forming about
two-thirds of the work, treat of the Constitu-
tion, its development and history. The
remainder of the book, consisting of twenty-
two chapters, furnishes a detailed account of
the Council, with some information about
the Assembly, and describes the principal

viii Introduction.

offices of state, the modes of appointment,
by lot or vote, and their chief functions, con-
cluding with a short mutilated notice of the
constitution of the courts of justice.

T. J. D.

26, Blenheim Crescent,

NoTTiNG Hill, W.
March 26, 1891.

EXPLANATION OF TERMS FOR THE
ENGLISH READER.

Officers^ or offices of state, magistrates, viagis-
tracies = apycLi (archae), particularly the chief execu-
tive offices of government. I do not often use
' magistrate ' or * magistracy,' on account of the
limited meaning it has got to have in English.
Aristotle commonly uses ' office ' instead of ' officer.
Archon (a^^wv), as will be seen early in the book,
is the special designation of the highest officers
of state, of whom the senior (Eponymus) gave
his name to the year, like the Roman consuls, e.g.,
' in the archonship of Eukleides.'

People, popular party or side^hrnj^ai (demus)
implying the possession of political rights, as will
often be clear from the context, even when no
specific exercise of such rights is referred to.

The masses — 0/ rroXkot (hoi polloi, * the many ')
and tI 'ttXtJOo's (to plethos, ' the multitude '), includ-
ing ' the people,' or ' popular party,' and such as
are not, or at least may not be, in possession of
political rights ; a more general term than * the

1

X Explanation of Terms,

people,' for which, however, in the original it is
sometimes used indifferently.

The Council = BovXyj (Boiile), the great council or
deliberative assembly of the state, corresponding
roughly to the Roman Senate. Its powers and
duties are described chap. xlv. foil.

Assemd/y = ^EKxXrj(TLa (ekklesia), the great legisla-
tive assembly of the people (or citizens), described
chap, xliii. foil. ; its Presidents = '^rpuroDnig (prytanes);
presidency, their office and its tenure, chap, xliii.

Chairmen = 'np(iihp(ii (proedri), chosen by the
' presidents ' out of their own number, chap. xliv.

Juror =hi-KacTyig (dikast) ; not a real equivalent,
as the dikasts acted 2iS Judges as well zs, jurors, and
sat in very much larger bodies than our juries.

Tyra7it, tyranny = r\jpavvo? (a lord), rvpavns : a
' tyrant ' in Greek political language means one
who has unconstitutionally usurped power in a free
state, like Peisistratus. It -does not, as with us,
imply the abuse of such power- indeed, Peisis-
tratus' rule was often spoken of as ' the Golden
Age.' Chap. xvi.

Ta/ent = rdXanov, about ;£25o (with a purchas-
ing power sufficient to build a trireme, chap, xxii.) ;
divided into 60 minae, each mina containing 100
drachmae, a drachma being worth about a franc,
and containing six odots.

THE CONSTITUTION OF ATHENS.

.... swearing by sacred objects according K^ionr ^"
to merit. And the guilt of pollution having
been brought home to them, their dead bodies
were cast out of their tombs, and their family-
was banished for ever. On this Epimenides
the Cretan purified the city.

After this it came to pass that the upper chap. ii.

^ ^^ Theoligar-

classes and the people were divided by sStudoT'
party-strife for a long period, for the form
of government was in all respects oligar-
chical ; indeed, the poor were in a state of
bondage to the rich, both themselves, their
wives, and their children, and were called

I

o '•

2 The Constitution of Athens.

Pelatae (bond-slaves for hire), and Hekte-
mori (paying a sixth of the produce as rent) ;
for at this rate of hire they used to work the
lands of the rich. Now, tlie_ji5dioLe_pf the
land was in the hands of a few, and if the cul-
tivators did not pay their rents, they became
subject to bondage, both they and their
children, and were bound to their creditors
on the security of their persons, up to the
time of Solon. For he was the first to come
forward as the champion of the people. The
hardest and bitterest thing then to the
majority was that they had no share in the
offices of government ; not but what they
were dissatisfied with everything else, for in
nothingj^so to say, had they any share.
Chap. III. Now, the form of the old govern mentbefore
tim^?^(? the time of Draco was of this kind. Officers
of state were appointed on the basis of merit
and wealth, and at first remained in office for

The Constitution of Athens. 3

life, but afterwards for a period of ten years.
And the greatest and earliest of the officers
of state were the king, and commander-in-
chief, and archon ; and earliest of these was
the office of king, for this was established at
the beginning ; next followed that of com-
mander-in-chief, owing to some of the kings
proving unwarlike, and it was for this
reason that they sent for Ion when the need
arose ; and last (of the three) was the archon-
ship — for most authorities say it was estab-
lished in the time of Medon, but some in the
time of Acastus; and they adduce as evi-
dence the fact that the nine^archons swear
to exercise their office just as they did in the
time of Acastus — as the Codridae having
retired in the time of his kingship . . . Now,
which of the two accounts is correct is of little <
importance, but there is no doubt of the fact
having actually' occurred in these times; and

1—2

4 The Constitution of Athens.

that it was the last of these offices that was
established, there is further evidence . . . .
that the archon administers just like the
king and the commander-in-chief, but ....
for which reason it is only recently that the
office has become important, its dignity
having been increased by the privileges
that have been added to it. Thesmothetae"^
were appointed many years afterwards, being
elected to their offices from the first for a
year, for the purpose of recording the enact-
ments in writing, and preserving them against
the trial of such as transgressed the law ; for
which reason it was the sole office that was
not established for more than a year. So

■^ Thesmothetes. As this word means 'law-giver,'
'legislator,' it seems better, to prevent misapprehen-
sion, to retain it in its Greek form. This passage tells
us why they were originally appointed ; frequent
references are made to them elsewhere in the book,
and their duties will be found detailed in chap. lix.

The Constitution of Athens.

far, therefore, these take precedence of

others. The nine archons did not all live

together, but the king occupied what is now

called the Boukolium, near the Prytaneum

(in confirmation of which even to this day

the marriage of the king's wife with

Dionysus takes place here), and the archon .

resides in the Prytaneum, and the com- J 'C/K v^ « «

mander-in-chief in the Epilyceum. This/^^^*^

was formerly called the Polemarchaeum, but
from the time that Epilycus^ when polemarch,
rebuilt and furnished it, it was called Epily-
ceum : and the Thesmothetae occupied the
Thesmotheteum. But in the time of Solon
they all lived together in the Thesmotheteum.
And they had power to decide law-suits
finally, and not as now merely to hold a
preliminary inquiry. Such, then,"? were the
arrangements in respect of the officers of state.
The duty of the council of the Areopagitae

6 The Constitution of Athens.

was to jealously guard the laws, and it ad-
ministered most of the affairs of state, and
those the most important, both by punishing
and fining all offenders with authority ; for
the election of the archons was on the basis
of merit and wealth, and of them the Areo-
pagitae were composed ; this is the reason
why it is the only office that continues to be
held for life up to the present time.
iSac'^J's^^" Now, this is a sketch of the first form of
government. And after this, at no long
interval, when Aristaechmus was archon,
Draco made his laws ; and this constitution
was as follows. Share in the government
was assigned to those who provided them-
selves with arms ; and they chose for the
nine archons and the treasurers such as were
possessed of property to the value of not less
than ten minae free of all encumbrances, and
for the other minor offices such as provided

The Constitution of Athens. 7

themselves with arms, and for generals and
commanders of cavalry such as could show
property of not less than a hundred minae
free of all encumbrances, and children born in
lawful wedlock above ten years of age ; these
were to be the presidents of the council and
generals and commanders of cavalry . . .
up to the time of the audit of their accounts
.... and receiving from the same rating as
the generals and commanders of cavalry.
The Council was to consist of four hundred
~^~and one, selected by lot from the whole
body of citizens ; such as were over thirty
years of age were to obtain this and the
other offices by lot, and the same man
was not to hold office twice before all had
had their turn ; and then appointment was
to be made afresh by lot. If any member
-of the Council, when there was a sitting of
the Council or Assembly, was absent from

8 The Constitution of Athens.

the meeting, he had to pay a fine, the
Pentakosiomedimnos (the possessor of land
which produced five hundred medimni*
yearly) three drachmae, the Knight two, and
the Zeugitae (those who possessed a team of
oxen) one. And the council of Areopagus
was the guardian of the laws, and jealously
watched the magistrates to see that they
administered their offices according to the
laws. And an injured party had the right of
bringing his indictment before the council
of the Areopagitae, on showing in contra-
vention of what law he had sustained his
injury. (But all this was of no avail, because)
the lower classes were bound on the security
ot their persons, as has been said, and the
land was in the hands of a few.
Chap V. Such beingf the constitution in the body

Civil dis-

SoTon"*' politic, and the bulk of the people being in
^ The medimnus=about i^ bushel.

The Constitution of Athens. 9

bondage to the few, the people was in a state
of opposition to the upper classes. As strife
ran high, and the two parties had faced each
other for a considerable time, they agreed to
choose Solon as mediator and archon, and
entrusted the constitution to him after he had
composed a poem in elegiac metre, of which
the beginning is ^s follows :

* I ponder, and within my soul lie woes,
As I look on the most honourable land in Ionia ;'

for he ever took the lead, fighting and
disputing vigorously for each side against the
other, and afterwards recommended them
both to put an end to the existing strife.
Now, in power of speech and reputation Solon
ranked among the first, but in property and
position among the moderately rich, as is
admitted by all, and as he himself bears
witness in these verses, where he recommends
the rich not to be grasping :

lo The Constitution of Athens.

* Do ye, quieting in your bosoms your strong hearts,
Who of many good things have had your fill even to

surfeit,
With what is moderate nourish your mighty desire ;

for neither will
We yield, nor shall you have all else as you wish.'

And in his poems generally he fastens on the
rich the blame of these divisions ; and it is
for this reason, at the beginning of his elegy,
he says that he fears the love of money and
over-weening pride, attributing to them the
enmity that existed.
Chap. VI. Now, Solon, when he had got to be at the

Solon ;

agamst ^ead of affairs, made the people free both for

him.

the present and the future, by forbidding
loans on the security of the person, and he
made laws, and a cancelling of all debts both
private and public ; this they call Seisachtheia
(the disburdening ordinance), as having
shaken off their burden. It is in regard to
these measures that men try to attack his

The Constitution of Athens. it

character. For it happened that when Solon
was about to make the Seisachtheia, he an-
nounced it first to some of the upper class,
and then, as the popular side say, his friends
stole a march upon him, while the possessors
of property bring the injurious charge that he
made a profit himself.

For these friends borrowed money and
bought up a great quantity of land, and as the
cancelling of debts took place not long after-
wards, they became at once rich ; this, they say,
is the origin of the class who afterwards had
the reputation of being rich from of old. Not
but what the account of the popular side is
the more trustworthy ; for it is not reasonable
that in all other respects he should have
shown himself so moderate and impartial —
while it rested entirely with himself whether,
or not, he would, by introducing his laws in
an underhand way, make himself master of

12 The Constitution of Athens.

the state, and so an object of hatred to both
sides, as also, whether, or not, he would
prefer honour and the salvation of the state
to any greed for his own gain — it is not
reasonable, I say, to suppose that in such
petty and unworthy matters he would defile
himself. That he possessed such power, and
'- remedied the distempered state of affairs, both
he himself records in many passages of his
poems, and all others agree. This charge,
therefore, should be adjudged false.
Chap. VII. So he established a constitution and made

His consti-
tution, other laws, and they ceased to use the

laws of Draco, except in matters of homi-
cide. They inscribed the laws on the
tablets,* and placed them in the court
where the king archon sat, and all swore
to abide by them ; and the nine archons,

■* These were of a triangular pyramidical form,
written on the three sides and turned round on a pivot.

The Constitution of Athens. 13

swearing beside the stone, declared that
they would make an offering of a gold
statue if they transgressed any of the laws ;
hence it is that they so swear even to this
day. And he ratified the laws for a hundred
years, and constituted the government in the
following way : He divided property qualifi-
cations into four ratings, just as a division /^
had existed before, viz., the Pentakosio-

medimnos, the Knight, the Zeugites, and the

Thes (poorest class). He assigned as officers

of state out of Pentakosiomedimni and

Knights and Zeugitae, the nine archons and

the treasurers, and the government-sellers*

and the Eleven and the Kolakratse, to each

class assigning office in proportion to the

magnitude of its assessment. To the class

* Government-sellers. Their duties are described
in chap, xlvii., and those of 'the Eleven' in chap. lii.
The Kolakratffi in old times had the general charge
of the finances.

14 The Constitution of Athens.

of Thetes he gave a share only in the
Assembly and courts of justice. And all
had to class as Pentakosiomedimni who,
from their own property, made five hundred
measures, dry and wet combined, and in the
class of Knights such as made three hundred,
or, as some say, were able to keep a horse :
the latter bring as evidence both the name of
the class, as if it had been given from that
fact, as well as the votive offerings of men of
old ; for there is an offering in the Acropolis
of a figure of Diphilus with the following
inscription :

'Anthemion dedicated this figure of Diphilus to the

gods
When he exchanged the thetic rating for the knightly

rank.'

And there stands beside it a horse, witnessing
that it means the class of Knights. Not but
what it is more reasonable that they were
classified by measures just in the same way as

The Constitution of Athens. 15

the Pentakosiomedimni. And all had to be
rated as Zeugitse who made two hundred
measures combined ^ and all the rest as
Thetes, having no share in any office of
state; for which reason even now, if any-
one going to be elected to an office were
asked in what class he was rated, he would
never think of saying in that of the
Thetes.

He caused the officers of state to be ap- chap. viii.

■•■ bolons cou-

pointed by lot from candidates whom each of r<'\°"pw^
the tribes selected. For each selected len for ^^"tlf^^M^
the_iiine_archons ; hence it is that it is still at |^j.^-^w^
the practice of the tribes for each to appoint ^tddO
ten by lot, and then to appoint by lot
from them. And evidence that they caused
qualified persons to be appointed by lot
is afforded by the law regarding the trea-
surers, which law they have continued to
make use of even to this day, for it ordains

KKjL^tMXL^ t) tAu^ Y*gU>v-----l^ArAS"'^U

^

1 6 The Constitution of Athens,

that treasurers should be appointed by
lot from Pentakosiomedimni. Solon, then,
thus legislated regarding the nine archons.
For in old days the council on Mars' Hill
decided, after citation, on its owh authority
who was the proper man for each of the
offices of state, and invested him accordingly,
making the appointment for a year. Now,
there were four tribes just as before, and four
tribe -kings. Each tribe was divided into
three Trittyes (thirds of a tribe) and twelve
Naukrariae. Magistrates of the Naukrariae
were appointed, viz., the Naukrari, who had
charge of the current revenues and expen-
diture; and, this is the reason why (as is
probable) it is ordained in the laws of Solon,
by which they are no longer governed, that
the Naukrari should get in the moneys and
make disbursements from the Naukraric funds.
He made the Council four hundred, a hundred

The Constitution of Athens. 17

from each tribe, and he assigned to the council
of the Areopagitae the duty of still watching
over the laws generally, just as before it had
been the overseer of the administration, and
jealously guarded the greater number, and
those the most important, of the interests of
the citizens, and corrected offenders, having
authority to fine and punish, and reported to
the state the punishments it inflicted, without
recording the reasons of those punishments,
and sat in judgment on those who combined
for the overthrow of the people, in con-
formity with Solon's legislation. Now, these
were the duties that he assigned in their case.
And seeing that the state was often torn by
faction, and that some of the citizens from
indifference stood aloof, of his own motion he
passed a law specially directed against them
as follows — that anyone who, when the state
was divided into parties, did not take up arms

2

(!)

1 8 The Constitution of Athens.

and side with one or the other, should be de-
prived of his political rights, and have no part
in the state.
How^sof(^' Such, then, were his institutions regarding

gave power

to the people, the ofBcers of state. Now, the following are
the three provisions of the constitution of
Solon which appear to be the most favourable
to the people : first and foremost, the prohibi-
tion of loans on the security of the person ;
then the right accorded to anyone who wished
to seek in the courts a remedy for his
wrongs ; and third (by which, most of all,
they say the masses have acquired power), the
right of appeal to the court of justice ; for
when the people is master of the vote, it
becomes master of the government. Its
power was still further augmented at this
time by the want of simplicity in the framing
of the laws, and the uncertainty in their
interpretation, for as in the case of the

The Constitution of Athens. 19

law regarding inheritances and only daughters
and heiresses, it was inevitable that disputes
should arise, and consequently that the courts
of law would be the judges in all matters
public as well as private. Now, some think
that he made his laws uncertain with the ex-
press purpose of giving the people some con-
trol over the judicial power. Not that this is
probable, the explanation rather being that
he was unable to embrace in his laws what
was best as a general rule and in every
particular instance ; for it is not right to
infer his intention from what is now taking
place, but it should be looked for rather in
the general spirit of his constitution.

In his laws, then, he seems to have intro- chap. x.

Reforms the

duced these measures in favour of the people, w/igEnd

1 . 1 • 1 • 1 measures.

but prior to his legislation to have instituted
the cancelling of debts, and afterwards the
increase in measures and weights, as well as

2 — 2

20 The Constitution of Athens,

in the current coin. For it was in his time
also that the measures were made larger than
the Pheidonean standard, as well as the mina,
which had formerly contained about seventy
drachmae. Now, the ancient standard coin
was a double drachma. And he made the
weight for the current coin sixt5'(-three)
minse to the talent, and additional minae were
assigned to the stater and all other weights.
Chap. XI. When he had drawn up the constitution in

Goes abroad.

the way that has been described, and every-
body came to him and made themselves dis-
agreeable about the laws, some blaming and
others criticising, as he did not wish either to
disturb these arrangements, or to become an
object of hatred by his presence, he deter-
mined to go abroad for ten years, proposing
to combine trade with observation and to
reside in Egypt, in the neighbourhood of the
city of Canopus. He came to this determin-

The Constitution of Athens. 21

ation because he did not think it right that
he personally should explain his laws, but his
view was that each individual should do what
was prescribed by them. It was his ill-for-
tune too that many of the upper classes
had now become his enemies on account
of the cancelling of debts, and that both
factions had changed their attitude in con-
sequence of the actual settlement proving
to be contrary to their expectation. For
the people thought that he would make a re-
distribution of property, and the upper ranks
that he would restore again the old order of
things. Having disappointed these expecta-
tions, he found himself in opposition to both
sides, and although it was in his power, by com-
bining with either side, if he wished, to make
himself absolute, he chose rather to become an
object of hatred to both after he had saved his
country and passed the most excellent laws.

22 The Constitution of Athens.

ThTtisd"' That this was the position of affairs all

mony of his . , . t t i • i r *

own poems, without cxception agrcc, and he himselt in

his poetry refers to it in the following words :

•' For to the people I gave such privilege as suffices,

Neither taking away from or aiming at honour.

But such as possessed power, and from their wealth

were leaders,
Them I counselled to retain nothing unseemly.
I stood with my mighty shield thrown around both,
And suffered not either to triumph unrighteously.'

And again when expressing his opinion as to

how the people ought to be treated :

The people in this way would follow best with its

leaders
Under neither too slack nor too strait a control.
For satiety is the parent of insolence, whenever great

prosperity follows
Men whose disposition is not well ordered.'

And again, read where he speaks about such
as wished to divide the land among them-
selves :

* And they came on the spoil with a wealth of hope,'
And they thought each of them to find great pros-
perity,

The Constitution of Athens. 23

And that I, though talking smoothly, would manifest a
harsh spirit.

Vain were their thoughts then, and now angered with
me.

With eyes askance all regard me like enemies.

Not rightly ; for what I said, with the help of the gods,
I have accomplished ;

But other things I was attempting in vain, nor does it
please me

To do aught by force of tyranny, or of our rich father-
land

That the bad should have an equal share with the
good.'

And again also about the distress of the
poor, and those who were before in bondage,
but were made free by the cancelling of debts :

' But for what reason I the people whirling

On the axle ....

She best would bear witness in Time's justice.

Mightiest mother of Olympian gods,

Black Earth, whose boundaries fixed

In many places I formerly plucked up,

She who was before in bondage, but now is free.

And I brought back to Athens, to their god-founded

Fatherland, many who had been sold, one unjustly.

24 The Constitution of Athens.

Another justly, and the poor who from necessity
Were exiles, no longer giving utterance to
The Attic tongue, in many directions wandering about ;
Those who on this very spot were suffering
Unseemly bondage, trembling at the ways of their

masters,
Free I set. This too by the strength
Of lav/, fitting might and right together.
I wrought and went through with it as I promised.
And laws equally for the good man and the bad,
To each fitting straight justice,
I drew up. Another taking the goad as I did,
An evil-minded and wealth-loving man,
Would not have controlled the people. For if I had

wished
What pleased my enemies at that time,

•5«- -X- -X- -5^ -X-

Of many men would this city have been widowed.
For these reasons, girding myself with strength on all

sides,
I bore me as a wolf amid many hounds.'

And again, when he reproaches them for the
complaints that each side afterwards levelled
against him :

' If it is right to reproach the people plainly.
What they now possess, still sleeping,

The Constitution of Athens. 25

Tliey ne'er had looked on with their eyes.

All who are more powerful and in might better

Would commend and claim me as their friend.'

For he says that if ever anybody obtained
this honour, he did :

' He would not have controlled the people, or stopt
Before he had disturbed and carried off the beestings ;
But I between them in the gap like a barrier
Planted myself.'

These, then, were the reasons why Solon chap. xiii.

^ Party

went and lived abroad. immeSeiy

following.

After he had left his country, although the
city was still in an unquiet state, for four years
they lived in peace ; but in the fifth year after

the magistracy of Solon they did not a]
an archon, owing to the factions which
prevailed ; and a second time in the fifth year,
for the same reason, they did not appoint to
the office. And after this, in the same period,
Damasias was elected archon, and continued/
in office for two years and two months, until

26 The Constitution of Athens.

he was driven from it by force. Then they
decided, on account of the strength of party
feeling, to elect ten archons, five from the
nobles, three from the landowners, and two
from the handicraftsmen ; and these held
office the year after Damasias, thus making
it clear that the archon possessed the greatest
power, for it is evident that they were always
engaged in party strife about this office. And
they continued generally in an unhealthy
state in their relations with one another, some
on the score of office, and making a pretext
of the cancelling of debts, for they had
become poor men in consequence ; some
from discontent at the government, because
the change had been great; and others be-
cause of their rivalry with one another. The
divisions were_three : one the party of the
Shore, at the head of which was Megakles,
the son of Alkmseon, and they had the

The Constitution of Athens. 27

reputation of aiming, most of all, at a

moderate government ; and the second, the

party of the Plain, who sought an oligarchy,

with Lykurgus as their leader ; and the thjrd,

the party of the Mountain, at the head of

which stood Peisistratus, with the character

/
of being a strong partisan of the people.

And the ranks of this party had been
swollen by such as had been relieved of
their debts in consequence of their poverty,
and by such as were not of pure blood from
motives of fear.* Evidence of this is afforded
by the fact that after the establishment of
tyrants they made a proclamation that it
was not fitting that many should participate
in the government. And each party took its
name from the district in which they culti-
vated the land.

Peisistratus, with his character of being a Chap. xiv.

Peisistratus

strong partisan of the people and the great ^H^ryriliT-

bis exile and

* No doubt a return of the aristocratic government, return.

2 8 The Constitution of Athens.

reputation that he had made in the war
against the Megarians, by covering himself
with wounds and then pretending that he
had suffered this treatment from the opposite
faction, succeeded in persuading the people
to give him a body-guard, on the proposal
of Aristion. When he had got the club-
bearers, as they were called, he rose up with
them against the people, and seized the
Acropolis in the thirty-second year after the
passing of the laws in the archonship of
Komeas. The tale goes that Solon, when
Peisistratus asked for the guard, spoke
against it, and said that he was wiser than
some and braver than others ; for that he
was wiser than all such as did not know that
Peisistratus was aiming at absolute power,
and braver than such as who, although they
knew this, held their peace. When his words
availed nothing, taking up his arms before

The Constitution of Athens. 29

the doors, he said that he had come to the
rescue of his country as far as he was able
(for he was by this time an exceedingly old
man), and called upon everybody else to
follow his example. Solon effected nothing
at the time by his exhortations. And Peisis-
tratus, after he had possessed himself of the
supreme power, administered the state more
like a citizen than a tyrant. But as his
power was not yet firmly rooted, the parties
of Megakles and Lykurgus came to an agree-
ment, and drove him out in the sixth year
after his first establishment in the archonship
of Hegesias. In the twelfth year after this,
Megakles, being harassed by the rival parties,
again made proposals to Peisistratus on the
condition that he should marry his daughter,
and brought him back again in quaint and
exceedingly simple fashion. For he first
spread a report that Athena was bringing

30 The Constitution of Athens.

back Peisistratus ; then, having found a tall
and beautiful woman — as Herodotus says of
the deme of the Pseanes, but as some say,
a Thracian, a seller of garlands of Kolyttus,
whose name was Phye — he dressed her up so as
to look like the goddess, and so brought back
the tyrant with him. In this way Peisistratus
made his entry, riding in a chariot with the
woman sitting by his side, and the citizens,
doing obeisance, received them in wonderment.
Chap. xy. His first return from exile took place in

How he dis-
people.^ ^ this way. After this, when he was driven

out the second time, about the seventh year
after his return — for he did not retain his
power long, but being unwilling to unite him-
self to the daughter of Megakles, for fear of
giving offence to both factions, went secretly
,. away — he first took part in colonizing a
place in the neighbourhood of the Thermaean
Gulf, which is called Rhaekelus, arrd thence

The Constitution of Athens. 31

passed on to the parts about Pangseus.
There he made money and hired soldiers,
and coming to Eretria in the eleventh year,
again he made his first attempt to recover
his power by force,, with the good-will of
many, particularly of the Thebans and
Lygdamis of Naxos, besides the knights
who were at the head of the government in
Eretria. And having been victorious in the
battle at Pallene,* and recovered the supreme
power, he stripped the people of their arms,
and was now firmly seated in the tyranny.
He went to Naxos also and established
Lygdamis in- power. Now, he stripped the
people of their arms after the following
fashion : Ordering a review under arms in
the Anakeum, he pretended to make an
attempt to harangue them, but spoke in a

* Literally, at Pallenis, i.e.^ the temple of Pallenis
Athena^ Herodotus, i., 62 ; Pallene being a deme of
Attica, where Athena had a temple.

32 The Constitution of Athens.

low voice ; and when they said they could
not hear, he bade them go up to the propy-
laea of the Acropolis, that he might be heard
the better. Whilst he continued addressing
them, those who had been appointed for the
purpose took away the arms of the people,
and shut them up in the neighbouring build-
ings of the Thesaeum. They then came and in-
formed Peisistratus. After finishing his speech,
he told the people what had been done about
their arms, saying that they had no need to be
surprised or out of heart, but bade them go home
and attend to their own affairs, adding that
all public matters would now be his concern.
His'^^o^m-' ^^^ tyranny of Peisistratus was at first

ment mode- ...

rate and estabHshcd m this way, and experienced the

popular.

changes just enumerated. As we have said,
Peisistratus administered the government with
moderation, and more like a citizen than a
tyrant. For, in applying the laws, he was

The Constitution of Athens. 33

humane and mild, and towards ofifenders
clement, and, further, he used to advance
money to the needy for their agricultural
operations, thus enabling them to carry on
the cultivation of their lands uninterruptedly.
And this he did with two objects : that they
might not live in the city, but being scattered
over the country, and enjoying moderate
means and engaged in their own affairs, they
might have neither the desire nor the leisure
to concern themselves with public matters.
At the same time he had the advantage of a
greater revenue from the careful cultivation
of the land ; for he took a tithe of the
produce. It was for this reason, too, that he
instituted jurors throughout the demes, and
often, leaving the capital, made tours in the
country, seeing matters for himself, and re-
conciling such as had differences, so that they
might have no occasion to come to the city

3

34 'J^h^ Constitution of Athens.

and neglect their lands. It was on such
a tour that the incident is said to have
occurred about the man in Hymettus, who
was cultivating what was afterwards called
the ' No-Tax-Land.' For seeing a man
delving at rocks with a wooden peg and
working away, he wondered at his using such
a tool, and bade his attendants ask what the
spot produced. ' Every ill and every woe
under the sun,' replied the man, ' and Peisis-
tratus must take his tithe of these ills and
these woes.' Now, the man made this answer
not knowing who he was ; but Peisistratus,
pleased at his boldness of speech and love of
work, gave him immunity from all taxes.
And he never interfered with the people in
any other way indeed during his rule, but ever
cultivated peace and watched over it in times
of tranquillity. And this is the reason why
it often passed as a proverb that the tyranny

The Constitution of Athens. 35

of Peisistratus was the life of the Golden Age ;
for it came to pass afterwards, through the
insolence of his sons, that the government
became much harsher. But what more than
any other of his qualities made him a favourite
was his popular sympathies and kindness of
disposition. For while in all other matters
it was his custom to govern entirely ac-
cording to the laws, so he never allowed
himself any unfair advantage, and on one
occasion when he was cited before the Areo-
pagus on a charge of murder, he appeared
himself in his own defence, and his accuser,
getting frightened, withdrew from the suit.
It was for such reasons also, that he remained
tyrant for a long period, and when he lost his
power easily recovered it again ; for most of
the upper classes and of the popular side
desired it, since he helped the one by his
intercourse with them, and the other by his

36 The Constitution of Athens.

assistance in their private affairs, and from
his natural disposition could adapt himself to
both. The laws of the Athenians regarding
tyrants were mild in these times, all of
them, and particularly the one relating to
any attempt at tyranny, for their law stood
as follows : * These are the ordinances of the
Athenians, inherited from their fathers : who-
ever rises up to make himself a tyrant, or
assists in establishing a tyranny, shall be
deprived of his political rights, both himself
and his family^
chai'. So Peisistratus retained his power till he

by his sons, bccame an old man and fell sick and died
during the archonship of Philoneos, having
lived three-and-thirty years from the time
that he first established himself as tyrant.
Of this period he continued in power nine-
teen years, for he was in exile the remainder
of the time. It is evident therefore that

The Constitution of Athens. 37

they talk nonsense who assert that Peisis-
tratus was beloved of Solon, and that he was
general in the war with the Megarians about
Salamis ; for it is impossible from their
respective ages, if one calculates how long
either lived, and during whose archonship he
died. After the death of Peisistratus, his
sons held sovereign power, conducting the
government in the same way. There were
two sons by his wife, Hippias and Hipparchus,
and two by the Argive woman, Tophon and
Hegesistratus, otherwise called Thessalus.
For Peisistratus married from Argos, Timo-
nassa, the daughter of an Argive, whose
name was Gorgilus, whom Archinus, Ithe
Ampraciot of the Kypselidae, previously had
to wife. From this union arose his friend-
ship with the Argives, and they fought on his
side to the number of a thousand at the battle
of Pallene, Peisistratus having brought them

38 The Constitution of Athens.

with him. Some say that he married his
Argive wife during his first exile, others that
he did so when he was in possession of his
power,
xvm Hippias and Hipparchus were at the head

Harmodius

and ^ of affairs by right of their claims and their

Anstogeiton. "^ °

ages ; Hippias, being the elder, and by
nature fitted for state affairs, and endowed
with good sense, presided over the govern-
ment. But Hipparchus was fond of trifling,
amorous, and a votary of the Muses ;
it was he who sent for Anacreon and
Simonides, and the rest of the poets, with
their companions. Thessalus was much
younger, and in his manner of life over-
bearing and insolent. And from him came
the beginning of all their ills. For being
enamoured of Harmodius, and meeting with
no response to his affection, he could not
restrain his wrath, but took every opportunity

The Constitution of Athens. 39

of displaying the bitterness of his hatred. At
last, when Harmodius' sister was going to act
as basket-bearer in the Panathenaea, he for-
bade her, and made use of some abusive
expressions about Harmodius being a coward,
the result of which was that Harmodius and
Aristogeiton were incited to do their deed in
conjunction with many of their fellow-citizens.
The celebration of the Panathenaea was pro-
ceeding, and they were lying in wait for
Hippias on the Acropolis (now, he happened
to be following whilst Hipparchus was getting
the procession ready), when they saw one of
their fellow-conspirators in friendly conversa-
tion with Hippias; thinking that he was turn-
ing informer, and wishing to do something
before they were arrested, they descended from
the Acropolis, and without waiting for the rest
of the conspirators, killed Hipparchus by the
Leokoreum as he was arranging the pro-

40 The Constitution of Athens.

cession. Thus they ruined the whole plot,
and of their number Harmodius was straight-
way killed by the spearmen, and Aristogeiton
was subsequently apprehended, and for a long
time subjected to outrage. When he was put
to the torture he accused many who were
both of illustrious birth and friendly to the
tyrants. For it was impossible on the spot
to get any clue to the affair, and the story
that is told how Hippias disarmed those who
were taking part in the procession, and thus
caught such as had daggers upon them, is
not true ; for at that time armed men did
not take part in the procession, and the
practice was introduced by the people in
after-times. And he accused the friends of
the tyrants, as the popular side say, on pur-
pose that they might commit an act of im-
piety, and show their baseness by destroying
the guiltless and their own friends ; but some

The Constitution of Athens. 41

say, on the other hand, that it was not an
invention on his part, but he informed
against such as were actually privy to the
plot. And at last, when he was unable, do
what he would, to compass his death, he
promised to reveal many others, and per-
suading Hippias to give him his right hand
as a pledge of his good faith, as he held it he
reviled him for giving his right hand to the
murderer of his brother, and so exasperated
Hippias that he could not restrain his rage, but
drew his sword and despatched him on the spot.

In consequence of these events the tyranny chap. xix.

Expulsion

became much harsher ; for both by the PeSstra-

tidae.

vengeance he had taken for his brother,
and his many executions and banishments,
Hippias had made himself an object of dis-
trust and bitter hatred to all. And about the
fourth year after the death of Hipparchus,
when things were going badly with him in

42 The Constitution of Athens.

the city, he took in hand the fortification of

Munychia, with the intention of shifting his

residence to that quarter. Whilst he was

engaged in this work he was driven out by

Kleomenes, King of Lacedaemon, as the

Laconians were perpetually receiving oracles

inciting them to put an end to the tyranny

for the following reason. The exiles, at the

head of whom were the Alkmaeonidae^ were

not able by their own unassisted efforts to

effect their return, but failed in every attempt ;

for they were unsuccessful in their intrigues

in every instance, and when they fortified

Lipsydrium by Parnes, in Attica, where some

of their partizans in the city came to join them,

they were forced to surrender by the tyrants;

hence in later days after this calamity, they

used always to sing in their banquet-songs :

' Woe ! woe ! Lipsydrium, betrayer of thy fellows.
What men hast thou destroyed

The Constitution of Athens. 43

Good to fight and good to their native land,

Who then showed of what fathers they were come.'

Failing, then, in all their attempts, they
contracted to build the temple at Delphi,
by which means they became well supplied
with money for procuring the help of the
Laconians. For the Pythia was always
ordering the Lacedaemonians, when they con-
sulted the oracle, to make Athens free.
To this it directly incited the Spartiatae,
although the Peisistratidse were their friends.
And the friendship that subsisted between
the Argives and the Peisistratidae contri-
buted in no less degree to the eagerness of
the Laconians. At first, then, they de-
spatched Anchimolus with a force by sea. And
after his defeat and death, owing to Kineas
the Thessalian having come to the help of
the Peisistratidae with a thousand horse,
being further angered by this incident, they

44 'J^he Constitution of Athens,

despatched Kleomenes their king with a
larger force by land. He first gained a
victory over the Thessalian horse as they were
trying to prevent him from entering Attica,
and then shutting up Hippias in what is
called the Pelasgic fort, he began to be-
siege him in conjunction with the Athenians.
And as he was blockading it, the sons
of the Peisistratidae happened to be taken
prisoners when making a sally. Under these
circumstances the Peisistratidae came to an
agreement, stipulating for the safety of their
children ; and having conveyed away their
property within five days, they handed overi
the Acropolis to the Athenians in the archon-
ship of Harpaktides, having held the tyranny
after the death of their father about seven-
teen years, the whole period, including that
of their father's power, amounting to forty-
nine years.

The Constitution of Athens. 45
After the tyranny was put down, the parties i^gorks^^'

and Kleis-

arrayed against one another were Isagoras thenes.
the son of Tisandrus, who was a^riend of the ;
tyrants, and Kleisthenes, who was of the J^
family of the Alkmaeonidse. Being in a \
minority in the poHtical clubs, Kleisthenes^^
won over the people by giving political rights
to the masses. But Isagoras, not being
sufficiently powerful of himself, again called
in Kleomenes, who was his friend, and pre-
vailed upon him to help in driving out the
pollution, because the Alkmaeonidae were
accounted to be among the number of the
accursed. And on Kleisthenes secretly
withdrawing with a few followers, he drove
out as being under the curse seventy house,-
holds of the Athenians. After this success
he made an attempt to overthrow the Council.
But when the Council resisted, and the people
gathered in crowds, Kleomenes and Isagoras

46 The Constitution of Athens,

with their followers took refuge in the
Acropolis. And the people, blockading it,
besieged them for two days, but on the
third they let Kleomenes and all his followers
depart on certain terms, and sent for Kleis-
thenes and the rest of the exiles. When the
people had made itself master of the govern-
ment, Kleisthenes became the leader and
representative of the people. For the expul-
sion of the tyrants was almost entirely due to
the Alkmaeonidae, and they continued for
the most part to carry on a party warfare.
But even before the Alkmaeonidae, Kedon
made an attack on the tyrants, and for that
reason they used to sing about him also at
banquets :

* By spear and Kedon, boy, and forget not,
If it is thine to pour out wine to brave men.'

Chap. XXI. Thcsc then were the reasons why the

The consti-

KiShenes. pcoplc had confidcnce in Kleisthenes. And

Q

The Constitution of Athens. 47

at that time, when he was at the head of the
masses, in the fourth year after the overthrow
of the tyrants, he first distributed them all
into ten tribes instead of four as previously,
wishing to mix them up in order that more
might have a share in the government ;
hence the saying, ' not to examine the tribes,'
as addressed to those who wished to review
the lists of the families.* Afterwards he
made the Council five hundred instead of I (T\
four hundred, taking fifty from each tribe, for ^
at that time there were a hundred from each
tribe. And the reason why he did not dis-
tribute them into twelve tribes was that
he might not have to divide them according
to the existing Trittyes (third parts of
tribes) ; for the four tribes were composed of
twelve Trittyes, .with the result that the masses
were not intermingled. And he divided

* Families, i.e., collections of families, 'clans,'
* houses.'

48 The Constitution of Athens.

©

the country by demes into thirty parts^ ten
for the neighbourhood of the city, ten for the
shore districts, and ten for the interior, and
calling these Trittyes, he allotted three to
each tribe, that each might have a part in
all the different localities. And he made
fellow-members of the same deme those who
lived in each of the demes, in order that they
might not, by calling after the name of the
father, detect the new citizens, but give them
their surnames from their demes ; hence it is
that the Athenians do call themselves by
their demes. He also established presidents
of the demes, with the same duties as the
former Naukrari ; for he also made the
demes take the place of the Naukrarise. And
he named some of the demes from their
localities, and others from their founders ;
since some of the localities now erected into
demes had no founders from whom they

The Constitution of Athens. 49

could be called.* But the Gene (collections of
families) and Phratrise (three to a tribe, and
comprising each thirty Gene) and the priest-
hoods he allowed each to retain as they had
come down to them from their forefathers.
And to the tribes he gave surnames from the
hundred selected founders whom the Pythia
appointed, to the number of ten.
In consequence of these changes the con- ^^\\

The times

stitution became much more popular than immediately

following ;

that of Solon ; for it had come to pass buiS^oVa

hundred

that under the tyranny the laws of Solon *"'^"'""'-

had become a dead letter from disuse, and

that Kleisthenes had made the others to

win over the masses, among which was

passed the law about ostracism. First then

in the fifth year after this settlement, in the '^^^-^Vi/k-C'

* Or, they had no names of their own ; these are
the alternative renderings, as suggested by the British
Museum editor.

r¥>K

50 The Constitution of Athens.

archonship of Hermoukreon they drew up for
the Council of the five hundred the oath by
which they swear even to this day ; then they
chose the generals by tribes, from each tribe
one, and the polemarch was the commander-
in-chief. In the twelfth year after this, when
they had been victorious at Marathon, in the
archonship of Phaenippus, and two years had
elapsed since the victory, and the people had
now grown bold, then it was that for the first
time they put in force the law about ostra-
cism. Now this law had been passed by
reason of their suspicion of those in power,
because Peisistratus had established himself
as tyrant when he was a leader of the people
and a general. The very first man to be
ostracised was one of his relations, Hippar-
chus, the son of Charmus of Kolyttus, on
whose account especially it was that Kleis-
thenes, wishing to get him banished, passed

The Constitution of Athens. 51

the law. For the Athenians allowed all the
friends of the tyrants, who had not taken any
part in wrong-doing during the troubles, to
live in the city, thus displaying the wonted
clemency of the popular government. Of these
Hipparchus was the leader and representative.
At the beginning of the following year, in the
archonship of Telesinus, they appointed by lot
the nine archons according to tribes from the
five hundred, who had been selected by the
members of demes immediately after the
tyranny (for formerly they had been all
elected). And Megakles, the son of Hippo-
crates of Alopeke, was ostracised. For three
years then they kept ostracising the friends
of the tyrants, and after this in the fourth year
they removed anyone else besides who appeared
to be too powerful. The first to be ostracised
of those who were not connected with the
tyranny was Xanthippus, the son of Ari-

4—2

52 The Constitution of Athens.

phron. And in the third year after this,
during the archonship of Nicodemus, when
the mines at Maronea were discovered, and
the state acquired a hundred talents from
working them, some counselled the people
to divide the money among themselves. But
Themistokles would not allow it, declaring
that he would not use the money, and urged
them to advance it on loan to the hundred
richest men among the Athenians, to each
a talent, and then recommended, if it met
their approval, that it should be expended
in the service of the state, and if not, that
they should get in the money from those
who had borrowed it. Getting the money in
this way, he had a hundred triremes built,
each of the hundred talents building one ;
and it was with these ships that they fought
at Salamis against the barbarians. In these
times Aristides, the son of Lysimachus, was

The Constitution of Athens. 53

ostracised. And in the fourth year, in the
archonship of Hypsichides, they received back
all who had been ostracised, in consequence
of Xerxes' expedition. And for the future
they made Gersestus and Scyllaeum the pre-
scribed limits within which ostracised persons
[ were Jree to live, and in default they were to
lose their political rights for ever.

At that time, then, and up to this point in its jfxnf.
history, the state advanced together with the power by the

Areopagus;

democracy, and gradually increased in power. SkiSTnd

Aristides.

But after the Median war the council of the
Areopagus again became powerful, and ad-
ministered the government, having got the
leadership, not from any formal decree, but
from having brought about the sea-fight at
Salamis. For when the generals had shown
themselves quite unequal to the emergency,
and had proclaimed a sauve qui peut, the
Areopagus came forward with funds, and

54 '^he Constitution of Athens.

distributing eight drachmae to each sailor, so
manned the ships. For this reason they
yielded to its claims, and the Athenians were
governed well at this particular period ; for
circumstances led them to give their at-
tention to war : they were held in high
esteem among the Greeks, and made them-
selves masters of the sea, ^ despite the
Lacedaemonians. The leaders of the people
in these days were Aristides, the son of
Lysimachus, and Themistokles, the son of
Neokles, the latter devoting himself to mili-
tary matters, while the former enjoyed the
reputation of being a sagacious statesman,
and conspicuous for justice among his con-
temporaries. They accordingly made use of
the services of the one in war, and of the other
in council. The rebuilding of the walls, how-
ever, was conducted by both of them together,
notwithstanding their political differences ;

The Constitution of Athens. 55

but it was Aristides who urged on the revolt
of the lonians and the alliance with the
Lacedaemonians, watching his opportunity
when the Laconians had been brought into
ill-odour by the doings of Pausanias. This
was the reason why it was he who apportioned
to" the cities the tributes which were first im-
posed in the third year after the sea-fight at
Salamis in the archonship of Timosthenes,
and why he made a treaty with the lonians,
offensive and defensive, in confirmation of
which they sunk the bars of iron in the
sea*

After this, when the city was now in good chap.

1 , . n • 1 1 • 1 Athens lays

heart and its treasury overflowmg, he advised claims to the

leadership of

the people to lay a claim to national supremacy, ^'^^^^^•

and to leave the country, and come and live
■* Compare Herodotus, i. 165, telling how the
Phocaeans, on deserting their native city, sunk iron
in the sea, and swore never to return till it came up
again to the surface.

56 The Constitution of Athens.

in the city ; saying that there would be the
means of living for all, for some in military
service, for others in keeping guard, and for the
rest in public employments, and that in this
way they would obtain national supremacy.
Yielding to these representations, they assumed
the leadership of Greece, and treated the allies
in sufficiently lordly fashion, except the
Chians and Lesbians and Samians ; for these
they kept as guards of their empire, leaving
them their forms of government, and not
interfering with their rule over such subjects
as they had. They established for the masses
easy means of subsistence, just in the way
^ Aristides had shown them ; for from their

tributes and their taxes and their allies the
maintenance of more than twenty thousand
men was provided. There were six thou-
sand jurors, and sixteen hundred archers,
and in addition to them twelve hundred

r

The Constitution of Athens. 57

cavalry, five hundred of the Council, and
guards of the dockyards five hundred, and
in the city fifty guards, and home magis-
trates up to seven hundred men, and men
on foreign service up to seven hundred ;•
and besides these, when they afterwards en-
gaged in war, two thousand five hundred
hoplites, and twenty guard-ships, and other
ships which brought the tributes, manned
by two thousand men chosen by lot, and
further the Prytaneum, and orphans and
guards of prisoners ; for all these derived
their maintenance from the public funds.

The people therefore got its means of Chap.
support in this way. And for about seventeen ofThe a^^o-

pagus by

years after the Persian war the constitution Sd^Themis-

tokles.

was mamtamed under the presidency of the
Areopagitae, although it was gradually losing
ground. But as the masses were increasing
in power, Ephialtes, the son of Sophonides,

58 The Constitution of Athens.

with the reputation of being incorruptible and
of entertaining just intentions towards the
constitution, became leader of the people,
and made an attack on the council. First
he made away with many of the Areopagitae,
bringing actions against them for their ad-
ministration. Afterwards, in the archonship
of Konon, he stripped the council of all the
privileges, in right of which it was the guardian
of the constitution, and made them over partly
to the five hundred and partly to the courts
of justice. And he carried out these measures
in conjunction with Themistokles, who was
one of the Areopagitai, and about to be put
on his trial on the charge of Medism. And
desiring the overthrow of the council, The-
mistokles told Ephialtes that the council
intended to seize him as well as himself, while
at the same time he told the Areopagitae
that he would point out to them those who

The Constitution of Athens. 59

were banding together for the overthrow of
the government. And taking the persons
who were despatched by the council to the
house of Ephialtes, to point out to them
those who were meeting together there, he
joined in earnest conversation with the repre-
sentatives of the council. And Ephialtes,
seeing this, in alarm took refuge at the altar
with only his tunic on. All wondered at
what had happened, and when the Council
of the five hundred assembled afterwards,
Ephialtes and Themistokles brought accusa-
tions against the Areopagitae, and again
before the people in the same way, until they
stripped them of their power. And Ephialtes
also was got rid of, being treacherously
murdered not long afterwards by Aristodicus
of Tanagra. So the council of the Areo-
pagitae was in this way deprived of its super-
vision of the state.

6o The Constitution of Athens.

xxvL After this, in the course of circumstances,

Growth of

thedemoc- thc coHstitution becamc further weakened

racy;

through the zeal of the leaders of the people,
for in these times, as it fell out, the more
moderate party was without a leader. Now
Kimon, the son of Miltiades, was at their
head, a man comparatively young, and who
had entered upon public life late. Moreover,
the greater portion of this party had been
destroyed in war, which happened in this
way : The army was enrolled in those times
from those who were on the list for service,
and generals were appointed to command
who had no experience of war, but were held
in honour for their ancestral glories, the con-
sequence of which was, that those who went
to the wars perished by two or three thousand
at a time. In this way the moderate men,
both of the people and of the well-to-do,
were used up. Now, in everything else the

The Constitution of Athens. 6i

government was administered differently to
what it was before, when men gave heed to
the laws, but the election of the nine archons
was not disturbed. Still, in the sixth year\
after the death of Ephialtes, they decreed
[that those who were to be balloted for in the
elections of the nine archons should be
selected also from the Zeugitse, and the first
of that class who filled the office was Mnesi-
^^theides. But all before him had belonged to
the Knights and Pentakosiomedimni, while
the Zeugitae used to hold the offices that
went round in succession (but not the archon-
ship), unless some oversight of the provisions
of the laws chanced to occur. In the fifth
year after this, in the archonship of Lysikrates,
the thirty jurors were again established, who
were called after the demes. In the third
year after him, in the archonship of Antidotus,
owing to the great increase in the number of

CAjtVAi

I ^

A.

62 The Constitution of Athens.

citizens, they decreed, on the proposal of
Perikles, that no one should share in political
rights unless both his parents were citizens,
xxvii. After this Perikles came to lead the people.

Perikles.'

He first made a name for himself when,
as a young man, he called in question the
accounts of Kimon during his command.
The constitution then became, in the course
of events, still more democratical ; for he
stripped the Areopagitae of some of their
;^ privileges, and, what was the cardinal
; point of his policy, urged on the state to ac-
quire naval power, in consequence of which
the masses grew bold, and drew the whole
government more into their own hands.
And in the forty-ninth year after the sea-
fight at Salamis, in the archonship of
Pythodorus, the Peloponnesian war broke
out, during which the people, shut up as they
were in the city and accustomed to serve

The Constitution of Athens. 63

for pay in the armies, partly of their own
free will, and partly against their wishes,
elected to administer the government them-
selves. And Perikles was the first to intro-
duce pay for the services of the jurors,
thus bidding for popularity as against the
influence that Kimon derived from his
ample means. For Kimon, as the possessor
of royal wealth, first discharged the public
services with great splendour, and afterwards
supported many of the members of his
deme. Any of the Lakiadae who liked
might go to him every day to get their
rations ; moreover, ail his grounds were left
unfenced, so that anyone who liked could
help himself to the fruit. But as Perikles
did not possess the means of indulging in
public expenditure of this kind, on the
advice of Damonides of CEa (who had the
reputation of being the prompter of Perikles'

64 The Constitution of Athens.

wars, for which reason also they ostracised
him later), since his private property did not
allow him to provide subsistence for the
populace, he instituted pay for the jurors.
And to these causes some assign the de-
terioration in the conduct of affairs, as the
appointments to office were designedly made
more and more by haphazard instead of
by merit. And bribery in the law courts
also began to be practised after this, Anytus
being the first to show how to do it after
his command at Pylos ; for when he was put
upon his trial for losing it, he bribed the
court and was acquitted.
xxviTi ^° ^°"S ^^^^ ^^ Perikles was at the head of

His sue- t ^ 1 1

cessors: thc pcoplc, thc govcmmcnt went on better,

Nikias,

ThtTcydides, but on his death it became much worse.

Theramenes.

For then, for the first time, the people
took for its leader a man who was not held
in respect by such as entertained moderate

The Constitution of Athens. 6^

views ; whereas in former times it had
always, without exception, been led by
men of character. For it began with Solon,
who was the first to come forward as the
leader of the people ; and next Peisistratus,
who belonged to the nobles and upper class ;
and after the overthrow of the tyranny came
Kleisthenes, who was of the house of the
Alkmaeonidae, and had no party-leader in
opposition to him after the banishment of
Isagoras and his faction. After this Xan-
thippus was at the head of the people,
while Miltiades represented the upper classes.
Next came Themistokles and Aristides; after
them Ephialtes was at the head of the
democratic party, and Kimon, the son of
Miltiades, at the head of the wealthy classes.
Then Perikles represented the democratic
party, and Thucydides, who was a connection
by marriage of Kimon, the other side. On

5

66 The Constitution of Athens.

t'.ie death of Perikle?, Nikias took the lead
of the nobles, he who met his end in Sicily ;
and of the democratic party, Kleon, the son
of Klesenetus. He has the reputation of
having, more than any other man, led the
people astray by his impetuosity, and was
I he first to raise his voice to a shriek from the
rostra and indulge in abusive language, and
to harangue with his apron on, while every-
body else respected the ordinary decencies
of public speaking. After them Theramenes,
the son of Hagnon, led the other side, while
at the head of the people was Kleophon, the
lyre-maker, who first introduced the payment
of the two obols. For some time he dis-
tributed it, but afterwards Kallikrates, the
Paeanian, put a stop to it, having first
promised that he would add another obol
to the two obols. Later on they were both
condemned to death ; for it is the custom

The Constitution of Athens. 67

of the masses, when they discover that they
have been grossly deceived, to hate those
who have led them on to do anything that is
not right. And from Kleophon onward the
leadership of the people successively passed jf

without interruption to such men as were the .^^y
most willing to act boldly and gratify the J/f
populace, looking only to the immediate
present. For of those who conducted the
government at Athens, and succeeded to the
old rulers, Nikias and Thucydides and
Theramenes appear to have approved them-
selves the best. In the case of Nikias and
Thucydides almost all agree that they
showed themselves to be not only good and
honourable men, but also fit to govern, and
that they administered the state in every
respect in conformity with the national
traditions. With regard to Theramenes,
however, as disturbances in the forms of

5-2

• 68 The Constitution of Athens.

government occurred in his time, opinions
differ. Still, he seems to such as do not
express a mere off-hand opinion, not to
have overthrown all these forms, as his
accusers charge him with doing, but to have
carried on all of them so long as they did
not contravene the laws; thus acting like a
man who was able to live under any form
of government, which is indeed the duty of
a good citizen, but who would not be a
party to any that was contrary to the law,
and so he became an object of hatred.
XXIX. So long, then, as successes in the war were

The four

the"proposais cvcnly balanced, they preserved the de-

of Pytho-

dorus. mocracy. But after the reverse in Sicily,
when the Lacedaemonians became very power-
ful by their alliance with the king of Persia,
they were compelled to change the de-
mocracy and establish the government of the
four hundred, on the proposal of Melobius

The Constitution of Athens. 69

before the decree and Pythodorus moving . . .
the masses being influenced, beyond all other
considerations, by the idea that the king
would gladly take part with them in the war
if they made the government oligarchical.
Now, the decree of Pythodorus was as
follows : that the people should choose, in
conjunction with the standing committee of
ten, twenty others from such as were above
forty years of age, and that they, after swear-
ing solemnly to pass such measures as they
might think best for the state, should so
legislate for its safety; and that it should
be lawful for anyone else who wished to
bring forward any bill, that so, out of all,
they might choose what was best. And
Kleitophon spoke to the same effect as Pytho-
dorus, but moved further that those who were
elected should examine the long-established
laws which Kleisthenes passed when he

70 The Constitution of Athens,

established the democracy, that by listening
to them also they might decide on what was
best, for they argued that Kleisthenes' con-
stitution was not democratic, but on the
same lines as that of Solon. After their
election they first moved that it should be
compulsory on the presidents of the Council
to put to the vote all proposals about the
safety of the state ; then they did away with
indictments for proposing unconstitutional
measures, and in cases not provided for by
law, and legal challenges, so that any
Athenian who wished might assist in the
deliberations about the matters before them.
They proposed, further, that if anyone, on
account of these proceedings, should fine or
summons anyone, or bring a case into
court, an information should be laid against
him, and he should be brought before the
generals, and the generals should hand him

The Constitution of Athens. 71

over to the Eleven to be punished with death.
After this they drew up the constitution as
follows : that it should not be lawful to
expend the incoming moneys for any other
purpose than the war, and that all offices
should be held without pay so long as the
war might last, with the exception of the
nine archons and the presidents of the
Council for the time being, but that these
should receive three obols a day each. They
proposed, further, to vest all the rest of the
administration in such of the Athenians as
were best able both in person and means to
perform the public services, to the number of
not less than five thousandj^lqng as the wa/
mightjast^; that they should have the power
also of making treaties with whomever they
liked ; and that the committee should choose
ten men from each tribe over forty years of
age to enrol the five thousand, after having
taken an oath on perfect sacrifices.

72 The Constitution of Athens.

xxx! Those who were appointed, then, drew up

The constitu-

po^edVorThe ^hcsc mcasures. And after their ratification

the five thousand chose a hundred out of their

own number to make a public record of the

form of government. So this body drew up

and pubh'shed the following record. Such as

were over thirty years of age were to be

members of the Council for a year, without

pay ; and from them were to be appointed

the generals and the nine archons and

the sacred recorder, and the infantry and

cavalry commanders, and the chiefs of the

tribes, the commandants of the forts, the

treasurers of the sacred funds of Athena and

all other gods to the number of ten, the

Hellenotamise,"^ and the treasurers of all

other sacred funds to the number of twenty,

who were to control the managers of sacred

■^ Trustees of the Greeks, appointed by Athens to
levy the contributions paid by the Greek states towards
the Persian war.

The Constitution of Athens. 73

rites and superintendents, each ten in number;
and they were to choose all the above out
of selected candidates, who at the expiration
of their term should select successors from
the then members of the Council, but all
the other officers were to be appointed by
lot, and not from the Council; and such
of the Hellenotamise as might be managing
the funds were not to take part in the
Council. Further, that they should con-
stitute four councils from the aforesaid age
for the future, and of these the division
to whose lot it fell should act as Council,
and it should appoint also the rest to act
according to each lot. That the hundred
(who were drawing up the constitution)
should apportion both themselves and the
others into four divisions, as fairly as
possible, and appoint them in turn by lot,
and they should form the Council for a

74 '^he Constitution of Athens,

year. That they should recommend such
measures as appeared hkely to them to be
the best in regard to the public money, with
a view to its safe-keeping and expenditure on
what was necessary, and about everything
else as best they could ; further, if they
should wish to take counsel on any matter
in a larger body than their own, each of
them should call in to his assistance any
assessor he liked from such as were of the
same age. That they should make the
sittings of the Council once every five days,
unless they required more. That the Council
should appoint by lot the nine archons, but
that they should select by vote five who had
been appointed by lot out of the Council, and
out of them one should be appointed by lot
every day to put the question. That the
before-mentioned five should appoint by lot
those who wished to present themselves

The Constitution of Athens. 75

before the Council, first regarding sacred
matters, next for the heralds, thirdly for
embassage, and fourthly about all other
matters. That the generals should have the
management of matters connected with the
war department, whenever it might be neces-
sary to make any proposal without casting
lots. Lastly, that anyone who failed to be
present at the appointed hour in the chamber
of the Council when it was sitting, should
pay a fine of a drachma for each day, unless
he had obtained leave of absence from the
Council.

Such was the constitution they drew up to chap.
serve for the future ; but for the immediate tion arpro-^'

posed for the

present its provisions were as follows : That p'Je'^lntf^^
the Council should consist of four hundred as

instituted by their fathers, forty from each
tribe, from such candidates as the tribesmen
might select above thirty years of age. That

76 The Constitution of Athens.

they should appoint the officers of state, draw
up the form of oath to be taken, and do
whatever they judged expedient concerning
the laws and audits of accounts and every-
thing else. That they should govern by the
established laws regarding matters of state,
and should not have the right of altering
them or passing different ones. For the
present they should make choice of the
generals out of the whole body of the
five thousand, and the Council, after its
appointment, should hold a review under
arms, and should choose ten men and a
secretary for them ; these on their election
were to hold office for the coming year
with full powers, and, as occasion might re-
quire, concert measures in common with the
Council. That they should choose one
commander of cavalry and ten chiefs of
tribes ;* but for the future the Council was
* Especially as commanders of cavalry.

The Constitution of Athens. 77

to make choice of them in conformity with

the written law. In respect of all other

offices, except the Council and the generals,

it should not be lawful for them or anyone

else to hold the same office more than once.

And for the remainder of the time the four

hundred should be distributed into the four

lots ....

So the hundred who were chosen by the

five hundred drew up this constitution. Chap.
^ xxxii.

When its provisions, on the motion of Aristo- ment^oTSe'

four hundred.

machus, had been ratified by the masses, the
Council was dissolved in the archonship of
Kallias before it had completed its term, on
the 14th of the month Thargelion,^ and the
four hundred entered on office on the 21st of
Thargelion, while the Council elected by lot
ought to have entered on office on the 14th

* This month corresponds to from the middle of
May to the middle of June ; Skirophorion, a few lines
further on, is the following month.

78 The Constitution of Athens.

of Skirophorion. The oligarchy then was
estabh'shed in this way in the archonship of
Kallias, about a hundred years after the
expulsion of the tyrants, its establishment
being mainly due to Peisander, Antiphon and
Theramenes, men of good antecedents, and
with a character for intelligence and prudence.
On the introduction ot this form of govern-
ment the five thousand were only nominally
appointed, but the four hundred, in conjunc-
tion with the ten who were invested with
full powers, entering the council-chamber,
assumed the management of affairs. Sending
an embassy to the Lacedaemonians, they
proposed putting an end to the war on the
terms that each side should retain what they
held, but withdrew from further negotiation
when the Lacedaemonians refused to listen to
any proposal which did not include the sur-
render of their maritime supremacy.

The Constitution of Athens. 79

The government of the four hundred lasted xxxm

, __ ., It lasted four

about four month?, and of this body Mnasilo- months, and

was good.

chus was archon for the space of two months
during the archonship of Theopompus * who
held office the remaining two months. But
after the defeat in the sea-fight at Eretria,
and the revolt of the whole of Euboea except
Oreus, being more incensed at this calamity
than at any that had ever hitherto befallen
them (for Euboea was of greater advantage
to them than Attica), the Athenians put
down the four hundred, and gave the
management of affairs to the five thousand
under arms (referred to above), after passing
a vote that anyone who received pay should
be ineligible for offices of state. The over-
throw of the four hundred was mainly due
to Aristokrates and Theramenes, who did not

* He being the archon who gave his name to the
year (Eponymus).

8o The Constitution of Athens.

approve of their doings, for they managed
everything themselves, without ever referring
to the five thousand. But the administration
seems to have been good at this time, con-
sidering that a war was being carried on,
and that the form of government was a
military one.
XXXIV. However, the people quickly stripped them

Arginusae,

^gospo- of their power : for in the seventh year from

tami, Lysan- *■ ' ^

establish- the overthrow of the four hundred, in the

ment of the

oligarchy, ^^chonship of KalHas of Angele, after the
sea-fight at Arginusse, it happened, in the
first place, that the ten victorious generals
of the sea-fight were all condemned by one
vote, though some of them had not even taken
part in the battle, and others were themselves
saved on another vessel, for the people had
been grossly deluded by those who had worked
upon its angry mood. And, secondly, when
the Lacedaemonians wished to retire from

The Constitution of Athens. 8i

Dekelea and return home and conclude peace
on the terms that each side should retain what
they held, some were anxious for it, but the
masses would not listen to the proposal,
grossly deluded as they were by Kleophon,
who prevented peace from being made. He
came to the assembly drunk and with his
breastplate on, declaring that he would not
allow it unless the Lacedaemonians gave up all
the cities. And when things did not prosper
with them, no long time after they discovered
their mistake; for in the following year, in the
archonship of Alexias, befell the disastrous
seafight at ^Egospotami, the result of which
was that Lysander made himself master of the
government, and established the thirty in the
following manner. When they had made
peace on the condition that they should live
under the form of government which they
had inherited from their fathers, on the one

6

82 The Constitution of Athens,

hand the popular side was trying to preserve
the democracy; while on the other, of the
upper classes such as belonged to the political
clubs, and the exiles who had returned after
the peace, were desirous of an oligarchy,
and those who were not members of any
club, but otherwise had the character of being
inferior to none of their fellow-citizens, were
seeking for the form of government inherited
from their fathers. Amongst this number were
Archinus, Anytus, Kleitophon, Phormisios,
and several others, and at the head of them
Theramenes was conspicuous. When Lysander
. attached himself to the oligarchs, the people
were terror-stricken and compelled to vote
for the oligarchy. Drakontides of Aphidnae
proposed the vote.
Chap So the thirty were established in this way

ancftheTr^ iu thc archonship of Pythodorus. Being now

government.

masters of the state, they neglected all the

The Constitution of Athens. 83

other provisions regarding the government,
and appointed only the five hundred members
of the Council, and the other magistrates
from selected candidates out of the thousand ;
and taking to themselves ten governors of
Peira^us, and eleven guards of the prison, and
three hundred attendants furnished with
scourges, they kept the government in their
own hands. At first they behaved with
moderation to their fellow -citizens, and
affected to administer the government as
inherited from their fathers. They annulled
in the Areopagus the laws of Ephialtes and
Archestratus regarding the Areopagitae, and
such of Solon's laws as were of doubtful
interpretation, and put down the supreme
authority vested in the jurors, as if they were
going to restore the constitution, and remove
all doubts in its interpretation. For ex-
ample, in the matter of a man's giving his

6—2

84 The Constitution of Athens.

own property to whom he likes, they gave him
full authority once for all ; and they removed
such difficulties as might arise, except on the
grounds of mental aberration, old age, or
undue female influence, so that no door
might be left open to common informers ;
in all other cases they proceeded in like
manner and with the same object. At first
then such was their line of action, and they
made away with the common informers and
such as associated themselves with the people
to do its pleasure in opposition to its true
interests, and were mischievous and bad.
And men rejoiced at these doings, thinking
that they were actuated by the best motives.
But when they had got a firmer grip of
power, not a single individual did they spare,
but killed alike such as were distinguished
for their wealth, birth, or rank, getting rid in
this underhand way of those whom they

The Constitution of Athens. 85

were afraid of, and whose property, at the'
same time, they wished to plunder. By such
means they had succeeded within a short
period in making away with not less than
fifteen hundred persons.

When the state was drifting in this way, Chap.

XXXVI.

Theramenes, indignant at their proceedings, xlSmSenes.
exhorted them to put a stop to such outrages
and give a share of the administration to the
best men. They at first resisted, but when
reports spread among the people, who were
for the most part well disposed to The-
ramenes, then, fearing that he might consti-
tute himself the champion of the people and
put an end to their power, they drew up a
list of three thousand citizens, declaring that
they would give them a share in the govern-
ment. Theramenes again found fault with
this arrangement, on the following grounds :
first, that although they professed a desire to

86 The Constitution of Athens.

give a share of their power to respectable
citizens, they proposed to do so with three
thousand only, just as if worth were limited to
that number ; secondly, that they were acting
in a way which was in the highest degree in-
consistent, by establishing a government which
was a government of force and yet inferior in
power to the governed. But they made light
of these objections, and for a long time held
back the list of the three thousand, keeping
their names a secret ; and when they did
think good to publish them, they cancelled
some on the list and substituted others who
had not been originally included,
xxxvii When winter had now set in, and Thrasy-
puA^o death, bulus and the exiles had seized Phyle, the

and the

a^nTc'alfeX; thirty, having fared badly with the army
which they had led out against them,
determined to strip everybody else of their
arms and destroy Theramenes after the

The Constitution of Athens. 87

following manner : They brought forward
two measures in the Council and ordered it
to pass them ; one was to invest the thirty
with full powers to put to death any citizen
whose name was not on the list of the three
thousand ; the other to deprive of their political
rights all who had taken part in the destruc-
tion of the fort in Eetionsea, or had in any way ^
acted in opposition to the four hundred, or the v^
founders of the former oligarchy. Now the
fact was that Theramenes had had a share in
both, with the consequence that when these
proposals had been passed he was put in the
position of an outlaw, and the thirty had the
power of putting him to death. So, after
making away with Theramenes, they stripped
every one of his arms except the three thou-
sand, and in every way indulged freely in
cruelty and evil-doing. Sending ambassadors
to Lacedaemon, they brought accusations

88 The Constitution of Athens,

against Theramenes, and asked for help, in
compliance with which the Lacedaemonians
despatched Kallibius as governor (Harmost),
with about seven hundred men, who on their
arrival garrisoned the Acropolis,
xxxvni. After this, when the exiles from Phyle had

End of the

thirty.and scizcd Munvchia and been victorious in an

reconcilia- •'

parties. engagement over the force that had come to
its help with the thirty, the citizens, retiring
after the attempt, and assembling on the
morrow in the market-place, put down the
thirty, and appointed ten of the citizens,
with full powers, to bring the war to an end.
Now they, after taking over the government,
did not enter into the negotiations for which
they had been appointed, but sent an embassy
to Lacedaemon, asking for help and borrow-
ing money. When those who had a voice in
the government were displeased at this, fear-
ing that they might be deposed from power,

The Constitution of Athens. 89

and wishing to strike terror into the rest —
as, indeed, they did — they seized and put to
death ... a man second to none of the
citizens, and, with the help of Kallibius and
his Peloponnesians, and besides them some
of the knights, got a firm hold of the
government. Now some of the knights were
more anxious than any of their fellow-
citizens that the exiles at Phyle should not
return. When, however, the forces which
held the Peiraeus and Munychia, to which all
the popular party had withdrawn, were
getting the better in the war, then they put
down the ten who were first appointed and
chose ten others of the highest character,
during whose government was accomplished
both the reconciliation and the return of the
popular party with their zealous co-opera-
tion. Notably at their head stood Rhinon
the Paeanian, and Phayllus, the son of

90 The Constitution of Athens,

Acherdes; they indeed, both before the arrival
of Pausanias, were in constant negotiation
with the party at Peirseus, and after his
arrival actively assisted him in bringing
about their return. For the peace was con-
cluded as well as the reconciliation by Pau-
sanias, king of the Lacedaemonians, in con-
junction with the ten mediators, who after-
wards arrived from Lacedaemon, and were
sent at his urgent request. And Rhinon and
his party found favour from their goodwill
towards the popular party, and although
they assumed charge under an oligarchy,
they handed over the scrutiny of accounts
to the democracy, and no one brought
any charge against them, either of those
who had remained in the city or come
back from Peiraeus ; on the contrary, in
recognition of their services Rhinon was
immediately appointed general.

The Constitution of Athens. 91

Now, the reconciliation was efifected in xxxix

the archonship of Eukleides on the follow- reconcilia-
tion.

ing terms: Such Athenians as had re-
mained in the city and wished to leave it
might live at Eleusis without forfeiting their
rights, and with full authority and powers in .
all their affairs and the enjoyment of their
property. The temple should be common to
both, and under the charge of the heralds
and Eumolpidae in conformity with the
ancient customs. It should not be law-
ful for such as were at Eleusis to go to
the city, nor for those in the city to go to
Eleusis, except for the mysteries. They
should contribute from their incomes to the
alliance just like the other Athenians. And
if any of these who went away took a
house at Eleusis, they should get the assent
of the owner ; and if they failed to agree
about terms, they should choose three

92 The Constitution of Athens,

appraisers on either side, and he should
take the price which they fixed. Any Eleu-
sinians they liked might live with them.
The registry for those who wanted to live
away should be as follows : for such as were
at home from the day they took the oath, a
space of seven days and twenty days for the
departure, and for those who were away
after they had come back again, the same
conditions. It should not be lawful for
anyone living at Eleusis to hold any office
in the city before he was registered again
as living in the city. Trials for murder
should be according to the ancient customs ;
if anyone killed another with his own hand
he should pay the penalty, after making
his offering. The act of amnesty should
be binding on everyone, except as against
the thirty and the ten and the Eleven and
the late magistrates of Peiraeus, and that not

The Constitution of Athens. 93

even these should be excluded if they sub-
mitted their accounts. The magistrates of
Peiraeus should render accounts of matters
done in Peiraeus, and the city magistrates
in matters concerned with rateable valuations.
When affairs were arranged in this way, such
as wished should live away. Lastly, each
side should repay separately the money they
had borrowed for the war.

The reconciliation being concluded on chap. xl.

Its conclu-

these terms, all who had sided with the 'SS?.
thirty got alarmed, and many who intended
to leave put off their registry to the last days,
as everybody does in such cases. Looking at
the largeness of their number, and wishing
to stop them, Archinus took away the re-
maining days of registry, so that many were
compelled to remain, though against their
will, till they regained confidence. In so
doing Archinus seems to have acted like a

94 '^he Constitution of Athens.

wise statesman, as well as on a later occasion
when he denounced as unlawful the decree
of Thrasybulus, by which he was for giving
political rights to all those who had returned
together from Peiraeus, since some of them
were undoubtedly slaves. In a third instance
also he showed his wisdom, when he brought
before the Council the first of the restored
exiles who had violated the act of amnesty
and secured his summary execution, arguing
that they had now an opportunity of showing
if they intended to maintain the democracy
and abide by their oaths, for that if they
let this man go they would give encourage-
ment to the rest, but if they put him to death
they would make him an example to all.
Now, this was just what did come to pass,
for on his being put to death nobody ever
afterwards violated the amnesty. At the same
time they seem in all that they did to have

The Constitution of Athens. 95

treated their late calamities in the most excel-
lent and statesmanlike way, both individually
and as members of the community. For not
only did they wholly forego the memory of
past wrongs, but they repaid in common to
the Lacedaemonians the money which the
thirty had got for the war, although their
agreement provided that each side, the city
and Peiraeus, should pay separately. They
considered such action to be the starting-
point of unity, whereas in every other state
a victorious democracy not only does not
contribute out of its own pockets more than
it is obliged, but even makes a new distri-
bution of the land. Finally, a reconciliation
was effected with such as were living at
Eleusis, in the third year after their leaving,
in the archonship of Xenaenetus.

This was the course of events at the later ^"j^/-

11 t • t 1 < Rec.ipitula-

period, but at that time the people, having tion of the

96 The Constitution of Athens,

preceding made itself master of the state, established the

changes ;

eign power form of govemmeiit as it now exists, in the

of the people.

archonship of Pythodorus. And it appears
that the people rightly assumed the supreme
authority by reason of its having accom-
plished unaided the return of the exiles.
(0 This change was the. eleventh in order. First
, OAU^Un A came the «MHfctefcMM- of those who united
Jtj^X^ »v*-»J^ them into one people at the beginning, viz..
Wot ^*^v Ion and his followers ; for it was then for
si the first time that they were distributed as
one people into the four tribes, and that the
tribe-kings were appointed. The next and
/^ first remarkable form of government after
this was that which took shape in the time
ot Theseus, varying but slightly from the
kingly form. After this Draco's, in which
the laws also were first recorded in writing.
Thirdly, Solon's, after the civil discords, from
which dates the beginning of the democracy.

§

The Constitution of Athens, 97

Fourthly, the tyranny of Peisistratus. Fifthly,
after the overthrow of the tyrants, the con-
stitution of Kleisthenes, more democratic
than Solon's. The sixth was after the
Persian war, when the council of Areopagus
presided over the state. Seventh, and follow-
ing the preceding, was that which Aristides
sketched out, and Ephialtes completed, by
putting down the Areopagitic council ; it
was under this constitution that the state,
under the leadership of the demagogues,
made very many mistakes by reason of its
maritime supremacy. The eighth was the
constitution of the four hundred, and after
this, and ninth, the democracy again. The
tenth was the tyranny of the thirty and that
of the ten. Eleventh, that after the return
of the exiles from Phyle and Peiraeus, which
from its establishment up to the present day
has continued uninterruptedly to add further

7

98 The Constitution of Athens.

to the power of the masses. For the people
itself has made itself master of everything,
and administers everything according to its
views by its decrees and by its control of the
courts of justice, in which it is the supreme
power, for even the decisions of the Council
come before the people. In this, indeed, they
seem to act rightly, for a few are more open
to corruption both by bribes and favours
than the masses. Now, at first they decided
against payment to the Assembly, but when
people would not attend it and the presi-
dents had to pass many measures, to secure
the presence of the masses for the confir-
mation of the voting, first Agyrrhius made
the pay an obol, and after him Herakleides
of Klazomenae, surnamed the king, two
obols, and again Agyrrhius made it three
obols.

The Constitution of Athens. 99

The present constitution is as follows : ^\\-
Political rights belong to those whose parents citizenship ;

training of

are citizens on both sides. When they are * ^ ^p^^^'-
eighteen years old they are enrolled as
members of their deme. When a candidate
is proposed, the members of the deme decide
by vote about him on oath ; first, if they
consider him to be of the proper legal age ;
if they decide against it, he returns to
the class of children ; and secondly, if he is
freeborn and his birth according to the laws.
Then, if they decide that he is not freeborn,
the candidate appeals to the court of justice,
and the members of the deme choose of their
number five plaintiffs, and if it is decided
that he is not rightly enrolled, the state sells
him ; but if he gains the day, it is compulsory
on the deme to enrol him as a member. After
this the Council examines the candidates who
have been enrolled, and if any is found to be

7—2

100 The Constitution of Athens.

less than eighteen years old, it fines the
members of the deme who enrolled him.
When they have passed as Ephebi (i.e., arrived
at man's estate), their fathers assemble in
their tribes, and on oath select three of their
tribesmen above forty years of age, whom
they consider to be most worthy and suitable
to have charge of the Ephebi, and from them
the people votes one of each tribe, selected as
their moderator and superintendent in every-
thing from the whole body of Athenians.
And, taking charge of the Ephebi, first they
make a circuit of the sacred places, then they
proceed to Peiraeus, and some of the Ephebi
garrison Munychia, and the rest the shore.
The people votes them also two gymnastic-
masters and teachers, who instruct them in
the use of arms, shooting, hurling, and work-
ing the catapult. It gives for maintenance
to the moderators a drachma a day each, and

The Constitution of Athens, loi

to the Ephebi four obols each. And each
moderator, taking the money of his own
tribesmen, buys what is necessary for all in
common (for they take their meals together
by their tribes), and provides for everything
else. They pass their first year in this way.
The next, at a meeting of the Assembly in the
theatre, they display before the people their
drill-practice, and receiving a spear and shield
from the state, patrol the country and live in
garrisons. They act as guards for their two
years, wearing cloaks, and have immunity
from all public burdens. They are not
allowed either to bring or defend an action,
to prevent their being connected in any way
with business, except in cases of inheritance
and of an only daughter and heiress, or where
a question of family priesthood arises. On
the expiry of the two years they at once rank
with the rest. Such, then, are the regulations

I02 The Constitution of Athens.

regarding the enrolment of citizens and the
Ephebi.
XLui They appoint by lot to all the offices

Election to , , . , , . . . i • i

offices, by belonging to the administration which comes

lot or vote.

round in turn, except the military treasurer,
and those who have charge of the funds for
seats in the theatre and the superintendent
of the springs. For these they vote, and
those who are appointed hold office from
Panathensea to Panathensea. They vote also
all the offices of the war department. And
the Council is elected by lot to the number of
five hundred, fifty from each tribe. And
each of the tribes presides in turn as lot may
assign, the first four thirty-six days each, and
the six last thirty-five days each; for they
reckon the year by the moon. The presidents
first dine together in the Rotunda, at the
expense of the state, then they assemble the
Council and the people ; the Council every

The Constitution of Athens. 103

day, unless there is a holiday, and the people
four times during each presidency. They
give public notice of all matters to be trans-
acted by the Council, and what is to be taken
each day, and what is not their business.
They give public notice also of the meetings
of the Assembly, one an ordinary one to
confirm by vote magistrates if they are
thought to discharge their duties efficiently,
and to arrange about food and the protection
of the country, and for such as want to prefer
indictments to bring in such bills on this day,
and to read out the registers of confiscations
as well as the applications to the archon to
be put in possession in cases of inheritance
and of only daughters and heiresses, so that
everybody may know if a case has gone by
default. At the sixth presidency, in addition
to what has just been stated, the opportunity
is given of voting in cases of ostracism to

I04 The Constitution of Athens,

confirm or otherwise, and of proceeding with
the public prosecutions of common informers,
both Athenians and resident-aliens up to
three of each, where a promise has been
made to the people and not performed.
Another Assembly is assigned for supplica-
tions, so that anyone who wants may propose
a supplication for anything he likes, either
public or private, and discuss it with the
people. The other two Assemblies attend to
all other matters, and the laws ordain that at
these meetings proposals should be con-
sidered to the number of three respectively
regarding things sacred (or sacred moneys),
heralds and embassies, and things profane (or
public moneys). They sometimes deliberate
even without any previous voting. The
heralds and ambassadors come first before
the presidents, and the bearers of letters
deliver them into their hands.

The Constitution of Athens. 105
Now, there is one chief president, elected ^J^^p.

The Council

by lot ; he holds office a day and a night, continued.
and it is not lawful for the same man to
be appointed for a longer time, or to be
appointed twice. He keeps the keys of the
temples, in which are deposited the public
moneys and records, as well as the state seal,
and is obliged to remain in the Rotunda, as is
also the third part of the presidents which
he may order to do so. When the presidents
summon the Council or people, he appoints
by lot the nine chairmen (proedri), one from
each tribe, except the tribe that presides,
and from them again one as chief president,
and he passes over to them the order of
business. On receipt of it they preserve
order, propose the matters to be deliberated
on, decide the votings, and arrange things
generally. They have power also to break
up the meeting. It is not lawful to be chief

io6 The Ccnstitution of Athens.

president more than once in the year, while
it is lawful to be a chairman (proedrus) once
in each presidency. They elect boards of
ten of generals and commanders of cavalry
and of the other military officers of state in
the Assembly, as the people may determine ;
these elections are made by the presidency
after the sixth, when the omens are favour-
able, but a preliminary ordinance must be
passed about these elections also.
Chap. Now the Couucil formerly had power to
the^power°of punish by fines, to imprison, and to put to

putting to

death. death. But on one occasion, as it was con-
ducting Lysimachus to the executioner, who
was awaiting him, Eukleides of Alopeke took
him out of their hands, declaring that it was
not right for any citizen to be put to death
without the verdict of a court of law. On a
trial being held in court, Lysimachus was
acquitted, and got the surname of ' the man

I

The Constitution of Athens, 107

' who escaped the cudgel/ Then the people
deprived the Council of its power of putting
to death and imprisoning and punishing by
fines, and carried a law that in cases where
the Council passed sentences or punished, the
Thesmothetae should bring the sentences and
punishments before the court of justice, and
that the vote of the jurors should be final.
Now, the Council can try most of the officers
of state, particularly such as have the
management of money ; but their decision is
not final, and there is an appeal to the court
of justice. Private individuals also have the
right of indicting any officers of state they
like for violating the laws, while such as are
so indicted have also an appeal to the court
of justice, if the Council finds them guilty. It
examines also the members who are to com-
pose the Council for the following year, and
the nine archons. Formerly it had the power

io8 The Constitution of Athens.

of rejection, but now in such cases there is an
appeal to the court of justice. In the above
matters then the Council does not possess
final authority. Further, it submits pre-
liminary ordinances to the people, and it is
not lawful for the people to pass any measure
which has not been thus submitted, or of
which the presidents have not previously
given public notice. For it is on these very
grounds that the successful mover of a bill
makes himself liable to an indictment for pro-
posing unconstitutional measures.
xLVh It superintends also the triremes, their

The Council

continued, equipment and their docks, and has new
ships built, triremes or quadriremes, which-
ever the people votes, and equipment for
them and docks. But the people votes
designers for the vessels. And if they fail
to hand over these quite complete to the new
Council, they cannot get the present, for they

The Constitution of Athens. 109

get it during the following Council. It builds
the triremes, choosing ten constructors out
of the whole body. It examines also all
public buildings, and if it decides that any
wrong has been committed, it makes a pre-
sentment to the people against the offender,
and if it finds him guilty, hands him over to
a court of justice.

It assists also in the management of all ^"^Jv
the remaining offices for the most part. surerJoT

Athena ; the

For first there are the treasurers (of the felS'"^"''
temple) of Athena, ten in number, and
appointed by lot, one from each tribe, from
the Pentakosiomedimni according to Solon's
law — for the law is still in force — and chief
of them is he on whom the lot falls, however
poor he may -be. And they take over the
image of Athena, and the victories, and all
her other decorations, and the funds, in the
presence of the Council. Then there are the

no The Constitution of Athens.

government-sellers, ten in number, one being
appointed by lot from each tribe. These
farm out all the contracts and sell the pro-
ductions of the mines, and, in conjunction
with the military treasurer, and the presi-
dents of funds for the payment of seats at the
theatre, in the presence of the Council, ratify
the farming of the taxes to him to whom the
Council votes it ; and they sell, in the
presence of the Council, all the workable
metals which are sold, both what have been
sold for three years and what have been con-
tracted for . . . and the property of those
who have been banished by the Areopagus,
and the archons confirm these transactions.
They put up a public register on white
tablets of the taxes that have been farmed
out for a year . . . they pass over to the
Council. They put up a public notice
separately, in ten lists, of such as in each

The Constitution of Athens. 1 1 1

presidency have to make payments, and
separately of such as have to do so at the
end of the year, making a list for every pay-
ment, and separately of those in the ninth
presidency. They give similar notice of the
lands and houses which have been let and
sold in the court of justice, for they also sell
these . . . the sale price of houses must be
paid for in five years, of land in ten. And
they pay for these in the ninth presidency
. . . and the king ratifies the lettings . . .
and the letting of these also is for ten years,
payment being made in the ninth presidency ;
for these reasons the largest amounts of
money are collected in this presidency. Now
the tablets on which the payments are re-
corded are brought to the Council, and the
public notary keeps them. When payment
is made he hands over to the receivers these

112 The Constitution of Athens,

very . . . But the rest is stored away
separately. . . .
xLvm. There are ten receivers appointed by lot

There- ^^ ^

audftors. by tribes. When they have received the lists,
they cancel the moneys as they are paid in in
the presence of the Council in the council-
chamber, and again return the lists to the
public notary. If anyone fails in payment the
fact is then recorded, and the reason why ; and
he must pay the deficit or go to prison, and
the Council has authority by law both to
compel payment and to commit to prison.
On the first day they receive the moneys
and apportion them to the offices, and on
the following they bring forward the appor-
tionment, after recording it on a tablet, and
draw up the list in the council-chamber, and
... in the Council, if anyone, be he either
magistrate or private individual, is known to
have acted unfairly in the apportionment ;

The Constitution of Athens. 113

and they put the question of his guilt to the
vote. Further, the members of the Council
appoint by lot from their own body tellers to
the number of ten to account to the magis-
trates in each presidency. They appoint by
lot also auditors, one from each tribe, and two
assessors to each auditor, who are obliged to
sit in the markets, which are called after
those who have given their names to each
tribe ; and if anyone wishes at his own suit
to prefer an audit against any of those
who have given in their accounts within five
days of their being given in, he writes on
a white tablet his name and the name
of the defendant, and the offences with
which he charges him, and taking the valua-
tion he decides upon, hands it over to the
auditor. The auditor receives it, and if, after
a hearing, he convicts, he hands over private
cases to the jurors for the demes, which

8

1 14 The Constitution of Athens.

represent the particular tribe, while public
cases he refers to the Thesmothetse. The
Thesmothetae, if they entertain the suit, in
their turn bring the audit before the court
of justice, and the decision of the jurors is
final.
xLix". Further, the Council holds a muster of the

The Council

mufte?ofthe ^orscs, and if anyone having the means is
found to keep his horse badly, it fines him in
its keep ; and to such as are unable to keep
one, or unwilling to remain Knights, they
bring up a wheel . . . , and he who is so
treated is dishonoured. It holds also a
muster of the cavalry scouts, to ascertain
who appear to be fitted for such service,
and the man against whom there is a show
of hands is dismounted. It holds a muster
also of the unmounted scouts, and if the
show of hands is unfavourable, the man is
no longer retained in the service. The

The Constitution of Athens. 115

registrars, whom the people appoints to the
number of ten, make a list of the Knights.
These pass over their names to the com-
manders of cavalry and the chiefs of the
tribes, who take over the list and bring it
to the Council. Then opening the tablet,
in which the names of the Knights are signed
and sealed, they cancel such of those as
have been previously enrolled and solemnly
swear that they are unable on physical
grounds to serve as Knights; and they
summon those who have been entered on
the register, and whoever swears solemnly
that he is unable to serve either on physical
grounds or by reason of his means, they let
him go ; but the members of the Council
decide by vote, in the case of any who does
not so swear, whether he is fit to serve or
not. If they decide that he is, they put him
on the register, and if not, they let him also

ii6 The Constitution of Athens.

go. At one time the Council used to decide
also about the plans for public buildings and
the state-robe (peplos) of Athena, but now
this is done by the court of justice on whom
the lot falls ; for the Council was thought to
show favour in its decisions. It assists also
in superintending the making of the vic-
tories and prizes for the Panathenaea in
conjunction with the military treasurer. The
Council examines also the disabled ; for
there is a law ordering it to examine such
as are worth less than three minae, and are
physically so maimed as to be incapable of
doing any work, and to give them from the
public purse maintenance of two obols a day
each ; and a dispenser is appointed for them
by lot. Further, it takes a part in the manage-
ment of all the remaining offices, to speak
generally. Such then are the various functions
of the Council's administration.

The Constitution of Athens. 117

Ten officers are appointed by lot to keep suTJlyorspf

temples ; city

the temples in repair, and they expend the magistrates.
thirty minae assigned by the receivers in re-
pairing such as most require it. Ten city
magistrates are similarly appointed, of whom
five exercise their office in Peiraeus and five in
the city. Their duties are to see that the female
flute-players and harpists and lute-players are
not hired at more than two drachmae, and
if there is competition in the case of any
of these employments they cast lots, and let
it out to him on whom the lot falls. They
make provision also against any dung-col-
lector throwing down his dung near the wall,
and prevent the building of houses in the
highways, and the carrying of fences over
the highways, and the constructing of water-
pipes above ground with an outflow on the
road, and making doors to open on the
street. Lastly, they remove such as die on

ii8 The Constitution of Athens,

the highways, having public officers for this
purpose.
Chap. lt. Clcrks of the market are also appointed by

Clerks of the ^^ -^

S>ectoJsoT' lot, five for Peiraius and five for the city.

weights and

measures, Jhcir duty, as prcscribcd by law, is to see
that commodities of all descriptions are sold
pure and unadulterated. Appointed by lot
also are the inspectors of weights and
measures, five for the city and five for
Peiraeus ; they look after measures and
weights of all kinds, that sellers may use
just ones. The corn-watchers appointed
by lot used to be five for Peiraeus and five
for the city, but now there are twenty for the
city and fifteen for Peiraeus. They take
measures to ensure, first, that the white
(unprepared) corn in the market shall be
offered for sale on fair terms, then that the
- millers shall sell their meal at prices based on
the cost of the barley, and the bakers their

The Constitution of Athens. 119

bread at prices based on the cost of the
wheat, and of the weight that they fix ; for
the law commands them to fix it. They
appoint by lot ten superintendents of the
market, and their duty is to superintend the
markets, and of the corn that is imported
into the corn-market to compel the merchants
to bring two-thirds into the city.

They appoint the Eleven also by lot to look T^e^Eievin';

suits decided

after prisoners, and in the case of thieves and ^^nth.^
kidnappers and footpads who are committed
to prison, if they confess, to punish them with
death ; but if they demand a trial, to bring
them before the court of justice, and if they
are acquitted to let them go, but if not, to
put them to death at once ; at the same time
they have to produce before the court the
inventories of the lands and houses of
criminals, and to deliver over to the
government - sellers what is decided to be

I20 The Constitution of Athens.

confiscated, and to prefer the indictments ;
for this last is the duty of the Eleven, except
that in some cases it devolves on the Thesmo-
thetae. They appoint by lot also five officers,
one for two tribes, to receive informations,
and bring into court the cases which have to
be decided within a month of their commence-
ment. These suits are heard without fees in
the case of a debtor not paying, and of a
person borrowing at twelve per cent, and
defrauding, and of anyone in the market-
place wishing to work and borrowing from
anybody on a pretext, and, further, in cases
of assault, subscriptions, dealings, slaves,
cattle, the fitting out of a trireme for the
public service, and banking. Now they
institute and adjudicate on such suits
within the month, and the receivers act
similarly both on behalf of and against the
farmers of the taxes, having power to adju-

The Constitution of Athens. 121

dicate in cases up to ten drachmae, but
taking all others which have to be decided
within the month into court.

They appoint by lot also forty, four from Chap. liii.

Judicial

each tribe, before whom parties bring all Sratlrs.
other suits. Their number was formerly
thirty, and they used to administer justice
by going on circuit throughout the demes,
but after the oligarchy of the Thirty they
were increased to forty. Cases up to ten
drachmae they have full power to decide,
but such as are above this amount they pass
over to the arbitrators. These take them
over, and if they are unable to effect a
settlement, state their opinions, and if both
sides are satisfied with their recommendations
and abide by them, the suit is at an end.
But if one of the parties appeals to the court,
they put the evidence and challenges and
laws into vases, using a separate vase l^^ih

122 The Constitution of Athens.

for the plaintiff and the defendant, and signing
and sealing them, with the judgment of the
arbitrator recorded on a tablet attached, they
hand them over to the adjudicators of the
tribe to which the defendant belongs. These
adjudicators take them over and bring them
into the court, which is composed of two
hundred and one for amounts within a thou-
sand drachmae, and of four hundred and one
for amounts above a thousand. They are
not allowed to make use of any laws or
challenges or evidence other than what is
received from the arbitrator and contained
in the vases. Arbitrators must be sixty
years of age; and this is evident from the
archons and Eponymi. For there are ten
Eponymi^ of the tribes and forty-two of the

* Eponymi — i.e., giving their names to the tribes
and the forty-two ages, viz., from eighteen to sixty, the
period of military service.

The Constitution of Athens. 123

ages, and the Ephebi in former days at the
time of their enrolment had their names
registered on white tablets, and the name of
the archon in whose time they were enrolled
was added to the register as well as that of
the Eponymus who had acted as arbitrator in
the previous year; but now their names are
inscribed on a brass pillar, and the pillar
stands before the council-chamber near the
statues of the ten Eponymi of the tribes.
And the forty, taking the last one of the
Eponymi, assign the arbitrations to them,
and by lot in what cases each shall act. For
the law ordains forfeiture of political rights
in the case of anyone of the proper age failing
to act as arbitrator, unless he happens to be
filling any other office, or to be abroad ; in
such cases only is exemption granted. Any-
one who has been wronged by an arbitrator
is free to indict him before the jurors, but if

124 ^-^^ Constitution of Athens.

their verdict goes against him he loses his
political rights, as the laws ordain ; but even
then there is the right of appeal. They make
use also of the names of the Eponymi with
regard to military expeditions, and when they
send out a body of young men, they publicly
notify from and up to what archon and
Eponymus they are to serve.
Chap. liv. They appoijnt also by lot the following
audito'rs; officer^ Fivc surveyors of roads, who have

secretaries. '

public workmen assigned to them, and whose
duty it is to keep the roads in repair ; and
ten auditors with ten advocates to assist
them. To these last all office-holders are
bound to submit their accounts, for they
alone check the accounts of such as are
responsible, and lay their audits before the
court. If they convict anyone of theft, the
jurors find him guilty of theft, and he is
fined ten times the amount of what has been

The Constitution of Athens. 125

detected ; and if they convict anyone of
taking bribes, and the jurors find him guilty,
they condemn him in the amount of the
bribes, and in addition he has to pay a fine
of ten times that amount ; and if they find
him guilty of a wrong they condemn him in
the amount of the wrong, and he is fined
this amount simply if it is paid before the
ninth presidency : if not, it is doubled ; but
the tenfold fine is not doubled. They
appoint also by lot an officer who is called
the secretary for the presidency, and is at
the head of the secretaries, and keeps the
decrees that are passed, and makes minutes
of all proceedings, and sits by the Council.
Now, in former times he was elected by vote,
and men of the highest distinction and
character used to be appointed to the office ;
for his name is inscribed on pillars, attached
to treaties of alliance and friendship with

126 The Constitution of Athens.

foreigners, and public measures (or, citizen-
ships) ; but now the election is made by lot.
They appoint by lot also a second secretary for
the laws, who sits by the Council, and he also
makes a copy of all of them. The people
also by vote elects a secretary to read out
documents to itself and the Council, and his
authority does not extend further. It
appoints also by lot ten superintendents of
sacred rites, who have the designation of
' for the sacrifices,' and perform the sacrifices
appointed by oracle, and when there is occa-
sion to obtain good omens, obtain them in
conjunction with the diviners. It appoints
by lot also ten others, who are designated
by the year, and perform certain sacrifices ;
they superintend all the festivals celebrated
at intervals of five years, with the single
exception of the Panathenaea, as follows :
one at Delos (where it is celebrated also

The Constitution of Athens, 127

every seven years), the second the Brau-
ronia, the third the Heraklea, and the fourth
the Panathenaea at Eleusis ; and none of

them occurs in the same year They

appoint by lot also a governor for Salamis
and a demarch for Peiraeus, who hold the
Dionysia in both places and appoint Choregi
(to defray the expenses of bringing out a
chorus).

These then are the officers appointed by ^^hap. lv.

'■ ^ ' 1 he archons ;

lot, and their powers in their several depart- ap^ointS.^'^^
ments are as has been just described. Now
as to those who have the title of the nine
archons, an account has been already given
of how they were appointed at first. But
now they appoint by lot six Thesmothetae
and a secretary for them, and further, an
archon and king and commander-in-chief
severally from each tribe. And they are
first examined in the Council by the five

128 The Constitution of Athens.

hundred, except the secretary, who is examined
only in the court just like all other officers of
state (for all who are appointed either by
lot or vote hold office only after examination),
but the nine archons are examined before
the Council and again in court. In former
days no one could hold office if he were
rejected by the Council, but now there is
appeal to the court, and with it rests the
decision regarding the examination. The
questions asked in the examination are as
follows : First, who is your father, and of
what deme ? and who your father's father, and
who your mother, and who your mother's
father, and of what deme? and, after this, if
Apollo is his family and Zeus his household
god, and where their temples are ; then, if
they have tombs, and where they are ; and,
last, if he treats his parents well, and pays
his taxes, and has duly performed his military

The Constitution of Athens, 129

service. Having asked these questions, the
examiner says, * Call your witnesses to these
facts.' When the witnesses are produced he
asks further, * Has anyone any accusation to
bring against this man ?' and if no one comes
forward, after giving opportunity for accu-
sation and defence, he proposes the show of
hands in the Council and in the court the
vote. And if no one wants to accuse, he at
once gives his vote. Formerly one only
put his pebble into the urn, but now all
must do so. Further, the right exists of
passing a vote about them with the object,
if any bad man gets his accusers out of
the way, of putting it in the power of the
jurors to reject him. When the examination
has been concluded in this way, they walk
up to the stone underneath which are the
treasuries, and on which the arbitrators take
their oath and declare their awards, and

9

1 30 The Constitution of Athens.

witnesses solemnly swear to their evidence.
Mounting this stone, they swear that they
will discharge the duties of their office faith-
fully and according to the laws, and that they
will not take bribes in connection with their
office, and if they should they will make a
votive offering of a gold statue. After this
oath they walk to the Acropolis, and take
it again in the same terms there, and after
this they enter upon their office.
Chap. lvi. The archon and king and commander-in-

rhe archon °

hS^duuS? chief take assessors, two each, whomever
they like; these are examined in the court
before they can act, and after appointment
are responsible for their official conduct.
The archon, as soon as ever he enters on
office, first makes proclamation that, what-
ever a man possessed before he entered on
office, that he shall possess and be master
of to the end of his term of office. Then he

The Constitution of Athens. 131

provides Choregi for the tragic poets, the three
richest men of all the Athenians. Formerly
he used also to provide five for the comic
poets, but for them the tribes now con-
tribute. After receiving the Choregi brought
by the tribes for the Dionysia for men and
boys and comic actors, and for the Thargelia
for men and boys (those for the Dionysia
being furnished by tribes, and for the Thar-
gelia, one for two tribes, each of the two
tribes contributing its quota for these), he
makes the challenges and brings forward the
excuses. . . . For the Choregus who furnishes
boys must be more than forty years of age.
He appoints also for Delos Choregi, and the
chief priest for the vessel with thirty benches
that takes the young men. And he used to
superintend the processions of the festival in
honour of Asklepius, when the initiated keep
within doors, and of the great Dionysia, in

9-2

132 The Constitution of Athens.

conjunction with its superintendents, whom
in former days the people used to vote to the
number of ten, and they used to defray out
of their own pockets the expenses of the
procession ; but now it appoints by lot one
from each tribe, and gives a hundred minae
to the preparations for it. He superin-
tends also the procession in the Thargelia
and that in honour of Zeus the Saviour.
He too manages the games of the Dionysia,
as well as of the Thargelia. Leave to make
public indictments and bring private actions
is obtained from him, and after holding a
preliminary inquiry, he brings them into
court as follows : ill-treatment of the young
(in which anyone can prosecute who likes,
without incurring any penalty), ill-treatment
of orphans (these are against their guardians),
ill-treatment of an heir (these are against his
guardian and those whom he lives with),

The Constitution of Athens. 133

damage to a house belonging to an orphan
(these are also against the guardians), mental
derangement (when anyone accuses another of
ruining himself by reason of mental derange-
ment), the appointment of distributers when
anyone refuses to divide property that is held
in common, appointment of. guardians, settle-
ment of disputed claims of guardianship, if
several wish to make a man guardian of the
same female ward, and settlement of disputed
claims in cases of inheritances and only
daughters and heiresses. He superintends
also the charge of orphans and heirs, and of all
such women as on the death of their husbands
claim to be pregnant. He has power also to
punish wrong- doers, or to bring them before the
court. He lets also the houses of orphans and
heirs . . . and becomes distributer and receives
the mortgages . . . gives the children the food
which he gets in. So he superintends all these
matters.

134 ^^^ Constitution of Athens.
Thekb^"* '^^^ kiiigj i^ the first place, has the

archon ; his ....

duties. management of the mysteries m conjunction
with the superintendents whom the people
elect, two in number, out of the whole body
of Athenians, one from the Eumolpidae and
one from the Heralds ; and secondly of the
Lenaean Dionysia . . . this procession then
the king and the superintendents conduct
in common ; but the king arranges the
games. He arranges also all the torch-
races. And it is he, so to say, who manages
all the ancient sacrifices. Leave to bring
actions for profaneness is obtained from him,
and in the case of any dispute about priest-
hood he awards the penalty. It is he who
adjudicates all disputes about honours
between families and priests. From him leave
is obtained to bring the action in all cases
of murder, and it is he who proclaims inter-
diction from customary rights. Now, there

The Constitution of Athens. 135

are actions both for murder and wounding.
In murder of malice prepense, the case is
tried in the Areopagus, and so with poison-
ing and arson ; for the only cases that the
Council tries are homicide, unintentional or
intentional, if the person killed is a servant,
either a resident-alien or foreigner, and the
trial is then held in the Palladium. If a
person admits an act of homicide, but justi-
fies it as legal, as catching an adulterer,
or in war from not knowing who he was, or
when competing in a contest, they hold the
trial in the Palladium. If a person has to
remain in exile on a charge of murder or
wounding, under circumstances in which the
relatives may relent, the trial is held in the
Phreatto ; and he makes his defence in a
boat moored off the shore, and commis-
sioners appointed by lot conduct the trial,
except in cases that come before the Areo-

136 The Constitution of Athens.

Ch ' V.

LVIII
The com-
mander-in-
chief,
poleniarch

pagus : and the king introduces the suit and
they try it . . . and in the open air. And
the king, when he tries the case, takes off his
crown. The accused for the rest of the time
is not allowed to take part in religious ser-
vices, and no one can bring the charge
against him; then entering the temple he
makes his defence; and when anyone
declares who has committed the act, he
obtains leave to bring an action against him.
And the king and the tribe-kings try all
cases concerning things without life, as well
as all animals.

The commander-in-chief makes sacrifices
in the feast of Artemis the huntress and
Enualios, and arranges the funeral games
held in honour of such as have been killed
in war. Leave is obtained from him to bring
such private suits as may arise with the
resident - aliens, those who pay alike (a

The Constitution of Athens. 137

favoured class of resident-aliens), and the
friends of the state. It is his duty to take
and divide ten parts, and apportion to each
tribe the part that falls to its lot, and assign
the judges of the tribe to the arbitrators.
And he himself brings into court the actions
against freed men for default to their patrons,
and against resident-aliens for not choosing a
patron, and cases of inheritance and only
daughters and heiresses for the resident-
aliens, and in all matters generally the com-
mander-in-chief acts for the resident-aliens in
the same way as the archon does for the
citizens.

To the Thesmothetae belongs first the right p^" Th^^J^^^l
of publicly notifying on what days the courts functions.
of law are to sit, and then of assigning them
to the magistrates ; for as they assign, the
magistrates must use them. Further, they
bring before the people all bills of indictment

138 The Constitution of Athens.

and condemnations by show of hands, and
votes directing public prosecutions, and in-
dictments for proposing unconstitutional
measures and bad laws, and the audits of the
chairmen (proedri) and chief president of the
Council, and of the generals. And public
indictments are brought before them in which
small money deposits are made, viz., in the
case of an alien for usurping civic rights, and
for bribing the judges to declare him a
citizen, and of having obtained acquittal in
such actions by means of bribery, and of false
accusation, and bribes, and false-registering,
and false citation, and intention to kill, and
state-debtors for getting their names cancelled
before payment, and adultery. They intro-
duce also the examinations for all offices of
state, and the rejected candidates for member-
ship in the deme, and condemnations by the
Council. They introduce also private suits,

The Constitution of Athens. 139

concerned with trade, mines, and slaves for
slandering a freeman. They assign by lot to
the magistrates all their courts, both public
and private. They ratify the judicial agree-
ments with the subject cities, and bring in
the suits arising from them, as well as false
evidence in the Areopagus. And the nine
archons, together with the secretary of the
Thesmothetae, appoint by lot all the jurors,
each those of his own tribe. Such then are
the duties of the nine archons.

They appoint also by lot ten directors of -j^gXectors

1 M rr^i r of games;

games, one for each tribe. They, after ^he sacred
approval, hold office for four years, and
manage the procession of the Panathenaea,
the musical and gymnastic contests and the
horse-races, and, in conjunction with the
Council, have Athena's state-robe and the
vases made, and apportion to the successful
competitors the oil which is made from the

140 The Constitution of Athens.

sacred olives. And the archon levies the tax
from the owners of the grounds in which the
sacred olives grow, a kotyle and a half (i.e.,
about three-quarters of a pint) for each stem,
whereas in former times the state used to sell
the produce, and if anyone dug up or broke a
sacred olive-tree, the council of Areopagus
used to try, and if it found him guilty, punish
him with death. Since the owner of the
land has contributed the oil, the law indeed
has continued in force, but the trial has
become a dead-letter, while the oil from the
cuttings, but not from the stems, still belongs
to the state. The archon then, having
collected what accrues during his tenure of
office, hands it over to the treasurers in the
Acropolis,, and is not allowed to go up to
the Acropolis before he has handed over the
whole of it to the treasurers. The treasurers
then keep it in the Acropolis till the cele-

The Constitution of Athens. 141

bration of the Panathenaea, when they measure
it out to the directors of games, and they
again to the victorious competitors. Isfow
for the victors in the musical contests the
prizes are of silver and gold, in those for
manliness spears, and for the gymnastic
games and horse-races olive-oil.

They elect by vote also to all offices, chap. lxi.

•^ ^ ' Election by

without exception, connected with the war offices°of war

department.

department, the generals in former times
being elected one from each tribe, but now
from all. They assign them their duties by
vote, appointing one to the command of the
hoplites, who leads the members of his deme
if they go on foreign service ; one in com-
mand of the country which he protects, and
who, if war breaks out in it, takes part in the
war ; two in command of Peiraeus, the one for
Munychia, the other for the shore, who have
charge of Phyle and matters in the Peiraeus ;

142 The Constitution of Athens.

and one to the command of the symmoriae
(companies, consisting of sixty members each,
of the twelve hundred wealthiest citizens), who
makes out the list of those who have to fit
out a trireme for the public service, and allows
them challenges, and brings into court their
cases for adjudication ; the rest they com-
mission according to circumstances. A vote
is passed in each presidency as to their
conduct in office ; if it is adverse, the
trial is held in court, and in case of con-
viction a proper punishment or fine is
awarded ; while in case of acquittal, the
accused continues in office for the remainder
of his term. They have the power when on
service of placing under arrest anyone not
conforming to discipline, and publicly pro-
claiming his name, and inflicting a fine;
to the last however they rarely resort.
They appoint also by vote ten commanders

The Constitution of Athens. 143

of divisions, one for each tribe, and he
commands his tribesmen and appoints cap-
tains, and further two commanders of cavalry-
out of the whole body of citizens. These
take command of the knights, five tribes
being assigned to each, and are invested
with the same powers as the generals possess
in the case of the hoplites, while in their
case also a vote is passed on their conduct.
They appoint by lot also chiefs of tribes, one
for the tribe, to command the knights in the
same way as commanders of divisions do the
hoplites. They vote also a commander of
cavalry for Lemnos to superintend the
knights there, and a treasurer for the sacred
trireme Paralus, and another for that of
Ammon.

Now the officers of state appointed by lot chap.

^ LXII.

were in former times those so appointed, ro^ofnclT^'''^
together with the nine archons, from the

144 ^'^^ Constitution of Athens.

whole tribe, and the election of the officers
now appointed in the Theseum was distri-
buted among the demes ; but since the demes
used to sell these offices, they have elected
to them also by lot from the whole tribe,
except the members of the Council and the
guards, which they now assign to the mem-
bers of the demes. They receive pay first
for all other assemblies a drachma, but for the
ordinary assembly a drachma and a half;
then in the courts three obols ; then the
Council five obols .... again, the nine
archons receive for maintenance four obols
each, and maintain besides a herald and a
flute-player, while the governor of Salamis
receives a drachma a day. The directors of
games dine in the Prytaneum during the
month of Hecatombaeon,* in which the Pana-

* This month extended from the middle of July to
the middle of August.

The Constitution of Athens. 145

thensea are celebrated, beginning on the
fourth of the month. The Amphictyones
who are sent to Delos receive a drachma a
day during the time they are there ; and the
magistrates who are commissioned to Samos,
Scyros, Lemnos or Imbros receive in every
case money for their maintenance. It is
allowable to hold military offices several
times, but not a single other one, except
that you may be twice a member of the
Council.
The nine archons elect by lot the jurors ^»^{^

... 1 .1 1 Appoint-

for the courts by tribes, while the secretary mem of

' jurors.

to the Thesmothetae is elected from the tenth
tribe. The entrances into the courts are ten,
one for each tribe ; the balloting-urns twenty,
two for each tribe ; and the boxes a hun-
dred, ten for each tribe ; there are ten other
boxes besides, in which are cast the tablets
of the jurors on whom the lot falls. And

10

146 The Constitution of Athens.

two balloting - urns and staves are placed
at each entrance for each juror, and tickets
are put in the urn to the number of the
staves, and on them are written the letters of
the alphabet, beginning from the eleventh (/),
corresponding in number to the courts that
are to be supplied with jurors. Anyone may
serve above thirty years of age, who is not
a debtor to the state and has not suffered
deprivation of political rights ; but if anyone
serves who has not the right to do so he
is indicted in the court, and if found guilty,
the jurors inflict upon him such punishment
or penalty as he seems to deserve. If he
is fined, he must remain in prison till he has
paid the former debt on account of which
he was indicted, and any additional fine that
the court may impose. Each juror has a
tablet made of boxwood, on which is in-
scribed his own name, with his father's and

The Constitution of Athens. 147

his deme, and one of the letters of the alpha-
bet up to k ; for the jurors are distributed
by tribes into ten groups, and are about equal
in number for each letter. After the Thesmo-
thetes has allotted the additional letters to
be assigned to the jurors, the attendant brings
and puts up on each court the letter which
has been drawn.

FINIS.

BILLING AND SONS, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD.

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