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This, however, took place at a later date; at the time of which we are speaking the
people, having secured the control of the state, established the constitution which exists
at the present day. Pythodorus was Archon at the time, but the democracy seems to have
assumed the supreme power with perfect justice, since it had effected its own return by
its own exertions. This was the eleventh change which had taken place in the
constitution of Athens. The first modification of the primaeval condition of things was
when Ion and his companions brought the people together into a community, for then the
people was first divided into the four tribes, and the tribe-kings were created. Next, and
first after this, having now some semblance of a constitution, was that which took place
in the reign of Theseus, consisting in a slight deviation from absolute monarchy. After
this came the constitution formed under Draco, when the first code of laws was drawn up.
The third was that which followed the civil war, in the time of Solon; from this the
democracy took its rise. The fourth was the tyranny of Pisistratus; the fifth the
constitution of Cleisthenes, after the overthrow of the tyrants, of a more democratic
character than that of Solon. The sixth was that which followed on the Persian wars,
when the Council of Areopagus had the direction of the state. The seventh, succeeding
this, was the constitution which Aristides sketched out, and which Ephialtes brought to
completion by overthrowing the Areopagite Council; under this the nation, misled by the
demagogues, made the most serious mistakes in the interest of its maritime empire. The
eighth was the establishment of the Four Hundred, followed by the ninth, the restored
democracy. The tenth was the tyranny of the Thirty and the Ten. The eleventh was that
which followed the return from Phyle and Piraeus; and this has continued from that day
to this, with continual accretions of power to the masses. The democracy has made itself
master of everything and administers everything by its votes in the Assembly and by the
law-courts, in which it holds the supreme power. Even the jurisdiction of the Council has
passed into the hands of the people at large; and this appears to be a judicious change,
since small bodies are more open to corruption, whether by actual money or influence,
than large ones. At first they refused to allow payment for attendance at the Assembly;
but the result was that people did not attend. Consequently, after the Prytanes had tried
many devices in vain in order to induce the populace to come and ratify the votes,
Agyrrhius, in the first instance, made a provision of one obol a day, which Heracleides of
Clazomenae, nicknamed 'the king', increased to two obols, and Agyrrhius again to three.
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The present state of the constitution is as follows. The franchise is open to all who are
of citizen birth by both parents. They are enrolled among the demesmen at the age of
eighteen. On the occasion of their enrollment the demesmen give their votes on oath,
first whether the candidates appear to be of the age prescribed by the law (if not, they are
dismissed back into the ranks of the boys), and secondly whether the candidate is free
born and of such parentage as the laws require. Then if they decide that he is not a free
man, he appeals to the law-courts, and the demesmen appoint five of their own number
to act as accusers; if the court decides that he has no right to be enrolled, he is sold by
the state as a slave, but if he wins his case he has a right to be enrolled among the
demesmen without further question. After this the Council examines those who have
been enrolled, and if it comes to the conclusion that any of them is less than eighteen
years of age, it fines the demesmen who enrolled him. When the youths (Ephebi) have
passed this examination, their fathers meet by their tribes, and appoint on oath three of
their fellow tribesmen, over forty years of age, who, in their opinion, are the best and
most suitable persons to have charge of the youths; and of these the Assembly elects
one from each tribe as guardian, together with a director, chosen from the general body
of Athenians, to control the while. Under the charge of these persons the youths first of
all make the circuit of the temples; then they proceed to Piraeus, and some of them
garrison Munichia and some the south shore. The Assembly also elects two trainers,
with subordinate instructors, who teach them to fight in heavy armour, to use the bow
and javelin, and to discharge a catapult. The guardians receive from the state a drachma
apiece for their keep, and the youths four obols apiece. Each guardian receives the
allowance for all the members of his tribe and buys the necessary provisions for the
common stock (they mess together by tribes), and generally superintends everything. In
this way they spend the first year. The next year, after giving a public display of their
military evolutions, on the occasion when the Assembly meets in the theatre, they
receive a shield and spear from the state; after which they patrol the country and spend
their time in the forts. For these two years they are on garrison duty, and wear the
military cloak, and during this time they are exempt from all taxes. They also can neither
bring an action at law, nor have one brought against them, in order that they may have
no excuse for requiring leave of absence; though exception is made in cases of actions
concerning inheritances and wards of state, or of any sacrificial ceremony connected
with the family. When the two years have elapsed they thereupon take their position
among the other citizens. Such is the manner of the enrollment of the citizens and the
training of the youths.
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All the magistrates that are concerned with the ordinary routine of administration are elected by lot, except the Military Treasurer, the Commissioners of the Theoric fund, and the Superintendent of Springs. These are elected by vote, and hold office from one Panathenaic festival to the next. All military officers are also elected by vote.
The Council of Five Hundred is elected by lot, fifty from each tribe. Each tribe holds the office of Prytanes in turn, the order being determined by lot; the first four serve for thirty- six days each, the last six for thirty-five, since the reckoning is by lunar years. The Prytanes for the time being, in the first place, mess together in the Tholus, and receive a sum of money from the state for their maintenance; and, secondly, they convene the meetings of the Council and the Assembly. The Council they convene every day, unless it is a holiday, the Assembly four times in each prytany. It is also their duty to draw up the programme of the business of the Council and to decide what subjects are to be dealt with on each particular da, and where the sitting is to be held. They also draw up the programme for the meetings of the Assembly. One of these in each prytany is called the 'sovereign' Assembly; in this the people have to ratify the continuance of the magistrates in office, if they are performing their duties properly, and to consider the supply of corn and the defence of the country. On this day, too, impeachments are introduced by those who wish to do so, the lists of property confiscated by the state are read, and also applications for inheritances and wards of state, so that nothing may pass unclaimed without the cognizance of any person concerned. In the sixth prytany, in addition to the business already stated, the question is put to the vote whether it is desirable to hold a vote of ostracism or not; and complaints against professional accusers, whether Athenian or aliens domiciled in Athens, are received, to the number of not more than three of either class, together with cases in which an individual has made some promise to the people and has not performed it. Another Assembly in each prytany is assigned to the hearing of petitions, and at this meeting any one is free, on depositing the petitioner's olive-branch, to speak to the people concerning any matter, public or private. The two remaining meetings are devoted to all other subjects, and the laws require them to deal with three questions connected with religion, three connected with heralds and embassies, and three on secular subjects. Sometimes questions are brought forward without a preliminary vote of the Assembly to take them into consideration.
Heralds and envoys appear first before the Prytanes, and the bearers of dispatches
also deliver them to the same officials.
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There is a single President of the Prytanes, elected by lot, who presides for a night and a day; he may not hold the office for more than that time, nor may the same individual hold it twice. He keeps the keys of the sanctuaries in which the treasures and public records of the state are preserved, and also the public seal; and he is bound to remain in the Tholus, together with one-third of the Prytanes, named by himself. Whenever the Prytanes convene a meeting of the Council or Assembly, he appoints by lot nine Proedri, one from each tribe except that which holds the office of Prytanes for the time being; and out of these nine he similarly appoints one as President, and hands over the programme for the meeting to them. They take it and see to the preservation of order, put forward the various subjects which are to be considered, decide the results of the votings, and direct the proceedings generally. They also have power to dismiss the meeting. No one may act as President more than once in the year, but he may be a Proedrus once in each prytany.
Elections to the offices of General and Hipparch and all other military commands are
held in the Assembly, in such manner as the people decide; they are held after the sixth
prytany by the first board of Prytanes in whose term of office the omens are favourable.
There has, however, to be a preliminary consideration by the Council in this case also.
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In former times the Council had full powers to inflict fines and imprisonment and death; but when it had consigned Lysimachus to the executioner, and he was sitting in the immediate expectation of death, Eumelides of Alopece rescued him from its hands, maintaining that no citizen ought to be put to death except on the decision of a court of law. Accordingly a trial was held in a law-court, and Lysimachus was acquitted, receiving henceforth the nickname of 'the man from the drum-head'; and the people deprived the Council thenceforward of the power to inflict death or imprisonment or fine, passing a law that if the Council condemn any person for an offence or inflict a fine, the Thesmothetae shall bring the sentence or fine before the law-court, and the decision of the jurors shall be the final judgement in the matter.
The Council passes judgement on nearly all magistrates, especially those who have
the control of money; its judgement, however, is not final, but is subject to an appeal to
the lawcourts. Private individuals, also, may lay an information against any magistrate
they please for not obeying the laws, but here too there is an appeal to the law-courts if
the Council declare the charge proved. The Council also examines those who are to be
its members for the ensuing year, and likewise the nine Archons. Formerly the Council
had full power to reject candidates for office as unsuitable, but now they have an appeal
to the law-courts. In all these matters, therefore, the Council has no final jurisdiction. It
takes, however, preliminary cognizance of all matters brought before the Assembly, and
the Assembly cannot vote on any question unless it has first been considered by the
Council and placed on the programme by the Prytanes; since a person who carries a
motion in the Assembly is liable to an action for illegal proposal on these grounds.
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The Council also superintends the triremes that are already in existence, with their
tackle and sheds, and builds new triremes or quadriremes, whichever the Assembly
votes, with tackle and sheds to match. The Assembly appoints master-builders for the
ships by vote; and if they do not hand them over completed to the next Council, the old
Council cannot receive the customary donation-that being normally given to it during its
successor's term of office. For the building of the triremes it appoints ten
commissioners, chosen from its own members. The Council also inspects all public
buildings, and if it is of opinion that the state is being defrauded, it reports the culprit to
the Assembly, and on condemnation hands him over to the law-courts.
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The Council also co-operates with other magistrates in most of their duties. First there
are the treasurers of Athena, ten in number, elected by lot, one from each tribe. According
to the law of Solon-which is still in force-they must be Pentacosiomedimni, but in point of
fact the person on whom the lot falls holds the office even though he be quite a poor
man. These officers take over charge of the statue of Athena, the figures of Victory, and
all the other ornaments of the temple, together with the money, in the presence of the
Council. Then there are the Commissioners for Public Contracts (Poletae), ten in number,
one chosen by lot from each tribe, who farm out the public contracts. They lease the
mines and taxes, in conjunction with the Military Treasurer and the Commissioners of
the Theoric fund, in the presence of the Council, and grant, to the persons indicated by
the vote of the Council, the mines which are let out by the state, including both the
workable ones, which are let for three years, and those which are let under special
agreements years. They also sell, in the presence of the Council, the property of those
who have gone into exile from the court of the Areopagus, and of others whose goods
have been confiscated, and the nine Archons ratify the contracts. They also hand over to
the Council lists of the taxes which are farmed out for the year, entering on whitened
tablets the name of the lessee and the amount paid. They make separate lists, first of
those who have to pay their instalments in each prytany, on ten several tablets, next of
those who pay thrice in the year, with a separate tablet for each instalment, and finally of
those who pay in the ninth prytany. They also draw up a list of farms and dwellings
which have been confiscated and sold by order of the courts; for these too come within
their province. In the case of dwellings the value must be paid up in five years, and in
that of farms, in ten. The instalments are paid in the ninth prytany. Further, the King-
archon brings before the Council the leases of the sacred enclosures, written on
whitened tablets. These too are leased for ten years, and the instalments are paid in the
prytany; consequently it is in this prytany that the greatest amount of money is collected.
The tablets containing the lists of the instalments are carried into the Council, and the
public clerk takes charge of them. Whenever a payment of instalments is to be made he
takes from the pigeon-holes the precise list of the sums which are to be paid and struck
off on that day, and delivers it to the Receivers-General. The rest are kept apart, in order
that no sum may be struck off before it is paid.
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There are ten Receivers-General (Apodectae), elected by lot, one from each tribe. These officers receive the tablets, and strike off the instalments as they are paid, in the presence of the Council in the Council-chamber, and give the tablets back to the public clerk. If any one fails to pay his instalment, a note is made of it on the tablet; and he is bound to pay double the amount of the deficiency, or, in default, to be imprisoned. The Council has full power by the laws to exact these payments and to inflict this imprisonment. They receive all the instalments, therefore, on one day, and portion the money out among the magistrates; and on the next day they bring up the report of the apportionment, written on a wooden notice-board, and read it out in the Council-chamber, after which they ask publicly in the Council whether any one knows of any malpractice in reference to the apportionment, on the part of either a magistrate or a private individual, and if any one is charged with malpractice they take a vote on it.
The Council also elects ten Auditors (Logistae) by lot from its own members, to audit the
accounts of the magistrates for each prytany. They also elect one Examiner of Accounts
(Euthunus) by lot from each tribe, with two assessors (Paredri) for each examiner, whose
duty it is to sit at the ordinary market hours, each opposite the statue of the eponymous
hero of his tribe; and if any one wishes to prefer a charge, on either public or private
grounds, against any magistrate who has passed his audit before the law-courts, within
three days of his having so passed, he enters on a whitened tablet his own name and
that of the magistrate prosecuted, together with the malpractice that is alleged against
him. He also appends his claim for a penalty of such amount as seems to him fitting,
and gives in the record to the Examiner. The latter takes it, and if after reading it he
considers it proved he hands it over, if a private case, to the local justices who introduce
cases for the tribe concerned, while if it is a public case he enters it on the register of the
Thesmothetae. Then, if the Thesmothetae accept it, they bring the accounts of this
magistrate once more before the law-court, and the decision of the jury stands as the
final judgement.
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The Council also inspects the horses belonging to the state. If a man who has a good horse is found to keep it in bad condition, he is mulcted in his allowance of corn; while those which cannot keep up or which shy and will not stand steady, it brands with a wheel on the jaw, and the horse so marked is disqualified for service. It also inspects those who appear to be fit for service as scouts, and any one whom it rejects is deprived of his horse. It also examines the infantry who serve among the cavalry, and any one whom it rejects ceases to receive his pay. The roll of the cavalry is drawn up by the Commissioners of Enrolment (Catalogeis), ten in number, elected by the Assembly by open vote. They hand over to the Hipparchs and Phylarchs the list of those whom they have enrolled, and these officers take it and bring it up before the Council, and there open the sealed tablet containing the names of the cavalry. If any of those who have been on the roll previously make affidavit that they are physically incapable of cavalry service, they strike them out; then they call up the persons newly enrolled, and if any one makes affidavit that he is either physically or pecuniarily incapable of cavalry service they dismiss him, but if no such affidavit is made the Council vote whether the individual in question is suitable for the purpose or not. If they vote in the affirmative his name is entered on the tablet; if not, he is dismissed with the others.
Formerly the Council used to decide on the plans for public buildings and the contract for making the robe of Athena; but now this work is done by a jury in the law-courts appointed by lot, since the Council was considered to have shown favouritism in its decisions. The Council also shares with the Military Treasurer the superintendence of the manufacture of the images of Victory and the prizes at the Panathenaic festival.
The Council also examines infirm paupers; for there is a law which provides that persons possessing less than three minas, who are so crippled as to be unable to do any work, are, after examination by the Council, to receive two obols a day from the state for their support. A treasurer is appointed by lot to attend to them.
The Council also, speaking broadly, cooperates in most of the duties of all the other
magistrates; and this ends the list of the functions of that body.
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There are ten Commissioners for Repairs of Temples, elected by lot, who receive a sum of thirty minas from the Receivers-General, and therewith carry out the most necessary repairs in the temples.
There are also ten City Commissioners (Astynomi), of whom five hold office in Piraeus
and five in the city. Their duty is to see that female flute-and harp-and lute-players are
not hired at more than two drachmas, and if more than one person is anxious to hire the
same girl, they cast lots and hire her out to the person to whom the lot falls. They also
provide that no collector of sewage shall shoot any of his sewage within ten stradia of
the walls; they prevent people from blocking up the streets by building, or stretching
barriers across them, or making drain-pipes in mid-air with a discharge into the street, or
having doors which open outwards; they also remove the corpses of those who die in the
streets, for which purpose they have a body of state slaves assigned to them.