DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.13851#0117
OF THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS.
95
upon the testicles of a goat, a tarn, and a bull, by the Se^n*} Seat, or fu-
ries. The plaintiff, in case of murder, swore that he was related to the
deceased person (for none but near relations, at the farthest a cousin,
were permitted to prosecute the murderer), and that the prisoner was
the cause of his death. The prisoner swore that he was innocent of the
crime laid to his charge. Both ot them confirmed their oaths with direful
imprecations, wishing, that if they swore falsely, themselves, their houses,
and their whole families might be utterly destroyed and extirpated by the
divine vengeance (1) ; which they looked upon to be so dreadful and
certain, thai the law inflicted no penalty upon those that at such a time
were guilty of perjury, remitting them, as it were, to be punished by a
higher tribunal.
Then the two parties were placed upon two silver stools ; the accuser
was placed upon the stool or injury ; the prisoner upon the stool
of 'Avou^i'a, or impudence, or, according to Adrian Junius's correction,
of 'Amir/a, or innocence; these were two goddesses, to whom altars, and
afterwards temples, were erected in the Areopagus (2). The accuser
in this place proposed three questions to the prisoner, called by iEschy-
lus, T£/a #aAaio>a<ra (3), to each- of which he was to give a distinct an-
swer. The first was si xar/xrovag ; Are you guilty of this murder ? To
which he made answer, exrova, or oux extovcc, guilty, or not guilty; Se-
condly, '05T»g xarexTovass ; How did you commit this murder ? Thirdly,
T/vo£ (3iik$u(m(fi xaTgxTova? ; Who were your partners and accomplices in the
fact?
In the next place, the two parties impleaded each other, and the pri-
soner was allowed to make his defence in two orations, the first of which
being ended, he was permitted to secure himself by flight, and go into
voluntary banishment, if he suspected the goodness of his cause ; which
privilege if he made use of, all his estate was confiscated, and exposed
to sale by the nwXrjTa/(4). In the primitive times, both parties spoke,
for themselves (5), but in later ages they were permitted to have coun-
sel to plead for them. But whoever it was that spoke, he was to repre -
sent the bare and naked truth, without any preface or epilogue, without
any ornament, figures of rhetoric, or other insinuating means to win the
favour or move the affections of the judges (6).
Both parties being heard, if the prisoner was resolved to stand the trial,
they proceeded to give sentence, which they did with the most profound
gravity and silence ; hence 'Agiow-ayim tficj^XoTe^, and 'AgsovrayiTx ieyu-
vaTSgos, came to be proverbial sayings ; though some derive them from
the reservedness, and severe gravity of their manners ; whence also
*Af£«!ray<V7)s, is usually taken for a grave, majestic, rigid person ; and
others from the great care they took to conceal the transactions of the
senate, of which the poet speaks,
Ergo occulta teges, ut Curia Martis Athenis (7).
The manner of giving sentence was thus : There were placed in the
court two urns, one ef which was of brass, and called o 'e^^o<r6ev, from
(1) Dernosthen. Aristocrat. Dinarchus in De- (4) Dernosthen. in Aristocrat. Pollux, lib. viii,
mosthen. Lysias in Theomnestura, Pollux, lib. (5) Sext. Empiric, adv. Mathemat. lib. ii.
*ii>. cap. 10. - (6) Aristoteles Rhetoric, lib. i. Lucianus Ana-
(2) Pausanias, Cicero de Legib, lib. ii. cbarside, Dernosthen. Quintilian. aliique injm-
(3> Eumenidibus. roeri, '7) Juvenal. Sat. is.
95
upon the testicles of a goat, a tarn, and a bull, by the Se^n*} Seat, or fu-
ries. The plaintiff, in case of murder, swore that he was related to the
deceased person (for none but near relations, at the farthest a cousin,
were permitted to prosecute the murderer), and that the prisoner was
the cause of his death. The prisoner swore that he was innocent of the
crime laid to his charge. Both ot them confirmed their oaths with direful
imprecations, wishing, that if they swore falsely, themselves, their houses,
and their whole families might be utterly destroyed and extirpated by the
divine vengeance (1) ; which they looked upon to be so dreadful and
certain, thai the law inflicted no penalty upon those that at such a time
were guilty of perjury, remitting them, as it were, to be punished by a
higher tribunal.
Then the two parties were placed upon two silver stools ; the accuser
was placed upon the stool or injury ; the prisoner upon the stool
of 'Avou^i'a, or impudence, or, according to Adrian Junius's correction,
of 'Amir/a, or innocence; these were two goddesses, to whom altars, and
afterwards temples, were erected in the Areopagus (2). The accuser
in this place proposed three questions to the prisoner, called by iEschy-
lus, T£/a #aAaio>a<ra (3), to each- of which he was to give a distinct an-
swer. The first was si xar/xrovag ; Are you guilty of this murder ? To
which he made answer, exrova, or oux extovcc, guilty, or not guilty; Se-
condly, '05T»g xarexTovass ; How did you commit this murder ? Thirdly,
T/vo£ (3iik$u(m(fi xaTgxTova? ; Who were your partners and accomplices in the
fact?
In the next place, the two parties impleaded each other, and the pri-
soner was allowed to make his defence in two orations, the first of which
being ended, he was permitted to secure himself by flight, and go into
voluntary banishment, if he suspected the goodness of his cause ; which
privilege if he made use of, all his estate was confiscated, and exposed
to sale by the nwXrjTa/(4). In the primitive times, both parties spoke,
for themselves (5), but in later ages they were permitted to have coun-
sel to plead for them. But whoever it was that spoke, he was to repre -
sent the bare and naked truth, without any preface or epilogue, without
any ornament, figures of rhetoric, or other insinuating means to win the
favour or move the affections of the judges (6).
Both parties being heard, if the prisoner was resolved to stand the trial,
they proceeded to give sentence, which they did with the most profound
gravity and silence ; hence 'Agiow-ayim tficj^XoTe^, and 'AgsovrayiTx ieyu-
vaTSgos, came to be proverbial sayings ; though some derive them from
the reservedness, and severe gravity of their manners ; whence also
*Af£«!ray<V7)s, is usually taken for a grave, majestic, rigid person ; and
others from the great care they took to conceal the transactions of the
senate, of which the poet speaks,
Ergo occulta teges, ut Curia Martis Athenis (7).
The manner of giving sentence was thus : There were placed in the
court two urns, one ef which was of brass, and called o 'e^^o<r6ev, from
(1) Dernosthen. Aristocrat. Dinarchus in De- (4) Dernosthen. in Aristocrat. Pollux, lib. viii,
mosthen. Lysias in Theomnestura, Pollux, lib. (5) Sext. Empiric, adv. Mathemat. lib. ii.
*ii>. cap. 10. - (6) Aristoteles Rhetoric, lib. i. Lucianus Ana-
(2) Pausanias, Cicero de Legib, lib. ii. cbarside, Dernosthen. Quintilian. aliique injm-
(3> Eumenidibus. roeri, '7) Juvenal. Sat. is.