DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.13851#0123
OF- JHE CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF ATHENS.
in the Iielisea, was given in a place near the river Ilissus, called Ardet-
tus*, from a hero of that name, who, in a public sedition, united the con-
testing parties, and engaged them to confirm their treaties of peace by mu-
tual oaths in this place. Hence common and profane swearers came to
be called *Af<JV,T<roi (1).
Of all the judicial courts that handled civil affairs, 'HXia/a was far the
greatest and most frequented, being so called »tfq tQ uXi^sgdai, from the
people's thronging together (2), or rather «Vo <r« 'HXia, because it was an
open place, and exposed to the sun (3).
The judges that sat in this court were at least fifty, but the more usual
number was two or five hundred. When causes of great consequence
were to be tried, it was customary to call in the judges of other courts.
Sometimes a thousand were called in, and then two courts were said to
have been joined ; sometimes fifteen hundred or two thousand, and then
three or four courts met together (4). Whence it appears, that the
judges were sometimes five hundred in other courts.
They had cognizance of civil affairs of the greatest weight and import-
ance, and were not permitted to give judgment till they had taken a so-
lemn oath, the form whereof was this, as we find it in Demosthenes (5) :
' I will give sentence according to the laws, and the decrees of the people
of Athens, and the council of five hundred. I will not consent to place
the supreme power in the hands of a single person or a few ; nor permit
any man to dissolve the commonwealth, or so much as to give his vote, or
make an oration in defence of such a revolution. 1 will not endeavour to
discharge private debts, nor to make any division of lands or houses. I
will not restore persons sent into banishment, nor pardon those that are
condemned to die, nor expel any man out of the city contrary to the laws
and decrees of the people, and council of five hundred, nor permit any
other person to do it. I will not elect any person into any public em-
ploy, and particularly, I will not create any man archon, hieromnemon,
ambassador, public herald, or synedrus, nor consent that he shall be ad-
mitted into any of those offices, which are elected by lots upon the same
day with the archons, who has undergone any former office, and not given in
his accounts ; nor that any person shall bear two offices, or be twice elect-
ed into the same office in one year. 1 will not receive gifts myself, nor
shall any one for me ; nor will I permit any other person to do the like by
any means, whether direct or indirect, to pervert justice in the court of
Heliasa. I am not under thirty years of age. I will hear both the plain-
tiff and defendant without partiality, and give sentence in all the causes
brought before me. 1 swear by Jupiter, Neptune, and Ceres ; if 1 vio-
late this oath, or any part of it, may I perish with my whole family ; but
if I religiously observe it, may we live and prosper.'
These were the ten public courts of Athens. ■ There were others of
less note, where particular magistrates, or the A'.^irurai, or the Tttftfueu-
xovra, took cognizance of causes belonging to the several offices ; such
was the court at Cynosorges, Odeum, Theseus's temple, Bucoleum, and
some others.
The method of judicial process was thus : first of all, the plaintiff de-
livered in the name of the person against whom he brought his action, to-
(1) Etymolog. Pollux, Suidas, Hesych. Harpocrat.
(2) Ulpian. in Deraosth. (4) Pollux, lib. viii cap. 10. Harpocrat. Ste-
(3) Idem. Aristoph. Schol. Nub, Equit. Vesp. phan. Byzantin. v. Hhiaia.
Suidas. (5) Orat. in Timocrat.
in the Iielisea, was given in a place near the river Ilissus, called Ardet-
tus*, from a hero of that name, who, in a public sedition, united the con-
testing parties, and engaged them to confirm their treaties of peace by mu-
tual oaths in this place. Hence common and profane swearers came to
be called *Af<JV,T<roi (1).
Of all the judicial courts that handled civil affairs, 'HXia/a was far the
greatest and most frequented, being so called »tfq tQ uXi^sgdai, from the
people's thronging together (2), or rather «Vo <r« 'HXia, because it was an
open place, and exposed to the sun (3).
The judges that sat in this court were at least fifty, but the more usual
number was two or five hundred. When causes of great consequence
were to be tried, it was customary to call in the judges of other courts.
Sometimes a thousand were called in, and then two courts were said to
have been joined ; sometimes fifteen hundred or two thousand, and then
three or four courts met together (4). Whence it appears, that the
judges were sometimes five hundred in other courts.
They had cognizance of civil affairs of the greatest weight and import-
ance, and were not permitted to give judgment till they had taken a so-
lemn oath, the form whereof was this, as we find it in Demosthenes (5) :
' I will give sentence according to the laws, and the decrees of the people
of Athens, and the council of five hundred. I will not consent to place
the supreme power in the hands of a single person or a few ; nor permit
any man to dissolve the commonwealth, or so much as to give his vote, or
make an oration in defence of such a revolution. 1 will not endeavour to
discharge private debts, nor to make any division of lands or houses. I
will not restore persons sent into banishment, nor pardon those that are
condemned to die, nor expel any man out of the city contrary to the laws
and decrees of the people, and council of five hundred, nor permit any
other person to do it. I will not elect any person into any public em-
ploy, and particularly, I will not create any man archon, hieromnemon,
ambassador, public herald, or synedrus, nor consent that he shall be ad-
mitted into any of those offices, which are elected by lots upon the same
day with the archons, who has undergone any former office, and not given in
his accounts ; nor that any person shall bear two offices, or be twice elect-
ed into the same office in one year. 1 will not receive gifts myself, nor
shall any one for me ; nor will I permit any other person to do the like by
any means, whether direct or indirect, to pervert justice in the court of
Heliasa. I am not under thirty years of age. I will hear both the plain-
tiff and defendant without partiality, and give sentence in all the causes
brought before me. 1 swear by Jupiter, Neptune, and Ceres ; if 1 vio-
late this oath, or any part of it, may I perish with my whole family ; but
if I religiously observe it, may we live and prosper.'
These were the ten public courts of Athens. ■ There were others of
less note, where particular magistrates, or the A'.^irurai, or the Tttftfueu-
xovra, took cognizance of causes belonging to the several offices ; such
was the court at Cynosorges, Odeum, Theseus's temple, Bucoleum, and
some others.
The method of judicial process was thus : first of all, the plaintiff de-
livered in the name of the person against whom he brought his action, to-
(1) Etymolog. Pollux, Suidas, Hesych. Harpocrat.
(2) Ulpian. in Deraosth. (4) Pollux, lib. viii cap. 10. Harpocrat. Ste-
(3) Idem. Aristoph. Schol. Nub, Equit. Vesp. phan. Byzantin. v. Hhiaia.
Suidas. (5) Orat. in Timocrat.