THE 



BRITISH ENCYCLOPEDIA. 



AREOPAGUS. 



AREOPAGUS, in antiquity, a sovereign 

 tribunal at Athens, famous for the jus- 

 tice and impartiality of its decrees; to 

 which the gods themselves are said to 

 have submitted their quarrels. This tri- 

 bunal was in great reputation among the 

 Greeks, so that it was denominated " the 

 most sacred and venerable tribunal," and 

 Socactes says that it was deemed so sa- 

 cred, that if those who had been vicious 

 were elected into it, they immediately 

 gave up their former practices, and con- 

 formed to the rules of the senate, because 

 they could not resist the authority of ex- 

 ample, but were constrained to appear 

 virtuous. The Romans themselves had 

 so high an opinion of it, that they trusted 

 many of their difficult causes to its de- 

 cision. Demosthenes says, that in his 

 time neither plaintiff' nor defendant luul 

 any just reason to be dissatisfied with 

 their proceedings Innocence, summon- 

 ed to appear before it, approached with- 

 out apprehension ; and the guilt-', con- 

 victed and condemned, retired without 

 daring to murmur. Authors are not 

 agreed about the number of the judges 

 who composed this august court. Some 

 reckon thirty-one, others fifty- one, and 

 others five hundred: in reality, their num- 

 ber seems not to have been fixed, but to 

 have been more or less in different years, 

 By an inscription qt.oted by Volaterranus, 

 it appears they were then three hun- 

 dred. At first <i,is tribunal only consist- 

 ed of nine pe^r cms, who had all discharg- 

 ed the office of 'i-ehons, had acquitted 

 themselves with honour in that trust, and 

 had likewise given an account of their 

 administration before the logistae, and un- 

 dergone a very rigorous examination. 

 Those who were admitted members of 

 this assembly were strictly watched, and 

 their conduct was scrutinized and judged 



VOL. ir. 



by the court to which they belonged-, 

 without partiality. Trivial faults did not 

 escape censure. A senator, it is said, was 

 punished for having stifled a little bird, 

 which from fear had taken refuge in his 

 bosom ; he was thus taught, that he, who 

 has a heart shut against pity, should not 

 be allowed to have the lives of the citi- 

 zens at his mercy. The members of this 

 august assembly were not allowed to 

 wear crowns, or to obtain any marks of 

 honour conferred by the people, as a re- 

 compence for their services; nor were 

 they allowed to solicit any ; but they were 

 rewarded by a bounty from the public, 

 and they had also three oboli for every 

 cause in which judgment was given. 

 The areopagites were judges for life. 

 They never sat in judgment but in the 

 open air, and that in the nighttime; to 

 the intent that their minds might be more 

 present and attentive ; and that no object, 

 either of pity or aversion, might make 

 any impression upon them. However, 

 some maintain, that the building in which 

 the areopagites assembled was not wholly 

 uncovered; and they observe that, among 

 the ruins large stones have been found, 

 whose joints are in the same angle with 

 the pediment that must have been used 

 for a covering. Mr. Spon, who examin- 

 ed the antiquities of that illustrious city, 

 found some remains of the areopagus still 

 existing in the middle of the temple of 

 Theseus, which was heretofore in the 

 middle of the city, but is now without 

 the walls. The foundation of the areo- 

 pagus is a semicircle, with an esplanade 

 of 140 paces round it, which properly 

 made the hall of the areopagus. There 

 is a tribunal cut in the middle of a rock, 

 with seats on each side of it, where the 

 areopagites sat, exposed to the open air. 

 At first they only took cognizance of cri- 



