A T II 



man was admitted to a (hare in the commonwealth ; but be- 

 fore he was admitted, he was obhged to give an account of his 

 pad life before jiuljres in that part of the forum called Ac:-.i- 

 jua^-ia. It was a capital crime for a perfon to enter on his 

 office in debt. The magiftrates of Athens were of three 

 forts, viz. ;^;£i5o^o:)ilt!i, who were eledfed by the people, and 

 fo called becaufe chofen by holding up of hands ; K>.rfwToi, 

 who were promoted by lots drawn by the Thefmothetx, in 

 the temple of Thefeus ; and Ai«;toi, who were extraordinary 

 cfBcerg appointed by particular tribes, to fupsriritend public 

 affairs. The magilhates entsred on their office on the firll 

 day of the month Hccatomhseon. The iiril and mod im- 

 portant of thefe magiftracies was that of the archons. (See 

 Archon.) Among tlie inferior magiftrates may be reckon- 

 ed the NoMOPHVLACES, Phylarchi, Phylobasiles, 

 Phratriarchi, Demarchi, Lexiarchi, ToxoTiE, and 

 NoMOTHET/-E, to whom Were added the Rmetor.es; which 

 fee rcfpeflively. There were other magiftrates who had the 

 fuperintendance and regulation of the general affembly of 

 the people called Ecclesia ; fuch as the Epistates, 

 Prytanes, and Proedri. (See alfo Senate, and Pryta- 

 KEUM.) The courts of jnftice, cxclufive of the Areopa- 

 gus, were ten in !;umber, of which four had cognizance of 

 criminal, and fix of civil caufes. Thefe courts were painted 

 with various colours, and on each was engraven one of the 

 ten firft letters of the Greek alphabet ; and hence they were 

 denominated Alpha, Beta, S:.c. The names of thofe who 

 ■were to hear ar.d determine caufes, and the names alfo of 

 their father and borough, infcribed upon a tablet, were deliv- 

 ered to the Thefmothetx, who returned it with another ta- 

 blet on which was infcribed the letter of one of tlie courts 

 according to the lots. Thefe tablets were carried to the 

 crier of the feveral courts direfted by the letters, who gave 

 to every man a tablet infcribed with his own name and the 

 name of the court in which he was to fit ; and having re- 

 ceived a fceptre, the ufual enfign of judicial power, they 

 were feverally admitted mto the court. When their refpec- 

 tive caufes were determined, they returned the fceptre to 

 the Prytanes, from whom they received their due reward, 

 fom.etimes one obolus, and fometime3 three oboli. No man 

 was allowed to fit in more than one court in a d:iy ; and 

 if they were convicted of bribery, they were fined. The 

 firft criminal court after tlie Areopagus was that of the 

 Ephet.'e ; the fecond was called Delphinmum ; the third 

 pRYTANEUM ; and the laft Phkkatum ; fee tlie refpertive 

 articles. Of the judicatory courts for civil caufes, the firft 

 was the Parabuston; the fecond, theCArKON; the third, 

 Tr.iGONON ; the fourth, the court of Lycus ; the lilt!), 

 that of Metichus ; and tlie fixth, PIelkia. All the 

 Athenians who were free citi/xns were allowed to fit in 

 thefe courts as j'^dges ; but they were previoudy obliged to 

 take a folemn oath, by Apollo Patnus, Ceres, and Jupiter 

 the king, that they would pafs a jnft fentence, and accord- 

 ing to law, and to the beft of their judgment. This oath 

 was adminiftered near the river llyifus, in a place called 

 " Ardettus" from a perfon of that namej who, in a public 

 fedition united the contending parties, and engaged^ thera 

 to confirm their treaties of peace by mutual oaths in this 

 place ; wh.ence common fwearers were called Kjis-.-'ioi. There 

 were other courts of lefs confequence, where the ^i.'.iMxi, 

 or Tscrs-zfy.x.ovlx, or Other magiftrates, took cognizance of cau- 

 fes belonging to their feveral ofncos. Such were the courts 

 at Cynoiarges, Odeum, the temole of Thefeus, Bucoleiun, 

 &c. In the judicial procefs," tlie ptaintifl' delivered to the 

 magiftrate the nam.e of the perfon againft uhoni he brought 

 his aclion, with an account of his offence ; this was followed 

 by an inquiry on the part of the magiftrate, whether it bc- 



A T II 



longed to his cop[niznncc, and whether it ought to be tried, 

 called " Anacrilis ;" the pUiintiff then, with pcrmifTion of 

 the magiftrate, funimoned his adverfary to appear ; but if he 

 rcfufed to appear, lie was dragged by force. When both 

 plairilifT ;.nd defendant were before the magiftrate, he in- 

 quired of the former whether the witneft'es were all ready, 

 which was the fecond " Anacrifi? ;" v.hcn no pica was 

 urged on t!ie part of either plaintiff or defendant for putting 

 off the trial, an oath was adminiftered to both parties. 

 Thtfe oaths, with thofc of the witneflts, and oilier matters 

 relating to the adtion, were written upon tablets, ar.d depo- 

 fited in a vcflfel, which was delivered to the judges. The 

 judges being appointed by lots, took their places at the 

 aftlgned day in the tribunal. The magiftrate then propoftd 

 the caufe to them, and ^avc them authority to detcriTiinc it. 

 The public crier read the indictment containing the grounds 

 of the accufation which were noted down by the judges. 

 If the defendant did not appear, fentence was imircdiatcly 

 paffed agninft him ; but it he prcfented hirr.fclf within ten 

 days, affigning realons for his ablence, the former fs:,- 

 tence was revcrfed, and the trial was to be brought forward 

 by the defendant within two months; but if it was not 

 brought on, the former fentence was confirmed. Before 

 trial, both parties depofited a fum of m<:ney in the hands 

 of the magiftrate who introduced their caufe into the court, 

 who, if the money was not paid, erafed their caufe from the 

 roll. The depofit, which was 3 drachmas for a caufe of the 

 value of 100 drachmas to loco; and 30 for mor« thai) icoo 

 and lefs than lo,oco; was divided amoi^g the iucgcs ; and 

 the perfon who loft his caufe reftored the money to his ad- 

 verfary, and paid the charges. The witncfles in the trial 

 were to be free-born, and deferving of credit ; and they were 

 confidered as infamous if they had forfeited their privileges 

 by niifcondud. The tettimony was fometimes given aloud 

 in open court, and fometimes in writing upon a tablet of 

 wax. If the paities required it, they were allowed advo- 

 cates, whofe fpeeches were limited as to lena;th of time, nica- 

 fured by a water glafs. When the parties had finiihed, the 

 ci-ier was commanded by the prefiding magiftrate, to order 

 the judges to bring in their verdift ; and where the law had 

 provided penalties, a verdicl of guilty or not guilty was fuf- 

 ficieiit; but where the laws were fiient, another L-ntencc was 

 necelTarv, determining the puniftiment due to the ofTcnce. 

 When the lares were fiient, the jidgcs might limit the pu- 

 nilhraent ; fentence was at firft given by black and white 

 fea-fliells called x'^if'^', or pebbles called ,' ■■■2ci ; balls of 

 brafs vyere afterwards ufed, and then beans ; the white 

 beans were whole, and ufed to acquit; and the black were 

 bored through, to condemn. The caufe while pending vas 

 engraved on a tablet and expofed to pubUc view, and hun^ 

 up^at the ftatue of the heroes named 1-;-»»i/,um. If the per- 

 fon conviftcd was guilty, he was delivered to theKicsics:, to 

 receive puniihment; but if lie was fined, theT?.psiTs-5f«f?.\T 

 the fine paid ; if uirable to pay it, he was doomed to per- 

 petual imprifonmert. If the plaintiifhad unjulUy accufcd 

 his adverfary, he was fentenccd to fuffer that punilhmciit 

 which the law inflicted on the crime with which his adver- 

 fary was accafed. Tlie plaiutiCf was called An, ;(.-,, the 

 caufe itfelf ^ii.'!'.-, and the accufed ?.ini/. A.r.x was the 

 name of the indiiTtment before conviction, and ■>.«-, x'," 

 after it. When the trial was cloftd, the judges went to 

 the temple of Lycus, returned their Haves, and rcccivtd 



their money. r. 1 • j , ,■ 



The Athenian judgments were of two kmds : public, con- 

 cerning thofe crimes that affeded the Hate, called >rar..>t>;^i, 

 and aU perfons were encoufagcd by law to avenge the pub- 

 lic wrong, bv bringing the criminal 10 pv.uifiliiKut ; and 

 G g 2 pnvatc, 



