A T H ' 



private, concerning all controverfies between private peifons, 

 called ^ixai ; and no one could profecute an offender except 

 he who was injured, or fomc of his family. The public 

 judgments were murder, malicious wounding, a conflagra- 

 tion of tlie city, poifon, confpiracy againft tlie lifj of ano- 

 ther, facrilege puniihcd with death, impiety, treafon, for- 

 nication ; whoredom, punifhable by fine ; celibacy ; refiifing 

 to ferve in war ; and cowardice, punifhable with infamy ; de- 

 fcrtion of the fleet and of the army, piiniflicd by fine ; dcfer- 

 tion from their poll, as leaving the infantry for the cavalry ; 

 refuiing to fer\e in the ficet, and Icfing their (hield, punithed 

 with infamy ; charging men with debts already panl, pu- 

 niflied by fine ; an action for falfe arreils, for beating a free 

 man or reducing him to (laveiy, affaiilt or frivclous accufa- 

 tion, puniihcd by a fine ; receivir.g bribes fo' any public af- 

 fair, or perverting juilice, fined ten times the value of what 

 they received, and puniftied with the higheft degree of in- 

 famy ; for offering bribes for the perverfion of juilice, and 

 particularly in caufes relating to the freedom of the city ; 

 for erafing a name out of the public debt-book before the 

 debt was dilchargcd ; digging a mine without the public 

 knowledge, a twenty-fourth part of the m.etal belonging to 

 the public ; ;?gainil magiftratcs who had negleSed to fur- 

 render their accounts ; for propofing a new law, and adling 

 contrary to the eftablifhed laws ; againfl magiftratcs, am- 

 baffadors, and other public officers, who had mifemployed 

 the public money, or otherwife offended ; againft ambaffa- 

 dors who had forfeited their truft ; againft difaffefted tumul- 

 tuous perfons ; an aclion for debts due to the public, falfcly 

 charged upon thofe who had never paid the fines impoftd 

 upon them ; for the difcovery x)f any fecret injury ; and 

 againft fuch as exported corn from Attica, appropriated the 

 public mouey or land, or for mifapplying the property of 

 orphans ; againft thofe who confeffed their crimes without 

 ftanding a trial ; againft thofe who proteftcd murderers; and 

 againft fuch as had been guilty of certain ftate offences. 

 Of private judgments, which were very numerous, the prin- 

 cipal were againft thofe who had dene an injury puniflied 

 with fine, an afticn of affault, a law-fuit generally for the 

 recovery of an eftate, a fuit concerning relationfliip, an ac- 

 tion of divorce, an a£lion by a mafter or patron againft his 

 clients who v^ere freed flaves, and who refufcd to perform 

 the fervices incumbent upon them, an aclion againft fo- 

 journers who neglefted to chufe a patron, an adlion of in- 

 gratitude, againft thofe who had violated the chaftity of 

 women, or injured the perions of men, an ailion concerning 

 iiuifance, againft thofe who would not divide their property 

 among juft claimants, for demanding rent, againft guardians 

 who had defrauded their wards, of flander, by which the 

 criminal was fined 5C0 drachmas, againft thofe who had 

 fuborned falfe witneffes, againft thieves, an aiflion claiming 

 an eftate againil thofe who refnfed to rtftore that with 

 which they were entruftcd, againft thofe who would not 

 fuiiil their contrails, and a fuit between debtors and cre- 

 ditors. 



The criminal punifhments of the Athenians were an/^ia, 

 infamy or difgraee ; px^aBcr/, a diep pit into which con- 

 demned perfons were call headlong (fee Barathrum) ; 

 f^^'X"'' '"' ^^^ ignominious punilhment of hanging or ftrang- 

 ling ; JsTfio;, the puniftiment of fetters or imprifonment ; 

 JtXsia, fervitude, by which a criminal was reduced to the 

 condition of a Have ; ^"ifitit, a peculiar fine laid upon the 

 criminal, according to the nature of his offence ; death, in- 

 flifted for various offences ; xf^jj.sor, a precipice from which 

 the malefafkor was thrown headlong ; >lv^m, a collar ufually 

 made of wood ; A»Sc;3cAi«, lapidation, a common punifhment 

 for adultei-y ; fnfoj, with which t!ic criminal was beheaded ; 



A T H 



fetters with five holes; ■jravviKxirn, a round inftrument to 

 confine the hand ; a crofs, confifting of two beams laid 

 acrofs one another, to which the maiefaftor was nailed ; 

 ri>r,, a pillar, on which the crimes of the offender were en- 

 graven ; r^YiJ-^rx, marks impreffed with a hot iron upon 

 Haves ; n~a.yx, or tjixttxvo., clubs, with which malefactors 

 were beaten to death ; ^x^'m, fmall cords, by whicii cri- 

 minals were ftretched upon the rack ; (fKf^Kxov, poilon, of 

 which various forts were ufed, but the moll common was 

 the juice of hemlock ; Qv'r,, or bani'hment, of which there 

 were feveral forts ; ;^o»vi|, the fetters, in which the legs 

 were fattened ; o-xn,-, a piece of wood to which the crimi- 

 nal W'as bound ; xaTaTrovTKr/^o,-, drowning in the fea ; and 

 TTv:, or burning. Public honours and rewards were a,T(\-m 

 (fee Ateleia), or an immunity from taxes and other pub- 

 lic duties ; uy.n/, the honour of a ftatue ere£led in any 

 public place ; z-fos^fix, or the liberty of the firft feats at 

 public entertainments ; a-irict,, an entertainment at the pub- 

 lic expencc, given to thofe who had dcferved well of their 

 country ; and rsf^vw, crowns confened by the vote of the 

 peopl; in the public affembly, by the fenators in council, by 

 the tribes to their own members, and by the dem.otai in 

 their own 5>i//o;, or borough. 



As to the laws of the Athenians, it was a received cm- 

 nion that they were taught the ufe of laws by Ceres ; but 

 it is certain that Thefeus retained the privilege of makmg 

 and preferving laws. Draco was the next law-giver, and 

 his laws were called Sro-^^ci ; thefe were all, except thole of 

 murder, repealed by Solon, wliofe laws were diftinguithed 

 by the term to/^-oi. The thefmothetas fwore to the obfeivance 

 of them, on the penalty of dedicating a ftatue as large as 

 life to the Delphian Apollo ; and the people were bound 

 to obey them for a hundred years. Pififtratus afterwards 

 affumed for himfelf, and left to his fons, the authority of a 

 law-giver ; but the laws of Solon were in fome degree en- 

 forced by Clifthenes, who himfelf added new ones. Thefe 

 continued in force till the Peloponnefian war, when the go- 

 vernment was altered by the four hundred, and afterwards 

 by the thirty tyrants. The ancient laws were again rellored 

 by Euclides, and others by the influence of Diodes, Ari- 

 ftophon, and afterwards by Demetrius Phalereus ; and tb.ele, 

 with iEfchylus and Thaljs, were the chief legiflators of 

 Athens. (Suidas.) The laws were annually revifed ; and a 

 new law was to be propofed before an old one could be 

 repealed. Solon, and other law-givers who facceeded him, 

 coinm.itted their laws to writing. The laws of Solon were 

 engraved on tablets of wood ; and fome affinn, that the 

 original in his hand-writing were aluays kept in the citadel, 

 and copies of them in the prytantun:. Tlie laws were all 

 engraven on the wall in the ^aa-^Xiy.-n ro«, or royal portico, 

 for the infpeclion of the public. This was the cuftom after 

 the expulfion of the thirty tyrants. 



At h e n 1 a n s. Commerce of lie. The harbour ot PirKus was 

 much frequented, not only by Grecian veffeL, but aifo by 

 thofe of the nations which the Greeks denominated Bar- 

 barians. But as the Athenians were aftuated by the fpirit of 

 conqueft, and afpired to the fovereignty of the ica, in 

 order to obtain that of the land, they direfted their atten- 

 tion to the navy with this view ; and therefore their com- 

 merce was reftrained to the procuring from other countries 

 the commodities and pvoducStions neceffary to their fub- 

 fiftence. Neverthelefs, the Athenians adopted a variety of 

 regulations, and ennfted many laws for extending commerce, 

 and preventing as much as poffible the litigations and 

 obftacles wh:eh impeded its operations. They inflitted a 

 fine of a thoufand drachmas (about 37 1. 10s.), and fome- 

 times the punifhment of imprifonment, on him who accnied 



a mer- 



