ARBITRATION IN THE GREEK WORLD. 



287 



between Sparta and Messene, and other exa,mples are known to 

 us in which the court consisted of 334, 301, 204, and 151 

 members, all of whom had equal voting powers. 



Thus constituted, the court set about the fulfilment of its 

 task with all reasonable speed ; a limit of time within which 

 the award must be published was sometimes fixed, either by the 

 agreement of the two disputants or by the state which 

 appointed the court. The enquiry was held in the arbitrating 

 state or on other neutral ground or else in the territory which 

 was the subject of the dispute : occasionally it was thought 

 advisable to combine several of these plans, as when a 

 Pergamene court enquired into the difference between Pitane 

 and Mytilene, first hearing the statements of the respective 

 advocates in one or other of the two cities, then paying a visit 

 to the territory in question and finally adjourning to the temple 

 of the Dioscuri at Pergamum for the concluding stage of the 

 trial, or a Khodian tribunal, after hearing the preliminary 

 speeches in the temple of Dionysus at Ehodes, went to the 

 territory imder discussion and ended by giving its verdict in 

 the Artemis temple at Ephesus. The mention of these 

 sanctuaries in which the courts sat reminds us of the religious 

 character and sanction attaching to the whole proceedings, an 

 a,spect which was also emphasized by the oath which the 

 arbitrators took. Let me give you the formula of one which 

 has been preserved : — 



"By Zeus and Lycian Apollo and Earth, I will judge the case, 

 to which the contending parties have sworn, in accordance with the 

 justest judgment, and I will not judge according to a witness if he 

 does not seem to be bearing true witness, nor have I received gifts 

 from anyone on account of this trial, neither I myself nor anyone 

 else on my behalf, in any way or under any pretext whatsoever. 

 If I swear truly, may it be well with me, if falsely, the reverse." 



At the trial each of the contending states was represented 

 by one or more elected delegates, to whom it entrusted the 

 task of watching its interests, bringing before the court all the 

 available evidence in its favour and pleading its case as 

 effectively as possible : they were usually citizens of the state 

 which appointed them, sometimes its most prominent men, 

 though occasionally a talented and eloquent pleader was secured 

 from some other city. We possess in full the regulations laid 

 down for the production of the evidence and the conduct of the 

 trial in one well-known dispute, in whiclr Cnidus acted as 

 -arbitrating city, and we see that every precaution is taken to 



