Scanned text contains errors.

210

BOULE.

representative, and in most respects a popular body (l5?jci<mKdV). It is of the latter council that the folio tving article treats.

Its first institution is generally attributed to Solon. There are, however, strong reasons for sup­posing that, as in the case of the areiopagus, he merely modified the constitution of a body which lie found already existing. In the first place it is improbable, and in fact almost inconsistent with the existence of any government, except an abso­lute monarchy, to suppose that there was no such council. Besides this, Herodotus (v. 71) tells us that in the time of Cylon (b. c. 620), Athens was under the direction of the presidents of the Naucraries (vavKpaptai), the number of which was forty-eight, twelve out of each of the four tribes. Moreover, we read of the case of the Alcmaeonidae being referred to an aristocratical tribunal of 300 persons, and that Isagoras, the leader of the aristocratic party at Athens, endea­voured to suppress the council, or /3ov/V^, which Cleisthenes had'raised to 600 in number, and to vest the government in the hands of 300 of his own party. (Herod, v. 72 ; Plut. Sol. 12.) This, as Thirl wall (Hist, of Greece, vol. ii. p. 41) re­marks, can hardly have been a chance coincidence : and he also suggests that there may have been two councils, one a smaller body, like the Spartan -yepovtria, and the other a general 'assembly of the Eupatrids ; thus corresponding, one to the senatus, the other to the comitia curiata, or assembly of the burghers at Rome. But be this as it may, it is admitted that Solon made the number of his jSouA^j 400, taking the members from the three first classes, 100 from each of the four tribes. On the tribes being remodelled by Cleisthenes (b.c. 510), and laised to ten in number, the council also was in­creased to 500, fifty being taken from each of the ten tribes. It is doubtful whether the jSouAevrcu, or councillors, were at first appointed by lot, as they were afterwards ; but as it is stated to have been Solon^s wish to make the jSouAo? a restraint upon the people, and as he is, moreover, said to have chosen (e7aAe£c£,uej'os, Plut. Sol. 19) 100 members from each of the tribes, it seems reason­able to suppose that they were elected, more espe­cially when there is no evidence to the contrary. (Thirlwall, vol. ii. p. 42.) It is at any rate cer­tain that an election, where the eupatrids might have used influence, would have been more favour­able to Solon's views, than an appointment by lot. But whatever was the practice originally, it is well known that the appointment was in after times made by lot, as is indicated by the title (of a?rb rov icva/Jiov jSovA-eyrcu), suggested by the use of beans in drawing the lots. (Thuc. viii. 69.) The individuals thus appointed were required to submit to a scrutiny, or 8ofa//acria, in which they gave evidence of being genuine citizens (yvtitfiot e£ dyu^>o?v), of never having lost their civic rights by ar^i/a, and also of being above 30 years of age. They remained in office for a year, receiving a drachma (jui<r0bs fiov\zvTiK.6s) for each day on which they sat; and independent of the general account, or evdvvai, which the whole body had to give at the end of the year, any single member was liable to expulsion for misconduct, by his colleagues. (Harpocr. s. v. 'EKtyvXXotyopia • Aesch. c. Timarch. p. 15, 43, ed. Steph.)

This senate of 500 was divided into ten sections of fifty each, the members of which were called

BOULE.

Prytanes (irpvrdveis*), and were all of the same tribe ; they acted as presidents both of the council and the assemblies during 35 or 36 days, as the case might be, so as to complete the lunar year of 354 days (12 x 29g). Each tribe exercised these functions in turn, and the period of office was called a Prytany (irpvravsta). The turn of each tribe was determined by lot, and the four supernumerary days were given to the tribes which came last in order. (Clinton, F. H. vol. ii. p. 346.) Moreover, to obviate the difficulty of having too many in office at once, every fifty was subdivided into five bodies of ten each ; its prytany also being portioned out into five periods of seven days each: so that only ten senators presided for a week over the rest, and were thence called Proedri (Trp6e8poi). Again, out of these proedri an Epistates (eTTtcfrdr^s) was chosen for every day in the week to preside as a chairman in the senate, and the assembly of the people ; during his day of office he kept the pub­lic records and seal.

The prytanes had the right of convening the council and the assembly (eKKXycrla). The duty of the proedri and their president was to propose subjects for discussion, and to take the votes both of the councillors and the people ; for neglect of their duty they were liable to a fine. (Dem. c. Timocr. p. 703—707.) Moreover, whenever a meeting, either of the council or the assembly, was convened, the chairman of the proedri selected by lot nine others, one from each of the non-pre­siding tribes: these also were called proedri and possessed a chairman of their own, likewise ap­pointed by lot from among themselves. On their functions, and the probable object of their appoint­ment, some remarks are made in the latter part of this article.

We now proceed to speak of the duties of the senate as a body. It is observed under the areio­pagus that the chief object of Solon informing the senate and the areiopagus was to control the de-mocratical powers of the state ; for this'purpose Solon ordained that the senate should discuss and vote upon all matters before they were submitted to the assembly, so that nothing could be laid be-fore the people on which the senate had not come to a previous decision. This decision, or bill, was called Probouleuma (TrpogouA-evjua), and if the as­sembly had been obliged either to acquiesce in any such proposition, or to gain the consent of the senate to their modification of it, the assembly and the senate would then have been almost equal powers in the state, and nearly related to each other, as our two houses of parliament. But besides the option of adopting or rejecting a TrpogouAeu^ua, or t^^to^ta as it was sometimes called, the people possessed and exercised the power of coming to a ^decision completely different from the will of the senate, as expressed in the Trpo€o6\evfjLa. Thus in matters relating to peace and war, and confederacies, it was the duty of the senators to watch over the interests of the state, and they could initiate what­ever measures,, and come to whatever resolutions they might think necessary ; but on a discussion before the people it was competent for any in­dividual to move a different or even contrary pro­position. To take an example : — In the Euboean war (b. c. 350), in which the Thebans were opposed to the Athenians, the senate voted that all the cavalry in the city should be sent out to assist the forces then besieged at Tamynae ; a