and forty thousand servants.*

343

The number of citizens was almost the same in

the time of Cecrops, but less under Pericles.

1.OF THE CITIZENS.

A CITIZEN Could only be such by birth or adoption. To be a natural denizen of Athens, it was necessary to be born of a father and mother both free, and Athenians. We have seen that Pericles restored this law to all its force, which had not been exactly observed, and which he himself some short time after infringed. The people could not confer the freedom of the city upon strangers; and those whom they had so adopted, enjoyed almost the same rights and privileges as the natural citizens. The quality of citizen of Athens was sometimes granted in honour and gratitude to those who had rendered great services to the state, as to Hippocrates; and even kings have sometimes obtained that title for themselves and their children. Evagoras, King of Cyprus, thought it much to his honour.

When the young men attained the age of twenty, they were enrolled upon the list of citizens, after having taken an oath; and it was only in virtue of that public and solemn act that they became members of the state. The form of this oath is exceedingly remarkable, which Stobæus and Pollux have preserved in the following words: "I will never dishonour the profession of arms, nor save my life by a shameful flight. I will fight to my last breath for the religion and civil interests of the state, in concert with the other citizens, and alone if occasion should require. I will not bring my country into a worse condition than I found it, but will use my utmost endeavours to make it most happy and flourishing. I will always submit myself to the laws and magistrates, and to all that shall be ordained by the common consent of the people. If any one shall violate or make void the laws, I will not disguise or conceal such an attempt, but will oppose it, either alone or in conjunction with my fellow-citizens; and I will constantly adhere to the religion of my forefathers. To all which I call to witness Agraulis, Enyalus, Mars, and Jupiter." I leave the reader to his own reflections upon this august ceremony, well adapted to inspire the love of country into the hearts of the young citizens.

The people had at first been divided into four tribes, and afterwards into ten. Each tribe was subdivided into several parts, which were called A. Pagi. It was by these two titles the citizens were described in the public acts. Melitus, e tribu Cecropide, e pago Pitthensi."

II. OF THE STRANGERS.

66

I DISTINGUISH by this name, those who being of a foreign country, came to settle at Athens, or in Attica, either on account of commerce, or exercising any trade. They were termed uro inquilini. They had no share in the government, nor vote in the assembly of the people, and could not be admitted into any office. They put themselves under the protection of some citizen, as we find from a passage of Terence,§ and upon that account were obliged to render him certain duties and services, as the clients did at Rome to their patrons. They were bound to observe all the laws of the republic, and to conform entirely to all its customs. They paid a yearly tribute to the state of twelve drachmas; and in default of payment were made slaves, and exposed to sale. Xenocrates, the celebrated, but poor philosopher, was very near experiencing this misfortune, and was carried to prison; but Lycurgus the orator having paid the tax, released him from the farmers of the public revenues; a kind of men who in all times have paid very little respect to merit, with the exception of an exceeding few of their number. That philosopher meeting some time after the sons of his deliverer, told them, "I pay your father the

The text says, uugiadas Teσσagánovтa, four hundred thousand, which is a manifest error.
† Book v. Art. 8.
Pollux. 1. viii. c. 9.
Thais patri se commendavit in clientelam et fidem; nobis dedit sese.-Eunuch, Act. 5. scen. ult.

favour he has done me with usury, for all the world praises him upon my account."*

III. OF THE SERVANTS.

THERE were two kinds of them. The one, who were free, and not able to get their bread by their work, were obliged by the bad state of their affairs to go into service; and their condition was easy, and not laborious. The service of the other was forced and unavoidable; these were slaves, who had either been taken prisoners in war, or bought of such as trafficked publicly in them. They constituted a part of the estate of their master, who disposed of them at pleasure, but generally treated them with great humanity. Demosthenes observes, in one of his harangues, that the condition of servants was infinitely more gentle in Athens than any where else. There was in that city an asylum and place of refuge for slaves, where the bones of Theseus had been interred; and that asylum subsisted in Plutarch's time. How glorious was it for Theseus, that his tomb should do that twelve hundred years after his death, which he had done himself during his life, and continue the protector of the oppressed, as he had been!t

When the slaves were treated with too much rigour and inhumanity, they had their action against their masters, who were obliged to sell them to others, if the fact were sufficiently proved. They could ransom themselves even against their masters' consent, when they had laid up money enough for that purpose. For out of what they got by their labour, after having paid a certain proportion to their masters, they kept the remainder for themselves, and made a stock of it at their own disposal. Private persons, when they were satisfied with their services, often gave these slaves their liberty, when the necessity of the times obliged the state to arm and enlist them for war among the citizens.

The humane and equitable usage with which the Athenians treated their servants and slaves, was an effect of the good temper natural to that people, and very remote from the austere and cruel severity of the Lacedæmonians in regard to their Helots, which often brought their republic to the very brink of destruction. Plutarch, with great reason, condemns this rigour. He thinks it proper to habituate one's self always to mercy, even with regard to beasts, were it only, says he, to learn by that means to treat them well, and for the sake of becoming humane and benevolent. He relates upon this occasion a very singular fact, and very proper to explain the character of the Athenians. After having finished the temple called Hecatonpedon, they set all the beasts of bur den at liberty that had been employed in the work, and assigned them fat pasturages as consecrated animals. And it was said, that one of these beasts having come to offer itself at the work, and put itself at the head of those that drew the carriages to the citadel, walking foremost as if to exhort and encourage them. the Athenians ordained by a decree, that the creature should be maintained at the public expense till its death.||

SECTION III. OF THE COUNCIL OR SENAte of five hundred.

IN consequence of Solon's institutions, the people of Athens had a great share and authority in the government. Appeals might be brought to their tribunal in all causes; they had a right to cancel the old laws, and establish new ones in a word, all important affairs, whether relating to war or peace, were decided in their assemblies. In order to their determinations being made with more wisdom and maturity, Solon had instituted a council, composed of four hundred senators, one hundred out of each tribe, which were then four in number; they prepared and digested the affairs which were to be laid before the people, as we shall soon explain more at large. Clisthenes, about one hundred years after Solon, having increased the number of tribes to ten, augmented also that of the

Plut. in Flamin. p. 375.
Plaut. in Casin.

† Philip. 3.

Plut. de Superstit. p. 165. Plut. in Catone, p. 398, 339.

senators to five hundred; each tribe supplying fifty. This was called the council or senate of the five hundred. They received their stipend out of the public treasury.

They were chosen by lot, in which they made use of black and white beans, which were mingled and shaken in an urn, and each tribe gave in the name of those who aspired to that trust, and had the revenue assigned by the laws to qualify them for it. None could be admitted under the age of thirty. After inquiry made into the manners and conduct of the candidate, he was made to take an oath, whereby he engaged to give at all times the best counsel he could to the people of Athens, and never to depart in the least from the tenor of the laws.

This senate assembled every day, except upon the days appointed for festivals. Each tribe in its turn furnished those who were to preside in it, called Prytanes, Пguraves, and this rank was decided by lot. The presidency continued thirty-five days, which being reckoned ten times, amounts to the number of days, except four, of the lunar year followed at Athens. The time of the presidency, or prytanism, was divided into five weeks, with regard to the five tens of the Prytanes, who were to preside in them; and every week seven of these ten Prytanes drawn by lot presided, each their day, and were denominated Пgogo, that is to say, Presidents. He who was so for the day, presided in the assembly of the senators, and in that of the people, and was called 'Erisans. He was charged with the public seal, and with the keys of the citadel and treasury.

The senators, before they assembled, offered a sacrifice to Jupiter and Minerva under the additional appellation of Goddess of Good Council, Bios, Batáía, to demand the prudence and understanding necessary in wise deliberations. The president proposed the business which was to be considered in the assembly. Every one gave his opinion in his turn, and always standing. After a question had been settled, it was drawn up in writing, and read with a loud voice. Each senator then gave his vote by putting a bean into the urn. If the number of the white beans exceeded, the question passed; otherwise it was rejected. This sort of decree was called Vigua, or ilgua, as much as to say,preparatory resolution. It was afterwards laid before the assembly of the people, where, if it was received and approved, it had the force of a law; if not, its authority subsisted only one year. This shows with what wisdom Solon established this council, to inform and direct the people, to fix their inconstancy, to prevent their temerity, and to assist their deliberations with a prudence and maturity not to be expected in a confused and tumultuous assembly, composed of a great number of citizens, most of them without education, capacity, or much zeal for the public good. The reciprocal dependency and natural intercourse of the two bodies of the state, which were obliged to lend each other their authority, and remained equally without force when without union and a good understanding, were judiciously contrived for supporting a wise balance between the two bodies; the people not being able to institute any thing without its being first proposed and approved by the senate, nor the senate to pass any decree into a law till it had been ratified by the people.

We may judge of the importance of this council by the matters which were treated in it; the same, without any exception, as were laid before the people; war, taxes, maritime affairs, treaties of peace, alliances; in a word, whatever related to government; without mentioning the account which they obliged the magistrates to give on quitting their offices, and their frequent decisions and judgments upon the most serious and important affairs.

SECTION IV.-OF THE AREOPAGUS.

THIS Council took its name from the place where it assembled, called "Apeios πάγος. The Quarter, or Hill of Mars, because, according to some, Mars had been cited thither in judgment for a murder committed by him. It was believed to be as ancient as the nation. Cicero and Plutarch attributed the institution of it to Solon; but he only re-established it by giving it more lustre

and authority than it had had till then, and for that reason was looked upon as its founder. The number of the senators of the Areopagus was not fixed; at certain times they amounted to two or three hundred. Solon thought proper, that only those who had borne the office of archon should be honoured with that dignity.

The senate had the care of seeing the laws duly observed, of inspecting the manners of the people, and especially of judging in criminal cases. They held their sittings in an open place, and during the night: very probably to avoid being under the same roof with the criminals, and not to deĥile themselves by such an intercourse with them; and likewise that they might not be softened by the sight of the guilty, but be enabled to judge according to justice and the laws. It was for the same reason that the orators were not permitted to use any exordium or peroration, nor allowed to excite the passions, and were obliged to confine themselves solely to the subject matter of their cause. The severity of their judgments was exceedingly dreaded, particularly in regard to murder; and they were highly attentive to inspire their citizens with horror for that crime. They condemned a child to be put to death, for making it his pastime to put out the eyes of quails; conceiving this sanguinary inclination as the mark of a very wicked disposition, which might one day prove fatal to many, if he was suffered to grow up with impunity.*

The affairs of religion, as blasphemies against the gods, contempt of sacred mysteries, different species of impiety, and the introduction of new ceremonies and new divinites, were also brought before this tribunal. We read in Justin Martyr, that Plato, who in his travels in Egypt had acquired great lights concerning the unity of God, when he returned to Athens, took great care to dissemble and conceal his sentiments, for fear of being obliged to appear and give an account of them before the Areopagitæ ;† and we know that St. Paul was traduced before them, as teaching a new doctrine, and endeavouring to introduce new gods.‡

These judges were in great reputation for their probity, equity, and prudence, and generally respected. Cicero, in writing to his friend Atticus, upon the fortitude, constancy, and wise severity of the Roman senate, thinks he pays it a great encomium, in comparing it with the Areopagus. "Senatus "Agric πάγος, nil constantius, nil severius, nil fortius."§ Cicero must have conceived a very favourable idea of it, to speak of it as he does in the first book of his Offices. He compares the famous battle of Salamin, in which Themistocles has so great a part, with the establishment of the Areopagus, which he ascribes to Solon, and does not scruple to prefer, or at least to equal the legislator's service to that for which Athens was obliged to the general of its army. "For in reality," says he, "that victor was useful to the republic only for once, but the Areopagus will be so throughout all ages; as by the wisdom of that tribunal, the laws and ancient customs of the Athenian state are preserved. Themistocles did no service to the Areopagus; but the Areopagus abundantly contributed to the victory of Themistocles; because the republic was at that time directed by the wise counsels of that august senate."||

It appears from this passage of Cicero, that the Areopagus had a great share in the government, and was, no doubt, consulted upon important affairs. Cicero may, in this instance, have confounded the council of the Areopagus with that of the Five Hundred. It is certain, however, that the Areopagite were extremely active in the public affairs.

Nec mihi videntur Areopagitæ, cum damnaverunt puerum oculos coturnicum cruentum, aliud judicasse quam id signum esse perniciosissimæ mentis, multisque malo futuræ si adolevisset.-Quintil. I. v. c. 9. † Cohort. ad Græc. Acts xvii. 13-20. Ad Attic. 1. ì. ep. 13. Quamvis Themistocles jure laudetur, et sit ejus nomen, quam Solonis, illustrius, citeturque Salamis clarissimæ testis victoriæ, quæ anteponatur consilio Solonis ei, quo primum constituit Areopagitas; non m nus præclarum hoc, quam illud judicandum est. Illud enim semel profuit, hoc semper proderit civitati hoc consilio leges Atheniensium, hoc majorum instituta servantur. Et Themistocles quidem nihil dixerit, in quo ipse Areopagum juverit: at ille adjuvit Themistoclem. Est enim bellum gestum consilio senatus ejus, qui a Solone erat constitutus.-Offic. 1. i. n. 75.

Pericles, who could never enter the Areopagus, because, chance having always been against him, he had not passed through any of the employments necessary to his admission, attempted to weaken its authority, and attained his point, which is a great blot in his reputation.

SECTION V.-OF THE MAGISTRATES.

Or these a great number were established for different functions. I shall only speak of the archons, who are the best known. I have observed elsewhere that they succeeded the kings, and that their authority at first continued during life. It was at length limited to ten years, and reduced at last to one. When Solon was commissioned to reform the government, he found them thus established, to the number of nine. He did not abolish their office, but he very much diminished their power.

The first of these nine magistrates was called the archon by way of eminence, and the year was denominated from him: "Under such an archon such a battle was fought."* The second was called the king, and was a vestige of the authority to which they had succeeded. The third was the polemarch, who at first commanded the armies, and always retained that name, though he had not the same authority, some part of which he had so long preserved. For we have seen, in speaking of the battle of Marathon, that the polemarch had a right to vote in the council of war, as well as the ten generals then in command. The six other archons were called by the common name, thesmothetæ, which implies that they had a particular superintendence over the laws, in order to their being duly observed. These nine archons had each of them a peculiar province, and were judges in certain affairs allotted to their cognizance. I do not think it necessary to enter into the particulars of their duty, nor into those of many other employments and offices, established for the administration of justice, for the levying of taxes and tributes, for the preservation of good order in the city, for supplying it with provisions; in a word, for every thing relating to commerce and civil society.

SECTION VI.-OF THE ASSEMBLIES OF THE PEOPLE.

THESE were of two sorts, the one ordinary, and fixed to certain days; and for these there was no kind of summons: the other extraordinary, according to the different occasions that arose; and the people were informed of it by an express proclamation.

The place of the assembly was not fixed. Sometimes it was at the public market-place, sometimes a part of the city near the citadel, called II,and sometimes the theatre of Bacchus.

The prytanes generally assembled the people. Some days before the assembly, papers were fixed up where in the business to be considered was made known. All the citizens, poor as well as rich, had a right to give their suffrages. Those who failed of being present at the assembly, or came too late, were liable to a penalty; and to secure a punctual attendance, a reward was annexed to it, at first of an obolus, the sixth part of a drachma, and afterwards of three oboli.

The assembly always began with sacrifices and prayers, in order to obtain from the gods the knowledge and understanding necessary to wise deliberations; and they never failed to add the most terrible imprecations against such as should wilfully advise any thing contrary to the public good.

The president proposed the affair upon which they were to deliberate. If it had been examined in the senate, and drawn up there as a question, it was read, after which those who would speak were invited to ascend the tribunal, that they might be the better heard by the people, and inform them in the matter proposed. The oldest general spoke first, and then the rest according to their seniority. When the orators had done speaking, and concluded that it was necessary to approve or reject the decree of the senate, the people proceeded to vote; and the most common method of doing it was by holding up

From thence he was called 'Ervos.