BOULĒ

( βουλή—ἡ τῶν πεντακοσίων ). In the heroic ages, represented to us by Homer, the boulé is simply an aristocratical council of the elders amongst the nobles, sitting under their king as president, which decided on public busine and judicial matters, frequently in connection with, but apparently not subject to an agora , or meeting of the freemen of the state. [ Agora . ] This form of government, though it existed for some time in the Ionian, Aeolian, and Achaean states, was at last wholly abolished in these states. Among the Dorians, however, especially among the Spartans, this was not the case, for they retained the kingly power of the Heracleidae, in conjunction with the Gerousia or a embly of elders, of which the kings were members. [ Gerousia . ] At Athens on the contrary, the boulé was a representative, and in most respects a popular body ( δημοτικόν ). The first institution of the A then i an boulé is generally attributed to Solon; but there are strong reasons for supposing that, as in the case of the Areiopagus , he merely modified the constitution of a body which he found already existing. But be this as it may, it is admitted that Solon made the number of his boulé 400, 100 from each of the four tribes. When the number of the tribes was raised to ten by Cleisthenes ( B.C. 510), the council also was increased to 500, fifty being taken from each of the ten tribes. The bouleutae ( βουλευταί ) or councillors were appointed by lot, and hence they are called councillors made by the bean ( οἱ ἀπὸ τοῦ κυάμου βουλευταί ), from the use of beans in drawing lots. They were required to submit to a scrutiny or docimasia , in which they gave evidence of being genuine citizens, of never having lost their civic rights by atimia , and also of being above 30 years of age. They remained in office for a year, receiving a drachma ( μισθὸς βουλευτικός ) for each day on which they sat: and independent of the general account ( εὐθύναι ), 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. The senate of 500 was divided into ten sections of fifty each, the members of which were called prytanes ( πρυτάνεις ), and were all of the same tribe; they acted as presidents both of the council and the a emblies during thirty-five or thirty-six days, as the case might be, so as to complete the lunar year of 354 days (12×29½). Each tribe exercised these functions in turn; the period of office was called a prytany ( πρυτανεία ), and the tribe that presided the presiding tribe ; the order in which the tribes presided was determined by lot, and the four supernumerary days were given to the tribes which came last in order. 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 ( πρόεδροι ). Again, out of these proedri an epistates ( ἐπιστάτης ) was chosen for one day to preside as a chairman in the senate, and the a embly 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 a embly ( ἐκκλησία ). The duty of the proedri and their president was to propose subjects for discu ion, and to take the votes both of the councillors and the people; for neglect of their duty they were liable to a fine. Moreover, whenever a meeting, either of the council or of the a embly, 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 po e ed a chairman of their own, likewise appointed by lot from among themselves. But the proedri who proposed the subject for discu ion to the a embly belonged to the presiding tribe. It is observed, under Areiopagus , that the chief object of Solon, in forming the senate and the areiopagus, was to control the democratical powers of the state: for this purpose he ordained that the senate should discu and vote upon all matters before they were submitted to the a embly, so that nothing could be laid before the people on which the senate had not come to a previous decision. This decision, or bill, was called probouleuma ( προβούλευμα ); but then not only might this probouleuma be rejected or modified by the a embly, but the latter also po e ed and exercised the power of coming to a decision completely different from the will of the senate. In addition to the bills which it was the duty of the senate to propose of their own accord, there were others of a different character, viz. such as any private individual might wish to have submitted to the people. To accomplish this, it was first nece ary for the party to obtain, by petition, the privilege of acce to the senate, and leave to propose his motion; and if the measure met with their approbation, he could then submit it to the a embly. A proposal of this kind, which had the sanction of the senate, was also called probouleuma , and frequently related to the conferring of some particular honour or privilege upon an individual. Thus the proposal of Ctesiphon for crowning Demosthenes is so styled. In the a embly the bill of the senate was first read, perhaps by the crier, after the introductory ceremonies were over; and then the proedri put the question to the people, whether they approved of it. The people declared their will by a show of hands ( προχειροτονία ). If it was confirmed it became a psephism a ( ψήφισμα ), or decree of the people, binding upon all cla es. The form for drawing up such decrees varied in different ages. In the time of Demosthenes the decrees commence with the name of the archon; then come the day of the month, the tribe in office, and, lastly, the name of the proposer. The motive for pa ing the decree is next stated; and then follows the decree itself, prefaced with the formula δεδόχθαι τῇ βουλῇ καὶ τῷ δήμῳ . The senate-house was called Boule uteri on ( βουλευτηριον ). The prytanes also had a building to hold their meetings in, where they were entertained at the public expense during their prytany. This was called the Prytaneion , and was used for a variety of purposes. [ Prytaneion . ]