AREOPAGUS

The chief court of judicature at Athens: so called because it met in a hall on an eminence, called the hill of Mars {'A^uos troiyo;.) This court, which was of very early origin, was raised to the high character it afterwards enjoyed, by Solon, who appointed that it should consist of the archons who had undergone, with credit, the scrutiny they were subject to at the expiration of their office. The areopagus had cognizance of capital crimes, and from it was no appeal to the people, whose decisions it was sometimes known to annul. It controlled all i ues from the public treasury, and exercised a censorship over the citizens. Its powers were much reduced by the measures of Pericles and his partizans. On the subject of this celebrated institution, our best ancient authority is the Ora/to Areopagitica of So crates. See also Meursius, De Areopago; Du Canaye, Recherches sur I' A., in the Mem. de I Acad. Des Inscr.,8sc. vol. vii. p. 174.: and Petitus, Ad Leges Atticas. See also Boeckh's excellent work on Athens and her Institutions. [s. 98]