ARCHON

( ἄρχων ). The government of Athens began with monarchy, and, after pa ing through a dynasty [1] and aristocracy, ended in democracy. Of the kings of Athens, considered as the capital of Attica, These us may be said to have been the first; for to him, whether as a real individual or a representative of a certain period, is attributed the union of the different and independent states of Attica under one head. The last was Codrus; in acknowledgment of whose patriotism in meeting death for his country, the A then i ans are said to have determined that no one should succeed him with the title of king ( βασιλεύς ). It seems, however, equally probable that it was the nobles who availed themselves of the opportunity to serve their own interests, by abolishing the kingly power for another, the po e ors of which they called Archontes ( ἄρχοντες ) or rulers. These for some time continued to be like the kings of the house of Codrus, appointed for life: still an important point was gained by the nobles, the office being made accountable ( ὑπεύθυνος ), which of course implies that the nobility had some control over it. This state of things lasted for twelve reigns of archons. The next step was to limit the continuance of the office to ten years, still confining it to the Medontidae, or house of Codrus, so as to establish what the Greeks called a dynasty, till the archonship of Eryxias, the last archon of that family elected as such. At the end of his ten years ( B.C. 684), a much greater change took place: the archonship was made annual, and its various duties divided among a college of nine, chosen by suffrage ( χειροτονία ) from the Eupatridae, or Patricians, and no longer elected from the Medontidae exclusively. This arrangement lasted till the time of Solon, who still continued the election by suffrage, but made the qualification for office depend, not on birth, but property. The election by lot is believed to have been introduced by Cleisthenes ( B.C. 508). The last change is supposed to have been made by Aristides, who after the battle of Plataeae ( B.C. 479) abolished the property qualification, throwing open the archonship and other magistracies to all the citizens; that is, to the Thetes, as well as the other cla es, the former of whom were not allowed by Solon’s laws to hold any magistracy at all. Still, after the removal of the old restrictions, some security was left to insure respectability; for, previously to an archon entering on office, he underwent an examination, called the an a crisis ( ἀνάκρισις ), as to his being a legitimate and a good citizen, a good son, and qualified in point of property, but the latter limitation was either done away with by Aristides, or soon became obsolete. Yet, even after pa ing a satisfactory an a crisis , each of the archons, in common with other magistrates, was liable to be deposed on complaint of misconduct made before the people, at the first regular a embly in each prytany. On such an occasion the epic he i roton i a ( ἐπιχειροτονία ), as it was called, took place: and we read that in one case the whole college of archons was deprived of office ( ἀποχειροτονεῖσθαι ). In consequence of the democratical tendency of the a embly and courts of justice established by Solon, the archons lost the great political power which they at one time po e ed. They became, in fact, not as of old directors of the government, but merely municipal magistrates, exercising functions and bearing titles described below. It has been already stated, that the duties of the single archon were shared by a college of nine. The first, or president of this body, was called Archon , by way of pre-eminence, or Archon Eponym us ( ἄρχων ἐπώνυμος ), from the year being distinguished by and registered in his name. The second was styled Archon Basileus ( ἄρχων βασιλεύς ), or the King Archon; the third Polemarch us ( πολέμαρχος ), or commander-in-chief; the remaining six, Thesmothetae ( θεσμοθέται ), or legislators. As regards the duties of the archons, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish what belonged to them individually, and what collectively. It seems that a considerable portion of the judicial functions of the ancient kings devolved upon the Archon Eponym us , who was also constituted a sort of state protector of those who were unable to defend themselves. Thus he was to superintend orphans, heire es, families losing their representatives, widows left pregnant, and to see that they were not wronged in any way. This archon had also the superintendence of the greater Dionysia, and the Thargelia. The functions of the King Archon were almost all connected with religion; his distinguishing title shows that he was considered a representative of the old kings in their capacity of high priest, as the Rex Sacrificulus was at Rome. Thus he presided at the Lenaea, or older Dionysia; superintended the mysteries and the games called Lampadephoriae , and had to offer up sacrifices and prayers in the Eleusinium, both at Athens and Eleusis. Moreover, indictments for impiety, and controversies about the priesthood, were laid before him; and, in cases of murder, he brought the trial into the court of the areiopagus, and voted with its members. His wife, also, who was called Basili a ( βασίλισσα ), had to offer certain sacrifices, and therefore it was required that she should be a citizen of pure blood, without stain or blemish. The Polemarch was originally, as his name denotes, the commander-in-chief, and we find him discharging military duties as late as the battle of Marathon, in conjunction with the ten Strategi ; he there took, like the kings of old, the command of the right wing of the army. This, however, seems to be the last occasion on record of this magistrate appointed by lot being invested with such important functions; and in after ages we find that his duties ceased to be military, having been, in a great measure, transferred to the protection and superintendence of the resident aliens, so that he resembled in many respects the praetor peregrin us at Rome. Thus, all actions affecting aliens, the isoteles and proxeni were brought before him previously to trial. Moreover, it was the polemarch’s duty to offer the yearly sacrifice to Artemis, in commemoration of the vow made by Call i mach us, at Marathon, and to arrange the funeral games in honour of those who fell in war. The six Thesmothetae were extensively connected with the administration of justice, and appear to have been called legislators, because, in the absence of a written code, they might be said to make laws, or thesmi ( θεσμοί ), in the ancient language of Athens, though in reality they only explained them. They were required to review, every year, the whole body of laws, that they might detect any inconsistencies or superfluities, and discover whether any laws which were abrogated were in the public records amongst the rest. Their report was submitted to the people, who referred the nece ary alterations to a legislative committee chosen for the purpose, and called Nomothetae ( νομοθέται ). The chief part of the duties of the thesmothetae consisted in receiving informations, and bringing cases to trial in the courts of law, of the days of sitting in which they gave public notice. They did not try them themselves, but seem to have constituted a sort of grand jury, or inquest. The trial itself took place before the Dicastae. [ Dicastae . ] It is nece ary to be cautious in our interpretation of the words ἀρχή and ἄρχοντες , since they have a double meaning in the Attic orators, sometimes referring to the archons peculiarly so called, and sometimes to any other magistracy. The archons had various privileges and honours. The greatest of the former was the exemption from the trierarchies—a boon not allowed even to the succe ors of Harmodius and Aristo geit on. As a mark of their office, they wore a chaplet or crown of myrtle; and if any one struck or abused one of the archons, when wearing this badge of office, he became atimus ( ἄτιμος ), or infamous in the fullest extent, thereby losing his civic rights. The archons, at the close of their year of service, were admitted among the members of the areiopagus. [ Areiopagus . ]