Boule

BOULE, the general term in ancient Greece for an advisory council. In the Homeric state there was a council of the leading nobles, who met, on the summons of the king, for consultation. It formed a means of communication between the king and the free men assembled in the Agora (q.v.). In Sparta this form of govern ment was retained (see GEROVSIA). In Athens the ancient coun cil was called the Boule until the institution of a democratic coun cil, when, for purposes of distinction it was described as 7) Ev Tcp 'Apety IIayw OouXrt "the Boule on the Areopagus," or, more shortly, "the Areopagus" (q.v.). It is a mistake to call the sec ond Boule a "senate." There is no real analogy between the Roman senate and the Athenian council of Five Hundred.

Councils existed in other Greek states, both oligarchic and democratic. A Boule was a necessary part of a Greek oligarchy; the transition from monarchy to oligarchy was begun by the trans ference of the powers of the monarch to the Boule of nobles. In the Greek democracy, the democratic Boule was equally essential. The assembly of the people was unsuited to the management of the details of State affairs. We therefore find councils of both kinds in almost all the states of Greece. At Corinth there was an oligarchic council presided over by eight leaders. The Athenians, in imposing a constitution on Erythrae (about 450 B.c.) included a council analogous to their own. In Elis there was an aristocratic council of go, which was superseded by a popular council of 600 (471 B.c.). In Argos there was an aristocratic council of 8o and later a popular council of much larger size.

The Boule at Athens. History.

The origin of the second Boule at Athens is involved in obscurity. It is generally held that Solon established the council. It has also been maintained that no Boule existed before Cleisthenes. On the whole it is reasonable to conclude that it was Solon who invented the Boule to act as a semi-democratic check upon the democracy. Nothing is known of the operations of this council until the struggle be tween Isagoras and Cleisthenes (Herod. v. 72). Solon's council was based on the four Ionic tribes. When Cleisthenes created the new ten tribes in order to destroy the local influence of dominant families, and to give the country demes a share in government, he changed the Solonian council into a body of soo members, 50 from each tribe. After Cleisthenes, the council remained unaltered till 3o6 B.c., when its numbers were increased to 600. In A.D. I26 12 7 the old number of 500 was restored.

Constitution and Functions.

(a) Under Solon the council consisted of 400 members, Ioo from each of the four Ionic tribes. All classes were eligible except the Thetes (see SoLON), but the method of appointment is not known. According to Plutarch the functions of this body were from the first probouleutic (i.e., it prepared the business for the Ecclesia, q.v.) . Others hold that this function was not assigned to it until the Cleisthenean reforms. It seems probable that the probouleutic functions were devised by Solon as a method of maintaining the balance between the aristocratic archons (see ARCHON) and the democracy. (b) Under Cleisthenes (q.v.) the council reached its full development as a democratic representative body. Every full citizen of 3o years of age was eligible, and, unlike other civil offices, it was permissible to serve twice, but not more than twice. From the first the Bon leutai were appointed by the demes, in numbers proportionate to the size of the deme, and the method of sortition was employed. After nomination each had to pass, before the old council, an ex amination in which his private life was scrutinized. The councillors had to take an oath that they would act according to the laws, would give the best advice in their power, and would carry out the examination of their successors in an impartial spirit. At the end of the year each councillor had to render an account of his work. The council exercised disciplinary control over its members; it could suspend a member, pending a formal trial before the whole council. There was a complete system of secretaries (gramma teis), private treasury officials, and a paid herald who summoned the Boule and the Ecclesia. The meetings took place generally in the council hall (Bouleuterion), but on special occasions in other places.

Prytaneis.

The Ecclesia was unable to meet more than three or four times a month; the council was in continuous session, ex cept on feast days. It was impossible that the Five Hundred should all sit every day, and to facilitate the despatch of business, the system of Prytaneis was introduced, probably by Cleisthenes. The year was divided into ten equal periods. During each of these periods the council was represented by the 5o councillors of one of the ten tribes, who acted as an executive committee. Each of these committees was led by a president (Epistates), who acted as chairman of the Boule and the Ecclesia, and a third of its numbers lived during their period of office ih the Tholos (Dome) or Skias, where they dined at the public expense. It was the duty of the Boule (i.e., the Prytany which was for the time in session) to prepare all business for the consideration of the Ecclesia. Their recommendation (probouleuma) was presented to the popular assembly (see EccLESiA), which either passed it as it stood or made amendments. The recommendation of the council had no intrinsic force until, by the votes of the Ecclesia, it passed into law.

The BouIe had large administrative and judicial control. (I) It was before it that the Poletai arranged the farming of public revenues, the receipt of tenders for public works, and the sale of confiscated property; it dealt with defaulting collectors, exacted the debts of private persons to the State, and drew up annual estimates. (2) It supervised the treasury payments of the Apo dektai ("Receivers") and the "Treasurers of the God." (3) It had to arrange for the provision of triremes and the award of the trierarchic crown. (4) It arranged for the maintenance of the cavalry and the special levies from the demes. (5) It heard cases of eisangelia (impeachment) and had the right to fine up to Soo drachmas, or hand the case over to the Heliaea (the Supreme Court). The cases which it tried were mainly prosecutions for crimes against the State (e.g., treason, conspiracy, bribery). (6) The council presided over the dokimasia (consideration of fitness) of the magistrates (see ARCHON) . (7) The council, as the only body in permanent session, received foreign envoys and intro duced them to the Ecclesia, and with the Strategi (see STRATEGUS) took treaty oaths, after the Ecclesia had decided on the terms. On two occasions the council was specially endowed with full powers : it was given full powers to investigate the affair of the mutilation of the Herrnai (see ALCIBIADES) on the night before the sailing of the Sicilian expedition ; the people gave it full powers to send ambassadors to Philip of Macedon.

It will be seen that this democratic council was essential to the working of the Athenian state. Without having any final legisla tive authority, it was a necessary part of the legislative machinery, and it may be regarded as certain that a large proportion of its recommendations were passed without alteration or even discus sion by the Ecclesia.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.-Gilbert, Constitutional Antiquities (Erig. trans. Bibliography.-Gilbert, Constitutional Antiquities (Erig. trans. 1895) ; J. B. Bury, History of Greece (1900) ; A. H. J. Greenidge, Handbook of Greek Constitutional History (1896) ; J. E. Sandys' edition of the Constitution of Athens; Busolt, Die griechischen Staats und Rechtsaltertumer (1902) ; Whibley, Companion to Greek Studies (1916) , with useful bibliography.