Its police function also made it a protector and upholder of the institutions and laws. In this cha racter the Areopagus had jurisdiction over novelties in religion, in worship, in customs, in everything that departed from the traditionary and established usages and modes of thought pogucns), which a regard to their ancestors endeared to the nation. This was an ancient and well-supported sphere of activity. The members of the court had a right to take oversight of festive meetings in pri vate houses. In ancimit times they fixed the number of the guests, and determined the style of the en tertainment. If a person had no obvious means of subsisting, or was known to live in idleness, he was liable to an action before the Areopagus ; if con demned three times, he was punished with arcuia, the loss of his civil rights. In later times the court possessed the right of giving permission to teachers (philosophers and rhetoricians) to establish them selves and pursue their profession in the city.
Its strictly religious jurisdiction extended itself over the public creed, worship, and sacrifices, em bracing generally everything which could come under the denomination of Tit lc/A—sacred things. It was its special duty to see that the religion of the state was kept pure from all foreign elements. The accusation of impiety (rypaq5ii vague ness of which admitted almost any charge connected with religious innovations—belonged in a special manner to this tribunal, though the charge was in some cases heard before the court of the Heliastm. The freethinking poet Euripides stood in fear of, and was restrained by, the Areopagus (Euseb. Pnp. Evang: vi. 14; Bayles. v. Eurip.) Its proceeding in such cases was sometimes rather of an admoni tory than punitive character.
Not less influential was its moral and educational power. Isocrates speaks of the care which it took
of good manners and good order (rigs ekocrAdas, cifraVas). Quintilian relates that the Areopagus condemned a boy for plucking out the eyes of a quail—a proceeding which has been both misunder stood and misrepresented (Penny Cyclop. in voc.), but which its original narrator approved, assigning no insufficient reason, namely, that the act was a sign of a cruel disposition, likely in advanced life to lead to baneful actions ; 'Id signum esse mentis multisque malo futurx si adole visset' (Quint. v. 9). The court exercised a salu tary influence in general over the Athenian youth, their educators and their education.
Its financial position is not well understood ; most probably it varied more than any other part of its administration with the changea,which the consti tution of the city underwent. It may suffice to mention, on the authority of Plutarch (Themis. c. io), that in the Persian war the Areopagus had the merit of completing the number of men required for the fleet, by paying eight drachmae to each.
In the following works corroboration 01 the facts stated in this article, and further details, with dis cussions on doubtful points, may be found :— Meursius, Areopagus, sive de Senate Areopagitico, in Thes. Gran. t. v. p. 207; Sigonius, De Rep. Ath. iii. 2. p. 1568; De Canaye, Recherches sur l'Arzfo page, pp. 273-316; Ann. de 'Acad. des Instr. t. x. ; Schede, De Areop. and Schwab Num quad Areop. in plebiscita ant con firmana'a ant rejicienda jus exercuerit legitimunz, Stutt. 1813; Mier, Von der Blutgerichtsbarkeit des Areopag. ; Matthia, De Ind. Atli. in Misc. Philo!. Krebs, de Ephetis. Notices on the subject may also be found in the works of Tittmann, Heffter, Hudtwalcker, Wachs muth, Pauly, and Winer.—J. R. B.