.AREOPAGUS, a sovereign tribunal of Athens, so remarkable for the purity of its decrees, that the gods are said to have submitted their differences to its deci sion.
With respect both to the name and origin of this celebrated court, authors. seem much divided in opi nion ; some imagining Areopagus to be the proper name of the court of justice in which the senate of Athens assembled, while others contend that Areopagus was the name of the whole suburbs of Athens ; and that in these suburbs the hill stood on which the court was built. The name Areopagus seems to countenance this last opinion, as it signifies, literally, the bill or the rock of Mors. The question of its origin does not seem more satislactorily settled. It is said by Plutarch and Cicero to have been instituted by Solon, while others assert that it was established by Cranaus about 1500 years be fore the Christian xi-a, or by Cranaus, one of his suc cessors. Demosthenes acknowledges his doubts about this point, in his oration against Ctesiphon. The in stitutors of this tribunal, (says he,) whatever they were, whether gods or heroes," &c. The number of judges in the Areopagus seems to have been varied at different times. At first, this tribunal consisted of nine persons ; they were afterwards increased, however, so that some have reckoned them at thirty-one, others at fifty-one, and others at 500. The .Areopagites were judges for lilt ; and, in order to render them more respected by the people, a law was made by.Solon, by which those who had not been Archons for a year, and whose con duct in their office had not been found, after a severe examination, perfectly free from reproach, should not be admitted to the honour of sitting in this tribunal ; and, to give More effect to this law, he subjected him self to it, and was only admitted on that title.
Before the institution of the Areopagus, Athens to have been governed by separate tribunals, which were multiplied by the most trifling accidents, and which, having no fixed jurisdiction or dignity, were perpetually interfering with each other, and creating vonfusion in the state. For the purpose of concentra ting into one point those jarring powers, this court was erected ; and as the manners and morals of the citizens arc, under a republic, as necessary objects of legislative controul as positive crimes, the habits of the people, and the whole scheme of their domestic life, seem to have Lain under the check of its jurisdiction. This extensive authority was conferred on it by Solon ; so that this court, which, in the time of Draco, only inflicted pun ishment on murder, poisoning, burning of houses, theft, &c. now began to sti ike at the root of those crimes, by arraiging idleness, luxury, and debauchery. They en diavoured to excite an emulation, both among old and young men, to save the state ; and fearing that an excess of wealth might corrupt the simplicity of republican Planners, they exacted from every citizen a minute ac count of his effects. They were particularly severe on
idle citizens, whom they regarded as the bane and dis honour of the state. We are informed by Isocrates, that they were more anxious to prevent crimes, by repre senting them in an odious light, than by devising new modes of punishment. It was their object rather to reform public and private manners, by the effect of a controul over the minds of the citizens, than to awe them into abject submission by the dread of punishment. Their vigilance was particularly directed to guard the morals of the•,atith from corruption. They well knew, that their passions are hostile to growing virtue, and that a strong controul is necessary to prevent their minds from falling a prey to sloth, and to degeneracy of every kind. The austerity of their moral discipline was tempered, however, with innocent pleasure. The youth were al lowed to indulge in all those exercises which gave energy both to body and mind, and which, by improving the health, gave an agreeable vivacity to the spirits. Horsemanship and hunting were the exercises allowed to the youth of better condition, while those among the inferior classes were taught agriculture and commerce ; from this principle, that industry is the mother of vir tue, and that idleness, by leading to indigence, must produce the worst of crimes. In this wise arrangement, their great aim was to prevent the poor from commit ting crimes, and to facilitate to the rich the acquisition of virtue. For this purpose, the rich were compelled to relieve the poor ;—the intemperance of the youth was repressed by a severe discipline ; and corruption in magistrates was checked by the punishments denounced against it, and by the shame attending it. Religion also came under the cognizance of the Areopagites. Plato, we are told by Justin Martyr, Burst never divulge his private opinion concerning the Deity. He had learned, it is said, from the Egyptians, the doctrine of Moses, and had embraced it with ardour. But his dread of the Areopagites, who were attached to the prevailing sys tem, would not permit him to name the author of his sedtiments, which were contrary to the common tradi tion. The pay of the soldiers, the distribution of the public money, the public edifices, the cleanliness of the streets ; in short, every thing which interested the pub lic, was subjected to the controul of this court. The people themselves, jealous as they were of their own power, did nothing without consulting this assembly, and even suffered them without a murmur to amend their precipitate decrees.