ssembled at least three times a month to deliberate and to vote. The
assembly was held in the open air on the Pnyx; the citizens sat on
stone benches arranged in an amphitheatre; the magistrates before them
on a platform opened the session with a religious ceremony and a
prayer, then a herald proclaimed in a loud voice the business which
was to occupy the assembly, and said, "Who wishes to speak?" Every
citizen had the right to this privilege; the orators mounted the
tribune according to age. When all had spoken, the president put the
question; the assembly voted by a show of hands, and then dissolved.

=The Courts.=--The people itself, being sovereign, passed judgment in
the courts. Every citizen of thirty years of age could participate in
the judicial assembly (the Heliaea). The heliasts sat in the great
halls in sections of five hundred; the tribunal was, then, composed of
one thousand to fifteen hundred judges. The Athenians had no
prosecuting officer as we have; a citizen took upon himself to make
the accusation. The accused and the accuser appeared before the court;
each delivered a plea which was not to exceed the time marked off by a
water-clock. Then the judges voted by depositing a black or white
stone. If the accuser did not obtain a certain number of votes, he
himself was condemned.

=The Magistrates.=--The sovereign people needed a council to prepare
the business for discussion and magistrates to execute their
decisions. The council was composed of five hundred citizens drawn by
lot for one year. The magistrates were very numerous: ten generals to
command the army, thirty officials for financial administration, sixty
police officials to superintend the streets, the markets, weights and
measures, etc.[69]

=Character of This Government.=--The power in Athens did not pertain
to the rich and the noble, as in Sparta. In the assembly everything
was decided by a majority of votes and all the votes were equal. All
the jurors, all the members of the council, all the magistrates except
the generals were chosen by lot. The citizens were equal not only in
theory, but also in practice. Socrates said[70] to a well-informed
Athenian who did not dare to speak before the people: "Of what are you
afraid? Is it of the fullers, the shoe-makers, the masons, the
artisans, or the merchants? for the assembly is composed of all these
people."

Many of these people had to ply their trade in order to make a living,
and could no