Page:History of Greece Vol V.djvu/23

CONTENTS. XT CHAPTER XL VI. CONSTITDTIOXAL AND JUDICIAL CKAXGES AT ATHENS UNDER PERIKI-ES. First establishment of the democratical judicial system at Athens. — Union, in the same hands, of functions both administrative and judicial in early Athens — great powers of the magistrates, as well as of the senate of Areopagus. — Magistrates generally wealthy men — oligarchical tenden- cies of the senate of Ai-eopagus — increase of democratical sentiment among the bulk of the citizens. — Political parties in Athens. — Perikles and Ephialtes democratical: Kimon, oligarchical or conservative. — Democratical Dikasteries, or Jury-com-ts, constituted by Perikles and Ephialtes. — How these dikasteries were arranged. — Pay to the dikasts introduced and made regular. — The magistrates are deprived of their judicial and confined to administrative functions. — Senate of Areopagus — its antiquity — semi-religious character — large and undefined con- trolling power. — Large powers of the senate of Areopagus, in part abused, became inconsistent with the feelings of the people after the Per- sian invasion. — New interests and tendencies then growing up at Athens. — Senate of Areopagus — a centre of action for the conservative party and Kimon. — Opposition between Kimon and Perikles — inherited from their fathers. — Cliaracter and working of Perikles. — Reserved, -philo- sophical, and business-like hab-':3 of Perikles — his little pains to court popularity — less of the demagogue than Kimon. — Ephialtes belonging to the democi'atical party, and originally equal to Peiikles in influence. — Efi"orts of Ephialtes against magisterial abuse. Kimon and his party, more powerful than Ephialtes and Perikles, until the time when the Athenian troops were dismissed from Laconia. — Ostracism of Kimon. — Measures carried by Ephialtes and Perikles to abridge the power of the senate of Ai-eopagus as well as of individual magistrates. — Listitution of the paid dikasteries. — Separation of judicial from administrative func- tions. — Assassination of Ephialtes by the conservative party. — Com- mencement of the great ascendency of Perikles, after the death of Ephi- altes. Compromise between him and Kimon. — Brilliant success of Athens, and era of the maximum of her power. — Other constitutional changes. — The Nomophylakes. — The NomothetiE — distinction between laws and psephisms, or special decrees — process by which laws were en- acted and repealed. — Procedure in making or repealing of laws assim- ilated to the procedure in judicial trials. — Graphe Paranomon — indict- ment against the mover of illegal or unconstitutional propositions. — "Working of the Graphe Paranomon. — Consei-vative spirit in which it is framed. — Restraint upon new propositions, and upon the unlimited initiative belonging to every citizen. — Abusive extension of the Graphe Paranomon afterwards. It was often used as a simple way of procuring the repeal of an existing law — without personal aim against the author of the law. — Numbers and pay of the dikasts, as provided by Perikles. — The Athenian democracy, as constituted by Perikles, remained sub- stantially unaltered aftervards down to the loss of Athenian independ- ence — excepting the temporaiy interruptions of the Pour Hundred and the Thirty. — Working of the numerous dikasteries — their large num- bers essential to exclude corruption or intimidation — liability of individ- ual magistrates to corruption. — The Athenian dikasteries are jury-trial applied on the broadest scale — exhibiting both its excellences and its