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In cities of
ancient Greece Ancient Greece ( el, Ἑλλάς, Hellás) was a northeastern Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of Classical Antiquity, classical antiquity ( AD 600), th ...
, the boule ( el, βουλή, ''boulē''; plural βουλαί, ''boulai'') was a council of over 500 citizens (βουλευταί, ''bouleutai'') appointed to run daily affairs of the city. Originally a council of nobles advising a king, ''boulai'' evolved according to the constitution of the city: In oligarchies boule positions might have been hereditary, while in
democracies Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose go ...
members were typically chosen by lot and served for one year. Little is known about the workings of many ''boulai'', except in the case of
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
, for which extensive material has survived.


Athenian boule

The original council of
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
was the
Areopagus The Areopagus () is a prominent rock outcropping located northwest of the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. Its English name is the Late Latin composite form of the Greek name Areios Pagos, translated "Hill of Ares" ( grc, Ἄρειος Πάγος) ...
. It consisted of ex- archons and was aristocratic in character.


Solonian boule

The Athenian boule under
Solon Solon ( grc-gre, Σόλων;  BC) was an Athenian statesman, constitutional lawmaker and poet. He is remembered particularly for his efforts to legislate against political, economic and moral decline in Archaic Athens.Aristotle ''Politics'' ...
heard appeals from the most important decisions of the courts. Those in the poorest class could not serve on the boule of 400. The higher governmental posts, archons (magistrates), were reserved for citizens of the top two income groups.


Cleisthenes' boule (after 508 BC)

Following the Athenian Revolution in 508 BC Cleisthenes formed a new government of Athens through a series of reforms. In strengthening the common Athenian identity Cleisthenes devised an artificial political division of Athens into ten
tribes The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...
. The tribes would each include local '' demes'' from three different types of areas; the city trittys, the coastal trittys and inland trittys. The institution of the Boule was reformed accordingly and would now be a council of 500 male citizens. Each of the ten tribes supplied 50 men to the council with each of the 50 adhering from its constituting demes and distributed quantitatively according to the size of their population. Under Cleisthenes the Boule attained renewed political power as responsible for the agenda-setting of the legislative body of the Assembly (ekklesia) as well as the formal execution of the political decisions taken in the Assembly. The council was responsible for about half of the decrees ratified by the Assembly. The boule met every day except for festival days and ill-omened days. According to
Aristotle Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...
, Cleisthenes introduced the Bouleutic Oath.


Selection process

Members of the Council under Cleistenes were selected by lot. Not all citizens, however, were in the selection pool when selecting members by lot from each deme. Only eligible citizens, male citizens age 30 or above and with no criminal charges, who had put themselves forward would be available for selection. Membership was restricted at this time to the top three of the original four property classes (the '' Pentacosiomedimni'',
Hippeis ''Hippeis'' ( grc, ἱππεῖς, singular ἱππεύς, ''hippeus'') is a Greek term for cavalry. In ancient Athenian society, after the political reforms of Solon, the ''hippeus'' was the second highest of the four social classes. It was c ...
and Zeugitae, but not the '' Thetes'') and to citizens over the age of thirty. The former restriction, though never officially changed, fell out of practice by the middle of the 5th century BC.


Accountability and responsiveness

The Boule had a number of safeguarding principles that secured the accountability and responsiveness of the council to the larger public. Three of the main mechanisms in place were; monitoring by other governing institutions including the assembly (ekklesia) and the courts, the required rendering of a full account of the work undertaken upon leaving the council and not least the ability of the general citizenry and fellow council members to charge individual members with a vote of no confidence. Members of the boule served for one year and no man could serve more than twice in his life, nor more than once a decade. The leadership of the boule (the ''
prytany The ''prytaneis'' (πρυτάνεις; sing.: πρύτανις ''prytanis'') were the executives of the '' boule'' of ancient Athens. Origins and organization The term (like ''basileus'' or ''tyrannos'') is probably of Pre-Greek etymology (pos ...
'') rotated between the tribe delegations and a new 'prytany' was chosen every month by lot. The man in charge of ''prytany'' was replaced every day from among the 50 members again chosen by lot.Beck, H., ''A Companion to Ancient Greek Government'', John Wiley & Sons, 2013, p. 201.


Ephialtes' boule (after 461 BC)

After the reforms of
Ephialtes Ephialtes ( grc-gre, Ἐφιάλτης, ''Ephialtēs'') was an ancient Athenian politician and an early leader of the democratic movement there. In the late 460s BC, he oversaw reforms that diminished the power of the Areopagus, a traditional ba ...
and
Pericles Pericles (; grc-gre, Περικλῆς; c. 495 – 429 BC) was a Greek politician and general during the Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Athenian politics, particularly between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Pelo ...
in the mid-5th century BC, the boule took on many of the administrative and judicial functions of the Areopagus, which retained its traditional right to try homicide cases. It supervised the state's finances, navy, cavalry, sacred matters, building and shipping matters and care for invalids and orphans. Its own members staffed many boards that oversaw the finer points of these many administrative duties. It undertook the examination of public officials both before and after leaving office (most offices lasting one year) to ensure honest accounting and loyalty to the state. It heard some cases of impeachment of public officials for high crimes and mismanagement or serious dereliction of duties. At some point in the late 5th century, pay was instituted for those serving in the boule; this may have been a way to encourage poorer citizens to volunteer, who would otherwise be reluctant to serve. The boule was considered the cornerstone of the democratic constitution, providing a locus for day-to-day activities and holding together the many disparate administrative functions of the government. Because of the rotation of members, it was assumed that the boule was free from the domination of factions of any kind, although there is some evidence that richer citizens served out of proportion to poorer citizens. This may be due to the heavy investment of time required, time that poorer citizens would not have had to spare.Thorley, J., ''Athenian Democracy'', Routledge, 2005, pp. 58-59.


''Boulai'' in other Greek states


Kingdom of Macedonia

In the Macedonian Kingdom, and later the Macedonian Empire, the body that assisted the
king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
with running the
kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
was called the ''synedrion'', literally translated as "The Congress". This tradition continued to be in use in the years of
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
and its members were hereditary. Although not democratic, the members of the Synedrion, including the
king King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
, were considered equal to one another and had the right of the freedom of speech.


Corinth

The
League of Corinth The League of Corinth, also referred to as the Hellenic League (from Greek Ἑλληνικός ''Hellenikos'', "pertaining to Greece and Greeks"), was a confederation of Greek states created by Philip II in 338–337 BC. The League was create ...
was a
federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-govern ...
of Greek states created by king
Philip II of Macedon Philip II of Macedon ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 382 – 21 October 336 BC) was the king ('' basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the ...
during the winter of 338/337 BC to facilitate his use of unified
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
military forces in his war against
Achaemenid Persia The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest emp ...
. The league guaranteed, among other things, that member states'
constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...
s in force at the time of joining were guaranteed and that a Synedrion, or congress of representatives, was to meet at
Corinth Corinth ( ; el, Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, ) is the successor to an ancient city, and is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Since the 2011 local government refor ...
.


Epirus

The
Epirus sq, Epiri rup, Epiru , native_name_lang = , settlement_type = Historical region , image_map = Epirus antiquus tabula.jpg , map_alt = , map_caption = Map of ancient Epirus by Heinri ...
, which became a federal republic in 231 BC, was ruled by the "Synedrion", or "The Congress". The Synedrion was dissolved when the Epirote federation fell apart due to internal upheaval during the Third Macedonian War.


Modern Greece

The name Boule, pronounced as '' Vouli'' in Modern Greek, is preserved in the Parliament of modern Greece; either as the name of the lower house of a bicameral parliament in 1844–1864 and 1927–1935, or the name of the unicameral Parliament in 1864–1927, 1935–1941, 1944–1967, and 1974–today.


Notes


References

*Aristotle. '' Constitution of Athens'' 4.3, 46.1, 62.3 *Hignett, Charles. ''A History of the Athenian Constitution''. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1958. *Jones, A.H.M. ''Athenian Democracy''. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1957. *Rhodes, P.J. ''The Athenian Boule''. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1972. *Struble, Robert, Jr. ''Treatise on Twelve Lights'', Chapter Six
"Ancient Greece"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boule (Ancient Greece) Ancient Greek titles Ancient Greek government Athenian democracy