boule (ancient Greece)
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In cities of ancient Greece, the ''boule'' ( grc, βουλή; : ''boulai'', ) was a council (, ''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 Oligarchy (; ) is a conceptual form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people. These people may or may not be distinguished by one or several characteristics, such as nobility, fame, wealth, education, or corporate, r ...
''boule'' positions might have been hereditary, while in democracies 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, for which extensive material has survived.


Athenian ''boule''

The original council of Athens was the Areopagus. It consisted of ex-
archons ''Archon'' ( gr, ἄρχων, árchōn, plural: ἄρχοντες, ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem αρχ-, mean ...
and was aristocratic in character.


Solonian ''boule''

The Athenian ''boule'' under Solon 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 The Athenian Revolution (508–507 BCE) was a revolt by the people of Athens that overthrew the ruling aristocratic oligarchy, establishing the almost century-long self-governance of Athens in the form of a participatory democracy – open to all ...
in 508 BC
Cleisthenes Cleisthenes ( ; grc-gre, Κλεισθένης), or Clisthenes (c. 570c. 508 BC), was an ancient Athenian lawgiver credited with reforming the constitution of ancient Athens and setting it on a democratic footing in 508 BC. For these accomplishm ...
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 tribes would each include local '' demes'' from three different types of areas; the city
trittys The ''trittyes'' (; grc, τριττύες ''trittúes''), singular ''trittys'' (; τριττύς ''trittús'') were part of the organizational structure the divided the population in ancient Attica, and is commonly thought to have been establish ...
, 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 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, Cleisthenes introduced the bouleutic oath.


Selection process

Members of the Council under Cleisthenes were selected by lot. Not all citizens, however, were in the selection pool when selecting members by lot from each deme. Only 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 The Solonian constitution was created by Solon in the early 6th century BC. At the time of Solon the Athenian State was almost falling to pieces in consequence of dissensions between the parties into which the population was divided. Solon wanted ...
'', '' hippeis'' and ''
zeugitae The Solonian constitution was created by Solon in the early 6th century BC. At the time of Solon the Athenian State was almost falling to pieces in consequence of dissensions between the parties into which the population was divided. Solon wanted ...
'', but not the ''
thetes The Solonian constitution was created by Solon in the early 6th century BC. At the time of Solon the Athenian State was almost falling to pieces in consequence of dissensions between the parties into which the population was divided. Solon wanted ...
'') 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 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'') 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 and Pericles 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 Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...
, and later the
Macedonian Empire Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...
, the body that assisted the king with running the kingdom was called the ''synedrion'', literally translated as "The Congress". This tradition continued to be in use in the years of Alexander the Great and its members were hereditary. Although not democratic, the members of the Synedrion, including the king, were considered equal to one another and had the right of the
freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recogni ...
.


Corinth

The League of Corinth was a federation of
Greek states 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 ...
created by king Philip II of Macedon during the winter of 338/337 BC to facilitate his use of unified Greek military forces in his war against Achaemenid Persia. The league guaranteed, among other things, that member states' constitutions in force at the time of joining were guaranteed and that a Synedrion, or congress of representatives, was to meet at Corinth.


Epirus

The Epirus, which became a
federal republic A federal republic is a federation of states with a republican form of government. At its core, the literal meaning of the word republic when used to reference a form of government means: "a country that is governed by elected representatives ...
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 The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule of the Hellenes, label=none), also known as the Parliament of the Hel ...
'' 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.


References


Sources

*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