Opis: American Edition of the British Encyclopedia, Vol. 2 - Nicholson William

Excerpt from American Edition of the British Encyclopedia, Vol. 2: Or Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, Comprising an Accurate and Popular View of the Present Improved State of Human Knowledge

Athens, famous for the justice and impartiality of its decrees; to which the gods themselves are said to have submitted their quarrels. This tribunal was in great reputation among the Greeks, so that it was denominated the most sacred and venerable tribunal, and Socactes says that it was deemed so sacred, that if those who had been vicious were elected into it, they immediately gave up their former practices, and conformed to the rules of the senate, because they could not resist the authority of example, but were constrained to appear virtuous. The Romans themselves had so high an opinion of it, that they trusted many of their difficult causes to its decision. Demosthenes says, that in his time neither plaintiff nor defendant luul any just reason to be dissatisfied with their proceedings Innocence, summoned to appear before it, approached without apprehension; and the guilt-, convicted and condemned, retired without daring to murmur. Authors are not agreed about the number of the judges who composed this august court. Some reckon thirty-one, others fifty-one, and others five hundred: in reality, their number seems not to have been fixed, but to have been more or less in different years, By an inscription qt.oted by Volaterranus, it appears they were then three hundred. At first i, is tribunal only consisted of nine per cms, who had all discharged the office of i-ehons, had acquitted themselves with honour in that trust, and had likewise given an account of their administration before the logistae, and undergone a very rigorous examination. Those who were admitted members of this assembly were strictly watched, and their conduct was scrutinized and judged Vol. ir. by the court to which they belonged-, without partiality. Trivial faults did not escape censure. A senator, it is said, was punished for having stifled a little bird, which from fear had taken refuge in his bosom; he was thus taught, that he, who has a heart shut against pity, should not be allowed to have the lives of the citizens at his mercy. The members of this august assembly were not allowed to wear crowns, or to obtain any marks of honour conferred by the people, as a recompence for their services; nor were they allowed to solicit any; but they were rewarded by a bounty from the public, and they had also three oboli for every cause in which judgment was given. The areopagites were judges for life. They never sat in judgment but in the open air, and that in the nighttime; to the intent that their minds might be more present and attentive; and that no object, either of pity or aversion, might make any impression upon them. However, some maintain, that the building in which the areopagites assembled was not wholly uncovered; and they observe that, among the ruins large stones have been found, whose joints are in the same angle with the pediment that must have been used for a covering. Mr. Spon, who examined the antiquities of that illustrious city, found some remains of the areopagus still existing in the middle of the temple of Theseus, which was heretofore in the middle of the city, but is now without the walls. The foundation of the areopagus is a semicircle, with an esplanade of 140 paces round it, which properly made the hall of the areopagus. There is a tribunal cut in the middle of a rock, with seats on each side of it, where the areopagites sat, exposed to the open air.

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Szczegóły: American Edition of the British Encyclopedia, Vol. 2 - Nicholson William

Nazwa: American Edition of the British Encyclopedia, Vol. 2 Or Dictionary of Arts and Sciences, Comprising an Accurate and Popular View of the Present Improved State of Human Knowledge (Classic Reprint)
Autor: Nicholson William
Wydawnictwo: FB &c Ltd
Kod paskowy: 9781330701805
Języki: angielski
Ilość stron: 310
Format: 15.2x22.9cm
Oprawa: Miękka

Recenzje: American Edition of the British Encyclopedia, Vol. 2 - Nicholson William