How Often Did the Athenian "Dicasteria" Meet? Hansen, Mogens Herman Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Fall 1979; 20, 3; Periodicals Archive Online pg. 243 How Often Did the Athenian Dicasteria Meet? Mogens Herman Hansen IN FOURTH-CENTURY ATHENS the three principal bodies of govern­ ment were the ecclesia, the boule and the dicasteria. The ecclesia was convoked forty times in a year l and the boule met every day except on ~,.dpat acp€CLp.m comprising annual festival days, and probably ~fL€paL a:7Tocppa8Ec. 2 But how often did the dicasteria meet? The only direct evidence bearing on this question is the famous passage from Aristophanes' Wasps in which Bdelycleon explains to his father that only a fraction of the revenue is paid out to the dicasts as fLLC8oc, whereas the young, smart politicians keep the lion's share (660-63). TOVTWV 7TA~pwfLa TaAavT' EyyVC OLcxtALa ytyvETaL ~fLtv. am) TOVTOV vvv KaTa8EC fLLC80v TOtCL 8LKaCTatC EVWVTOV "c \' " \' , ~, '8 ES xtlUaCLV, KOV7TW 7TI\EWVC EV Tn XWPCf KaTEvac EV, , ~ .... t ,~ , , , '\ YLYVETaL TJfLLV EKaTOV OTJ7TOV Kat 7TEVTTJKOVTa Tal\aVTa. The scholiast is undoubtedly right in his explanation that Bdelycleon arrives at the sum of 150 talents by assuming that 3 obols are paid out to 6000 jurors on 300 court days (quoted infra n.5). Most modern historians agree that Aristophanes is exaggerating, 3 but apart from stating that the figures 6000 and 300 are inflated, they leave the problem unsolved and assume without further discussion that the Athenian courts sat very frequently, quite often daily.4 In this note I shall argue that a study of the Athenian calendar provides 1 Cf. M. H. Hansen, "How Often Did the Ecclesia Meet?" GRBS 18 (1977) 43-70. 2 Cf. M. H. Hansen, "The Duration of a Meeting of the Athenian Ecclesia," CP 74 (1979) 45-46. On ~iJ-EPaL aTTopaoec if.]. D. Mikalson, '''HiJ-Epa rY.TToq,pac," AJP 96 (1975) 19-27. 3 ]. H. Lipsius, Das attische Recht und Rechtsverfahren I (Leipzig 1905) 160-61; A. Andreades, Geschichte der griechischen Staatswirtschaft (Miinchen 1931) 269; A. H. M. ] ones, Athenian Democracy (Oxford 1957) 6; J. D. Mikalson, The Sacred and Civil Calendar of the Athenian Tear (Princeton 1975) 203. The three hundred days are accepted by: G. Glotz, The Greek City (London 1929) 241, and (with modifications) by G. Busolt and H. Swoboda, Griechische Staatskunde I.2 (Miinchen 1926) 1153. 4 V. Ehrenberg, The Greek State (Oxford 1960) 73. 243 244 HOW OFTEN DID THE ATHENIAN DICASTERIA MEET? us with some indirect information pointing to the conclusion that the number of court days in an ordinary year of 354 days probably amounted to no less than ca 150 days and no more than ca 200 days. The maximum of ca 200 days is based on the following calculations. The dicasteria were convened neither on assembly days nor on festival days.5 Furthermore, the dicasteria were probably closed on ~p-EpaL a7Tooplwv ~ f.l,icT); Lys. 26.6, ~ yap avpLOv ~f.£Epa f.£OVT) AO'7TTJ TOV £v,aVTOV JCT'V, £V lit TaVT'll Tep LI,l Tep CWTfjp' 8vcla ylYV£Ta" /)'KacT~p,oV lit 7Tapa Toile VOf.£OVC &/)vvaTOV 7TATfpw8fjva,. 6 Cf. Mikalson, op.cit. (supra n.2) 26. 7 Cf. Mikalson, op.cit. (supra n.3). In Calendar VII on page 202 Mikalson lists 36 firmly dated and 24 probable annual festival days. To these 60 days must be added 9 annual festival days coinciding with monthly festival days (cf. infra n.lO) and at least 6 festival days which cannot be dated, viz. 3 days for the Apatouria and 3 days for the Mysteries at Agrai (if. Mikalson 201). 8 Cf. Mikalson, op.cit. (supra n.2) 25. MOGENS HERMAN HANSEN 245 ing reasons for suggesting that the dicasteria must have been convoked on more than 150 days during a year. In addition to the annual festival days the Athenian calendar included no less than eighty-four monthly festival days, viz. days 1-4 and 6-8 of every month.9 On nine occasions, however, a monthly festival day coincided with an annual festival day, and so the number of monthly festival days in excess of annual festival days amounts to seventy-five.10 Now, Mikalson has demonstrated that the ecclesia was convoked neither on annual nor on monthly festival days, whereas the boule did not meet on annual festival days but was regularly convoked on monthly festival days.11 What about the dicasteria? In Ps.-Xenophon, Athenaion Politeia 3.8, and the scholium to Aris­ tophanes, Wasps 663 (quoted supra n.5), it is stated without further specification that the dicasteria did not meet on festival days. On the other hand, several sources demonstrate that the monthly festival days were regarded as regular court days. IG II 2 1678 lines 27-28: [EfJ-]tc[B]w[BJry BO'T}opofJ-twvoc TptT'T}t LCTafJ-EvoV Ot[K]acT7J[p]to[v] (if. Mika1son, op.cit. [supra n.3] 48). Hesperia 5 (1936) 393-416 no. 10 lines 11-12: [llvavo }/nwvoc 8EVTEp[ at lCTafJ-lvov OtKaCT7Jptov] 7TPWTOV TWV Katv[ WV (cJ. Mika1son, op.cit. [supra n.3] 66). IG IP 1629 lines 204-12: 07TW[ c] o· (tv [KaL] al CK7JrPEtC ElcaXOwCL, [TOV]C OEcfJ-oOhac 7Tapa[ 7TAJ'T'Jpwcat OtKacT7Jpta Elc [Ev]a Ka~ OtaKOcLovc TWt [CT ]paT'T}yWt TWt E7T~ Tac CVfJ-[fJ-]optac 'T}Lp'T}fJ-EVWt EV TWt [MJOVVtXtWVt fJ-'T}v~ Tfjt OEV[ T JEpat LCTafJ-Evov (cJ. Mikalson, op.cit. [supra n.3] 138). Hesperia 5 (1936) 393-413 no. 10 lines 115-16: EKtPOcpOptw[voc OE]V­ Tlpat lCTafJ-Evov OtKacT7JptoV T6 fJ-Ec[ ov TW]V KatVWV (cJ. Mika1son, op.cit. [supra n.3] 165).12 9 Cf. Mikalson, op.cit. (supra n.3) 13-24. 10 Annual festival days coincided with monthly festival days on 7 Hekatombaion( ?), 2,3 and 6 Boedromion, 7 and 8 Pyanopsion, 8 Poseideon( ?), 6 Mounichion, 7 Thargelion. Cf. Mikalson, op.cit. (supra n.3) 186. 7 Hekatombaion and 8 Poseideon are not mentioned by Mikalson in his survey on page 186 but discussed on pages 26 and 89. 11 Mikalson, op.cit. (suPra n.3) 186-90 and 196-97. 12 A fifth possible example is Dem. 42.5: TOU yap M£TaY£LTVLWVOC ••• Til O£VT£Pq. iCTap,£vov €7TO[OVV o{ cTpaT7)yol Toic TpLaKocloLc TaC aVTL80c£LC. In this case, however, we do not know whether the phrase 7T0L£iv TaC aVTLOOC£LC indicates a session of a dicasterion or a meeting of the board of generals. 246 HOW OFTEN DID THE ATHENIAN DICASTERIA MEET? So the dicasteria were regularly convened on monthly festival days like the boule but in opposition to the ecclesia. It is a reasonable assumption that the Athenians would not have convoked the dicasteria on monthly festival days if the available number of 'week­ days' had sufficed for the business to be transacted by the people's court. Now, if the seventy-five monthly festival days are added to the ca 75 annual festival days, the 40 assembly days and the ca 15 ~J.dpru cX7Toc/>paoEC, the number of days left in an ordinary year of 354 days is ca 150 days. The conclusion seems to be that this number of days was insufficient, and so the number of actual court days in an ordinary year can be fixed within the limits of ca 150 days (minimum) and ca 200 days (maximum). UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN April, I979