The Athenian Constitution (Classics) by Aristotle

Author:Aristotle
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2004-06-30T16:00:00+00:00

P THE ATHLOTHETAE (Chapter 60)

Having completed his survey of officials appointed annually by lot our author turns to officials of other kinds, in this chapter a board which was appointed by lot but for four years, the athlothetae. They were responsible for one of the major festivals, the Panathenaea (cf. 54.7), and he digresses from them to deal with the sacred olive oil, and with the prizes awarded for the various contests at the Panathenaea.

60

(1) That is the position with regard to the nine archons. Ten men are appointed by lot as athlothetae, one from each tribe. After being scrutinized they hold office for four years: they administer the procession at the Panathenaea, and the musical contests, the athletic contests and the horse race; they are responsible for the making of the robe, and together with the council for the making of the vases, and they present the olive oil to the winning athletes. (2) The oil is collected from the sacred olives. The archon exacts it from the owners of land on which sacred olives grow, 1½ cups from each tree. Formerly the state let out the contract for collecting the crop, and if anyone dug up or cut down a sacred olive he was tried by the council of the Areopagus and, if convicted, sentenced to death. Nowadays, however, the oil is levied from the owners of the land, and the law remains but trials are no longer held: the state now obtains the oil simply from the property, not specifically from the sacred trees. (3) The archon collects the oil produced in his year of office, and hands it over to the treasurers of Athena on the Acropolis: he is not allowed to take his place in the council of the Areopagus until he has handed all the oil to the treasurers. The treasurers keep the oil on the Acropolis for the meantime, and then at the Panathenaea they measure it out to the athlothetae and the athlothetae give it to the victorious contestants. The prizes are money and gold for winners of the musical contests, shields for the contest in manliness, and olive oil for the athletic contests and the horse race.

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