wikipedia | In cities of ancient Greece, the boule (Greek: βουλή, boulē; plural βουλαί, boulai) was a council of 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 be 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.
The Athenian Boule
The original council of Athens was the Areopagus. It consisted of ex-archons 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.[1]
The Reforms of Cleisthenes
Under the reforms of Cleisthenes enacted in 508/507 BC, the boule was expanded to 500 men, made up of 50 men from each of the ten new tribes also created by Cleisthenes. The 500 men were chosen by lot at the deme level, each deme
having been allotted certain number of places proportional to
population. Membership was restricted at this time to the top three of
the original four property classes (the Pentacosiomedimni, Hippeis 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. 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 leaders of the boule (the prytany) consisted of 50 men chosen from among the 500, and a new prytany was chosen every month. The man in charge of prytany was replaced every day from among the 50 members. The boule met every day except for festival days and ill-omened days. According to Aristotle, Cleisthenes introduced the Bouleutic Oath.[2]
The Boule in the Democracy of the late 5th century 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.[3] 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.[4]
