The Athenian Constitution   

then puts it to the Council to pass the candidate or not, and to the
law-court to give the final vote. If no one wishes to make an
accusation, he proceeds at once to the vote. Formerly a single
individual gave the vote, but now all the members are obliged to
vote on the candidates, so that if any unprincipled candidate has
managed to get rid of his accusers, it may still be possible for him
to be disqualified before the law-court. When the
examination has been
thus completed, they proceed to the stone on which are the pieces of
the victims, and on which the Arbitrators take oath before declaring
their decisions, and witnesses swear to their testimony. On
this stone
the Archons stand, and swear to execute their office uprightly and
according to the laws, and not to receive presents in respect of the
performance of their duties, or, if they do, to dedicate a golden
statue. When they have taken this oath they proceed to the
Acropolis, and there they repeat it; after this they enter upon
their office.

Part 56

The Archon, the King, and the Polemarch have each two assessors,
nominated by themselves. These officers are examined in the lawcourt
before they begin to act, and give in accounts on each occasion of
their acting.
As soon as the Archon enters office, he begins by issuing a
proclamation that whatever any one possessed before he entered into
office, that he shall possess and hold until the end of his
term. Next
he assigns Choregi to the tragic poets, choosing three of the
richest persons out of the whole body of Athenians. Formerly he used
also to assign five Choregi to the comic poets, but now the tribes
provide the Choregi for them. Then he receives the Choregi who have
been appointed by the tribes for the men's and boys' choruses and
the comic poets at the Dionysia, and for the men's and boys'
choruses at the Thargelia (at the Dionysia there is a chorus for
each tribe, but at the Thargelia one between two tribes, each tribe
bearing its share in providing it); he transacts the exchanges of
properties for them, and reports any excuses that are
tendered, if any
one says that he has already borne this burden, or that he is exempt
because he has borne a similar burden and the period of his
exemption has not yet expired, or that he is not of the required
age; since the Choregus of a boys' chorus must be over forty years
of age. He also appoints Choregi for the festival at Delos, and a
chief of the mission for the thirty-oar boat which conveys the
youths thither. He also superintends sacred processions, both that
in honour of Asclepius, when the initiated keep house, and
that of the
great Dionysia-the latter in conjunction with the Superintendents of
that festival. These officers, ten in number, were formerly
elected by
open vote in the Assembly, and used to provide for the
expenses of the
procession out of their private means; but now one is elected by lot
from each tribe, and the state contributes a hundred minas for the
expenses. The Archon also superintends the procession at the
Thargelia, and that in honour of Zeus the Saviour. He also
manages the
contests at the Dionysia and the Thargelia.
These, then, are the festivals which he superintends. The suits
and indictments which come before him, and which he, after a
preliminary inquiry, brings up before the lawcourts, are as follows.
Injury to parents (for bringing these actions the prosecutor cannot