In ancient Greece the chief magistrate in various Greek city states was called eponymous archon (ἐπώνυμος ἄρχων, epōnymos archōn). "Archon" (ἄρχων, pl. ἄρχοντες, archontes) means "ruler" or "lord", frequently used as the title of a specific public office,[1] while "eponymous" means that he gave his name to the year in which he held office, much like the Roman dating by consular years.
In Classical Athens, a system of nine concurrent archons evolved, led by three respective remits over the civic, military, and religious affairs of the state: the three office holders were known as the eponymous archon (ruler of Athens, the highest political office in the city-state), the polemarch (πολέμαρχος, "war ruler", the commander-in-chief of the Athenian military), and the archon basileus (ἄρχων βασιλεύς, "king ruler", the high priest of the city).[2][3] The six others were the thesmothetai, judicial officers. Originally these offices were filled from the wealthier classes by elections every ten years. During this period the eponymous archon was the chief magistrate, the polemarch was the head of the armed forces, and the archon basileus was responsible for some civic religious arrangements, and for the supervision of some major trials in the law courts. After 683 BC the offices were held for only a single year, and the year was named after the eponymous archon.
Background
The archon was the chief magistrate in many Greek cities, but in Athens there was a council of archons which exerted a form of executive government. From the late 8th century BC there were three archons: the archon eponymos, the polemarchos (originally with a military role, which was transferred to the ten strategoi in 501 BC), and the archon basileus (the ceremonial vestige of the Athenian monarchy).[4] These positions were filled from the aristocracy (the Eupatridae) by elections every ten years. During this period Archon Eponymous was the chief magistrate, the Polemarch was the head of the armed forces, and the Archon Basileus was responsible for the civic religious arrangements.
After 683 BC the offices were held for only a single year, and the year was named after the archon eponymous.[citation needed] The year ran from July to June.[5] The archon eponymous was the chief archon, and presided over meetings of the Boule and Ecclesia, the ancient Athenian assemblies. The archon eponymous remained the titular head of state even under the democracy, though with much reduced political importance. Under the reforms of Solon, himself archon eponymous in 594 BC, there was a brief period when the number of archons rose to ten. After 457 BC ex-archons were automatically enrolled as life members of the Areopagus, though that assembly was no longer extremely important politically.
One of the archons oversaw the procedure for ostracism after 487 BC.[6] An archon's court was in charge of the epikleroi.[7] Other duties of the archons included supervising the Panathenaea and Dionysia festivals.[8]
List of archons of Athens
In the following list of Archons, years where the name of the archon is unknown are identified as such. Years listed as "anarchy" mean that there was literally "no archon". There are various conflicting reconstructions of lists; sources for this list are given at the end. Note that the term of an archon covered two of our years, beginning in the spring or summer and continuing into the next spring or summer. The polemarch or strategoi, basileus, and thesmothetai (the six assistants to the archons) are also listed, where known.
The later Athenian tradition varies on the exact position of this line; they held archonship for life, sometimes referred to as "Perpetual Archon", and exercised the sacral powers of kingship, as did the archon basileus later. The historicity of any of this ancient list may be reasonably doubted. However, Aristotle indicates, within the Constitution of Athens, that it was indeed the house of Codrus that abolished the title of king in favor of Archon.[9]
According to the Athenian Constitution, Dracon reformed the laws of Athens during the archonship of Aristaechmus.
623–621 BC
Unknown
Reorganized
Year
Eponymous archon
Other officials or associated events
621–615 BC
Unknown
615–614 BC
Heniochides
614–605 BC
Unknown
605–604 BC
Aristocles
The Parian Marble associates the archonship of Aristocles with Alyattes becoming king of Lydia. According to Debra Nails, Aristocles was the paternal grandfather of Plato.
604–600 BC
Unknown
600–599 BC
Critias
The Parian Marble dates the flight of Sappho from Lesbos to Sicily in the archonship of Critias.
Presumably son of another archon named Lysiades, ancestor of Ti. Claudius Lysiades, Demostratus, and Philippus, archons of 174-175, 180-181, and 193-194.[85]
45–46
(Vipsanius) Antipater neoterus
Son of the archon of 30-31, father of the archon of ca. 75, and ancestor of the archon of ca. 110-115.[86]
46–49
Unknown
49–50
Deinophilus
50–54
Unknown
53–54
Dionysodorus
54–56
Unknown
56–57
Konon
Grandfather of Flavius Sophocles, archon of 103-104.[87]
Originally of Synnada in Phrygia, also patron of the association of Dionysiac artists, priest of the Harmony of the Greeks and Zeus Eleutherius at Plataia[97]
Rotoff suggests that the absence of an archon for this year, and two of the following four years, was likely due to the Antonine Plague.[102]
168–169
Tineius Ponticus of Besa
169–170
anarchy
170–171
Tiberius Memmius Flaccus of Marathon
171–172
anarchy
172–173
Lucius Gellius Xenagoras of Melite
Originally of Delphi. Father of Xenagoras, archon of ca. 213-220.[103]
173–174
Veisius Piso of Melite
ca. 174–175
Ti. Claudius Lysiades of Melite
Descendant of Lysiades the younger, archon ca. 42 AD, brother of Ti. Claudius Demostratus, archon of 180-181, and uncle of Ti. Claudius Philippus, archon of 193/4.[104]
175–176
Claudius Heracleides of Melite
176-177
Aristocleides of Piraeus
Son of Philistides, archon of 163-164, brother of Philistides, archon of ca. 194-200, uncle of Aurelius Philistides, archon of ca. 225 AD.[105]
177-178 or 178-179
Sallustianus Aeolion of Phyla
179-180
[Scrib]onius Capito
180–181
Claudius Demostratus
Descendant of Lysiades the younger, archon ca. 42 AD, brother of Ti. Claudius Lysaides, archon of ca. 174-175, and father of Ti. Claudius Philippus, archon of 193/4.[106]
Brother of Aelius Alexander, archon ca. 192-200.[111]
ca. 192-200
Quintus ... of Eleusis
ca. 192-200
Pompeius Alexander of Acharnae
193–194
Ti. Claudius "Torchbearer"
His personal name is obscured due to hieronymy, but is known from earlier sources to have been Philippus. Descendant of Lysiades the younger, archon ca. 42 AD, nephew of Ti. Claudius Lysaides, archon of ca. 174-175, and son of Ti. Claudius Demostratus, archon of 180-181.[112]
ca. 194-201
Philisteides of Piraeus
Son of Philistides, archon of 163-164, brother of Aristocleides, archon of ca. 176-177, uncle of Aurelius Philistides, archon of ca. 225 AD.[113]
Descendant of Julius Cassius, archon of 108-109, cousin of Cassianus "Sacred Herald", archon of 231-232, and father of Cassianus Philippus, archon of 237-238.[115]
ca. 205
M. Munatius Themison of Azenia
Son of Munatius Maximianus Vopiscus, archon of 182-183.[116]
209–210
Flavius Diogenes of Marathon
ca. 210-211
Fabius "Torchbearer" of Marathon
His personal name is obscured due to hieronymy, from earlier sources it is known to have been Thisbianus. Probably son of Fabius Thisbianus, archon of 186-187.[117]
Suffect consul sometime before his archonship, related by marriage to Emperor Pupienus.
231-232
Cassianus "Sacred Herald" of Steiria
His personal name is obscured due to hieronymy, from earlier sources we know that it was Bassus. Descendant of Julius Cassius, archon of 108-109, cousin of Cassianus Apollonius, archon ca. 203-208 and Cassianus Philippus, archon of 237-238.[122]
232-235
Unknown
234–235
... Epictetus of Acharnae
236-237
Unknown
240–241
Cas[sianus Philippus] of Steiria
Descendant of Julius Cassius, archon of 108-109, son of Cassianus Apollonius, archon ca. 203-208, cousin of Cassianus "Sacred Herald", archon of 231-232.[123]
^At first the chief of the city was only a priest. "The charge of the public sacrifices of the city belongs according to religious custom, not to special priests, but to those men who derive their dignity from the hearth, and who are here called kings, elsewhere Prytaneis, and again archons." (Aristotle, Politics, VIII.5)
^"The Athenian archons when they entered upon their duties ascended to the Acropolis wearing crowns of myrtles, and offered a sacrifice to the titular, divinity of the town. It was also customary for them to wear crowns of foliage when they exercised their functions. And it is certain that the crown, which became and which still remains the emblem of power, was then only a religious symbol, an exterior sign, which accompanied prayer and sacrifice. Amongst the nine archons, the second archon, the one called the King, was the representative of the high priestly function of the old Kings, but each of his colleagues had some priestly duty to fulfill, some sacrifice to offer to the gods. ("Gustave Ducoudray, The history of ancient civilization: a handbook, 1889 pg 129)
^Gods, Heroes and Tyrants: Greek Chronology in Chaos By Emmet John Sweeney.
^Green, Peter (2009). "Diodorus Siculus on the Third Sacred War". In Marincola, John (ed.). A Companion to Greek and Roman Historiography. Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World. Vol. 2. Oxford, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons. p. 364. ISBN9780470766286.
^The son of Codrus was lame, which was why his brother Neileus would not let him rule, but the Delphian oracle bestowed the kingdom upon Medon. For more see Pausanias, Description of Greece, 7. 2. 1.
^Constitution of Athens and Related Texts – Page 70
^John Blair, Blair's Chronological and Historical Tables: From the Creation to the Present Time, with Additions and Corrections from the Most Authentic Writers, Including the Computation of St. Paul, as Connecting the Period from the Exode to the Temple. London: Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, 1844. pg. 27
^Pausanias, Description of Greece, Volume 3 – Page 64. (cf. "The successors of Codrus were Medon (son of Codrus), Acastus (son of Medon), Archippus (son of Acastus), Thersippus (son of Archippus), Phorbas (son of Thersippus), Megacles (son of Phorbas), Diognetus (son of Megacles), Pherecles (son of Diognetus), Ariphron (son of Pherecles), Thespieus (son of Ariphron), Agamestor (son of Thespieus), Aeschylus (son of Agamestor), Alcmaeon. All these, according to the common tradition, held the archonship for life. After Alcmaeon the tenure of the office was made decennial. The first decennial archon was Charops, the second was Aesimides, and the third was Clidicus. See Eusebius, Chronic. vol. 1. pp. 185–190, ed. Schone.")
^Michael Russell, A Connection of Sacred and Profane History, Pg 355
^Herodotus, George Rawlinson, Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, Sir John Gardner Wilkinson. The History of Herodotus: A New English Version, Ed. with Copious Notes and Appendices, Illustrating the History and Geography of Herodotus, from the Most Recent Sources of Information; and Embodying the Chief Results, Historical and Ethnographical, which Have Been Obtained in the Progress of Cuneiform and Hieroglyphical Discovery, Volume 3. Appleton, 1882. Pg 316
^Evelyn Abbott. A Skeleton Outline of Greek History: Chronologically Arranged. Pg 27.
^Pausanias's Description of Greece, 4.5.3; Volume 3
By Pausanias. Pg 64
^Henry-Fines Clinton. Fasti Hellenici, the Civil and Literary Chronology of Greece, from the Earliest Accounts to the Death of Augustus. University Press, 1834 pg 241, Pg 166
^Nicolas Lenglet Dufresnoy. Chronological Tables of Universal History: Sacred and Profane, Ecclesiastical and Civil; from the Creation of the World, to the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred and Forty-three. With a Preliminary Discourse on the Short Method of Studying History; and a Catalogue of Books Necessary for that Purpose; with Some Remarks on Them, Volume 1. A. Millar, 1762. Pg 124
^John Blair. Blair's Chronological and Historical Tables: From the Creation to the Present Time, with Additions and Corrections from the Most Authentic Writers, Including the Computation of St. Paul, as Connecting the Period from the Exode to the Temple. Longman, Brown, Green and Longmans, Paternoster Row., 1844. Pg 38
^Blair's Chronological and Historical Tables. Pg 39
^Unless otherwise indicated, the names and dates of archons down to 481/0 BC are taken from T. J. Cadoux, "The Athenian Archons from Kreon to Hypsichides", Journal of Hellenic Studies, 68 (1948), pp. 70-123
^ abCadoux notes "We cannot be sure that it was the same man who held the second archonship, nor, if we held that it was, do we know anything of the circumstances under which this happened. Nor, again, do we know if this man or men belonged to the Philaid family." ("Athenian Archons", p. 90)
^Cadoux notes this entry is based on a surviving passage of Hippys of Rhegion which is very obscure; Hippys states one Epainetos was king at Athens in the 36th Olympiad. However, this statement is full of mistakes which makes Cadooux suspicious of this passage. ("Athenian Archons", p. 91)
^ abcdePer one surviving fragment of the Athenian Archon list. Donald W. Bradeen, "The Fifth-Century Archon List", Hesperia, 32 (1963), pp. 187-208
^So Cadoux and Alan Samuel; Benjamin D. Merrit notes the name could be read "Onetorides". (Merrit, "Greek inscriptions, 14-27", Hesperia, 8 (1939), p 60)
^But he adds, "It seems gratuitous to invent a third Miltiades-presumably from another family; and there are no solid chronological grounds for rejecting either of the two Philaids." (Cadoux, "Athenian Archons", p. 110)
^Alan Samuel is doubtful this archon existed, claiming this is based on Eustathius' misunderstanding his source, which provides the date Pindar died, not when he was born. Samuel, Greek and Roman Chronology (Muenchen: Beck'sche, 1972), p. 204
^Cadoux suspects this is a corruption of the archon's real name. ("Athenian Archons", p. 116)
^Added from Samuel, Greek and Roman Chronology, p. 205
^Nine archons were appointed by lot by the tribes from 500 nominees chosen by the demes and that this was the method in the Archonship of Telesinus. See also the Areopagite constitution.
^Unless otherwise noted, archons from 480/79 to 348/7 BC are taken from Alan E. Samuel, Greek and Roman Chronology (Muenchen: Beck'sche, 1972), pp. 206-210.
^"Calliades was archon in Athens, and the Romans made Spurius Cassius and Proculus Verginius Tricostus consuls, and the Eleians celebrated the Seventy-fifth Olympiad, that in which Astylus of Syracuse won the 'stadion.' It was in this year that king Xerxes made his campaign against Greece" (Diodorus, 11.1.2)
^Friis Johansen, H. and Whittle, E.W. 1980. Aeschylus: the Suppliants, 3 Vols. Copenhagen. 21ff
^Alternative spellings are taken from Samuel, Greek and Roman Chronology, pp. 206-210
^The Works of Xenophon: & II and Anabasis. 1890 By Xenophon. Pg 98
^Thucydides (2.2) states that it began "in the 48th year of the priestess-ship of Chrysis at Argos, in the ephorate of Aenesias at Sparta, in the last month but two of the archonship of Pythodorus at Athens." Thucydides reports a solar eclipse that summer (2.28), which can be confidently dated to 3 August 431 BC. (E. J. Bickerman, Chronology of the Ancient World (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1968), p. 87)
^Thucydides: Arguments. Peloponnesian War, Book III (cont'd.)-VI By Thucydides. Pg 208
^Sophocles: The Oedipus Coloneus. 3d ed. 1900 By Sophocles, Sir Richard Claverhouse Jebb. Pg 4. (cf. Micon was [the Archon of] 402 B.C., Callias of [the Archon of] 406 B.C. Between them came Alexias (405), Pythodorus (404, the Anarchy), and Eucleides (403).)
^Unless otherwise noted, archons from 347/6 to 301/0 BC are taken from Benjamin D. Meritt, "Athenian Archons 347/6–48/7 B.C.", Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, 26 (1977), pp. 161–191
^Unless otherwise noted, archons from 300/299 to 228/7 BC are taken from Michael J. Osborne, "The Archons of Athens 300/299-228/7", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 171 (2009), pp. 83-99
^ abcThe order in which these three archons held their office is not yet clear. (Osborne, "Archons of Athens", p. 85 n. 14)
^This year is commonly attributed to "Gorgias" based on Pseudo-Plutarch (Vitae Decem Oratorum, 847D); however, Gorgias may be a corruption of the very rare name "Ourias" archon in 281/0 BC; Gorgias is thus a ghost. (Osborne, "Archons of Athens", p. 87 n. 21)
^Osborne notes that Pytharatus "is one of the very few archons of the 3rd century after the 290s to be securely dated on the basis of Olympiads and literary testimony." "Archons of Athens", p. 88 n. 26
^Unless otherwise noted, archons from 227/6 to 211/0 BC are taken from Michael Osborne, "The Date of the Athenian Archon Thrasyphon", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 164 (2008), pp. 85-8
^Aleshire had placed Hoplon at this year because there was a gap; however, Osborne's latest revision of the Archon list has removed that gap. For further details, see Aleshire, "The Athenian Archon Hoplon", Hesperia, 57 (1988), pp. 253-5
^Thrasyphon is commonly dated to 221/0 BC based on a Magnesian inscription that allows his archonship to be dated to the fourth year of Olympiad 139; Osborne has argued that the correlation is not that exact and his archonship could fall in the first year of Olympiad 140. (Osborne, "The Date", pp. 85, 88)
^Merrit disagrees, placing Sostratos here and providing a primary source; Osborne provides no supporting evidence for Aeschron here. Merritt, "Athenian Archons", p. 178
^Unless otherwise noted, archons from 201/0 to 160/59 BC are taken from Osborne, "Archons of Athens"
^ abFollowing the arguments of John S. Traill, "The Athenian Archon Pleistainos", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 103 (1994), pp. 109-114
^Christian Habicht argues that, based on the floruit of the letter-cutter of inscription did not extend beyond 185 BC, Achaeus' archonship occurred earlier and places Epaenetus in this year. (Habicht, "The Eponymous Archons", p. 245)
^ abcSamuel adds these three names, as well as the next four, citing IG III2 1713 for their presence in the archon list. (Greek and Roman), p. 226
^Unless otherwise noted, archons from 8/7 BC to AD 74 are taken from Samuel, Greek and Roman, pp. 223–237
^Identified with a member of the Thracian Royal house based on IG II2 1070, making him the first verified foreigner to be the Athenian Eponymous archon. (Robert K. Sherk, "The Eponymous Officials of Greek Cities: I", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, 83 (1990), p. 275)