Prytaneis

The Prytaneis were the executives of the boule of ancient Athens. The term (like basileus or tyrannos) is probably of pre-Greek origin, possibly cognate to Etruscan (e)pruni.

Origins and Organization

When Cleisthenes reorganized the Athenian government in 508/7 BCE, he replaced the old Solonian boule, or council, of 400 with a new boule of 500. The old boule consisted of 100 members of each of the four ancestral tribes. Cleisthenes created ten new tribes and made the boule consist of fifty men from each of these tribes. Each of these ten groups of fifty served as executives of the boule for one-tenth of the year. The executive officers were known as prytaneis (prytanis in the singular) and their term of office as a prytany.

Duties

The prytaneis served every day during their prytany. They formally called to meeting the full boule and the ecclesia of Athens, though in practice many meetings were mandatory and evidence suggests that persuasive individuals could enjoin the prytaneis to call or not to call a supplementary meeting. The prytaneis received ambassadors from foreign states and generally conducted the day to day business of the state. They ate at public expense in the Tholos, a circular shaped edifice constructed next to the boule house specifically for the prytaneis.

Each day, for one twenty-four hour period, one member of the fifty prytaneis was selected by lot to serve as the foreman (επιστατης). He administered the state seal and the keys to the state treasuries and archives. He was, in effect, the chief executive officer of Athens. No man was allowed to hold this office more than once, with the result that probably more than half of all adult male Athenians served, at one time or another, as the top public official of the state.

The foreman of the prytaneis, if his day happened to fall on the meeting of the ecclesia or the boule also served as the chairman of these meetings. In the fourth century, this practice changed and the chairmanship of meetings was taken over by an office specifically created for this task (the προεδροι).

In other Cities

Prytanis as a title is used in other ancient Greek cities including Rhodes, Alexandria and other cities along the west coast of Asia Minor. Offices that use this title usually have responsibility for presiding over councils of some kind.

Secondary Sources

• Hansen, Mogens H., The Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes: Structure, Principles and Ideology. Oxford: Blackwell (1991)

• Rhodes, P.J., The Athenian Boule. Oxford: Clarendon (1972)