The Origin of Eisangelia and the development of the Athenian Democracy

Abstract

Eisangelia (the impeachment trial) in classical Athens is known as a legal process to try political and military leaders for major public offences. The author attempts to reconstruct its procedure in the period from Solon to Ephialtes, and to assess the powers of the demos (people) and the Areopagos within early Athenian democracy. Two problems are discussed in this paper. One is when and by whom eisangelia was instituted, and the other is what political body heard the pre-Ephialtic eisangelia. The author finds it less appropriate to ascribe the institution to Solon than to Kleisthenes, partly because no contemporary evidence proves the existence of a Solonian eisangelia, and partly because the danger of tyranny must have been felt more seriously by the latter reformer. It seems more probable that Kleisthenes (or his successors) made use of the Solonian ephesis to introduce some method of prosecution against tyranny. By means of the ephesis, i.e., the reference of a case from one of the arkhons to the heliaia, the demos was invested with the power to hear the trials for major public offences. This is because the heliaia at that time was in substance a judicial session of the ekklesia (assembly of the citizen body). In this way a legal system came into being to impeach those who attempted to threaten the existence of the democratic constitution. It may be called the prototype of eisangelia. After the arkhons lost their political significance in 487/6 B.C., the prytaneis (presidents of the council of Five Hundred and the assembly) took their place and became the recipient of eisangelia. Two possible ways of prosecution were then open to an accuser: he could bring an impeachment either to the council or to the assembly. These channels formed the classical procedure of eisangelia for major public offences in the post-Ephialtic period. The only judicial body to hear eisangelia in the pre-Ephialtic period seems to be the demos, whether as ekklesia or as heliaia, though some scholars have argued that sovereignty in eisangelia belonged to the Areopagos. The author also offers a hypothesis that eisangelia to the arkhon for maltreatment of orphans and parents derived from the prototype and retained that original form until the time of Aristotle. Eisangelia is one of the oldest types of procedure for political trials, and its course of development shows us how the Athenian demos came to secure a way to protect their own democracy.