90 AREOPAGITE, AREOPAGUS
AEETAS
upon the top can still be seen the rough, rock-hewn benches, forming three sides of a square, upon which the court sat in the open air, in order tliat the judges should not be under the same roof as the accused. — (6) The expression was also used of the court itself (Cicero, ad Att. i. 14. 5; de Nat. Deor. ii. 74 ; Rep. i. 27). From time immemorial this court held its meetings on the hill in question, and was at once the most ancient and most revered tribunal in the city. In ancient times it had su- l^reme authority in both criminal and religious matters, and its influence, ever tending to become wider, attected laws and offices, education and mor- ality. It thus fulfilled the functions of both court and council. Pericles and his friend Ephialtes (c. 460 B.C.) set themselves to limit the power of the court (Aristotle, Const. Ath. 25), and it became largely a criminal court, while religious matters seem to have been controlled, at least in part, by the King Archon. But the reforms of Ephialtes mainly concerned interference in public affairs ; and tlie statements of ^schylus in the tragedy Eumenides, which appeared at the time in defence of the court, appear to be exaggei'ated. In any case, in tiie Roman period it regained its former powers (Cicero, ad Fam. xiii. \. 5 ; de Nat. Deor. ii. 74). As to the origin of the court, according to popular legend Ares was called before a court of the twelve gods to answer for the murder of Halirrhotius (Pans. I. xxviii. 5), but iEschylus (Bum. 685 tt'. ) attributes its foundation to Athene.
The questions which arise out of the narrative of Acts are these ; Was St. Paul taken before the council or to the hill? Or did he appear before the council sitting in the traditional place? Was he in any sense on trial ?
The King Archon held his meetings in the Stoa Basileios, and it was there that Socrates had been arraigned on a matter similar to that which exer- cised the minds of the philosophers in the case before us. It seems probable tliat this Stoa became identified with the discussion of religious questions, and that, when the council of the Areopagus re- gained its full powers, it held its meetings here, reserving its old judgment-seat for cases of murder (so Curtius, Gesammelte Abhandlungen, Berlin, 1894, ii. 528 f., Stadtgesch. von Athen, do. 1891, p. 262 f. ; but Harnack, Acts of the Apostles, Lond. and N.Y., 1909, p. 108, remarks: 'Curtius' ex- planation seems to me untenable ' ; see also Cony- beare, in HDB i. 144). The whole picture, indeed, is in favour of this view. There is no reason why the Stoics and Epicureans should have carried away the Apostle to an isolated spot. Further, Ramsay truly remarks : ' The Athenians were, in many respects, flipjjant ; but their flippancy was combined with an intense pride in the national dignity and the historic glory of the city, wliich would have revolted at such an insult as that this stranger should harangue them about his foreign deities on the spot where the Athenian elders had judged the god Ares and the hero Orestes' (St. Paul the Traveller, Lond. 1895, p. 244). Moreover, the Apostle's speech was not a philosophical dis- quisition but rather a popular oration, suited to tlie general populace of idle Athenians and dilet- tante Roman youths whose education was not considered complete until they had spent some time in the purlieus of the ancient university. If the council happened to be sitting, as was evidently the case, it was a most natural impulse to hurry the newcomer, who ' babbled ' apparently of two new deities, Jesus and 'Resurrection' (for so tliey would understand him), to its meeting-place, that the question miglit be settled as to whether or not lie was to be allowed to continue. Yet it can hardly be said that the proceedings were even re- motely connected with a judicial inquiry. It was
no anakrisis, or preliminary investigation, thougli the piiilosophers may liave hoped that something of tiie sort would be the outcome. It is of little importance wiiether the phrase ' they took him and brought him ' implies friendly compulsion or inimical intent. The feelings of the listeners would be very mixed, and they would quite naturally be excited by the curious message of the new preacher. The professing teachers were all interested in new ideas and yet resented un- warranted intrusion. The council was in the habit of making pronouncements on the subject of new religious cycles of thought, and it was no doubt felt tliat, if their attention was drawn to the sub- ject, official proceedings would follow. It is evident that there was much in the address of St. Paul that awoke sympathy in his audience. One member of the council, at least, was converted, to wit, Diony- sius. There may have been others. But the general ettect produced by the mention of the Resurrection was contempt. A few w^ere ready to hear more on the subject, possibly a minority sug- gested a more formal examination ; but the result of the hearing, as of the visit, outwardly and visibly, was failure. The council of the Areopagus made judicial procedure impossible, by refusing to treat the matter seriously, and the Apostle left them, a disappointed, and no doubt a somewhat irritated man.