The Complete Aristotle (eng.)

dispatches also deliver them to the same officials.
44
    There is a single President of the Prytanes, elected by lot, who
presides for a night and a day; he may not hold the office for more
than that time, nor may the same individual hold it twice. He keeps
the keys of the sanctuaries in which the treasures and public
records of the state are preserved, and also the public seal; and
he is bound to remain in the Tholus, together with one-third of the
Prytanes, named by himself. Whenever the Prytanes convene a meeting
of the Council or Assembly, he appoints by lot nine Proedri, one
from each tribe except that which holds the office of Prytanes for
the time being; and out of these nine he similarly appoints one as
President, and hands over the programme for the meeting to them.
They take it and see to the preservation of order, put forward the
various subjects which are to be considered, decide the results of
the votings, and direct the proceedings generally. They also have
power to dismiss the meeting. No one may act as President more than
once in the year, but he may be a Proedrus once in each
prytany.
    Elections to the offices of General and Hipparch and all other
military commands are held in the Assembly, in such manner as the
people decide; they are held after the sixth prytany by the first
board of Prytanes in whose term of office the omens are favourable.
There has, however, to be a preliminary consideration by the
Council in this case also.
45
    In former times the Council had full powers to inflict fines and
imprisonment and death; but when it had consigned Lysimachus to the
executioner, and he was sitting in the immediate expectation of
death, Eumelides of Alopece rescued him from its hands, maintaining
that no citizen ought to be put to death except on the decision of
a court of law. Accordingly a trial was held in a law-court, and
Lysimachus was acquitted, receiving henceforth the nickname of ‘the
man from the drum-head’; and the people deprived the Council
thenceforward of the power to inflict death or imprisonment or
fine, passing a law that if the Council condemn any person for an
offence or inflict a fine, the Thesmothetae shall bring the
sentence or fine before the law-court, and the decision of the
jurors shall be the final judgement in the matter.
    The Council passes judgement on nearly all magistrates,
especially those who have the control of money; its judgement,
however, is not final, but is subject to an appeal to the
lawcourts. Private individuals, also, may lay an information
against any magistrate they please for not obeying the laws, but
here too there is an appeal to the law-courts if the Council
declare the charge proved. The Council also examines those who are
to be its members for the ensuing year, and likewise the nine
Archons. Formerly the Council had full power to reject candidates
for office as unsuitable, but now they have an appeal to the
law-courts. In all these matters, therefore, the Council has no
final jurisdiction. It takes, however, preliminary cognizance of
all matters brought before the Assembly, and the Assembly cannot
vote on any question unless it has first been considered by the
Council and placed on the programme by the Prytanes; since a person
who carries a motion in the Assembly is liable to an action for
illegal proposal on these grounds.
46
    The Council also superintends the triremes that are already in
existence, with their tackle and sheds, and builds new triremes or
quadriremes, whichever the Assembly votes, with tackle and sheds to
match. The Assembly appoints master-builders for the ships by vote;
and if they do not hand them over completed to the next Council,
the old Council cannot receive the customary donation-that being
normally given to it during its successor’s term of office. For the
building of the triremes it appoints ten commissioners, chosen from
its own members. The Council also inspects all public buildings,
and if it is of opinion that the state is being defrauded, it
reports the culprit to the Assembly, and on condemnation hands him
over to the law-courts.
47
    The Council also co-operates with other magistrates in most of
their duties. First there are the treasurers of Athena, ten in
number, elected by lot, one from each tribe. According to the law
of Solon-which is still in force-they must be Pentacosiomedimni,
but in point of fact the person on whom the lot falls holds the
office even though he be quite a poor man. These officers take