Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Encyclopedia of Ancient History |
Editors | Roger S Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B Champion, Andrew Erskine, Sabine R Huebner |
Publisher | Wiley-Blackwell |
ISBN (Electronic) | 978-1444338386 |
ISBN (Print) | 978-1405179355 |
State | Published - 2012 |
Abstract
A rocky outcropping below Athens' Acropolis, the Areios Pagos (in early Greek, “solid hill,” later by popular etymology “hill of Ares”) included the site of a shrine to the Erinyes, underworld deities of the family curse, an early venue for homicide trials. It also became the site of a council with at least potentially important powers, removed in 462/1 bce. From the later fifth century a symbol for conservatives of pre-democratic government, during Athens' more conservative period after 350 and then in Roman times, it regained some auctoritas if few new powers.