ABSTRACT
The three major institutions of Athens’ democracy were the Boule, the Ecclesia and the Heliaea (also known as the dikasteria, when subdivided into panels of jurors). The main evidence for the workings and the powers of these three bodies comes from Aristotle’s ‘Athenaion Politeia’ (‘Constitution of the Athenians’: Ath. Pol.), the speeches of the fourth-century orators, the comedies of Aristophanes, and documentary inscriptions – each of which provides some problems for the historian. The Ath. Pol., although very detailed, describes the working of these institutions in the fourth century, as do the speeches of the orators; Aristophanes was a comic playwright, not a constitutional historian, and his main aim was to make his audience laugh by using exaggeration and parody, not by giving accurate descriptions of the institutions in operation in the late fifth century; the documentary inscriptions come at the end of the political process, and consequently give only a partial insight into the preliminary proceedings which culminated in the law or decree contained in the inscription.
