full citizen of thirty years of age was eligible, and, unlike other civil offices, it was permissible to serve twice, but not more than twice (Ath. Pol. c. 62). It may be regarded as certain, although our evidence is derived from inscriptions which date from the 3rd century B.C., that from the first the Bouleutae were appointed by the demes, in numbers proportionate to the size of the deme, and that from the first also the method of sortition was employed. For each councillor chosen by lot, a substitute was chosen in case of death or disgrace. After nomination each had to pass before the old council an examination in which the whole of his private life was scrutinized. After this, the councillors had to take an oath that they (1) would act according to the laws, (2) would give the best advice in their power, and (3) would carry out the examination of their successors in an impartial spirit. As symbols of office they wore wreaths; they received payment originally at the rate of one drachma a day,[1] at the end of the 4th century of five obols a day. At the end of the year of office each councillor had to render an account of his work, and if the council had done well the people voted crowns of honour. Within its own sphere the council exercised disciplinary control over its members by the device known as Ecphyllophoria; it could provisionally suspend a member, pending a formal trial before the whole council assembled ad hoc. The council had further a complete system of scribes or secretaries (grammateis), private treasury officials, and a paid herald who summoned the Boule and the Ecclesia. The meetings took place generally in the council hall (Bouleuterion), but on special occasions in the theatre, the stadium, the dockyards, the Acropolis or the Theseum. They were normally public, the audience being separated by a barrier, but on occasions of peculiar importance the public was excluded.
The Ecclesia, owing to its size and constitution, was unable to meet more than three or four times a month; the council, on the other hand, was in continuous session, except on feast days. It was impossible that the Five Hundred Prytaneis. should all sit every day, and, therefore, to facilitate the despatch of business, the system of Prytaneis was introduced, probably by Cleisthenes. By this system the year was divided into ten equal periods. During each of these periods the council was represented by the fifty councillors of one of the ten tribes, who acted as a committee for carrying on business for a tenth of the year. Each of these committees was led by a president (Epistates), who acted as chairman of the Boule and the Ecclesia also, and a third of its numbers lived permanently during their period of office in the Tholos (Dome) or Skias, a round building where they (with certain other officials and honoured citizens) dined at the public expense. In 378–377 B.C. (or perhaps in the archonship of Eucleides, 403) the presidency of the Ecclesia was transferred to the Epistates of the Proedri, the Proedri being a body of nine chosen by lot by the Epistates of the Prytaneis from the remaining nine tribes. It was the duty of the Boule (i.e. the Prytany which was for the time in session) to prepare all business for the consideration of the Ecclesia. Their recommendation (προβούλευμα) was presented to the popular assembly (for procedure, see Ecclesia), which either passed it as it stood or made amendments subject to certain conditions. It must be clearly understood that the recommendation of the council had no intrinsic force until by the votes of the Ecclesia it passed into law as a psephism. But in addition to this function, the Council of the Five Hundred had large administrative and judicial control. (1) It was before the council that the Poletae arranged the farming of public revenues, the receipt of tenders for public works and the sale of confiscated property; further, it dealt with defaulting collectors (ἑκλόγεις), exacted the debts of private persons to the state, and probably drew up annual estimates. (2) It supervised the treasury payments of the Apodectae (“Receivers”) and the “Treasurers of the God.” (3) From Demosthenes (In Androt.) it is clear that it had to arrange for the provision of so many triremes per annum and the award of the trierarchic crown. (4) It arranged for the maintenance of the cavalry and the special levies from the demes. (5) It heard certain cases of eisangelia (impeachment) and had the right to fine up to 500 drachmas, or hand the case over to the Heliaea. The cases which it tried were mainly prosecutions for crimes against the state (e.g. treason, conspiracy, bribery). In later times it acted mainly as a court of first instance. Subsequently (Ath. Pol. c. 45) its powers were limited and an appeal was allowed to the popular courts. (6) The council presided over the dokimasia (consideration of fitness) of the magistrates; this examination, which was originally concerned with a candidate’s moral and physical fitness, degenerated into a mere inquiry into his politics. (7) In foreign affairs the council as the only body in permanent session naturally received foreign envoys and introduced them to the Ecclesia. Further, the Boulē;, with the Strategi (“Generals”), took treaty oaths, after the Ecclesia had decided on the terms. The Xenophontic Politeia states that the council of the 5th century was “concerned with war,” but in the 4th century it chiefly supervised the docks and the fleet. On two occasions at least the council was specially endowed with full powers; Demosthenes (De Fals. Leg. p. 389) states that the people gave it full powers to send ambassadors to Philip, and Andocides (De Myst. 14 foil.) states that it had full power to investigate the affair of the mutilation of the Hermae on the night before the sailing of the Sicilian Expedition.
It will be seen that this democratic council was absolutely essential to the working of the Athenian state. Without having any final legislative authority, it was a necessary part of the legislative machinery, and it may be regarded as certain that a large proportion of its recommendations were passed without alteration or even discussion by the Ecclesia. The Boulē was, therefore, in the strict sense a committee of the Ecclesia, and was immediately connected with a system of sub-committees which exercised executive functions.
Bibliography.—With this article compare Ecclesia, Strategus, Archon, Draco, Solon, Cleisthenes, where collateral information is given. Besides the chief histories of Greece (Grote, ed. 1907, Meyer &c.), see Gilbert, Constitutional Antiquities (Eng. trans. by E. J. Brooks and T. Nicklin, 1895); J. B. Bury, History of Greece (1900); A. H. J. Greenidge Handbook of Greek Constitutional History (1896); J. E. Sandys’ edition of the Constitution of Athens; Boeckh, Die Staatshaushaltung der Athener (1886); Schumann, Griechische Altertümer (1897–1902); Busolt, Die griechischen Staats- und Rechtsaltertümer (1902). See also H. Swoboda, Die griechischen Volksbeschlüsse (1890); Szanto, Das griechische Bürgerrecht (1892); Perrot, Essai sur le droit public d’Athènes (1869). It should be observed that all works published before 1891 are so far useless that they are without the information contained in the Constitution of Athens (q.v.). See also Greek Law. (J. M. M.)
BOULEVARD (a Fr. word, earlier boulevart, from Dutch or
Ger. Bollwerk, cf. Eng. “bulwark”), originally, in fortification,
an earthwork with a broad platform for artillery. It came into
use owing to the width of the gangways in medieval walls being
insufficient for the mounting of artillery thereon. The boulevard
or bulwark was usually an earthen outwork mounting artillery,
and so placed in advance as to prevent the guns of a besieger
from battering the foot of the main walls. It was as a rule
circular. Semicircular demi-boulevards were often constructed
round the bases of the old masonry towers with the same object.
In modern times the word is most frequently used to denote a
promenade laid out on the site of a former fortification, and, by
analogy, a broad avenue in a town planted with rows of trees.
BOULLE, ANDRÉ CHARLES (1642–1732), French cabinet-maker, who gave his name to a fashion of inlaying known as Boulle or Buhl work. The son of Jean Boulle, a member of a family of ébénistes who had already achieved distinction—Pierre Boulle, who died c. 1636, was for many years tourneur et menuisier du roy des cabinets d’ébène,—he became the most famous of his name and was, indeed, the second cabinet-maker—the first was Jean Macé—who has acquired individual renown. That must have begun at a comparatively early age, for at thirty he had already been granted one of those lodgings in the galleries of the Louvre which had been set apart by Henry IV. for the use of the
