=Areopagītæ=, the judges of the Areopagus, a seat of justice on a small eminence near Athens, whose name is derived from Αρεος παγος, _the hill of Mars_, because Mars was the first who was tried there, for the murder of Hallirhotius, who had offered violence to his daughter Alcippe. Some say that the place received the name of Areopagus because the Amazons pitched their camp there, and offered sacrifices to their progenitor Mars, when they besieged Athens; and others maintain that the name was given to the place because Mars is the god of bloodshed, war, and murder, which were generally punished by that court. The time in which this celebrated seat of justice was instituted is unknown. Some suppose that Cecrops, the founder of Athens, first established it, while others give the credit of it to Cranaus, and others to Solon. The number of judges that composed this august assembly is not known. They have been limited by some to 9, to 31, to 51, and sometimes to a greater number. The most worthy and religious of the Athenians were admitted as members, and such archons as had discharged their duty with care and faithfulness. In the latter ages of the republic, this observance was often violated, and we find some of their members of loose and debauched morals. If any of them were convicted of immorality, if they were seen sitting at a tavern, or had used any indecent language, they were immediately expelled from the assembly, and held in the greatest disgrace, though the dignity of a judge of the Areopagus always was for life. The Areopagites took cognizance of murders, impiety, and immoral behaviour, and particularly of idleness, which they deemed the cause of all vice. They watched over the laws, and they had the management of the public treasury; they had the liberty of rewarding the virtuous, and of inflicting severe punishment upon such as blasphemed against the gods, or slighted the celebration of the holy mysteries. They always sat in the open air, because they took cognizance of murder; and by their laws it was not permitted for the murderer and his accuser to be both under the same roof. This custom also might originate because the persons of the judges were sacred, and they were afraid of contracting pollution by conversing in the same house with men who had been guilty of shedding innocent blood. They always heard causes and passed sentence in the night, that they might not be prepossessed in favour of the plaintiff or of the defendant by seeing them. Whatever causes were pleaded before them, were to be divested of all oratory and fine speaking, lest eloquence should charm their ears and corrupt their judgment. Hence arose the most just and most impartial decisions, and their sentence was deemed sacred and inviolable, and the plaintiff and defendant were equally convinced of its justice. The Areopagites generally sat on the 27th,