Until the time of the festival the preliminary list of citizens remained sealed up in urns in the Acropolis. On the first day of the competitions the ten urns were produced in the theatre, and placed in some prominent position. The persons whose names were contained in the urns were all present in the theatre. Probably they received a special summons from the archon shortly before the festival. At the commencement of the contest the archon proceeded to draw a single name from all the urns in succession. The ten persons whose names were drawn constituted the second list of judges, and each of them represented one of the ten tribes of Attica. After being selected by lot in the manner described, they were called forward by the archon, and took a solemn oath that they would give an impartial verdict.[130] They were then conducted to seats specially appointed for them, and the contest began.[131] At the end of the performances each of them gave his vote, writing upon a tablet the names of the competitors in order of merit.[132] These tablets, ten in number, were then placed in an urn, and the archon proceeded to draw forth five of them at random. The result of the competition was decided in accordance with these five lists, and the persons whose tablets were drawn from the urn constituted the ultimate body of five judges. It thus appears that up to the very last the judges who recorded their votes were not sure whether the votes would eventually have effect, or turn out to be so much waste paper. This uncertainty was of course a great obstacle to intimidation and bribery. After the competition was over, and the verdict announced, the names of the five judges, whose votes had decided the day, were not kept secret. It was known how each of them had voted. But the other votes, which had been recorded but not drawn from the urn, were destroyed without being made public.[133] It was naturally considered a much greater honour to win a victory by the unanimous vote of all five judges than by a mere majority of one.[134] But it is very doubtful whether any public record was kept of the number of votes by which a victory was gained.