If then the extended political power of the ephors did not belong to the constitution of Lycurgus, neither can we suppose that it originated in the time of Theopompus. For the statement is worthy of credit, that Theopompus and Polydorus added the following words to the rhetra above quoted: “_If however the people should follow a crooked opinion, the councillors and princes shall dissent._” Now in the first place, the ephors are here wholly omitted, although in the Peloponnesian war they put the vote to the people, and frequently made proposals in the assembly; and, secondly, the tendency of this clause is manifestly to diminish the power of the people; whereas it will be more clearly shown below, that the authority of the ephors rested upon democratical principles. It is evident that these supposed historical traditions, instead of affording any clear explanation, lead to contradictions; and in order to obtain any distinct knowledge of the history of the ephoralty, we must proceed rather upon the evidence furnished by the nature of the office itself, and the analogy of similar offices in other states. 3. For this reason we will first consider the judicial authority of the ephors, a power which we know to have belonged also to the ephors of Cyrene. Now Aristotle(472) describes their judicial powers by saying, that they decided causes relating to contracts, while the council decided causes of homicide.(473) The latter was therefore a supreme criminal court, with power of life and death; the former a civil court, which gave judgment concerning contracts and property. Its influence upon the Spartans would appear to have been inconsiderable, from the opinions entertained by them on the division of property and exchange of money, perhaps less than it really was; but however this may be, the Periœci and Helots, when they were in Sparta, were under its jurisdiction. Now we have already shown, that it was a principle of the Lacedæmonian government so to divide the jurisdiction amongst the different magistrates, that the administration and jurisdiction belonged to the same officers.(474) Hence a superintendence over sales and over the market must have been the original duty of the ephors, forming the basis of their judicial authority.(475) The market, as being the central point of exchange, was no unimportant object of care:(476) every Spartan here brought a part of the corn produced by his estate, in order to exchange it for other commodities: it was in a certain manner disgraceful not to have the power of buying and selling;(477) a privilege which was also interdicted to youths: moreover, in the days of mourning for the king, the market was shut up and scattered with chaff.(478) The day upon which Cinadon, according to the description of Xenophon,(479) secretly endeavoured to inflame the minds of the lower classes, was evidently a market-day, and also, in my opinion, a great day of justice. A king, the ephors, the