At Corinth it is said that in 745 B.C. the members of the royal family, two hundred in number, deposed the king Aristomenes, and took the control of the state into their own possession, electing one of their own number every year to act as president and discharge the functions of king. They were distinguished by their descent from king Bacchis, were known as the Bacchiadæ, and in order to keep themselves a distinct caste they forbade all members of their family to marry any one but a descendant of Bacchis. In 655 B.C., after they had ruled for ninety years, their government was selfish and oppressive[118]. [118] Herodotus V. 92. Diodorus Siculus VII. fragment 9. Diodorus wrote about 20-10 B.C. At Megara we know only that the government was in the hands of certain rich families, and that eventually their oppressive rule provoked the common folk under the leadership of a man named Theagenes to rise against them and overthrow them[119]. [119] Aristotle, _Politics_ V. 5. 9, Bekker. Welldon, _Translation_, p. 357. At Athens the nobles gradually deprived the king of his power and prerogatives: and from a date somewhere between 700 B.C. and 650 B.C. the government was controlled by a permanent council of nobles, and its details were managed by nine archons or administrators, who were selected yearly by the council[120]. The council consisted of those who were serving or had served the office of archons[121], so that the council in selecting new archons also filled up vacancies in its own numbers: among the nine magistrates the first in rank was The Archon, who gave his name to his year of office: the second was the Archon Basileus, who performed the religious rites: the third was the Polemarch, who commanded in war: the other six were called Thesmothetæ, and probably attended to judicial business[122]. The nobles then from 650 B.C. or earlier were in exclusive possession of power: how they used it when first they got it, is not recorded: by 600 B.C. they were employing it selfishly for the interests of their class. [120] Aristotle, _Constitution of Athens_, ch. 8. [121] Plutarch, _Solon_, ch. 19, Aristotle, _Constitution of Athens_, ch. 3. [122] Aristotle, _Constitution of Athens_, ch. 3, calls them recorders of laws or customs for judgement. The chapter may be spurious, but the assertion is probable.