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PRYTANEUM

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 534 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PRYTANEUM and PRYTANIS (Gr. See also:

root 7rpo, first or See also:chief). 1. In See also:general in See also:ancient See also:Greece, each See also:state, See also:city or See also:village possessed its own central See also:hearth and sacred See also:fire, representing the unity and vitality of the community. The fire (cf. at See also:Rome the fire in the See also:temple of See also:Vesta) was kept alight continuously, tended by the See also:king or members of his See also:family (cf. at Rome the vestal virgins, originally perhaps the daughters of the king). The See also:building in which this fire was kept was the Prytaneum, and the chieftain (the king or prytanis)probably made it his See also:residence. The word Prytanis (plur. Prytaneis) is generally applied specially to those who, after the abolition of See also:absolute See also:monarchy, held the chief See also:office in the state. Rulers of this name are found at See also:Rhodes as See also:late as the 1st See also:century B.C. The Prytaneum was regarded as the religious and See also:political centre of the community and was thus the See also:nucleus of all See also:government, and the See also:official " See also:home " of the whole See also:people. When members of the state went forth to found a new See also:colony they took with them a See also:brand from the Prytaneum See also:altar to kindle the new fire in the colony; l the fatherless daughters of See also:Aristides, who were regarded as See also:children of the state at See also:Athens, were married from the Prytaneum as from their home; See also:Thucydides informs us (ii. 15) that in the Synoecism of See also:Theseus (see ATHENS) the Prytanea of all the See also:separate communities were joined in the central Prytaneum of Athens as a See also:symbol of the See also:union; See also:foreign ambassadors and citizens who had deserved especially well of the state were entertained in the Prytaneum as public guests. In See also:Achaea, this central See also:hall was called the Lefton (See also:town-hall), and a similar building is known to have existed at See also:Elis.

This site of the Prytaneum at Athens cannot be definitely fixed; it is generally supposed that in the course of See also:

time several buildings See also:bore the name. The Prytaneum, mentioned by See also:Pausanias, and probably the See also:original centre of the ancient city, was situated somewhere See also:east of the See also:northern cliff of the See also:Acropolis. Hence the frequent confusion with the See also:Tholos which was near the See also:council chamber and was the residence of the Prytaneis (see below) of the council. See also:Curtius places the original Prytaneum See also:south of the Acropolis in the Old See also:Agora, speaks of a second identical with the Tholos in the Cerameicus, and regards that of Pausanius as a building of See also:Roman times (Stadtgeschichte, p. 302). See also:Wachsmuth holds the former view and regards the Tholos as merely a dining-See also:room for the Prytaneis in the old democratic See also:period. Many authorities hold that the original Prytaneum of the Cecropian city must have been on the Acropolis. From See also:Aristotle's Constitution of Athens (ch. 3) we know that the Prytaneum was the official residence of the Archons, but, when the new Agora was constructed (by See also:Peisistratus ?), they took their meals in the Thesmotheteum for the See also:sake of convenience. There was also a See also:court of See also:justice called the court of the Prytaneum; all that is known of this court is that it tried murderers who could not be found, and inanimate See also:objects which had caused See also:death. Judging from its rather fanciful functions and from its name, it is probably a relic of the pre-historic See also:jurisdiction of the See also:patriarch-king. 2.

For the PRYTANEIS of the See also:

Boule and of the Naucraries, see BOULE and See also:NAUCRARY. 3. PRYTANEIA were court-fees paid when the prosecutor was claiming a See also:part of the See also:penalty which the See also:defendant would be called upon to pay if he lost. 4. PRYTANIS was also the name of a legendary king of See also:Sparta of the Eurypontid or Proclid See also:line. He was the son of Eurypon and See also:fourth in descent from Procles. 1 Cf. See also:Indian tribes of See also:North See also:America.

End of Article: PRYTANEUM

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