volume 3, chapter 22.

"Ardennes is the name of one of the northern French departments which contains a part of the forest Ardennes. Another part is in Luxemburg and Belgium. The old Celtic name exists in England in the Arden of Warwickshire."

_G. Long, Decline of the Roman Republic, volume 4, chapter 14._

ARDRI, OR ARDRIGH, The.

See TUATH.

ARDSHIR, OR ARTAXERXES, Founding of the Sassanian monarchy by.

See PERSIA: B. C. 150-A. D. 226.

ARECOMICI, The.

See VOLCÆ.

ARECUNAS, The.

See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: CARIBS AND THEIR KINDRED.

AREIOS.

See ARIA.

ARELATE: The ancient name of Arles.

The territory covered by the old kingdom of Arles is sometimes called the Arelate.

See BURGUNDY: A. D. 1127-1378, and SALYES.

ARENGO, The.

See SAN MARINO, THE REPUBLIC OF.

AREOPAGUS, The.

"Whoever [in ancient Athens] was suspected of having blood upon his hands had to abstain from approaching the common altars of the land. Accordingly, for the purpose of judgments concerning the guilt of blood, choice had been made of the barren, rocky height which lies opposite the ascent to the citadel. It was dedicated to Ares, who was said to have been the first who was ever judged here for the guilt of blood; and to the Erinyes, the dark powers of the guilt-stained conscience. Here, instead of a single judge, a college of twelve men of proved integrity conducted the trial. If the accused had an equal number of votes for and against him, he was acquitted. The court on the hill of Ares is one of the most ancient institutions of Athens, and none achieved for the city an earlier or more widely-spread recognition."

_E. Curtius, History of Greece, book 2, chapter 2._

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"The Areopagus, or, as it was interpreted by an ancient legend, Mars' Hill, was an eminence on the western side of the Acropolis, which from time immemorial had been the seat of a highly revered court of criminal justice. It took cognizance of charges of wilful murder, maiming, poisoning and arson. Its forms and modes of proceeding were peculiarly rigid and solemn. It was held in the open air, perhaps that the judges might not be polluted by sitting under the same roof with the criminals. ... The venerable character of the court seems to have determined Solon to apply it to another purpose; and, without making any change in its original jurisdiction, to erect it into a supreme council, invested with a superintending and controlling authority, which extended over every part of the social system. He constituted it the guardian of the public morals and religion, to keep watch over the education and conduct of the citizens, and to protect the State from the disgrace or pollution of wantonness and profaneness. He armed it with extraordinary powers of interfering in pressing emergencies, to avert any sudden and imminent danger which threatened the public safety. The nature of its functions rendered it scarcely possible precisely to define their limits; and Solon probably thought it best to let them remain in that obscurity which magnifies whatever is indistinct. ... It was filled with Archons who had discharged their office with approved fidelity, and they held their seats for life."

_C. Thirlwall, History of Greece, volume 1, chapter 11._

These enlarged functions of the Areopagus were withdrawn from it in the time of Pericles, through the agency of Ephialtes, but were restored about B. C. 400, after the overthrow of the Thirty.--"Some of the writers of antiquity ascribed the first establishment of the senate of Areopagus to Solon. ... But there can be little doubt that this is a mistake, and that the senate of Areopagus is a primordial institution of immemorial antiquity, though its constitution as well as its functions underwent many changes. It stood at first alone as a permanent and collegiate authority, originally by the side of the kings and afterwards by the side of the archons: it would then of course be known by the title of The Boule,--the senate, or council; its distinctive title 'senate of Areopagus,' borrowed from the place where its sittings were held, would not be bestowed until the formation by Solon of the second senate, or council, from which there was need to discriminate it."

_G. Grote, History of Greece,