Aprytaneion (Ancient Greek:Πρυτανεῖον,Latin:prytanēum) was the seat of theprytaneis (executive), and so theseat of government inancient Greece. The term is used to describe any of a range of ancient structures where officials met (normally relating to the government of a city), but the term is also used to refer to the building where the officials and winners of theOlympic Games met atOlympia. Theprytaneion normally stood in the centre of the city, in theagora.
In general inancient Greece, each state, city or village possessed its own central hearth and sacred fire, theprytaneion, representing the unity and vitality of the community. The fire was kept alight continuously, tended by the king or members of his family. The building in which this fire was kept was theprytaneion, and the chieftain (the king orprytanis) probably made it his residence. The building contained the holy fire ofHestia, the goddess of the hearth, and symbol of the life of the city.
The termprytanis (pl.prytaneis) is generally applied specially to those who, after the abolition of absolute monarchy, held the chief office in the state. Rulers of this name are found atRhodos as late as the 1st century BC.
Theprytaneion was regarded as the religious and political center of the community and was thus the nucleus of all government, and the official "home" of the whole people. When members of the state went forth to found a new colony they took with them a brand from theprytaneion altar to kindle the new fire in the colony; the fatherless daughters ofAristides, who were regarded as children of the state at Athens, were married from theprytaneion as from their home;Thucydides informs us[1] that in theSynoikism ofTheseus theprytanea of all the separate communities were joined in the centralprytaneion of Athens as a symbol of the union; foreign ambassadors and citizens who had deserved especially well of the state were entertained in theprytaneion as public guests. This is the function thatSokrates referred to in Plato'sApology when he said that instead of death he should be sentenced to be cared for in theprytaneion.[2]
The site of theprytaneion at Athens cannot be definitely fixed; it is generally supposed that in the course of time several buildings bore the name. Theprytaneion, mentioned byPausanias, and probably the original center of the ancient city, was situated somewhere east of the northern cliff of theAcropolis. Many authorities hold that the originalprytaneion of the city must have been on the Acropolis. From Aristotle'sConstitution of Athens[3] we know that theprytaneion was the official residence of theArchons but, when the New Agora was constructed byPisistratus, they took their meals in the Thesmotheteion for the sake of convenience. Geoffrey Schmalz suggested in 2006 that theprytaneion should be identified with some of the ruins in St. Catherine's Square, not far from theLysikrates Monument.[4] Following the unearthing of an inscription mentioning the Prytaneion, George Kavvadias and Angelos Matthaiou argued in 2014 that it was somewhat to the north and west of the location suggested by Schmalz.[5]
Polemon of Athens said that copies of the laws ofSolon were kept in theprytaneion, engraved on square wooden tablets which revolved on pivots in such a way that when the tablets were turned at an angle they seemed to be triangular. Pausanias says briefly that the laws of Solon were inscribed in theprytaneion.[6]
There was also a court of justice called the court of theprytaneion; all that is known of this court is that it tried murderers who could not be found, and inanimate objects which had caused death.[7]
InAchaea, this central hall was called the Lefton (town-hall), and a similar building is known to have existed atElis.[citation needed]
AtOlympia, the Prytaneion[8] was where the priests and magistrates lived; the high priests lived in the Theokoleon.[9] It stands to the north-west of theTemple of Hera and was used for celebrations and feasts by the winners of the games.[10] It also housed the Altar of Hestia where the originalOlympic flame once burnt.[10]
Athenaeus, in theDeipnosophistae, writes that inNaucratis the people dined in the Prytaneion on the natal day of theHestia Prytanitis (Ancient Greek:Ἑστίας Πρυτανίτιδος).[11]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Prytaneum and Prytanis".Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.