Most modern scholars claim that in
Classical Athens, the
archon basileus was the last remnant of monarchy. Although much of his powers, they say, had been filtered away to other institutions such as the
Areopagus and later the
Boule and
Ecclesia, he still nominally held a high position in Athenian society, alongside the
archon eponymos and the
polemarchos. The
archon basileus was charged with overseeing the organisation of religious rites and with presiding over trials for homicide. The archon basileus was the
high priest of the city-state. There is a tradition that originally the
archon basileus was elected from the Athenian aristocracy every ten years. After 683 BC, the office was only held for a year, and after
Solon's reforms, he was elected from the wealthiest Athenians, the
Pentakosiomedimnoi (), "500-bushel men", rather than the
Eupatridae (the aristocratic families). After 487 BC, the archonships were assigned by lot. It is believed the
archon basileus wife, the
basilinna, had to marry and have intercourse with the god
Dionysos during a festival at the Boukoleion in Athens, to ensure the city's safety. It is uncertain how this was enacted. However, this was an important role for a woman who, according to
Plutarch and Solon, would otherwise be confined to the house and be of little importance. ==See also==