AGORAN´OMI
AGORAN´OMI (
ἀγορανόμοι) were public functionaries in most of the Grecian
states, whose duties corresponded in many respects to those of the Roman
aediles ; whence Greek writers on Roman affairs call the aediles by this
name. Under the Roman empire, the agoranomi were called
λογισταί (Schol.
ad
Aristoph. Ach. 688); they enjoyed in
later times great honour and respect, and their office seems to have been
regarded as one of the most honourable in the Greek states. We frequently
read in inscriptions of their being rewarded with crowns, of which many
instances are given by Müller (
Aeginetica, p. 138). They were called by the Romans
curatores reipublicae. (Cod. 1, tit. 54, s.3.)
Agoranomi existed both at Sparta and Athens, and, as inscriptions prove, in
almost every Greek state. Our knowledge of the Spartan agoranomi is very
limited, and derived almost entirely from inscriptions. They stepped into
the place of the ancient
empelori (
ἐμπέλωροι) in the time of the Romans. They
formed a collegium (
συναρχία), with one at
their head called
πρέσβυς (Böckh,
Corp. Inscr. vol. i. p. 610; and Sauppe in
Rheinisches Museum, vol. iv. p. 159, new series). The
Athenian agoranomi were regular magistrates during the flourishing times of
the republic. They were ten in number, five for the city and five for the
Peiraeus, and were chosen by lot, one from each tribe. (Dem.
c.
Timocr. p. 735.112;
Aristoph. Ach.
689.) The reading in Harpocration (s. v.
ἀγορανόμοι), which mentions twenty agoranomi--fifteen for
the city, and five for the Peiraeus--is false. (Böckh,
Corp.
Inscr. vol. i. p. 337.)
The principal duty of the agoranomi was, as their name imports, to inspect
the market, and to see that all the laws respecting its regulation were
properly observed. They had the inspection of all things which were sold in
the market, with the exception of corn, which was subject to the
jurisdiction of the
σιτοφύλακες. [SITOPHYLAKES.] The agoranomi had in fact chiefly
to attend to retail trade (
καπηλεία);
wholesale trade was not much carried on in the market-place, and was under
the jurisdiction of the
ἐπιμεληταὶ τοῦ
ἐμπορίου. They regulated the price and quantity of all things
which were brought into the market, and punished all persons convicted of
cheating, especially by false weights and measures. They had in general the
power of punishing all infraction of the laws and regulations relating to
the market, by imposing a slight fine (
ἐπιβολὴ) upon the citizens. That they had the further power of
inflicting personal chastisement upon foreigners and slaves, and even bore
whips as a badge of office, must be pronounced very doubtful, as contrary to
what we know of Athenian police regulations. The statement rests only on the
authority of scholiasts and grammarians (Schol.
Aristoph. Ach. 724; Pollux, 10.177).
1 They had the care of all the temples and fountains in the
market-place, and received the tax (
ξενικὸν
τέλος) which foreigners and aliens were obliged to pay for the
privilege of exposing their goods for sale in the market. (Schol.
ad
Aristoph. Ach. 689 ; Plat.
Leg. vi. p. 763, viii. p. 849, xi. pp. 917, 918; Liban.
Declam. 46;
ἀγορᾶς τέλος,
Aristoph. Ach. 861, and Schol.; Phot. s.
v.
κατὰ τὴν ἀγοράν.) The public
prostitutes were also subject to their regulations, as was the case at
Corinth (
Just. 21.5), and they fixed the
πορνικὸν τέλος or license duty which
they paid; not, as late grammarians like Suidas and Zonaras (s. v.
διάγραμμα) absurdly represent, the remuneration
which they were to receive. The duties of the agoranomi resembled those of
the astynomi. [
ASTYNOMI]
(Meier and Schömann,
Att. Process, pp. 89-92;
Böckh,
Publ. Econ. of Athens, pp. 48, 333.) [
W.S] [
W.W]
(Appendix). The statement as to
their number, five for the city and five for the Peiraeus, is in accordance
with the text (Ath. Pol. 51).