(νομοφύλακες / nomophýlakes, ‘guardians of the law’)
I. Classical Period
In the Classical Period, nomophýlakes were officials responsible for ensuring compliance with the laws (nómoi). In Athens, the Areopagus (Areios Pagos) was said to have performed the function of the nomophylakía until the reforms of Ephialtes [2] (462 BC) ([Aristot.] Ath. Pol. 3,6; [4,4]; 8,4; 25,2). According to one version in a fragment of Philochorus (FGrH 328 F…