I. Name

The term archōn, a participial form of the verb archein used as a substantive, carries the root meaning of primacy in time or rank. After the overthrow of the monarchies in the Greek city-states (ca. 650 bce), the term archōn, meaning ‘high official’ or ‘chief magistrate’, became widely used for a variety of high public officials. Originally it was primarily limited as a designation for the highest officials (Thucydides 1.126; Aristotle Ath. pol. 13, 10–12). A typical Greek polis had two or…