A council that met on the hill of that name in ancient Athens. Drawn in the beginning from the richest class, the Eupatridae, it was originally an advisory body to the kings, but by the 7th century bc virtually ruled Athens. Its influence was still considerable in the early 5th century. Ephialtes’ removal of its “guardianship of the laws” in 462–61 marked the beginning of the radical Athenian democracy. It continued to judge some criminal and religious cases, but power thereafter lay with the popular assembly and the lawcourts.