The original Athenian council was founded in 594 BC by Solon, who was Archon at the time. It consisted of 400 men, of which each of the 4 original Athenian tribes chose 100. This council met on pnyx hill, near the Acropolis. When Cliesthenes instituted his reforms in the shape of a new constitution around 507 BC, he included in it a provision for a Council of 500 to be formed. The greek word for council is Boule (prounounced boo-lay); the new council was made up of 50 men chosen from each of the newly-created 10 tribes, or phylai. These council members served a one-year term, during which they lived in Athens and held meetings at the Bouleuterion. Furthermore, for each period of the year, usually consisting of around 35 days, each tribe's representatives held the position of executive committee, or pyrtaneis. The position was rotated through the council.

The first bouleuterion was built as a meeting place for this 'council of the people,' on the west side of the Agora, just below the Kolonos Agoraios. It had a simple, almost square building plan, organized in order to accomodate the 500 person council, and was approximately 23.8 by 23.3 meters in size. The building consisted of an oblong-shaped antechamber (or pronaos), followed by a main council chamber. The main hall was a large, rectangular room; wooden benches were arranged in rows along the walls. The roof of the buildling was supported by five colums placed around the center of the main chamber. The building itself faced south; the main council chamber was north of the small lobby.

The buildling plan of the Old Bouleuterion [link]

In the late fifth century, a new bouleuterion was built to the west of the old building; although smaller, it was a much more sophisticated structure. It measured approximately 16 by 22 meters, and originally consisted of only a main council chamber. The main hall was innovative in its design; seating was arranged in an amphitheater-like system, with twelve levels of semicircular benches filling the room. The rooms also contained several windows. There is some doubt as to which direction the seats were facing; some suggest east while others interpret the arrangement to be facing west. However, there is consensus that the capacity of the chamber exceeded 500 persons. It is also agreed that a porch was later added to the buildling, somewhere around 300bc; modern reconstructions generally show this to be a porch with an open interior colonnade so that those seated in the council chamber could see outside.

Building plan of the New Bouleuterion (late 5th century) [link]

The new bouleuterion complex was completed with the construction of a monumental gateway, or Propylon, in the Ionic style; the old bouleuterion was converted into a Metroon, or a shrine to the mother goddess. However, it continued to serve a state function, as it was used to store the council's official archives and other state records.

The Bouleuterion complex also included a tholos, a round building where the council members were housed and dined at public expense. Though the majority of the council members lived in Athens, it was required that at least one-third of the council sleep in the tholos, so that they might be ready to deal with any emergencies that arose. In addition, the tholos also held an official set of weights and measures, and so served an additional function as a Bureau of Standards (J. Camp).

References

Camp, John M. The Athenian Agora: Excavations in the Heart of Classical Athens. Thames and Hudson, London; 1992

Camp, John M. The Archaeology of Athens. Yale University Press, New Haven; 2001

O'Neil, James L. The Origins and Development of Ancient Greek Democracy. Rowman and Littlefield, Boston; 1995

Roberts, J.W. City of Sokrates: An Introduction to Classical Athens. Routledge, London; 1998

Thorley, John. Athenian Democracy. Routledge, London; 1996

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Greek Archaeology