In the aristocratic political structure of Athens, offices were filled according to wealth and birth right. At first the offices were held for life. Later, the terms were shortened to ten years.
The Athenians had nine positions in their government.
They were called the Basileus, Polemarkhos, Arkhon, and six Thesmothetai.
Each one of the nine officials had a different job. The Basileus
had religious power. He was in charge of things such as giving his
wife to the god, Dionysos. The Polemarkhos, translated "military
leader", was exactly that. He was in charge of the military.
Another office held was the Arkhon (or Archon). The official was to take care of anything administrative in Athens. The last positions were the six Thesmothetai.
This position came about sometime later than the first three. These
men were to record statutes (laws) and preserve them for judgment between
litigants. As a unit these officials were called the nine arkhons.
This term is directly translated into "leader". Arkhon
is used as the name for the administrative leader and to describe
all nine of the offices held.