The Areopagus, Areopagite

(Acts 17:19–34) — the second word is the title of the judges of the supreme tribunal in Athens. This name derives from the word “Areopagus” (hill of Mars, or Ares), meaning either the tribunal itself or the place where its sessions were held, always under the open sky. This was a rocky elevation, or crag of Ares, almost in the very center of the city. The court that assembled here dealt chiefly with inquiries and legal proceedings concerning blasphemies against the pagan gods; it was for this reason that St. Paul the Apostle, who so sharply denounced the idolatry of the Athenians and urged them to seek and serve the Lord as the one living and true God, was brought to the Areopagus for preaching foreign deities (Acts 17:18).

It was here, in view of the multitude of temples and altars, among which there was even an altar to “the unknown god,” in view of the altars of various pagan gods, that the apostle delivered his lofty and profoundly notable sermon to the Athenians (Acts 17:22–34). Owing to this compelling sermon, some believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, such as one member of the Areopagus, Dionysius, a woman named Damaris, and others with them. The place where, it is thought, the hill of Ares stood is now covered with the ruins of large buildings: these are thought to be the remains of the houses of Dionysius and Damaris, built, no doubt, not long before the introduction of Christianity in Athens.

It is said that sessions of the Areopagus were held only at night, for the purpose that the minds of the Areopagite judges should not be distracted by anything extraneous.