Syndĭcus
(
σύνδικος). A term meaning literally an advocate, but used
in Athens to describe various magistrates. Thus the name is applied
1.
to the five men who were appointed to defend, before the
nomothetae,
any law which it was proposed to abrogate (
Adv. Lept. 501,
Timocr. 707);
2.
to men chosen to speak for the people in cases where the
δῆμος was the complainant (
Adv. Lept. 503, Hermann,
Lehrb.
griech. Staatsalt. 133);
3.
to orators appointed to plead the cause of Athens before courts or councils abroad
(
De Cor. 271);
4.
after the overthrow of the Thirty Tyrants, special officers called
σύνδικοι were appointed to deal with cases involving confiscated property
(
De Bon. Aristoph. 32; Harpocr. s. v.).