The Athenian procedure of dokimasia of orators

There were several Athenian procedures which went by the name dokimasia, which is sometimes translated 'vetting'. Most of them were procedures for checking that a man had the required qualifications for some position which he was about to hold. Either he was about to become an adult Athenian citizen, or he was about to become a member of the Boule, or he had been appointed to hold some office, for instance as an arkhon. The only surviving text which gives much information about it is Aiskhines' speech Against Timarkhos. He quotes some sentences from the relevant statute. Aiskhines says explicitly that this is the procedure by which he accuses Timarkhos in the extant speech (1.32), which belongs to the year 346/5;10 and he gives a description of the meeting of the Ekklesia at which he announced his intention to prosecute

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