Most of the courts consist of 500 members; and when it is necessary
to bring public cases before a jury of 1,000 members, two courts
combine for the purpose, the most important cases of all are brought
1,500 jurors, or three courts. The ballot balls are made of brass with
stems running through the centre, half of them having the stem pierced
and the other half solid. When the speeches are concluded, the
officials assigned to the taking of the votes give each juror two
ballot balls, one pierced and one solid. This is done in full view of
the rival litigants, to secure that no one shall receive two pierced or
two solid balls. Then the official designated for the purpose takes
away the jurors' staves, in return for which each one as he records his
vote receives a brass voucher marked with the numeral 3 (because he
gets three obols when he gives it up). This is to ensure that all shall
vote; since no one can get a voucher unless he votes. Two urns, one of
brass and the other of wood, stand in the court, in distinct spots so
that no one may surreptitiously insert ballot balls; in these the
jurors record their votes. The brazen urn is for effective votes, the
wooden for unused votes; and the brazen urn has a lid pierced so as to
take only one ballot ball, in order that no one may put in two at a
time.
When the jurors are about to vote, the crier demands first whether the
litigants enter a protest against any of the evidence; for no protest
can be received after the voting has begun. Then he proclaims again,
'The pierced ballot for the plaintiff, the solid for the defendant';
and the juror, taking his two ballot balls from the stand, with his
hand closed over the stem so as not to show either the pierced or the
solid ballot to the litigants, casts the one which is to count into the
brazen urn, and the other into the wooden urn.