"And let the clergy kiss the bishop; and of the laity, the men the men, and the women the women, and let the children stand by the bema.
"A Short History of the Book of Common Prayer"
William Reed Huntington
Because in the oligarchical State they are disqualified and driven from office, and therefore they cannot train or gather strength; whereas in a democracy they are almost the entire ruling power, and while the keener sort speak and act, the rest keep buzzing about the bema and do not suffer a word to be said on the other side; hence in democracies almost everything is managed by the drones.
"Plato's Republic"
Plato
It met on the Pnyx hill, where the assembled Ecclesiasts were addressed from the bema, or speaking-block.
"The Eleven Comedies"
Aristophanes et al