Emily Dickinson Lexicon

ARCH'ON, n. [Gr. αρχων, a prince.]

The archons in Greece were chief magistrates chosen, after the death of Codrus, from the most illustrious families, to superintend civil and religious concerns. They were nine in number; the first was properly the archon; the second was called king; the third, polemarch, or general of the forces. The other six were called thesmothetæ, or legislators. – Encyc.