Kleroteria were allotment machines made from slabs of wood or stone. In the face of each slab were columns of narrow slots aligned in horizontal rows. Into the slots were inserted the bronze identification tickets (pinakia) carried by the citizens who were eligible for jury service. On the left side of the face there was a metal tube the top of which terminated in a funnel shaped mouth. Into the tube were poured a number of black or white bronze balls in random order. By means of a crank the balls could be released one by one. Depending on whether a white or a black ball emerged all the citizens represented by one horizontal row of pinakia were accepted or rejected for jury service that day. Kleroteria stood at the entrance to every court.
Displayed in the Museum of the Ancient Agora of Athens