The Athenians had chosen the rocky hill to the northwest of the Acropolis to adjudicate offences. Its name probably derives either from the ῾Ares Erinyes᾽, who were chthonic deities of punishment and revenge, or from Ares, who stood trial and was acquitted by the court of the gods for the case of the murder of Halirrhothius, son of Poseidon. Around 51 AD, Apostle Paul preached Christianity to the Athenians for the first time on this hill.