Law Dictionary of Legal Terminology

ANCIENTS

ANCIENTS, English law. A term for gentlemen in the Inns of Courts who are of a certain standing. In the Middle Temple, all who have passed their readings are termed ancients. In Gray's Inn, the ancients are the oldest barristers; besides which the society consists of benchers, barristers and students. In the Inas of Chancery, it conts of ancients, and students or clerks.