Council of Ancients

The Council of Ancients or Council of Elders (French: Conseil des Anciens) was the upper house of the Directory (French: Directoire), the legislature of France from August 22, 1795 until November 9, 1799, roughly the second half of the period generally referred to as the French Revolution. The Lower house was the Council of Five Hundred (Conseil des Cinq-Cent).

Besides functioning as a legislative body, the Council of Ancients selected the five Directors, who jointly held executive power, from a list provided by the Five Hundred.