Comparative Law: Ancient Law Fall 2016 Course
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Introduction: Oratory and Law at Athens
Introduction: Oratory and Law at Athens One of the many intriguing (and unique) aspects of Athenian law is that our information about it comes very largely from speeches composed for delivery in court. These date to the period 420-320,1 and reflect in part the high value the Greeks in all periods placed on effective speaking. Even Achilles, whose fame rested primarily on his martial superiority, was brought up to be “a speaker of words and a doer of deeds” (Iliad 9.443). Great Athenian leaders like Themistocles and Pericles were accomplished public speakers; and epic poetry, tragedy, comedy, and history all made frequent use of set speeches. The formal pleadings of the envoys to Achilles in Iliad Book Nine, the messenger speeches in tragedy reporting events like the battle of Salamis in Aeschylus’ Persians, and Pericles’ funeral oration in Thucydides’ History are but a few indications of the Greeks’ never-ending fascination with the spoken word, and with formal public speaking in particular, which reached its height in the public oratory of the fifth and fourth centuries. I. Oratory2 Originally, oratory was not a specialized subject of study but was learned by practice and example. The formal study of rhetoric as an “art” (technē) began, we are told, in the middle of the fifth century in Sicily with Corax and his pupil Tisias.3 These two are scarcely more than names to us, but another Sicilian, Gorgias of Leontini (c. 490-390), developed a dazzling new style of speech and argument. Gorgias initiated the practice, which continued into the early fourth century, of composing speeches for mythical or imaginary occasions. -
Law and Community in Ancient Athens, and the Prosecution of Sokrates
Revista 20 10/10/17 12:29 Página 249 Ivs Fvgit, 20, 2017, pp. 249-263 ISSN: 1132-8975 LAW AND COMMUNITY IN ANCIENT ATHENS, AND THE PROSECUTION OF SOKRATES Robert WALLACE Northwestern University (Estados Unidos) [email protected] R E S U M E N : Los griegos arcaicos inventaron la ley escrita para proporcionar justicia igual para la ciudadanía (dêmos), sobre todo contra aristócratas abusivos. De allí en adelante, los jurados fueron extraídos de los dêmos, los magistrados de élite tenían poderes limitados, y los casos se decidieron por mayoría de votos (una invención griega). Las leyes eran tomadas en serio, y los expertos (abogados) eran limitados. Como jurados, los ciudadanos comunes y corrientes decidieron lo que significa- ban las leyes. En contraste con el estado de derecho, los discursos de los tribunales a menu- do incluyen consideraciones extra-legales como el servicio militar de un litigante o antepasados patrióticos. En los ensayos de homicidio se excluyó dicho material, y en otros casos los litigantes a menudo se oponen a él. Algunos estudiosos sugie- ren que tales argumentos son relevantes para «el cuadro más amplio» de un caso. Otros creen que los hechos eran de importancia secundaria en los litigios. Sostengo que la mayoría de los argumentos extraños en los discursos legales pertenecen al bienestar comunitario, el objetivo último de la ley griega, mucho más importante que el bienestar de los individuos. Uno de los objetivos principales de la ley estadounidense es proteger a los individuos contra el poder abusivo del estado. Los griegos no tenían «estados pesados» sino sólo comunidades, que las leyes defendían. -
Rethinking Athenian Democracy.Pdf
Rethinking Athenian Democracy A dissertation presented by Daniela Louise Cammack to The Department of Government in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of Political Science Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts January 2013 © 2013 Daniela Cammack All rights reserved. Professor Richard Tuck Daniela Cammack Abstract Conventional accounts of classical Athenian democracy represent the assembly as the primary democratic institution in the Athenian political system. This looks reasonable in the light of modern democracy, which has typically developed through the democratization of legislative assemblies. Yet it conflicts with the evidence at our disposal. Our ancient sources suggest that the most significant and distinctively democratic institution in Athens was the courts, where decisions were made by large panels of randomly selected ordinary citizens with no possibility of appeal. This dissertation reinterprets Athenian democracy as “dikastic democracy” (from the Greek dikastēs, “judge”), defined as a mode of government in which ordinary citizens rule principally through their control of the administration of justice. It begins by casting doubt on two major planks in the modern interpretation of Athenian democracy: first, that it rested on a conception of the “wisdom of the multitude” akin to that advanced by epistemic democrats today, and second that it was “deliberative,” meaning that mass discussion of political matters played a defining role. The first plank rests largely on an argument made by Aristotle in support of mass political participation, which I show has been comprehensively misunderstood. The second rests on the interpretation of the verb “bouleuomai” as indicating speech, but I suggest that it meant internal reflection in both the courts and the assembly. -
Cambridge Companions Online
Cambridge Companions Online http://universitypublishingonline.org/cambridge/companions/ The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Law Edited by Michael Gagarin, David Cohen Book DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CCOL0521818400 Online ISBN: 9781139000758 Hardback ISBN: 9780521818407 Paperback ISBN: 9780521521598 Chapter 20 - Greek Tragedy and Law pp. 374-393 Chapter DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CCOL0521818400.021 Cambridge University Press P1: JYD 0521818400c20.xml CB840/Gagarin 0521818400 June 8, 2005 18:52 20: Greek Tragedy and Law Danielle Allen S Method reek tragedy abounds with political crises – struggles over wrongdoing and punishment, efforts to overturn or found G regimes, contention about the rights of strangers and the weak. Clearly, punishment, constitutions, and asylum were all real legal is- sues in Athens, and the city had extensive institutions for dealing with them, some of which even work their ways into the plays as instru- ments available to the protagonists for resolving (or trying to resolve) their problems. Most famously in the Oresteia the Areopagus Court, with Athena’s expert help, decides the fate of Orestes (Eum. 470–752) as does the Argive Assembly in Euripides’ Orestes (866–956). Some form of conceptual continuum links tragedy and Athenian legal and political thought. But, because the political and legal crises of drama exist en- tirely in the realm of the imagination, what can be learned from them about the historical reality of law in Athens? Scholars working on English-language literary texts have recently refined techniques for analyzing law and literature together.1 Follow- ing the lead of eminent legal historian F. -
Drakon's Homicide
I. ARCHAIC AND CLASSICAL GREEK LAW RAYMOND WESTBROOK (BALTIMORE) DRAKON’S HOMICIDE LAW Introduction1 In 409/8 B.C. the Athenian government commissioned the transcription of Drakon’s law of homicide onto a marble stele, to be erected in the Agora. The original, dating from the seventh century, had been inscribed on axones, which appear to have been four-sided rectangular wooden beamsset horizontally in an oblong frame that could be rotated in order to read each surface (Stroud 1979: 41). The axones have of courselong since perished, but a part of the marble stele that had survivedin secondary use was recovered in 1843. It containsapreamble describing the commission to copy the law, the heading “first axon”and the first 60 or so lines of thetext, although only the firstthird thereof is more than fragmentary and much of that is heavily restored. The heading “second axon” has been deciphered towards the end of theextanttext (Stroud 1968: 16-18, 58-60). Themain body of the recoverable text reads as follows (lines 1-20): Secretary: Diognetes of the Deme Phrearrioi Archon: Diokles Decree of theCouncil and thePeople, the prytany of Akamantis, Secretary: Diognetes, Chair: Euthydikos, motion of ... Letthe Registrars of the Laws transcribe the law of Drakon regarding homicide, after receivingit from the Basileus, with (the assistance of) the Secretary of the Council, on a marble stele, and let them place it before the Stoa Basileia. Letthe Poletai subcontract in accordance with the law. Let the Hellenotamiai pay the money. First Axon And if without premeditation someone kills somebody, he is to be exiled. -
Collins Magic in the Ancient Greek World.Pdf
9781405132381_1_pre.qxd 30/10/2007 12:09 Page i Magic in the Ancient Greek World 9781405132381_1_pre.qxd 30/10/2007 12:09 Page ii Blackwell Ancient Religions Ancient religious practice and belief are at once fascinating and alien for twenty-first-century readers. There was no Bible, no creed, no fixed set of beliefs. Rather, ancient religion was characterized by extraordinary diversity in belief and ritual. This distance means that modern readers need a guide to ancient religious experience. Written by experts, the books in this series provide accessible introductions to this central aspect of the ancient world. Published Magic in the Ancient Greek World Derek Collins Religion in the Roman Empire James B. Rives Ancient Greek Religion Jon D. Mikalson Forthcoming Religion of the Roman Republic Christopher McDonough and Lora Holland Death, Burial and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt Steven Snape Ancient Greek Divination Sarah Iles Johnston 9781405132381_1_pre.qxd 30/10/2007 12:09 Page iii Magic in the Ancient Greek World Derek Collins 9781405132381_1_pre.qxd 30/10/2007 12:09 Page iv © 2008 by Derek Collins blackwell publishing 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Derek Collins to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. -
The Edictum Theoderici: a Study of a Roman Legal Document from Ostrogothic Italy
The Edictum Theoderici: A Study of a Roman Legal Document from Ostrogothic Italy By Sean D.W. Lafferty A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History University of Toronto © Copyright by Sean D.W. Lafferty 2010 The Edictum Theoderici: A Study of a Roman Legal Document from Ostrogothic Italy Sean D.W. Lafferty Doctor of Philosophy Department of History University of Toronto 2010 Abstract This is a study of a Roman legal document of unknown date and debated origin conventionally known as the Edictum Theoderici (ET). Comprised of 154 edicta, or provisions, in addition to a prologue and epilogue, the ET is a significant but largely overlooked document for understanding the institutions of Roman law, legal administration and society in the West from the fourth to early sixth century. The purpose is to situate the text within its proper historical and legal context, to understand better the processes involved in the creation of new law in the post-Roman world, as well as to appreciate how the various social, political and cultural changes associated with the end of the classical world and the beginning of the Middle Ages manifested themselves in the domain of Roman law. It is argued here that the ET was produced by a group of unknown Roman jurisprudents working under the instructions of the Ostrogothic king Theoderic the Great (493-526), and was intended as a guide for settling disputes between the Roman and Ostrogothic inhabitants of Italy. A study of its contents in relation to earlier Roman law and legal custom preserved in imperial decrees and juristic commentaries offers a revealing glimpse into how, and to what extent, Roman law survived and evolved in Italy following the decline and eventual collapse of imperial authority in the region. -
Expulsion from the Senate of the Roman Republic, C.319–50 BC
Ex senatu eiecti sunt: Expulsion from the Senate of the Roman Republic, c.319–50 BC Lee Christopher MOORE University College London (UCL) PhD, 2013 1 Declaration I, Lee Christopher MOORE, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. 2 Thesis abstract One of the major duties performed by the censors of the Roman Republic was that of the lectio senatus, the enrolment of the Senate. As part of this process they were able to expel from that body anyone whom they deemed unequal to the honour of continued membership. Those expelled were termed ‘praeteriti’. While various aspects of this important and at-times controversial process have attracted scholarly attention, a detailed survey has never been attempted. The work is divided into two major parts. Part I comprises four chapters relating to various aspects of the lectio. Chapter 1 sees a close analysis of the term ‘praeteritus’, shedding fresh light on senatorial demographics and turnover – primarily a demonstration of the correctness of the (minority) view that as early as the third century the quaestorship conveyed automatic membership of the Senate to those who held it. It was not a Sullan innovation. In Ch.2 we calculate that during the period under investigation, c.350 members were expelled. When factoring for life expectancy, this translates to a significant mean lifetime risk of expulsion: c.10%. Also, that mean risk was front-loaded, with praetorians and consulars significantly less likely to be expelled than subpraetorian members. -
Prostituting Female Kin (Plut
UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO FACOLTÀ DI GIURISPRUDENZA DIKE Rivista di storia del diritto greco ed ellenistico 8 2006 INDICE ATENE Delfim F. Leão Sólon e a legislação em matéria de direito familiar 5 Allison Glazebrook Prostituting Female Kin (Plut. Sol. 23.1-2) 33 Richard V. Cudjoe The Purpose of the «epidikasia» for an «epikleros» in Classical Athens 55 CHIO Michele Faraguna Terra pubblica e vendite di immobili confiscati a Chio nel V secolo a.C. 89 LOCRI EPIZEFIRI Vania Ghezzi I Locresi e la legge del laccio 101 RASSEGNA CRITICA Martin Dreher Bürgerstaat und Basisdemokratie («Ideologische Begriffe in der Geschichtswissenschaft», 1) 115 LETTURE Ilias N. Arnaoutoglou Panayotis D. Dimakis: in memoriam 163 Alberto Maffi Nuove pubblicazioni 171 Allison Glazebrook PROSTITUTING FEMALE KIN (Plut. Sol. 23.1-2) Although Solon’s reforms seem to have averted a crisis in Athens, brought greater protection to the people, and recognized «Athenian» as an identity 1, it is commonly acknowledged that his nÒmoi 2 relat- ing to women had few benefits for women themselves (Blundell 1995, p. 75; Fantham et al. 1994, pp. 74-76; Just 1989, pp. 22-23; Arthur 1973, p. 36). They restricted the number of garments women could wear in public to three, calculated the amount of food and drink they could carry on their person to one obol’s worth, lim- ited their movements at night, and reduced women’s involvement in funerary ritual (Plut. Sol. 21; Dem. 43.62-63). The laws relating to marriage customs limited the amount of their dowry and trous- seau (Sol. -
Anglo-Saxon Constitutional History
Outline 9/14/2020 ROMAN LAW PRINCIPATE CONSTITUTIONAL OUTLINE, PROCEDURE OUTLINE I. Chronology: Principate 27 BC – 284 AD; Dominate: 284–476 AD (in the West). There is some controversy as to where to place the beginning of the Dominate. 284 AD, the beginning of the reign of Diocletian, seems best. He seems to have been the first emperor to use the word dominus, from which we get ‘dominate’ as part of his official title. 1. 27 BC – 284 AD: Principate a. 27 BC – 69 AD: Julio-Claudian emperors. Augustus, Tiberius, Gaius (called Caligula), Claudius (made emperor by the praetorian guard), Nero (of burning of Rome fame) b. 68/69 AD, the year of the four emperors: Galba, Otho, Vitellus, Vespasian. The succession problem becomes public c. .69–96 AD: Flavian emperors (soldiers all): Vespasian, Titus (sacks Jerusalem), Domitian (Titus’ brother) d. 96–180 AD: “5 good emperors”: Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius. The first three were unrelated, the last two began a dynasty of Antonines. e. 180–235 AD: The Antonine dynasty merged into the Severan dynasty: Commodus (Marcus Aurelius’ son, a disaster as an emperor), Septimius Severus (a tough soldier and a good administrator), Caracalla (of baths and constitutio Antoniniana fame), Elagabalus (a sun-worshipper from the East), Severus Alexander (the last of the line). The last great classical jurist died shortly after the end of the Severan dynasty. The chronology continues; the following will be considered in class on 9/22/2020: f. 235–284 AD: “30 tyrants” 2. 284–565 AD: Dominate II. The Constitution of the Principate 1. -
A Quest for the Multicultural Origins of the "Western Legal Tradition" P
Hastings Law Journal Volume 51 | Issue 3 Article 2 1-2000 Black Gaius: A Quest for the Multicultural Origins of the "Western Legal Tradition" P. G. Monateri Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_law_journal Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation P. G. Monateri, Black Gaius: A Quest for the Multicultural Origins of the "Western Legal Tradition", 51 Hastings L.J. 479 (2000). Available at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_law_journal/vol51/iss3/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hastings Law Journal by an authorized editor of UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Articles Black Gaius A Quest for the Multicultural Origins of the 'Western Legal Tradition" by P.G. MONATERI* Table of Contents Introduction: A Reversal of Grounds .................................................481 I. Manufacturing the Western Roots ...................................................484 A. Genealogies and Governance ..............................................484 (1) The "Aryan Model"........................................................ 490 (2) The "African-Semitic Theory"...................................... 496 B. Reaction to Revisionism: The Professional Resistance ..502 C. The "Western Canon": Tradition and Dissemination .....506 II. A Critique of the Western Genius ..................................................514 -
Women in Early Pythagoreanism
Women in Early Pythagoreanism Caterina Pellò Faculty of Classics University of Cambridge Clare Hall February 2018 This dissertation is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Alla nonna Ninni, che mi ha insegnato a leggere e scrivere Abstract Women in Early Pythagoreanism Caterina Pellò The sixth-century-BCE Pythagorean communities included both male and female members. This thesis focuses on the Pythagorean women and aims to explore what reasons lie behind the prominence of women in Pythagoreanism and what roles women played in early Pythagorean societies and thought. In the first chapter, I analyse the social conditions of women in Southern Italy, where the first Pythagorean communities were founded. In the second chapter, I compare Pythagorean societies with ancient Greek political clubs and religious sects. Compared to mainland Greece, South Italian women enjoyed higher legal and socio-political status. Similarly, religious groups included female initiates, assigning them authoritative roles. Consequently, the fact that the Pythagoreans founded their communities in Croton and further afield, and that in some respects these communities resembled ancient sects helps to explain why they opened their doors to the female gender to begin with. The third chapter discusses Pythagoras’ teachings to and about women. Pythagorean doctrines did not exclusively affect the followers’ way of thinking and public activities, but also their private way of living. Thus, they also regulated key aspects of the female everyday life, such as marriage and motherhood. I argue that the Pythagorean women entered the communities as wives, mothers and daughters. Nonetheless, some of them were able to gain authority over their fellow Pythagoreans and engage in intellectual activities, thus overcoming the female traditional domestic roles.