Law and Economy in Classical Athens: [Demosthenes], “Against Dionysodorus”
is is a version of an electronic document, part of the series, Dēmos: Clas- sical Athenian Democracy, a publicationpublication ofof e Stoa: a consortium for electronic publication in the humanities [www.stoa.org]. e electronic version of this article off ers contextual information intended to make the study of Athenian democracy more accessible to a wide audience. Please visit the site at http:// www.stoa.org/projects/demos/home. Law and Economy in Classical Athens: [Demosthenes], “Against Dionysodorus” S is article was originally written for the online discus- sion series “Athenian Law in its Democratic Context,” organized by Adriaan Lanni and sponsored by Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies. (Suggested Read- ing: Demosthenes , “Against Dionysodorus.”) Sometime around a man named Dareius brought a private action in an Athenian court against a merchant called Dionysodorus. Dareius and his business partner Pamphilus had made a loan to Dionysodorus and his part- ner Parmeniscus for a trading voyage to Egypt and back. In his opening words of his speech to the court, Dareius describes the risks confronting men who made maritime loans. Edward M. Harris, “Law and Economy in Classical Athens: [Demosthenes] ‘Against Dionysodorus,’” in A. Lanni, ed., “Athenian Law in its Democratic Context” (Center for Hellenic Studies On-Line Discussion Series). Republished with permission in C. Blackwell, ed., Dēmos: Classical Athenian Democracy (A.(A. MahoneyMahoney andand R.R. Scaife,Scaife, edd.,edd., e Stoa: a consortium for electronic publication in the humanities [www.stoa.org], . © , E.M. Harris. “We who decide to engage in maritime trade and to en- trust our property to other men are clearly aware of this fact: the borrower has an advantage over us in every re- spect.
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