Classics Crime and Punishment Week 3

Why can early Greek law not be studied only through Athens?

Athens was not the only classical Greek polis, and Greek law developed across many poleis, with some shared elements and some unique ones.

What kinds of similarities and differences existed in Greek law across city-states?

Some aspects of Greek law were common to all poleis, while others were unique to particular communities.

What is the earliest literary source for Greek ideas about law and justice?

The oldest Greek literature we have is Homer's Iliad, written in the 8th century BCE but developed earlier in oral tradition.

Why is the Iliad not a direct record of Mycenaean legal institutions?

Although the poem claims to depict Mycenaean Greece, many of its institutions resemble late Dark Age practices rather than Bronze Age ones.

How are disputes commonly resolved in the Iliad?

Many disputes in the Iliad are resolved through violence.

What alternative to violence appears in some Iliad disputes?

Some people bring their disputes to the man in charge and ask for a just resolution.

What different methods of dispute resolution appear in the Iliad?

The Iliad shows a mix of self-help (vengeance), arbitration, and authoritative decision-making.

What is the most important legal scene in the Iliad?

The description of the shield of Achilles in Book 18 is the most important scene for understanding early Greek law.

Why is the shield of Achilles relevant to everyday life?

The poem focuses on only a few weeks of the Trojan War but includes scenes of daily life outside the battlefield.

How are peace and law represented on Achilles' shield?

The shield is decorated with images of peaceful life, including social and legal activities.

What is depicted in the legal scene on Achilles' shield?

The shield includes a description of an early court case.

Where does the early court case take place?

The people are assembled in the marketplace where a quarrel has arisen.

What is the subject of the dispute in the shield scene?

Two men are disputing over the blood price for a man who has been killed.

What position does one disputant take in the case?

One man claims he has offered full restitution publicly.

How does the other disputant respond to compensation?

The other man refuses compensation and will accept nothing.

Why does arbitration become necessary in this dispute?

The two sides reach an impasse and seek arbitration.

How does the community participate in the dispute?

The people speak up on both sides to support each disputant.

What role do heralds play in the court scene?

Heralds keep the crowd under control during the proceedings.

Who makes the formal legal decision?

The elders sit on polished stone benches in a sacred circle to judge the case.

How is the case presented to the elders?

The two men take turns speaking their cases before the elders.

What incentive exists for fair judgment?

Two talents of gold are placed between the litigants as a reward for the elder who judges most justly.

Why is the gold reward significant?

Two talents of gold represents an extremely large sum, emphasizing the importance of justice.

What is uncertain about how the best judgment is chosen?

It is unclear whether the elders, litigants, or crowd decide whose judgment is best.

What kind of legal process does this scene represent?

This is a voluntary arbitration between two parties before multiple elders and a public audience.

Why is this passage important for historians of law?

It shows how literary texts can reveal ideas about crime and punishment in classical antiquity.

What crime is at issue in the shield court case?

The crime involved is murder.

What is unclear about the killing?

We do not know how the man was killed or whether it was intentional.

What solution does the accused propose?

The killer proposes paying compensation to the victim's family.

Why does the victim's family reject compensation?

The family refuses blood money and may seek exile or vengeance instead.

What is actually being disputed in the case?

The dispute is about the nature of the punishment, not the fact of the killing.

What problem does early homicide law try to address?

Early Athenian homicide law focuses on preventing cycles of vengeance.

How does early law restrict vengeance killing?

The law forbids killing in vengeance and requires disputes to be settled through courts.

How does the Iliad view blood money?

Blood money is acknowledged as insufficient but necessary to keep society functioning.

What outcome is implied for the shield court case?

The poem implies that the victim's family is not permitted to kill the offender.

How does execution differ from vengeance killing?

If the killer is executed, it occurs with community authority rather than private revenge.

What does the scene reveal about early trial procedure?

A council of elders judges cases with public participation and crowd influence.

How does the crowd affect early legal decisions?

The crowd's opinion plays a role, giving proceedings a democratic flavor.

Why does this legal system differ from later courts?

The elders rely on justice and social convention rather than written law codes.

What historical period does this legal practice reflect?

The scene reflects late Dark Age practices known to the poet, not Bronze Age Greece.

What major legal development occurred during the Archaic Period?

In the 7th century BCE, during the Archaic Period, an era of major social change, the Greeks began turning to written laws.

Where were the first written Greek laws created according to tradition?

According to legend, the first written Greek laws were created not in Greece but in the colony of Locri in southern Italy.

Who was credited with writing the first written Greek laws?

The laws at Locri were written by a lawgiver named Zaleucus.

What physical evidence survives for early Greek written laws?

We have inscriptions, meaning laws etched into stone, including an extensive set of laws from Gortyn on Crete that can be considered a law code.

Why are written laws historically significant?

Written laws are significant because they represent a move toward greater equality and consistency in legal decision-making.

How do literary sources differ in their portrayal of judges?

While the Iliad portrays elders as fair judges guided by justice and custom, Hesiod's Works and Days complains that judges and kings are often unfair.

How did written laws change legal procedure?

Written laws made legal procedures mandatory rather than voluntary and reduced the discretion of magistrates.

Did written laws eliminate inequality?

Although written laws promoted equality under the law, many inequalities were explicitly written into early Greek laws.

What groups were legally unequal under early Greek law?

Enslaved persons and women were not equal to men, non-citizens were not equal to citizens, and different social and economic classes faced different laws and punishments.

How did early written laws signal inequality linguistically?

Early written laws indicated inequality by using different terminology for law.

What does the Greek word nomos mean?

In Greek, nomos means custom, and it is also used to mean law.

What term was used specifically for early written laws?

Early written laws were also called thesmoi, with the singular form being thesmos.

How did the meanings of nomos and thesmos change over time?

In the Classical Period, both nomos and thesmos came to mean law.

Which Athenian officials reflect these legal terms?

Athens had officials called nomothetai and others called thesmothetai, reflecting these legal distinctions.

How are nomoi similar to common law systems?

Nomoi resemble common law because they are based on precedent and customary practice.

How are thesmoi similar to civil law systems?

Thesmoi resemble modern civil law because they are based on written principles rather than precedent.

Why did early written laws call themselves thesmoi?

Since elders traditionally decided cases based on nomoi, early written laws distinguished themselves by calling themselves thesmoi.

What does the dominance of the word nomos suggest about Greek legal culture?

The dominance of nomos shows that Greek law was closely tied to custom, much like common law traditions.

How does thesmos differ conceptually from nomos?

Thesmos suggests a written, principle-based law closer to civil law systems.

What characterized the political climate of the Archaic Period?

The Archaic Period was marked by intense class and political competition among democrats, oligarchs, and tyrants.

Why did cities introduce written laws during this period?

Cities sometimes introduced written laws to reduce political conflict by making rules definite and less open to partisan interpretation.

Who was chosen to write laws in times of political conflict?

Cities sought non-partisan individuals to write laws, and if none were available locally, they invited outsiders.

Why was using an outsider not as strange as it seems?

The outsider was still Greek, so he was culturally similar despite not being from the city.

What does the use of lawgivers reveal about Greek legal development?

It shows that Greek law developed not only from dispute resolution but also from class and political competition.

Who were laws primarily designed to regulate?

Laws were aimed at those powerful enough to participate in political conflicts.

Whose relationships did early laws mainly govern?

Early laws focused on relationships between powerful men who were heads of households.

How were women, the poor, and enslaved people treated under the law?

They were involved in the law only insofar as they were connected to landowning citizen men.

Why was a crime against a woman or enslaved person legally significant?

Such a crime mattered mainly because it was considered a crime against the kyrios, the male head of the household.

Who were the two key figures in the development of Athenian law?

The two key figures in the development of Athenian law were Draco and Solon.

Who was the first lawgiver in Athens?

The first lawgiver in Athens was an archon named Draco.

What was an archon in Athens?

An archon was a magistrate, meaning an elected or selected public official who administered the law, managed finances, oversaw public works, or led military and religious duties.

When did Draco write the first Athenian law code?

In 621 BCE, Draco wrote the first Athenian law code.

What reputation did Draco's law code have?

Draco's law code had a reputation for being very harsh.

What modern word comes from Draco's law code?

The word "draconian" comes from Draco's law code.

What was traditionally believed about punishments under Draco's laws?

It was traditionally believed that many crimes, even small ones, were punishable by death under Draco's laws.

How do modern scholars reinterpret Draco's punishments?

Modern scholars believe Draco's laws did not automatically require execution but instead allowed lethal self-help.

What is meant by lethal self-help?

Lethal self-help means victims or their families could kill the offender themselves as a form of legal revenge.

What is a key feature of written law?

One key feature of written law is that it makes judicial procedures mandatory.

How did written law differ from dispute resolution in the Iliad?

Unlike the voluntary arbitration seen in the Iliad, written laws required officials' decisions to follow the provisions of the law.

Why did Greek laws include self-help provisions?

Since self-help and private vengeance were prevalent in Greek custom, laws had to institutionalize these practices in writing to function within established culture.

What did Draco's homicide law forbid?

Draco's homicide law forbade vengeance killing.

What exceptions did Draco's homicide law include?

Draco's homicide law made numerous exceptions for when vengeance killing was allowed.

Why did Draco's laws seem harsh?

Draco's laws seemed harsh largely because they permitted lethal self-help.

When did Draco require judicial procedure instead of self-help?

In some instances, Draco made judicial procedure mandatory rather than allowing self-help.

How should Draco's approach to punishment be understood?

Draco did not say minor crimes required execution but instead allowed the victim's family to seek vengeance through lethal self-help.

How should we reassess the harshness of Draco's laws?

Draco's laws may not have been ultra-harsh but rather permissive of private acts of vengeance.

Why was Draco's law code ultimately insufficient?

Draco's law code was a good first step but did not stop aristocratic competition or social change.

When did Solon reform Athenian law and government?

In 594 BCE, Solon revamped the Athenian government and law code.

What did Solon do with Draco's laws?

Solon abolished and replaced all of Draco's laws except for the law on homicide.

How did Solon make laws publicly accessible?

Solon wrote the laws on wooden tablets and posted them in public.

Why was public display of laws only theoretically egalitarian?

In practice, the laws were only accessible to those who could read and had the leisure time to view them.

How did Athenians view Solon's laws over time?

Throughout the Classical Period, Athenians regarded their laws as having been written by Solon.

Who were Solon's laws primarily about?

Solon's laws were primarily about wealthy men.

How were Solon's laws politically characterized?

Solon's laws were democratic rather than oligarchic.

Which social group did Solon emphasize?

Solon emphasized small-scale farmers and landowners rather than aristocratic families.

Who remained disadvantaged under Solon's laws?

Those who were not elite men were still treated unfairly under Solon's laws.

What major reform did Solon implement?

One of Solon's most important reforms was the abolition of debt slavery.

Why did Solon design his laws as he did?

Solon wrote his laws largely to mediate between aristocratic parties.

Who benefited most from Solon's legal system?

Aristocrats found it much easier to take advantage of the courts than non-elites under Solon's system.

What was one main goal of Solon's laws?

One main goal of Solon's laws was to regulate government and behavior.

Who ruled Athens before Solon?

Before Solon, Athens was ruled mainly by the aristocratic council of elders known as the Areopagus.