EH

Periodisation

  • Law in ancient Greece is best understood through three broad periods and their distinctive legal landscapes:
    • Archaic Age: 800\text{–}480\,\text{BCE}
    • Classical Age: 480\text{–}323\,\text{BCE}
    • Hellenistic Age: 323\,\text{BCE}\text{–}31\,\text{BCE}
  • Important contextual idea: there was no single unified Greek legal system; each polis (city-state) had its own laws and institutions, though some common themes recurred (e.g., rule of law, citizen participation, property and family concerns).
  • A recurring theme across the slides is the tension between unwritten customary norms and the emergence of written laws in some places (e.g., Gortyn Code in Crete, later Athenian reforms).

Archaic Age (800–480 BCE)

  • Geography and backdrop: Greek world with extensive colonization and inter-polis contacts; law arises in the context of developing city-states (poleis).
  • Dearth of surviving artefacts, but not a pre-legal society: there was unwritten law documented in poetry and public texts, not a coherent written civil code for all matters.
  • Early texts and codification:
    • Earliest texts around 750\text{ BCE}; earliest public texts around 650\text{ BCE}.
    • Gortyn Code (6th/5th century BCE): a major surviving legal code focused on family and property, but covering many matters; emphasizes the rule of law.
    • First sentence of the Gortyn Code states: if someone contends about a free man or a slave, he is not to seize him before a trial.
  • Knowledge of law and literature:
    • Law exists in sources like Hesiod and Homer, but literature is often audience-adjusted; not a straightforward mirror of actual legal practice.
    • These poetic and literary sources illuminate ideals and rhetorical norms rather than precise procedural rules.
  • Key implications:
    • Early move toward formalized dispute resolution and legal norms, but actual practice varied by polis and over time.

Classical Age (480–323 BCE)

  • The Greek world during the Persian Wars demarcates a new phase of political formation and legal development (evidence from maps and literary sources).
  • Athens becomes the best-documented legal system from this period, but other poleis also developed their own institutions.
  • Contextual features to note:
    • Persian Wars (c. 500–479\,\text{BCE}) shape Greek political dynamics and set the stage for later legal developments.
    • The classical period features a high point in urban, civic life and the rule of law in several city-states, especially Athens.
  • Sparta is treated as a contrasting example later in the course (see page on the case of Sparta) where much is learned from outside sources rather than written laws in Sparta itself.

The Gortyn Code (Grete-scale context)

  • Aegean-centered example of archaic-to-classical legal culture in Crete (Gortyn) dating to widely around the 6th/5th\,\text{century BCE}.
  • Core themes:
    • Dominance of family and property law; broad range of issues covered.
    • The text is often cited for its explicit commitment to the rule of law.
    • The opening line highlights procedural fairness: a free man or a slave cannot be seized prior to trial.
  • Significance:
    • One of the earliest comprehensive legal codes we have from the Greek world.
    • Demonstrates that unwritten custom could be codified, and that rule of law was a political ideal in some places.

The Gortyn Code – Key details and differential treatment

  • Illustrative extracts (illustrative table of offenses and fines):
    • Rape by a free person against a free person: 200\ ext{Drachmas}
    • Rape by a free person against a slave: 5\ ext{Drachmas}
    • Rape by a slave against a free person: 400\ ext{Drachmas}
    • Rape by a slave against a slave: 10\ ext{Drachmas}
    • Seduction by a slave against a free person: 400\ ext{Drachmas}
    • Seduction by a slave against a slave: 10\ ext{Drachmas}
  • Other notable features:
    • Includes provisions on ownership, sale, and manumission of slaves; differential treatment by status of victim and offender.
    • Signals a structured approach to violations and punishments that reflect social hierarchies (free persons vs slaves).
  • Language and script: The code is attested in Greek, with legal formulas embedded in the civic and family context.

The Classical Athens – Legislative and judicial framework

  • Athens as the best-documented example of a classical Greek legal system.
  • Sources of knowledge include:
    • Surviving court speeches used in trials (approximately 100 identifiable speeches).
    • Philosophical works (e.g., Aristotle’s Constitution of the Athenians).
    • A limited set of formal written laws publicly displayed in the agora.
  • The legislative architecture:
    • Legislative procedure: Council (Council of 500) selected annually by lot; sets the agenda.
    • Assembly (ekklesia) as the main legislative body; later reinforced by Nomothetai (lawgivers) for review.
    • Any Athenian citizen over age 20 could attend and vote; quorum was 6000.
    • Laws were simple, non-technical, written, and publicly displayed.
  • The case of Sparta (as an excursion example): Sparta's legal framework is often described by outsiders (Xenophon, Plutarch) rather than through a robust written corpus; highlights differences in legal culture among poleis.

Athens: Judicial disputes and their settlement (Classical Athens)

  • Judicial organs:
    • Popular courts, notably the Forty (the oligarchic council) and specialized courts like the Aeropagus (homicide and religious offenses) and maritime disputes.
    • Large juries decided cases by majority after hearing pleadings.
  • Administration of cases:
    • A magistrate (annual, by lot) oversaw procedures, with a clerk for order and timekeeping (time limits for each litigant).
    • No professional judge; juries decided cases themselves.
  • Court system and procedures:
    • Trials typically lasted a day; juries were selected anew each day.
    • A daily juror pool of 6{,}000 individuals formed for the day's hearings.
    • Cost to litigate: around 3\ obols per day for jurors.
    • Two main tracks: Dike (private lawsuits) and Graphe (public offenses; prosecutions of public officials by ordinary citizens without a public prosecutor).
    • Mandatory and voluntary arbitration options developed over time.
  • Role of legal professionals:
    • No lawyers in the modern sense; litigants could be assisted by logographers (speech-writers) for a fee, who would draft the speech the litigant would then memorize and deliver.
  • Jury oath and relevance:
    • Jurors swore to judge according to the laws and decrees of the Athenians, with a clause about judging according to the most just opinion where no law exists.
    • The issue of relevance shaped speeches: litigants had to stay within the scope defined by the plaintiff; concerns about background, character, or past behavior were used to fill in evidentiary gaps.
  • Notable case: Socrates (399 BCE)
    • Accusation: not recognizing the gods of the city and corrupting the youth; death penalty proposed.
    • Socrates’ defense emphasizes a limited scope of charges; famous dialogue in Plato’s Apology emphasizes the rule-of-law and the flaw of deflecting into impiety.
  • Procedure in practice:
    • Trials centered on speeches by the litigants; witnesses could testify; no formal defense attorneys.
    • Jurors voted by secret ballot after speeches; no formal deliberation period.
  • Appeals:
    • No formal appeals; however, new suits could sometimes be brought, e.g., for false testimony.
  • Systemic implications:
    • The Athenaean system is widely described as democratic: ordinary citizens controlled litigation from initiation to verdict, with amateurs (not trained judges) presiding and deciding.

Strengths, weaknesses, and critique of the Athenian system

  • Strengths:
    • Litigation was accessible to all citizens; democratic ideals supported public participation and accountability.
    • The system distributed power across officials, litigants, arbitrators, jurors, and enforcers, all operated by non-professionals.
  • Weaknesses:
    • Skilled speakers could influence jurors through rhetoric and persuasion; no central judge to prevent misapplication of law.
    • The ease of bringing public prosecutions invited abuse and personal gain (sykophants); graphe prosecutors could be fined and barred if unsuccessful.
  • Scholarly reflections:
    • Critics like Plato argued for trained judges and a more systematic, presumptively just legal framework.
    • Nonetheless, extant sources suggest Athenians valued their laws and perceived their system as functioning well overall (Gagarin).
  • Practical takeaway:
    • Athenian law embodied a democratic ethos but depended heavily on rhetoric, procedural rules, and citizen participation rather than formal legal education.

Excursion: Law and religion

  • Religion as a legitimating and integrating force in law:
    • Religion provided legitimacy to laws and their enforcement, serving as content for rules and as ritual context for legal processes (war, diplomacy, marriage, etc.).
    • Legal rules protected religious rituals; sanctions could be linked to offenses against sacred norms.

Citizenship and foreigners (xenos)

  • A status defining political participation and rights within the polis:
    • Pericles’ Law (c. 451 BCE): anyone not born to two astoi (citizen-parent status) should not share in the polis.
    • Rights included eligibility to seek redress, participate in politics, hold religious offices, and engage in civic life.
  • Foreigners and metics (xenoi):
    • Residing in a polis, engaging in maritime trade, and other activities.
    • While they enjoyed some economic freedoms, they faced restricted access to rituals, law-representation (pro-xenos rights), and land ownership; marriage rights and political rights limited relative to citizens.

Women in the legal system

  • Law and gendered structures: the law reinforced gendered social roles.
  • Citizenship and participation: women had status and rights in the community but limited functional political rights; in Athens, women largely excluded from political and public life.
  • Legal remedies and representation:
    • All litigation was initiated by men; a woman with a grievance needed her kyrios (male guardian) to act on her behalf.
  • Gortyn (Crete) as a counterpoint:
    • Women could own property independently, manage it, and dispose of it; could leave property to heirs; marriage to slaves was possible; and children’s status depended on the household context (household living arrangements influenced freedom of children).

Slaves in the legal system

  • Slavery as property: owners possessed broad rights over slaves (possession, use, management, sale, punishment, even killing in some contexts).
  • Archaic period (Homeric portrayal):
    • Literature reflects attitudes that may differ from actual treatment; slaves could be freed, but social hierarchies were deeply entrenched.
  • Gortyn code (6th–5th century BCE):
    • Slavery and debt bondage appear within a formalized framework; ownership and status were determined through trials and witnesses; rules on sale and manumission; differential treatment based on status (free person vs slave) and on religious/perimeter protections around sanctuaries.
  • Classical Athens:
    • Slaves faced virtually absolute control by owners, including punishment or even death; hybris laws applied in contexts involving wrongs against slaves and property.
  • Hellenistic period:
    • Egypt (Ptolemaic context): run-away notices and other administrative devices for slaves and freed people; broader cross-cultural legal interactions.
  • Illustrative table (Gortyn) – differential penalties:
    • Rape by a free person against a free person: 200\text{ Drachmas}
    • Rape by a free person against a slave: 5\text{ Drachmas}
    • Rape by a slave against a free person: 400\text{ Drachmas}
    • Rape by a slave against a slave: 10\text{ Drachmas}
    • Seduction by a slave against a free person: 400\text{ Drachmas}
    • Seduction by a slave against a slave: 10\text{ Drachmas}
  • Overall: slaveholding contexts reveal a stark hierarchy of legal rights and protections depending on owner, slave status, and the context of the offense.

Spatial dimension of the legal system

  • Polis and khora: two interconnected spatial concepts in Greek political thought:
    • Kleisthenes (508 BCE): land divided into 30 tracts: 10 in the city, 10 along the coast, 10 in the countryside; each tribe had a share in each land type.
    • Places, not strictly mapped spaces, but a developing sense of demarcation and control over land.
  • Philosophical reflections on space and security:
    • Plato (c. 360–340\,\text{BCE}) emphasized protection of the polis and the khora (territorial hinterland) through fortifications, ditches, etc.
    • Aristotle (335–325\,\text{BCE}) argued that humans are by nature political animals and that the purpose of the polis is to enable a good life within a defined space; the ideal polis strives for self-sufficiency and defense, potentially with defensive walls.
  • Practical implication:
    • The spatial organization of land and defense shaped legal arrangements, property rights, and political life.

Laws in the Hellenistic period (323–31 BCE)

  • Context: Greek settlers spread across the Hellenistic kingdoms, bringing diverse legal traditions.
  • Egypt (Ptolemaic):
    • The legal landscape became a complex mix of unwritten, traditional rules and a plural language environment; these factors pushed toward written contracts for commercial and familial matters.
  • Two parallel legal systems:
    • Greek laws of the cities (city laws) and Egyptian laws of the country coexisted, creating a dual system for many civil matters (contracts, marriages, wills).
  • Dispute resolution:
    • Ptolemaic Egypt featured Greek courts for Greek law and Egyptian courts for Egyptian law, reflecting the coexistence of legal traditions under Hellenistic rule.

Influence of Greek law after the Roman conquest

  • Post-conquest changes:
    • After the mid-2nd century BCE, the Romans gradually conquered Greek territories; internal civil matters retained a degree of polis autonomy, particularly in private law.
    • Romans allowed conquered peoples to continue local laws; Roman law applied to Roman citizens.
  • Citizenship and law evolution:
    • In the 3rd–4th centuries CE, Emperor Caracalla’s Constitutio Antoniniana (212 CE) granted Roman citizenship to all free-born inhabitants of the empire, transforming legal landscapes but leaving local laws in regulation of ordinary matters.
  • Endurance of Greek legal ideas:
    • By the 4th century CE, Greek law as an institutional system largely disappeared, but ideas persisted as a softer influence: concepts such as the jury of peers, rule of law, and democratic participation continued to resonate in legal thought and practice, especially in maritime contexts (e.g., Rhodian sea law).

Takeaways on the continuity and transformation of Greek law

  • Continuities:
    • The emphasis on rule of law and public dispute settlement across periods, even if procedures differed by polis.
    • The significance of written contracts and codified rules in certain contexts (Gortyn; Hellenistic Egypt).
    • The role of religion as both a content source for rules and a legitimating framework for lawful action.
  • Transformations:
    • From unwritten customary norms to written codes (e.g., Gortyn) and then to hybrid, polycentric legal systems under Hellenistic rule and later Roman influence.
    • The Athens model showed a highly participatory, citizen-led legal process, while other poleis varied widely in structure and degree of citizen involvement.

Reading and next class

  • Next class topic: Law in ancient Rome
  • Suggested reading: Paul DU PLESSIS, and related Oxford Handbook of European Legal History chapter on Classical and Post-Classical Roman Law (as listed in the course handout).

Quick reference: key dates and figures

  • Periodisation: 800 ext{–}480\,\text{BCE}; 480 ext{–}323\,\text{BCE}; 323 ext{–}31\,\text{BCE}
  • Draco: c.\,620\,\text{BCE}
  • Solon: c.\,590\,\text{BCE}
  • Socrates trial: 399\,\text{BCE}
  • Council of 500 in Athens: 500 members; annual by lot
  • Assembly quorum: 6{,}000
  • Daily juror fee (Athenian courts): 3\ \text{obols}
  • Land division by Kleisthenes: 30 parts; 10 in city + 10 coast + 10 countryside per tribe
  • Ptolemaic Egypt and 2 parallel legal systems in the Hellenistic period
  • Roman citizenship expansion: 212\,\text{CE} (Constitutio Antoniniana)
  • End of Greek law as an institution: by the 4^{th}\text{ century CE}, though soft influence persisted (e.g., maritime law)