Description
Book SynopsisThe Rule of Law in Action in Democratic Athens examines how the Athenians attempted to enforce and apply the law when judging disputes in court. Recent scholarship has paid considerable attention to the practice and execution of Greek law. However, much of this work has left several flawed assumptions unchallenged, such as that Athenian law was primarily concerned with procedure; that the main task of enforcement lay in the hands of private citizens; that the Athenians used the courts not to uphold the law but to pursue personal feuds; and that the Athenian courts rendered ad hoc judgments and paid little attention to the letter of the law. Drawing on modern legal theory, the author examines the nature of open texture in Athenian law and reveals that the Athenians were much more sophisticated in their approach to law than many modern scholars have assumed, and thus breaks considerable new ground in the field. At the same time, the book studies the weaknesses of the Athenian legal syste
Trade ReviewDid the Athenian courts render purely ad hoc judgments, paying little attention to the letter of the laws? Did ancient Athens experience the tyranny of an elite minority that used justice to satisfy their own interests? Could we even say that Athens was in fact a stateless community where justice had nothing to do with what we designate by that name in contemporary practice? In this superb book Edward Harris provides clear and well-argued answers to these and many other questions. The Rule of Law in Action in Democratic Athens will find an audience not only among specialists of the ancient world but among all those who take interest in the role of law in any ancient or modern society. * Alain Bresson, University of Chicago *
Table of ContentsPreface ; Introduction ; Part I - The Political And Social Contexts of Athenian Law ; Chapter 1 - Was Athens a State or a Stateless Community? The Political Context of Athenian Law ; Chapter 2 - Feuding or the Rule of Law? An Essay in Legal Sociology ; Part II - Applying the Law ; Chapter 3 - The Judicial Oath ; Chapter 4 - What are Athenian Laws about? Substance and Procedure in Athenian Statutes ; Chapter 5 - Open Texture in Athenian Law: The Approach of the Litigants ; Chapter 6 - Open Texture in Athenian Law: The Response of the Courts ; Chapter 7 - Did the Athenian Courts Attempt to Achieve Consistency? The use of Precedents in Forensic Orator ; Chapter 8 - How Strictly did the Athenian Courts Apply the Law? The Role of Epieikeia ; Part III - The Breakdown of the Rule of Law ; Chapter 9 - Cleon and the Defeat of Athens ; Appendix 1 - Hunter on Citizens Enforcing the Law ; Appendix 2 - Magistrates Enforcing Laws and Decrees in the Fifth Century BCE ; Appendix 3 - Quotations or Allusions to Judicial Oath in Attic Orators ; Appendix 4 - Organization of the Gortyn Lawcode ; Appendix 5 - Laws in the Attic Orators ; Appendix 6 - Categories of atimoi listed in the decree of Patrocleides ; Appendix 7 - Issues in the Orators ; Appendix 8 - Public Service in the Attic Orators ; Appendix 9 - The Authorship of the Speeches in the Demosthenic Corpus ; Bibliography ; Index
