Description
Book SynopsisThis timely volume brings together leading scholars and rising researchers in the field to examine the role played by the law in thinking and practice in the legal system of classical Athens. The aim is not to find a single perspective or method for the study of Athenian law but to explore the subject from a variety of different angles. The focus of the collection on ‘use and abuse’ raises fundamental questions about the status of law in the Athenian constitution as well as the use of law(s) in the courts, the nature of law itself, and the elusiveness of a definition of ‘abuse’. An introduction sketches the major developments in the field over the last century.
Trade Review"The volume as a whole offers a very successful examination of the ways in which law could be used in Athenian legal cases and outlines the room that was available for interpretations, manipulations, extensions, and contractions of law that might be understood as ‘abuse’, depending on one’s reading of the legal system. (...) All of the papers have something to offer, and many offer innovative and succinct readings that contribute greatly to the field. It is especially gratifying to see a section on rhetoric in the volume, acknowledging that all information on law taken from the Attic orators must be read through a rhetorical lens. (...) This volume, and Wohl’s paper in particular, demonstrates that there is still plenty of room for innovation in the fields of Athenian law and oratory." - Christine Plastow, in: BMCR 2019.10.10 "Ultimately, one of the greatest strengths of this book lies in its open-endedness, in its recognition that, like Athenian law, the state of the question is necessarily flexible. (...) These diverse perspectives and voices have pieced together a compelling, multifaceted illustration of a dynamic legal system that responded to the needs of its practitioners. The range of interpretations resulting from a single body of evidence suggest that these ancient texts, and the legal system to which they belonged, will continue to offer a rich field of study to scholars for years to come. This collection’s prioritization of flexible and polyvalent interpretations represents, I believe, the use of academic discourse." - Hilary J. C. Lehmann, Knox College, in: CJ-Online, 2021.04.07.
Table of ContentsAbbreviations Notes on Contributors Introduction Chris Carey Part 1 Conceptualising The System 1 Abuse Is in the Eye of the Beholder Michael Gagarin 2 The Elasticity of Athenian Law Robin Osborne 3 The Athenian View of an Athenian Trial Edward M. Harris 4 Bridging the Divide Between Public and Private: dikē exoulēs and Other Hybrids Chris Carey Part 2 Procedural Manoeuvres 5 Isaeus 6: A Case of Procedural Abuse (and Scholarly Misunderstandings) Brenda Griffith-Williams 6 Anakrisis and Legal Argumentation in Athenian Public Trials Christos Kremmydas 7 The Postponement of the Trial by Jury in Athens: The Timing of the graphē paranomōn László Horváth 8 Abusing Legal Procedures for Impeding the Legal Process Noboru Sato Part 3 The Rhetoric of Law 9 Clauses out of Context: Partial Citation of Statutes in Attic Forensic Oratory Lene Rubinstein 10 Twisting the Law in Ancient Athens Ilias Arnaoutoglou 11 (Re)constructing the Athenian Legal System Ifigeneia Giannadaki 12 Liturgies and the Rhetoric of Law in Fourth Century Athens: A Case Study on an antidosis ([Dem.] 42) Kostas Apostolakis 13 Jurisdiction and Jurisprudence in Demosthenes 23 Victoria Wohl 14 ‘Theft’ as a Metaphor for the Abuse of Legal Process at Athens S.C. Todd Part 4 Specific Areas of Law 15 Laws Against Laws: The Athenian Ideology of Legislation Mirko Canevaro 16 Abuse of the eisangelia in the Latter Half of the Fourth Century BC Eleni Volonaki 17 Athenian Homicide Law and the Model Penal Code David D. Phillips 18 Abuse of Inheritance Law in Isaeus? Rosalia Hatzilambrou Glossary Bibliography Index of terms Index of names and places Index locorum
