Themis and Dike – Justice in Greek Myth and Tradition

The understanding of law in Ancient Greece was based on the religious interpretations of human nature and natural laws. Two Greek goddesses were representatives of justice and fairness. In the ancient sources Themis is presented as a goddess and prophetess, one of the Titans and the daughter of Gea and Uranus. She is a symbol of divine order, justice, natural law and good customs. Dike, the daughter of Themis, is the goddess of justice and truth, the protector of rights and courts of justice, the arbiter, the symbol of honor, the goddess of revenge and punishment. In early Greek culture and poetry, the terms themis and dike represented justice in the meaning of cosmic order, natural law, and legality. The paper analyses the Hellenic notions of justice, fairness and legality embodied in the phenomena of themis and dike. Nomos (law) is just only if it is in harmony with themis, and law is valid only if it is just. The paper presents the doctrines of Hellenic writers, poets and playwrights on justice and law, with special reference to the influence of mythology on Hellenic law. Publius Ovidius Naso’s work „Metamorphosis”, which speaks about Themis’ role in the creation of the world and the salvation of the human race is one of the greatest sources about this goddess. In Homer’s „Iliad” and „Odyssey”, epics that sing of the heroic spirit, justice is shown in the motives, intentions and behavior of the participants in the event, mostly heroes. The poet Hesiod, famous for the poems „Theogony” and „Works and Days”, moves away from the heroic virtues of people and portrays the gods as bearers of moral power and guardians of justice. In the light of legislative reforms, Solon’s dike represents the progress and well-being of society through economic reforms, which is why justice and injustice refer only to legal and illegal acquisition of wealth and its effect on the community. Aeschylus’ „Oresteia” shows the principle of justice based on talion, according to which the punishment has to be identical with the committed crime. One of the greatest Ancient Greek playwrights, Sophocles, based his play „Antigone” on the conflict between the laws of men and the laws of gods. According to Herodotus, the greatest Ancient Greek historian, the actions of the gods govern human destinies and historical events. The idea of justice in Ancient Greece was all throughout its transformation based of the universial concept of natural balance.

Legal Aspects of the Role of the Corrector of the Clergyin the Early Fifteenth-Century Diocese of Prague

The paper focuses on the institution of the Corrector of the Clergy within the Diocese of Prague. This ecclesial administrative representative was a criminal judge who also oversaw the moral conduct of the clergy. The paper compares legal rules set by the Church for the clergy through synodical statutes and an actual enforcement of these duties by the Corrector. The paper analyses the judicial book covering the period from 1407 to 1410, examining the judge’s approach to moral delicts (breach of celibate, etc.), which constituted the majority of the cases. Emphasis is given on the prescribed punishments.

Novella XVII in the Light of Lex Iulia de Maiestate: Hilarius of Arles Case Study

The main focus of this paper is an analysis of Novella XVII issued by Valentinian III, with the aim of giving a general idea on the religious policy of the Emperors Theodosius II and Valentinian III. The edict titled De episcoporum ordinatione is a great example of a legislative act falling between ius sacrum and ius publicum. It shows a rather extraordinary imperial intervention provoked by a conflict between Pope Leo and Hilary, bishop of Arles. The latter was accused of various ignoble deeds which corresponded with some of the definitions of crime as described in Lex Iulia de Maiestate from the 1st century BC. Other deeds that Hilary was accused of, however, cannot really be understood as a public offence aimed at the Emperor or the State. Under the influence of Leo, Valentinian officially acknowledged the preeminence of the Church of Rome in the Western Empire, giving grounds for further emanation of the papal power.

Celibacy in the Antiquity and Middle Ages – From Religious Practice to Religious Rule

Using a multidisciplinary approach, the paper provides a brief overview of the development of celibacy in the Antiquity and Middle Ages, shifting from a practice based on an individual’s personal decision to approach what they consider sacred, to a practice legally regulated in religious or social communities. In some cases of this regulation, celibacy becomes an obligation for members of those communities who want to occupy certain positions within it, while in others it is prohibited as a practice that destroys society. Greater attention was paid to celibacy in the Middle Ages, since in this period celibacy experienced its greatest affirmation in Christianity, passing within it the path from a practice that was desirable, but voluntary, to the norm for clergy.

The Early Church’s Position on Law and the State.

This article will try to uncover the stance which the early Christian Church held on the legal system of the Roman Empire, in an attempt to reconstruct a stance which could apply to legal systems in general. The sources which we drew upon while writing this paper were primarily those from the New Testament, beginning with the Four Gospels and continuing with the Acts of the Apostoles and the Epistoles, and, secondarily, the works of the Holy Fathers and different Martyrologies through which we reconstructed the manner in which the Christian faith was demonstrated during the ages of persecutions. The article tries to highlight a common stance which can be identified in all these sources and goes on to elaborate how it relates to legal order in general.

Criminal Offences of Turning and Conversion to Roman Catholicism in Dušan’s Code

Dušan’s Code is the most important monument of Serbian medieval law. It contains a large number of provisions relating to Orthodoxy, the church, the clergy and monasticism. The first 38 articles are directly dedicated to the faith and the church. The Code also prescribes various criminal offences against Orthodoxy, and the most numerous are offences of Roman Catholic proselytism. The introductory part of the paper contains a brief analysis of the position of Roman Catholics in medieval Serbia, the relationship between Serbian rulers and popes, and especially emphasizes the role of Roman Catholic propaganda and the conversion of the Orthodox to Roman Catholicism, which was most prevalent during the reign of Tsar Dušan. The subject of the author’s legal-historical analysis is those provisions of Dušan’s Code that incriminate turning and conversion to Roman Catholicism. So far, it has been indisputably established in science that these are Articles 6, 7, 8, 9 and 21. In Article 6, the Code of Emperor Stefan Dušan proclaims: „And concerning the Latin heresy: Christians who have turned to the use of unleavened bread shall return to the Christian observance. If any fail to obey and do not return to Christian Orthodoxy, let them be punished as is written in the Code of the Holy Fathers.” Article 7 provides: „And the Great Church shall appoint head priests in all market towns to reclaim from the Latin heresy those Christians who have turned to the Latin faith, and to give them spiritual instructions, so that each one of them returns to Christianity.” Article 8 punishes the Latin priest: „And if a Latin priest is found to have converted a Christian to the Latin faith, let him be punished according to the Law of the Holy Fathers.” Article 9 prohibits mixed marriage: „And if a half-believer is found to be married to a Christian woman, let him be baptized into Christianity if he desires it. But if he refuses to be baptized, let his wife and children be taken from him, and let a part of his house be allotted to them, and let him be driven forth.” Finally, Article 21 prescribes: „And whoever shall sell a Christian into another and false faith, let him be crippled and his tongue cut out.” In the concluding remarks, the author points out the basic causes of prescribing these crimes, as well as certain historical data on Emperor Stefan Dušan’s anti-Catholic politics.

The Impact of the Merchant’s Confession in the Development of Business Law during the Siglo de Oro: the Casuistic Approach of Tomàs de Mercado and Martin de Azpilcueta to Commercial Law.

In 16th century Spain, the confessor and the merchant had a privileged relationship, resulting from the new economic practices induced by the Great Discoveries. The merchant must, for the salvation of his soul, engage in commercial activity in accordance with Christian morality. Through confession, the confessor provides legal and theological advices necessary to achieve this purpose, but also judges the morality of his penitent by deciding whether or not to absolve him. Therefore, the confessor must know both the Christian moral precepts designed to govern business life, and the institutions of civil law used in business practice. An issue raised by the penitent is a case of conscience, which the confessor must resolve by formulating a moral resolution. This resolution could be a certain or only a probable one, and therefore subject to debate against other probable opinions. These resolutions were then incorporated among others into the casuistic literature that was to be diffused throughout Europe for the use of both confessors and penitents.

Halfway Between Byzantium and Serbia: Marriage Provisions of the Second Žiča Charter .

Marking the eight hundred years anniversary of the adoption of the Žiča Charter issued by Stefan Prvovjenčani is more than a good reason to closely examine the provisions of this Charter. If we think about the historical and political context of that time, it becomes clear that the Žiča Charter provides direct information on the formative processes of the Serbian state and church. Žiča was not only the seat of the new Serbian archdiocese, but also had a central role in building the cult of the Nemanjić dynasty and especially of Stefan Prvovjenčani as its first king. The Žiča Charter, one of the oldest Serbian legal monuments, represents the determination of the first Serbian king to create a powerful Serbian state and strengthen the Serbian Orthodox Church, which would be the base of the political and legal program not only for Stefan Prvovjenčani, but also for his successors. This is reminiscent of the „symphony doctrine” that was copied from Byzantium, and in that copying, no branch of law, including marriage law, was spared. The most important part of this Charter are definitely the norms dedicated to marital law, which show that general political tendencies had a huge impact on private law too. Many legal transplants such as the prohibition of arbitrary divorce, the prohibition of kidnaping as a way of separating spouses or dowry institutions have caused radical changes in Serbian marital law; however, they were not immune to transformations under the influence of customary law and attitudes of the society of medieval Serbia. It once again proves the thesis of professor Alan Watson who claimed that legal transplants have their own, independent life in the law system that accepted them. When it comes to Serbian medieval law, that life started very early. The influence of Roman-Byzantine and canon law was already felt in the Nomokanon of Sveti Sava, and then in the Žiča Charter; in later regulations of Serbian medieval law this influence becomes quite obvious. The main topic of this paper will be the process of legal transplantation in marital law from the Byzantine Empire to Serbia and the author will also try to discover and explain certain regularities and deviations in that process. Тhe analysis of the marital provisions of the Žiča Charter is naturally imposed here as a starting point.