Law in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt

The papyri from Egypt allow a rare glimpse of the workings of Greek law outside the settings of the polis. The evidence stems from an extremely long period from the Macedonian to the Arab conquest, a period in the course of which Greek law interacted with and was influenced by other legal cultures, most notably Egyptian and Roman. The evidence is also unique: literary sources play a marginal role, as do inscriptions. It is rather private correspondence, texts composed on papyrus for ephemeral purposes, discarded and uncovered millennia later, that provides most of our evidence. Such direct access to everyday documentation is one of the most fascinating features of legal papyrology.

Law, Speech-Writers, and Rhetorical Context

This chapter discusses the role of speechwriters and the nature of argument in the Athenian courts. Starting with the means of persuasion recognized in ancient rhetorical writing and the nature of the task faced by the litigant in Athenian courts, it proceeds to examine in detail the structure of speeches delivered before the courts, the role of the individual components of the speech, and the manner of presentation. Finally, it addresses the rise of the paid speech-writer (logographer, logographos) and his role in the individual legal action and (more briefly) the possible means of training or preparation available to an aspiring speech-writer.

The Rule of Law and Economic Growth in Ancient Greece

The rule of law was very important for the expansion of markets and economic growth in Classical and Hellenistic Greece. The Greek city-state enforced regulations about weights and measures, ensured peace and order, built infrastructure (agoras, roads and ports), granted foreigners access to courts, gave honours, privileges and protection from seizure (asylia), and concluded treaties with other communities. The state also protected the property rights of individuals and created records to ensure title and to resolve disputes about ownership. Finally, the state created third-party enforcement of contracts, such as lease, sale, lending and borrowing and the accessory contracts of personal security and real security. This allowed economic transactions to expand beyond the narrow confines of family, friends, and neighbours and to expand markets.

Law, Legitimacy, and Religion in the Greek Poleis

This chapter examines the role played by religion in the courts, assemblies, and governmental administration of Greek poleis. Religion provided legitimacy to the legal system as a whole, religious rituals affected legal and legislative business, and polis regulations governed many aspects of rituals. The law against impiety safeguarded rituals, as opposed to enforcing doctrinal orthodoxy. No less important than polis laws and regulations were the by-laws and rules issued by smaller, less powerful bodies such as religious associations, demes, phratries, and donors establishing foundations. Rather than have two legal systems, one religious and one secular, as in modern Israel or medieval England, the Greek poleis had a twofold, integrated system in which religious and secular concerns were fused, and in which religion provided both a moral foundation and a supportive set of rituals.

Law and Justice in Aristotle

This chapter provides a comprehensive account of Aristotle’s views on law and justice. It starts off with the differences between Plato’s and Aristotle’s theories. It then discusses in detail Aristotle’s analysis of the various kinds of justice in the Nicomachean Ethics, and moves to the Rhetoric with its conception of legality and ‘fairness’ (epieikeia). It then concludes with an analysis of how different conceptions of justice, as well as a commitment to the supremacy of law, informs Aristotle’s various constitutional taxonomies in the Politics. It discusses in particular the relationship between various notions of proportional justice and particular regimes (politeiai), with a focus on democracy and oligarchy.

The Athenian Reconciliation Agreement of 403 bce and its Legacy for Greek City-States in the Classical and Hellenistic Ages

This chapter surveys amnesty agreements throughout the Greek world in the Classical and Hellenistic ages and argues that in many the principle of political forgiveness was both important and necessary when reconciling communities in the aftermath of civil conflict. The most successful amnesties were those which made use of the law and prohibited the revisiting of old grievances which led to or stemmed from a period of internal strife. Where and when exceptions were made to this rule they normally had to be spelled out in the terms of a treaty. The methods by which individual cities put this principle into effect varied widely, but the most famous and enduring example, the Athenian amnesty of 403 BCE, illustrates that a community could only successfully reconcile if its citizens were willing to forgo vindictive instincts which otherwise would have destabilised it. Robust procedures were put in place to restrain vengeance and protect the rights of individuals.

Interstate Arbitration and Foreign Judges

This chapter concentrates on interstate arbitration and foreign judges. Interstate arbitration is identified by the sources as a genuine Greek tradition, attested from the Archaic period, which was employed and fostered by other powers, such as the Hellenistic Kings and Republican Rome. It allowed two parties in conflict to solve disputes by resorting to the judgment of a third party agreed by both. Its use contributed to the establishing of forms of international law, encouraging the poleis to identify a set of shared principles and rules, at least for territorial disputes, the most common kind of controversy. The use of foreign judges is another, more recent, feature of judicial relations between poleis. In the Hellenistic period, small groups of people were elected by their city to conduct trials between citizens of another polis, according to the laws of that polis, where local tribunals no longer worked on a regular basis.

Plato and the Reform of Athenian Law

The chapter explores Plato’s views about Athenian laws, and his proposal for their reform, advanced in The Laws, in the form of new legislation for the city of Magnesia. After introducing the date and structure of the dialogue, as well as its aims and place in the context of Plato’s thought and production, the chapter examines, with a constant comparison with Athens, the constitutional arrangement of the new city, its officials, the judicial system, and the substantive laws on matters of persons and property, citizenship, family law, women, slaves and freedmen, theft, as well as homicide, assault, and wounding. The chapter highlights how Plato’s legislative project constitutes a reasoned criticism of contemporary Athenian law.

The Laws of Gortyn and their Cretan Context

This chapter discusses the Gortyn Code within the wider context of Cretan law. It provides a comprehensive account of the laws of Gortyn as they can be reconstructed from the Great Code and from other legal inscriptions. It also offers an overview of the relevant source material and of its specificities. The areas discussed are personal and family relations (for example marriage, adoption, slavery), commercial law and economic transactions, and legal procedure in Gortyn. The chapter also integrates the discussion of the Gortyn code within the wider research question of the unity and diversity of Greek law, and compares Cretan procedures with those attested in other poleis.

Archives, Documents, and Legal Practices in the Greek Polis

This chapter explores the importance of writing in the legal practices of the Greek poleis. After discussing writing materials and kinds of documents, illustrating the different functions documents on the same media could have and the problems in tracing ancient archives and reconstructing the role they played in the mechanisms of public administration, it concentrates on two case studies: written records concerning land transactions (in particular registers of sales) and the role of written documents in Athenian judicial procedures. It argues that the impact of written documents on the legal sphere and in establishing fair social relations within the polis was much more significant than is generally recognized.