CLASSICS 2LW3 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Appeasement, Ctesias, Ratio Decidendi
28 Jun 2018
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Archons arkhai could impose summary fines epibolai of up to 50 drachmae, or pre-judgement anakrisis
decisions about which courts would be referred to, during which litigants could settle
•
The Eleven had limited powers of arrest and could apprehend those caught in the act - if a culprit
admitted guilt before witnesses, he could be punished without trial
•
A proto-police force of 300 public slaves, Scythian archers from Scythia acted as a crowd control/security
force without investigative, apprehensive, and prosecuting functions, which was the role of the private
citizen
•
Legal Authority of Magistrates
Named for the voting shards ostraka, ostracism was annually raised by the Assembly - who raised a
quorum of 6000 to determine the individual with the most votes
•
They were made to leave Attica for 10 years, but retained citizenship and property
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System privileged the literate and led to abuse - Aristeides the Just was among those ostracized
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Cleisthenes also replaced the Solonian boule with a boule of 500
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508 BC - Democratic Ostracism Introduced by Cleisthenes
Ephilates oversaw reforms that resulted in the devolution of powers in the Areopagus zeugitai to
archonship and thus to the Areopagus after holding office, marking the beginning of radical democracy
and equality of law isonomia
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Still used as a homicide phonou and attempted murder traumatos ek pronoi court
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If depicted the theme of vengeance vs. the court of law - representing the progression from
individual retributive justice and talio to communally sanctioned applications of the law
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Provides an aetiological account of the origins of the Areopagus
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458 BC - Oresteia by Aeschylus was a popular trilogy of Greek tragedies that depicted the murder of
Agamemnon by his wife Clytaemnestra, and the murder of Clytaemnestra by their son Orestes
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460 BC - The Areopagus and the Democratic Reforms of Ephialtes
The heliaia was the most democratic of Solon's reforms from which mass juries of dikastai/heliastai voted
for conviction or acquittal in standing courthouses dikasteria
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501 jury members was the norm, though 201 was not an uncommon figure and multiples of 500 were
assembled for cases of unusual importance - 6000 being the largest figure
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Courts sat for 150 - 200 days/year and represented between 10 - 15% of the population
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6000 registered each year and were paid 3 obols/day during trials, which was enough to support a
nuclear family
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Jury tickets pinakia in allotment machines kleroterion using deme in selecting jurors for court
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Upheld the Heliastic/Dikastic Oath
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Dikastai meant both "judge" and "jury" - they were amateurs and not legal professions made up of
citizens (older than 30)
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The People's Courts
Most Athenian law was procedural, thus, known content is inferred upon from the terms for the legal
offences used, and forensic oratory where explicitly named charges and outcomes and known, or
speeches used by the two parties are known
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Assault, recovering a slave of disputed ownership, recovery of money, general violence,
damages, or injury, inheritance, improper guardianship, slander, recovery of debt, theft,
murder and attempted murder, recovery of a dowry, false witnessing martyr, perjury,
breach of contract
▪
Private dike idia, and privately launched with public interest dike demosia
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State debtor, force submission of accounts by official, idleness, sloth, impiety, dereliction of
military duty, military cowardice, accepting and giving bribes, male prostitution, temple
robbery, arrogant assault diminishing the dignity of another, maltreatment of an orphan or
parent, theft of public funds, abandoning military post, adultery, insanity, property
management incompetence, making an illegal proposal in the Assembly, sycophancy,
pretending to be a citizen (for foreigners)
▪
Public graphe launched ho boulomenos
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Types of lawsuits dike included (without distinction between civil/criminal):
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Substance of Athenian Laws
Law in Classical Athens
October 30, 2017
3:28 PM
Ancient Law Page 1
Document Summary
Archons arkhai could impose summary fines epibolai of up to 50 drachmae, or pre-judgement anakrisis decisions about which courts would be referred to, during which litigants could settle. The eleven had limited powers of arrest and could apprehend those caught in the act - if a culprit admitted guilt before witnesses, he could be punished without trial. A proto-police force of 300 public slaves, scythian archers from scythia acted as a crowd control/security force without investigative, apprehensive, and prosecuting functions, which was the role of the private citizen. 508 bc - democratic ostracism introduced by cleisthenes. Named for the voting shards ostraka, ostracism was annually raised by the assembly - who raised a quorum of 6000 to determine the individual with the most votes. They were made to leave attica for 10 years, but retained citizenship and property. System privileged the literate and led to abuse - aristeides the just was among those ostracized.
