Greek Law

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Article

dēmos  

Simon Hornblower

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Law
The Greek word means originally ‘district, land’, hence particularly (in *Attica and elsewhere) the villages or *demes (dēmoi, plural of dēmos) which were the main units of country settlement. From ‘the place where the people live’ the word comes to mean ‘the people’, as in compounds like dēmo-kratia, ‘people-power’ or ‘*democracy’; dēmos sometimes means ‘the sovereign people’, sometimes ‘the common people’.

Article

Demosthenes (2), Athenian orator  

Edward Harris

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
  2. Greek Law
  3. Greek Literature

Though he had many detractors, Demosthenes was often ranked in antiquity as the greatest of the Greek orators. Demosthenes lost his father at an early age, and his estate was mismanaged by his guardians, whom he later sued in an attempt to recovery his inheritance. He began his career in the assembly in 354 bce, speaking about public finances and foreign policy, and wrote several speeches for important public cases. Starting in 351 he warned the Athenians about the dangers of Macedonian expansionism. Even though he helped to negotiate the Peace of Philocrates, he later attacked the treaty and contributed to the breakdown in Athenian relations with Philip II which led to the battle of Chaeronea in 338. Despite this defeat, he remained popular and was able to defend his reputation against the attacks of Aeschines at the trial of Ctesiphon in 330. Later convicted of bribery in the Harpalus affair, he went into exile. He subsequently returned but fled abroad again and committed suicide to avoid capture by his Macedonian pursuers.

Article

Dinarchus, c. 360–c. 290 BCE  

George Law Cawkwell

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Law
Dinarchus (Δείναρχος) (c. 360–c. 290 bce), the last of the Ten *Attic Orators (for the formation of the *canon, see Caecilius (1)). For the outline of his life we largely depend on *Dionysius (7) of HalicarnassusOn Dinarchus, chs. 2, 3, and 9. He was born at *Corinth but went to Athens to study rhetoric under *Theophrastus and from 336/5 on constantly and successfully practised the profession of speech-writer (logographos). As a *metic, he was barred from a political career nor was he able himself to speak in court, but when after the *Lamian War the leading orators of the age, *Demosthenes (2) and *Hyperides, had met their deaths, Dinarchus was left in unchallenged and lucrative supremacy and the period of rule by *Demetrius (3) of Phalerum, his friend and patron, was his heyday. When Demetrius had to retire from Athens at the coming of *Demetrius (4) Poliorcetes in 307/6, Dinarchus, suspect for his wealth and perhaps even more his friendship with ‘those who dissolved the democracy’ (FGrH 328 F 66), deemed it expedient to remove to Chalcis and stayed there awaiting the opportunity to return.

Article

Diopeithes, decree of, c. 432 BCE  

Michael Gagarin

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Law
The decree of Diopeithes, (c. 432 bce) provided an impeachment procedure against impiety. *Plutarch (Per.32), our only source, says it attacked ‘those who fail to respect (nomizein) things divine or teach theories about the heavens’. Its object was the philosopher *Anaxagoras, and ultimately his friend *Pericles (1).

Article

dokimasia  

P. J. Rhodes

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
  2. Greek Law
The term δοκιμασία and the related verb dokimazein were used in various Greek contexts to denote a procedure of examining or testing, and approving or validating as a result of the test.1 For Athens, Ath. Pol. mentions four categories of dokimasiai: two political, of eighteen-year-old men registered as citizens, which were conducted by deme assemblies and the council (42.1–2); and of men appointed as councillors and officials, which was conducted by the council in some cases and by law courts in others (45.3, 55.2–4, 56.1, 59.4, 60.1); and two more technical, of the cavalry’s horses and the prodromoi and hamippoi who fought with the cavalry, and in effect of the cavalrymen themselves (though in connection with them the word is not used), which were conducted by the council (49.1–2); and of invalids, who were entitled to a grant if impoverished and unable to work, which also was conducted by the council (49.4). As with the cavalrymen, there were other procedures which may be considered dokimasiai, though the word is not applied to them, such as decisions about designs for the peplos, the robe made every fourth year for the cult statue of Athena, and perhaps about plans for public works in general, carried out originally by the council but in the time of Ath.

Article

domains  

Nicholas Purcell

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
06 July 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Law
In the Homeric poems the basileis (lords) have special lots, or temenē (see temenos), like those set aside for *Glaucus (1) and *Sarpedon in *Lycia, the gardens of *Alcinous (1), or the carefully tended orchards of Laertes. These were all prime tracts of the potentially most productive land, yielding high quality produce useful for exchange. The title of others to the land they worked or to a share of other productive rights within the environment is not clear. A theory of property based on delimiting surface area is neither complete nor universal: many other rights continued to exist and to shape the relationship between people, labour, and place of production in the ancient Mediterranean. But the idea of extensive private ownership of land was to spread, and become under the Roman law of property the dominant mode, and that which antiquity bequeathed to European culture (see ownership, Greek ideas about; possession, legal).

Article

Draco  

D. M. MacDowell

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
  2. Greek Law
Draco, according to Athenian tradition, was a lawgiver who introduced new laws in the year when Aristaechmus was archon (see archontes), probably 621/0 bce. This was the first time that Athenian laws were put in writing. According to one account (Ath. pol. 4) he established a constitution based on the franchise of *hoplites, but elsewhere he is only said to have made laws against particular crimes. The penalties were very severe: when asked why he specified death as the penalty for most offences, he replied that small offences deserved death and he knew of no severer penalty for great ones; and the 4th-cent. orator *Demades remarked that Draco wrote his laws in blood instead of ink (Plut. Sol. 17). *Solon repealed all his laws except those dealing with homicide.Such was the tradition current in Athens in the 5th and 4th cents. bce.

Article

eisangelia  

D. M. MacDowell

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Law
Eisangelia (εἰσαγγελία), in Athenian law was the name of four distinct types of prosecution.1. The accuser denounced someone to the *ekklēsia or the *boulē for treason. In the 4th cent. bce a law (quoted in *Hyperides, For Euxenippus 7–8, 29; cf. Dem. 49. 67) specified offences for which this procedure could be used: subversion of the *democracy, betrayal of Athenian forces or possessions to an enemy, and corrupt deception of the Athenian people by an orator. In the 5th cent. it had been possible to use eisangelia for serious offences not specified in any law; the best known cases are the prosecutions for profanation of the *mysteries (see eleusis) and mutilation of the *herms in 415. But in the 4th cent. this seems to have been no longer permitted, and prosecutors sometimes made tortuous efforts to bring various charges under one or other of the headings specified in the law. A case might be either referred to a jury or tried by the ekklēsia itself, but after the middle of the 4th cent.

Article

ekklēsia  

Arnold Wycombe Gomme, Theodore John Cadoux, and P. J. Rhodes

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Law
Ekklēsia (in some states (h)ēliaia or its dialect equivalent, or agora), the assembly of adult male citizens which had the ultimate decision-making power in a Greek state. There was room for variation, according to the complexion of the regime, in the membership of the assembly (an *oligarchy might use a property qualification to exclude the poor), the frequency of its meetings, and the extent to which the business it could discuss and its freedom in discussing it were limited by the prerogatives of the magistrates and/or a council.In the Homeric world (see homer) assemblies met occasionally, to deal with the business of the king or noble who summoned them. Active participation was limited to the leading men and the religious experts, while the ordinary men would shout their approval or remain ominously silent. In Iliad 2. 211–77 the commoner *Thersites presumes to make a speech, but *Odysseus' rebuke to him meets with general applause.

Article

elections and voting, Greek  

P. J. Rhodes

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Law

In the Greek states voting was used in councils, assemblies, and lawcourts; appointments were made by election or by allotment (see sortition) or sometimes by a combination of the two. In Athens and elsewhere psēphisma (from psēphos, ‘voting-stone’) became the standard word for a decree of the council (*boulē) or assembly (*ekklēsia), and cheirotonia (‘raising hands’) was used for elections; but in *Athens voting was normally by show of hands (not precisely counted) in the council and assembly both for decrees and for elections, but by ballot in the lawcourts. Ballots seem first to have been used on occasions when a count was necessary to ensure that a quorum was achieved, but by the end of the 5th cent. bce it had been realized that voting by ballot could be secret voting. In *Sparta voting by acclamation survived to the Classical period for elections and for decrees of the assembly. In the Hellenistic and Roman periods some decrees of some states report numbers of votes cast for and against.

Article

Eleven  

D. M. MacDowell

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Law
Eleven (οἱ ἕνδεκα), Athenian officials, appointed by lot, who had charge of the prison and executions. They took into custody persons accused of serious theft or certain other crimes. If the thief was caught red-handed (ἐπ᾽ αὐτοφώρῳ) and admitted his guilt, they had him executed without trial; otherwise they presided over the court which tried him. They also had charge of cases of apographē, in which property was forfeited to the state.

Article

ēliaia  

D. M. MacDowell

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Law

Ēliaia (ἠλιαία), often but less correctly spelled hēliaia, was a meeting of Athenian citizens to try a legal case, or a building in which such meetings were held. It has generally been thought that, when *Solon introduced trials by the people in the early 6th cent. bce, the ēliaia was simply the *ekklēsia, called by this different name when it was performing a judicial function. An alternative view is that Solon established it as a separate body, consisting of citizens selected by lot, and able to be subdivided to try two or more cases at once. This view is based primarily on passages in which *Aristotle attributes to Solon establishment of ‘the lawcourt’ or ‘the lawcourts’ (Pol. 1273b35–1274a5; Ath. pol. 7. 3, 9. 1); on the usual view, these passages are regarded as meaning merely that Solon's innovation led eventually to the lawcourts of the 4th cent.

Article

endogamy  

Mark Golden

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Law
Marrying within (1) the citizen body or (2) the kin group.1. Colonists and others on the margins of the Greek world often intermarried with native populations, and the Archaic élite regularly made marriage alliances with their peers in other Greek cities; prominent Athenian sons of such unions include *Themistocles and *Cimon. *Pericles (1)'s law (451/0 ) requiring Athenian citizens to have two citizen parents effectively precluded marriages with foreigners (except for those given the privilege of epigamia). Other cities may have had similar restrictions on citizenship in the Classical and Hellenistic periods (*Byzantium, *Rhodes, Oreus (see histiaea), Arcadian *Orchomenus (2)—*Siphnos and *Gortyn are known exceptions). Within communities, *Hesiod recommended taking a wife who lived nearby (Op.700–1), and in Athens at least there was some propensity outside the élite to marry within the *deme (and so presumably the neighbourhood).

Article

enktēsis  

Jakob Aall Ottesen Larsen and P. J. Rhodes

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Law
Enktēsis, ‘possession in’, and related words, commonly defined by the addition of γῆς καὶ οἰκίας (‘of land and house’), are used to define the right to own real property within a state. Since this right was normally limited to citizens, it became the practice to make special grants of enktēsis to privileged foreigners, together with other rights and honours such as proxeny (see proxenos).

Article

ephetai  

D. M. MacDowell

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Law
Ephetai (ἐφέται) were an Athenian jury, 51 in number. Their origin and early history are obscure, but by the 5th cent. bce they seem to have been selected by lot from the members of the *Areopagus and to have been concerned with homicide cases only. Under the presidency of the basileus (see archontes) they sat at the Palladion to try persons accused of unintentional killing, of complicity (βούλευσις) in killing, or of the killing of a slave, a metic, or a foreigner; at the Delphinion to try persons accused of killing who defended themselves by claiming that the act was committed lawfully; and at Phreatto to try persons accused of a second killing when already exiled for the first. Thus they tried almost all kinds of homicide not considered important enough for trial by the Areopagus itself. A likely exception is the formal trial of unknown killers and of homicidal animals and inanimate objects; these cases were heard at the *prytaneion, possibly by the ephetai but more probably without any jury.

Article

ephors  

Paul Cartledge

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek Law
Ephors, probably ‘overseers’ (but possibly connected with ouros, ‘a guardian’), civil magistrates attested in several Dorian states (*Thera, *Cyrene, Euesperides, *Heraclea (1) in Lucania) besides *Sparta. Here, the board of five were elected annually by the citizens (by an ‘excessively childish’ procedure, according to *Aristotle), and the senior ephor gave his name to the year. Combining executive, judicial, and disciplinary powers, and unconstrained by written laws, they dominated the everyday running of affairs, subject only to the requirement of majority agreement and the knowledge that their office was held for one year only and was unrepeatable. Their origin is uncertain; most ancient authors ascribed the creation of the office to *Lycurgus (2), but they are not explicitly mentioned in the Lycurgan ‘Great Rhetra’, and a rival ascription was to King *Theopompus (1), though there was no genuine ephor list extending back to the assumed period of his reign (c.

Article

epimelētēs  

Arnold Hugh Martin Jones and P. J. Rhodes

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Law

Epimelētēs, ‘one who takes care’ (Greek). In Greek cities this title was given either to regular magistrates who managed special departments, such as the water supply (ἐπιμελητὴς τῶν κρηνῶν, ‘of fountains’, in Athens), the docks, or festivals, or to special commissioners appointed for some temporary purpose, such as the erection of a public building.

Article

epistatēs  

Arnold Hugh Martin Jones and P. J. Rhodes

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Law
Epistatēs, ‘chairman (Greek). At Athens the epistatēs of the *prytaneis, chosen daily by lot from the prytaneis, held the state seal and keys and in the 5th cent. bce with his colleagues presided in the council (*boulē) and assembly (*ekklēsia). The *proedroi who early in the 4th cent.

Article

eranos  

Paul C. Millett

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Law
Eranos was essentially concerned with *reciprocity: at first of food, and later of money. In *Homer, eranos refers to a meal for which each diner contributed a share (Od. 1. 226); alternatively, the venue might be rotated. This earlier meaning was never lost (Xen. Mem. 3. 14. 1); but, by the later 5th cent. bce, the concept had evolved to include a *credit system, common in Athens, whereby contributors lent small sums to help out a common acquaintance in need (Lys. 20. 12; cf. Pl. Ap. 38b). The strong obligation to lend was matched by a reciprocal obligation to repay as soon as possible. The reciprocity inherent in the eranos-idea is reflected in metaphorical usage: to die in battle for the polis was to offer one's kallistos eranos (‘finest contribution’), receiving in return ‘immortal praise’ (Thuc. 2. 43. 1). Readiness to contribute towards eranos loans could be cited in Athenian courts as an aspect of civic virtue (Antiphon 2. 2. 12); failure to repay as indicative of general degradation (Lys. fr. 1 Carey). Disputed is the extent to which eranists in Athens were ad hoc groupings, or fixed associations (see clubs, greek), somewhat resembling friendly societies.

Article

euthyna, euthynai  

Arnold Wycombe Gomme and P. J. Rhodes

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek Law
Euthyna, euthynai (‘straightening’), the examination of accounts which every public official underwent on expiry of his office. At Athens the examination fell into two parts, the logos (‘account’), concerned with his handling of public money and dealt with by a board of ten *logistai (‘accountants’), and the euthynai proper, an opportunity to raise any other objection to his conduct in office, dealt with by a board of ten euthynoi (‘straighteners’) appointed by the council (*boulē).