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28 - Rule of Law and Lawcourts

from Part V - Politics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2021

By
Edward M. Harris
Edited by
Jenifer Neils  and
Dylan K. Rogers
Jenifer Neils
Affiliation:
American School of Classical Studies, Athens
Dylan K. Rogers
Affiliation:
University of Virginia
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Summary

The Athenians believed in the importance of the rule of law and implemented this ideal through their legal procedures. The courts of Athens were based on the principles of equality before the law, fairness in procedure, no punishment without law, and the accountability of officials.

Keywords

lawcourtsAreopagos, kleroterionSokrates
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Athens , pp. 392 - 404
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

Further Reading

The major sources for Athenian law are the Constitution of the Athenians and the Attic orators; see especially Canevaro 2013. On democracy and the rule of law, see Harris 2006 and 2013. For a detailed treatment of Athenian legal procedure, see Harrison 1971, although some of the details are out of date. MacDowell 1978 is a basic introduction to Athenian law and legal procedure. For a review of recent scholarship on ancient Greek law, see Harris 2018.

Bibliography

Additional resources to accompany this chapter can be found at: www.cambridge.org/NeilsRogers

Boegehold, A. 1995. The Lawcourts at Athens: Sites, Buildings, Equipment, Procedure, and Testimonia. Agora 28. Princeton.Google Scholar
Canevaro, M. 2013. The Documents in the Attic Orators: Laws and Decrees in the Public Speeches of the Demosthenic Corpus. Oxford.Google Scholar
Dow, S. 1939. “Aristotle, the Kleroteria, and the Courts.” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 50: 1–34.Google Scholar
Harris, E.M. 2006. Democracy and the Rule of Law in Classical Athens. Essays on Law, Society, and Politics. Cambridge.Google Scholar
Harris, E.M. 2013. The Rule of Law in Action in Democratic Athens. Oxford.Google Scholar
Harris, E.M. 2015. “The Family, the Community, and Murder: The Role of Pollution in Athenian Homicide Law.” In Public and Private in Ancient Mediterranean Law and Religion, eds. Ando, C. and Rüpke, J., Berlin, 11–35.Google Scholar
Harris, E.M. 2016. “From Democracy to the Rule of Law? Constitutional Change in Fourth Century bce Athens.” In Die Athenische Demokratie im 4. Jahrhundert: zwischen Modernisierung und Tradition, ed. Tiersche, C., Stuttgart, 73–87.Google Scholar
Harris, E.M. 2018. “Some Recent Developments in the Study of Ancient Greek Law.” Journal of Ancient Civilizations 33: 187–266.Google Scholar
Harrison, A.R.W. 1971. The Law of Athens: Procedure. Oxford.Google Scholar
Kroll, J.H. 1972. Athenian Bronze Allotment Plates. Cambridge, MA.Google Scholar
MacDowell, D.M. 1978. The Law in Classical Athens. London.Google Scholar
Sickinger, J.P. 2004. “The Laws of Athens: Publication, Preservation and Consultation.” In The Law and the Courts in Ancient Greece, eds. Harris, E.M. and Rubinstein, L., London, 93–109.Google Scholar
Young, S.H. 1939. “An Athenian Klepsydra.” Hesperia 8: 274–284.Google Scholar

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