The Rule of Law in Action in Democratic Athens

Edward M. Harris

Draws on insights from legal theory and the New Institutionalism to challenge many traditional assumptions about the primitive nature of Athenian law and legal institutions

The Rule of Law in Action in Democratic Athens

Edward M. Harris

Description

The Rule of Law in Action in Democratic Athens examines how the Athenians attempted to enforce and apply the law when judging disputes in court. Recent scholarship has paid considerable attention to the practice and execution of Greek law. However, much of this work has left several flawed assumptions unchallenged, such as that Athenian law was primarily concerned with procedure; that the main task of enforcement lay in the hands of private citizens; that the Athenians used the courts not to uphold the law but to pursue personal feuds; and that the Athenian courts rendered ad hoc judgments and paid little attention to the letter of the law. Drawing on modern legal theory, the author examines the nature of "open texture" in Athenian law and reveals that the Athenians were much more sophisticated in their approach to law than many modern scholars have assumed, and thus breaks considerable new ground in the field. At the same time, the book studies the weaknesses of the Athenian legal system and how they contributed to Athens' defeat in the Peloponnesian War. By reexamining the available evidence, Edward Harris provides a much needed corrective to long-held views and places the Athenian administration of justice in its broad political and social context.

The Rule of Law in Action in Democratic Athens

Edward M. Harris

Preface
Introduction
Part I - The Political And Social Contexts of Athenian Law
Chapter 1 - Was Athens a State or a Stateless Community? The Political Context of Athenian Law
Chapter 2 - Feuding or the Rule of Law? An Essay in Legal Sociology
Part II - Applying the Law
Chapter 3 - The Judicial Oath
Chapter 4 - What are Athenian Laws about? Substance and Procedure in Athenian Statutes
Chapter 5 - Open Texture in Athenian Law: The Approach of the Litigants
Chapter 6 - Open Texture in Athenian Law: The Response of the Courts
Chapter 7 - Did the Athenian Courts Attempt to Achieve Consistency? The use of Precedents in Forensic Orator
Chapter 8 - How Strictly did the Athenian Courts Apply the Law? The Role of Epieikeia
Part III - The Breakdown of the Rule of Law
Chapter 9 - Cleon and the Defeat of Athens
Appendix 1 - Hunter on Citizens Enforcing the Law
Appendix 2 - Magistrates Enforcing Laws and Decrees in the Fifth Century BCE
Appendix 3 - Quotations or Allusions to Judicial Oath in Attic Orators
Appendix 4 - Organization of the Gortyn Lawcode
Appendix 5 - Laws in the Attic Orators
Appendix 6 - Categories of atimoi listed in the decree of Patrocleides
Appendix 7 - Issues in the Orators
Appendix 8 - Public Service in the Attic Orators
Appendix 9 - The Authorship of the Speeches in the Demosthenic Corpus
Bibliography
Index

The Rule of Law in Action in Democratic Athens

Edward M. Harris

Author Information

Edward M. Harris is Research Professor of Ancient History at Durham University.

The Rule of Law in Action in Democratic Athens

Edward M. Harris

Reviews and Awards

"The author challenges a series of assumptions, including that Athenian law was primarily procedural, the role of private citizens in law enforcement and the law courts as a field for pursuing personal feuds. Harris presents the argument for the Athenian judges having a 'working knowledge of the law', contrary to the view serving a 'rhetorical' approach to law, that they depended on orators for the knowledge of law. As he rightly points out, Athenian dikastai were familiar both with the legislative and the judicial process to a degree far greater than a modern citizen...The book contributes to our understanding of the legal mechanisms developed to enshrine firmly the rule of law into the fibre of the Athenian democratic regime. Harris has done a great service in marshalling a mass of evidence to support his thesis." --Athina Dimopoulou, Journal of Hellenic Studies

"Harris' book is a piece of excellent scholarship. It presents provocative discussion of several specific problems of Athenian law and challenges some views that have achieved almost orthodox status among contemporary scholars. Every student of Athenian law and society will profit from its reading...." --Eirene: Studia Graeca et Latina

"Did the Athenian courts render purely ad hoc judgments, paying little attention to the letter of the laws? Did ancient Athens experience the tyranny of an elite minority that used justice to satisfy their own interests? Could we even say that Athens was in fact a stateless community where justice had nothing to do with what we designate by that name in contemporary practice? In this superb book Edward Harris provides clear and well-argued answers to these and many other questions. The Rule of Law in Action in Democratic Athens will find an audience not only among specialists of the ancient world but among all those who take interest in the role of law in any ancient or modern society." --Alain Bresson, University of Chicago

"The Rule of Law in Action in Democratic Athens is a real pleasure to read: bold and provocative, it confronts several views of Athenian law and justice that have achieved near-orthodox status in contemporary scholarship.... The book presents a much more complete and balanced picture of the Athenian court system and how the administration of justice actually worked in practice." --James Sickinger, University of Florida