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[German version] (ἐμπορικοὶ νόμοι; emporikoì nómoi). The Athenian laws on maritime trade, grouped systematically on the basis of their subject matter (not, as was customary, according to the jurisdiction of individual authorities) (Dem. Or. 35,3); in particular, they probably laid down strict provisions for the protection of the city's grain supplies. They covered aIso speedy judicial process ( Emporikai dikai) and the avoidance of frivolous complaints against traders and shipowners (Dem. Or. 58,10f.). Thür, Gerhard (Graz) Bibliography E. E. Cohen, Ancient Athenian Marit…

[German version] A. Greek law According to the oldest Greek traditions, the relative of someone who had been killed had a religious duty to obtain revenge with the blood of the killer. As the polis grew stronger, in Athens at any rate from the time of  Dracon (7th cent. BC), the relatives were limited to judicial pursuit of the killer through a δίκη φόνου ( díkē phónou: action for homicide). Even in the Classical Period this remained a private action. In Dracon's time the blood feud (BF) could be brought to an end by payment of monetary compensation (ποινή, poinḗ: wergeld) if those seeking re…

[German version] (ἐπωβελία; epōbelía). Athenian law stipulated that in some private law proceedings, the losing plaintiff had to pay a fine equivalent to a sixth of the sum in dispute ─ i.e. an   obolos to the drachma (hence epobelia) to the defendant for wilful litigation. The same applied to litigants who were unsuccessful in a   paragraphḗ or who lost an appeal against a   diamartyría , but in this instance only if they had not even succeeded in securing the support of one fifth of the judges' votes for their case (Isoc. Or. 18,12). Thür, Gerhard (Graz) Bibliography A. R. W. Harrison, The Law…

[German version] (ὑπάλλαγμα; Hypállagma). Literally ‘exchange’, a credit security law in Roman Egypt stipulated through contractual clauses. Unlike the   hypothḗkē , the H. guaranteed the creditor no proprietary rights over securities in the possession of the debtor, as a rule a piece of real estate, but only required the debtor to keep ready certain objects to satisfy the creditor by way of enforcement. Contracts contained no forfeiture clause, but the debtor, as with the hypothḗkē, was subject to certain restrictions in respect of disposal of the objects in his possession.  Debt Thür…

[German version] (ἐξούλης δίκη). In Athens, a charge of ‘expulsion’ was a criminal charge. It was available to privileged claimants (e.g. the successful creditor in a lawsuit) against debtors who resisted, by formally expelling the creditor, the justified seizure of property by the creditor's formalized use of force. The expelled party could raise the charge of e.d.; if he could justify his action, the expeller was sentenced to a fine of double the value of the land. It was divided between the claimant and the state, in accordance with a law of  Solon's. Thür, Gerhard (Graz) Bibliography E.…

[German version] (συνήγορος; synḗgoros), literally 'co-speaker'. Person who speaks in court with - not instead of - one of the parties in a case; a term not always distinguished from sýndikos . In principle, the Greek view was that each party should present their own case in person. In ancient Athens synēgoroi claiming either a close relationship to the party they supported or enmity to the party they opposed could be allowed in private and public actions; only accepting money was forbidden to a synegoros (Dem. Or. 47,26). Since joint action in court was, from a more recent poi…

[German version] (ἐμπορικαὶ δίκαι; emporikaì díkai). Commercial suits in Athens involving maritime imports and exports. Traders and shipowners were the parties but also foreigners and   métoikoi . The emporikai dikai could be brought on only in winter months when maritime traffic was resting. First they came under the jurisdiction of the nautodíkai, then the   eisagogeís and finally (Aristot. Ath. Pol. 59,5) under that of the   thesmothétai . Under the jurisdiction of the eisagogeís they had to be completed speedily within one month. Execution of the judgement was assu…

[German version] (συνθήκη; synthḗkē). Something 'fixed in common' by a number of parties, often recorded in epigraphic or documentary form (usually in the plural: synthḗkai). In Greek philosophy, nómos [1] and the synthēkē (as positive rules) are contrasted with nature (φύσις, phýsis) [3. 1168]. The term syntheke is used as a (document of) treaty or contract in the inter-state law of the Greek poleis and in private relationships. According to the content (alliance, friendship) or stage of the arrangement, various synonyms are used for synthēke as an inter-state agreement ([3. …

[German version] (ἑταιρήσεως γραφή; hetairḗseōs graphḗ). In Athens, popular charge to be brought before the  Thesmothetai against men who held a public office or appeared before the council or the public assembly as orators, in spite of their willingness to engage in homosexual intercourse for money (Aristoph. Plut. 153; Dem. Or. 22,23.29; Aeschin. 1,19f.; 1,29; 1,51; 1,72; 1,87). The law (Dem. Or. 22,21) allots capital punishment and is also directed against a father or guardian who has prostituted his son or ward. Non-citizens were not subject to this rule.  Prostitution Thür, Gerh…

[German version] (διαμαρτυρία; diamartyría). A ‘testimonial decision’, an archaic procedure different from normal witness evidence: based on the testimony of one or more witnesses, it was an act with formal determining powers, which in Athens was predominantly admissible in administrative proceedings in respect of inheritance. Such proceedings were initiated by someone with a claim to the estate who was not one of the direct heirs. He would apply for the assignment of the estate (  epidikasía ). A direct heir would then appear as respondent, and suppl…

[German version] (ἀτιμία; atimía). Dishonour in the sense of abrogation of rights of citizenship; it had to be declared in court in order to have legal effect. Atimia may be the set punishment for certain types of offence (desertion, corruption of officials, a third instance of bearing false witness, abuse of parents et al.), or declared in the course of   dokimasía (personal examination) prior to the appointment of officials, when ἐπιτιμία ( epitimía, citizenship) is examined. Epitimia may be annulled in the case of mental illness, profligacy or prostitution. Infringeme…

[German version] (εἰσαγωγεύς; eisagōgeús). Every office holder who was entitled to preside over a court in Athens ( Archontes) was responsible for introducing (εἰσάγειν , eiságein) his subjudice cases into a law court (  dikastḗrion ) and, concerning this act, was also referred to as eisagogeus. In a narrower, technical sense, the eisagogeus was part of a five-member collegium which was entitled to preside over certain urgent legal affairs (Aristot. Ath. Pol. 52,2). In Ptolemaic Egypt, the eisagogeus was a permanent official of Greek nationality and nominated by the kin…

[German version] A security, especially in relation to purchases. On the model of ancient oriental laws (cf. Gn 38,17), the Greek ἀρραβών ( arrhabṓn) represents a requirement to establish liability. The usual token of personal liability was a ring. Its symbolic meaning was soon accompanied by a financial function: breach of contract on the part of the giver of the arrha/arrhabon resulted in the latter's being retained by the recipient (the security functions as a forfeit); breach of contract on the part of the recipient rendered him liable to return the arrha/arrhabon or usually a mul…

[German version] (μήνυσις; mḗnysis). A ‘charge’ or ‘application’ in certain criminal proceedings The Greek polis functioned on initiatives of private citizens. In criminal law, too, the principle for accusations was considered to be 'no plaintiff, no judge'. In cases of high treason and blasphemy, which endangered the state, the Athenians nevertheless found ways of compensating for the lack of an official public prosecutor. Thus, in special cases state investigative commissioners (ζητηταί, zētētaí) were appointed and in others a reward was offered to encourage the lodging of a men…

[German version] (βιαίων δίκη; biaíōn díkē). A private action that could be brought in Athens against robbery, rape of a free person (male or female), or abduction of a free person for the purpose of illicit sexual relations. In the 6th cent. BC Solon had established a monetary fine for this offence; later, on grounds of public interest, the fine paid to the injured party was accompanied by one of the same amount to the state. Thür, Gerhard (Graz) Bibliography D. Cohen, Law, violence, and community in classical Athens, 1995.

[German version] (μνήμονες/ mnḗmones). Literally ‘memorizers’; the term goes back to the pre-literary era (from c. 700 BC) and refers to the keeper of the archive of a Greek polis, usually called γραφεύς/ grapheús, ‘writer’. (In a sacral context Aristot. Pol. 1321 b 34 lists hieromnḗmones as well). The term κατάκοοι/ katákooi, ‘‘listener’’ [2. 218], goes back to the pre-literary era as well, whereas the term ποινικαστάς/ poinikastás, ‘‘someone who knows the Phoenician letters’’ [1. 180 f.], attests to a nascent literacy. Since the 5th and 4th cents. BC, mnḗmones have been docu…

[German version] I. Ancient Orient Since the second half of the 3rd millennium BC [1. 63-98; 2. 345-365], a distinction was made in Mesopotamia between promissory (assuring) oaths in contract law and assertory (confirming) oaths taking effect in lawsuits. A promissory oath served as an absolute assurance of a renunciation or intended action and was performed by invoking the king or a god, or both. An assertory oath had probative force as an oath for witnesses or parties, e.g. an oath of purification …

(διάλυσις; diálysis). [German version] [1] Procedural law The procedural law of the Greek states was based on the principle of the reconciliation of both parties involved (διαλύειν, dialýein). Only after the failure of that step a formal verdict was to decide on the matter. Dialysis proceedings thus constituted the first procedural step in ‘preliminary proceedings’, irrespective of whether heard by a magistrate (  anákrisis ) or by public or private   diaitētaí , in international arbitration or in proceedings heard by ‘foreign judges’ called from one or more cities to decide on a case. T…

(ἀντιγραφή, -εύς; antigraphḗ, -eús) The expression, like all litigation terms in Greek law not formulated by jurists, is imprecise [1]. It can mean: [German version] 1. Counterplea a) in the sense of a defendant's written counterplea, submitted by the defendant to the authorities responsible for the preliminary examination. He had to swear to the accuracy of the allegations contained in it right at the beginning of the ἀνάκρισις ( Anakrisis) (Poll. 8,58; Demosth. 45,46; 45,87, therefore the expression ἀντωμοσία ( Antomosi…

[German version] (ἐφέται; ephétai). There were in classical Athens, besides the court of  Areopagus, three further collegiate courts for capital cases; these sat at the Palladion, at the Delphinion and in Phreatto ( Dikasterion), and comprised 51 ephetai (Aristot. Ath. Pol. 57,3f.). These colleges of jurors ( Dikastes) were small in comparison with the other dikasteria. It is now believed that, prior to Solon, ephetai also sat at the court on the Hill of Ares, but at that time not all citizens could yet be appointed. Thür, Gerhard (Graz) Bibliography R. W. Wallace, The Areopagos Cou…