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[German version] (ἀναδικία; anadikía). The principle that a case decided by a court could not again be the subject of a court case (for Athens Demosth. 24,54) was breached in individual cases in Greek law. In default proceedings and in some cases after a successful action for false witness, δίκη ψευδομαρτυρίων ( Pseudomartyrian dike), it was possible to open new proceedings, anadikia. According to a scholion to Pl. Leg. 937d this concerns cases on citizens' rights, testimony litigation itself and inheritance suits. Plato, in contrast to the law of Athens, generally envisages anadikia …

[German version] (δικάζειν; dikázein). The word (approximately: ‘to exercise a right’) is associated with the ending of a dispute with a sentence. Whether the sentence was originally passed by an ‘arbitrator’ who was consensually appointed by both parties is highly questionable. Rather, dikazein in the early period was the activity of a council of elders or of an official (  dikastḗs ) that was at least rudimentarily provided with state authority. In what form this dikazein would occur is also uncertain: either an official decided in the matter on his own or a formal p…

[German version] (κακηγορία; kakēgoría), verbal insult, an offence in Athens since the period of Solon (6th cent. BC). Deceased persons were always protected, living persons only in the case of defamation in public (Plut. Solon 21; Dem. Or. 20,104). The insulted person could file a private complaint ( dike), but had to share the compensation fine with the state. In the 4th cent. BC, all prohibited insults were recorded on a list (e.g. murder, striking the parents, throwing away the shield), but the…

[German version] (Ἔγκτησις; Énktēsis). In the Greek states the acquisition of property was reserved to citizens. Individual foreigners were granted the privilege of énktesis, the right to acquire ‘land’ or ‘a house’ (or both) by a popular resolution. In Athens some   métoikoi were thus provided, generally perhaps the   isoteleís . In the Doric area the term ἔμπασις/ἴμπασις ( émpasis/ ímpasis) was used instead of enktesis. Thür, Gerhard (Graz) Bibliography J. Pečirka, The Formula for the Grant of E. in Attic Inscriptions, 1966  A. R. W. Harrison, The Law of Athens I, 1968, 237f.  A. S. H…

[German version] (ὁμολογία; homología), literally ‘speaking the same way’, describes in Greek colloquial language simple oral consent or agreement. In the legal sense homologia was soon also used for written agreements (  syngraphḗ ,   synthḗkē ). The legal connection with the homologia originated, as can be seen in Athens, in the preliminary procedural concession of individual assertions of the opponent. In the preliminary procedure (  anákrisis , see   diaitētaí [2]) the parties had the duty to answer each other's questions (Dem. Or. 46,10). Answering such a que…

[German version] (προεισφορά/ proeisphorá, 'property tax advance'). Because the eisphorá ('property tax') in Athens yielded necessary funds too slowly in times of crisis, a liturgy [I B] to 'give an advance' as a proeisphorá on the whole of the sum to be raised, without interest, was imposed (presumably before 362 BC) on the 300 richest citizens of the city. Deducting their own contributions, they could at their own risk collect the proeisphorá from fellow members of their symmoría (tax bracket). The proeisphorá is attested also of other  democratic poleis  (e.g., Priene and Lindus…

[German version] A. Definition and sources Strictly speaking, the correct term is ‘Athenian law’ (AL), because ‘Attic’ designates the landscape, dialect, art and culture, while Athens, by contrast, refers to the polis and the state; but in German scholarship the designation ‘Attic law’ has been used since the beginning of the 19th cent. when philologists and jurists occupied themselves increasingly with investigating the trials and law of Athens after the issuance of a prize question by the Royal Aca…

[German version] (κλητήρ; klētḗr). On the basis of the word, a person who has to do with the summons to legal proceedings ( klḗsis, prósklesis ). 1. In the Delian League, state-appointed klētḗres summoned people to legal proceedings that were held in conjunction with the tributes (IG I3 21,42 and 68,48/49: 426/5 BC; 71,39: 425/4 BC). 2. In civil proceedings the summons were a matter for the plaintiff. In Athens two klētḗres were as a rule consulted in this regard (detailed regulation outlined in Pl. Leg. 846c) whose names were noted on the statement of claim. If th…

[German version] (ὑποβολῆς γραφή; hypobolês graphé). Civil suit against a person who was passed off as the child of a citizen. Such false children, usually bought as slaves, are frequently mentioned in Attic court speeches and  comedies: childless women attempted to consolidate their position in the household in this manner, but hypoboles graphe is only known from the Lexica Segueriana V [2]. The penalty for being a false child was being sold into slavery. Thür, Gerhard (Graz) Bibliography 1 I. Bekker (ed.), Anecdota Graeca I, 1814/1865, 311 2 Lipsius, 417.

[German version] Literally ‘surplus’ (τὰ ὑπέροχα, tà hypérocha, or ἡ ὑπεροχή, hē hyperochḗ), technically it designates the extra value by which the value of the secured object exceeds the amount of the secured debt, Latin superfluum. As the Greek pledge is to be understood strictly as a lapsed pledge (cf.   hypothḗkē ), it necessitated special contractual or judicial regulations if the extra value was intended to serve as security for a further creditor or return to the security debtor following sale of the security. Multiple m…

[German version] (Δώρων γραφή; Dṓrōn graphḗ) . In Athens, the charge of corruptibility (Poll. 8,42), also including the corruptibility of a judge. Active bribery in connection with jurisdiction was prosecuted with   dekasmoû graphḗ . The offence consisted in presents given to, and accepted by, officials, among whom the lawyers in public and private trials were also counted (Dem. Or. 46,26), to the detriment of the state (Lys. 21,22: ἐπὶ τῆς πόλεως κακῷ; Dem. Or. 21,113: ἐπὶ βλάβῃ τοῦ δήμου). The charge was filed in lighter cases with the   logistaí , in graver cases with the   thesmothêtai …

(ἔρανος; éranos). Etymology uncertain; the word originally meant ‘a meal for friends’ (Hom. Od., Pind.). The cost was borne in common by the participants. Collections made among friends in order to present a gift to one of them were also called éranoi; to give gifts in return was merely customary, not a statutory obligation (Theophr. Char. 17,9). Two legal institutions developed on this basis: [German version] [1] Collective fund A kind of collective wealth. Funds ( eisphoraí) collected by a group of individuals ( plērōtaí, Dem. Or. 21,184f.) were applied to a particular purpos…

[German version] (ὑπωμοσία; hypōmosía). In Athens there were two types of sworn statements: 1. in the court proceeding one party could apply in person or through a representative for sojournment (Dem. Or. 48,25f.; schol. Dem. Or. 21,84) if there was significant cause, such as travel or funerary duties. The opponent was able to dispute this with a ἀντωμοσία ( antōmosía, counter-oath). 2. If an application was deliberated in the council (  boulḗ ) or the popular assembly (  ekklēsía ), every citizen was able to declare through a hypomosia that he would bring a suit against the applic…

[German version] (κλοπή; klopḗ). Theft, misappropriation and receiving stolen goods. Robbery, misappropriation of temple property ( hierosylía ) on the one hand and pickpocketing by people doing general damage ( balantiotómoi , kakoúrgoi ) on the other hand was distinguished from klopḗ in Athens. Klopḗ of private property could be prosecuted by díkē only by the victim of the theft; a graphḗ on the grounds of klopḗ of state property is unlikely, as there were other processes ( eúthynai , eisangelía ). A thief at night could be killed without incurring punis…

[German version] (ἀντιτίμησις; antitímēsis). If the law in Athens had not already fixed the penalty in advance in public trials (ἀγῶνες ἀτιμητοί,   atimetos agon), but type and level had been left to the discretion of the court (ἀγῶνες τιμητοί,   timetos agon), the plaintiff had to estimate the suit when the plea was submitted. After being convicted, the defendant could then, in a second hearing on the sentence, file a counter-submission on the level of the sentence ( antitimesis). The judges had to choose between these two submissions for sentence. Thür, Gerhard (Graz) Bibliography A. R.…

(δικαστήριον ; dikastḗrion). A. Athens [German version] 1. Court site There were two types of court sites, those at which homicidal crimes were judged (φονικά, phoniká) and those at which other public or private suits were negotiated. The former, of which there were five, were at the edge of the town for ritual reasons and had no roof to avoid being tarnished by the accused (Antiph. 5,11; Aristot. Ath. Pol. 57,4) while the latter were at the market or in its immediate vicinity. Except for the two largest ones, the Hēliaía (Ἡλιαία) and the site of the   ekklēsía (ἐκκλησία), they had a roof. The pho…

[German version] (ψευδοκλητείας γραφή; pseudoklēteías graphḗ). In Athens, the summons to a trial ( prósklēsis ) was conducted privately in the presence of summoning witnesses ( klētḗr ). Anyone who did not appear before the judicial magistrate on the scheduled date despite a properly witnessed summoning was convicted in absentia. If he was able to prove exculpatory reasons, a reopening of the matter ( anadikía ) was possible; if the plaintiff called in false klētḗres, any citizen (see graphḗ ) could prosecute them with PG. The thesmothétai were responsible, the…

[German version] (βεβαίωσις; bebaíōsis). In legal transactions involving the transfer of possession of an object, i.e. purchase contracts [4. 115f.], contracts governing transfer of use (μισθώσεις, misthṓseis [3. 141; 4. 122]) and arrhal contracts connected with παράδοσις ( parádosis), bebaiosis signifies the undertaking by the previous owner to the new owner not to interfere with the latter's acquired right of possession (in the papyri: μὴ ἐπελεύσεσθαι, mḕ epeleúsesthai), and to defend that right against third parties [1. 357, 360, 444]. In the event that t…

[German version] (Δεσποτεία; Despoteía). In Greek ‘rule’ (from δεσπότης, despótēs, lord) did not initially have a specific legal meaning. The expression referred to the relationship in which the lord ruled over his slaves based on tradition (Aristot. Pol. 1253b) or in the political sense to despotism (Pl. Leg. 698a). Despoteia first appeared in Ptolemaic papyrus documents as the power of disposal possessed by the owner (BGU 1187,32, 1st cent. BC), together with the term kyrieía already used in the Greek city states. It was only in Roman Egypt that despoteia became a permanent compon…

[German version] (εἰσαγγελία; eisangelía). In Athens, eisangelia, in the technical sense, refers to a type of public complaint in criminal matters from Solon's times (Aristot. Ath. Pol. 8,4.). Eisangelia designates the statement of claim (Lycurg. 34,137) as well as the proceedings it institutes. The charges were submitted in writing and argued in detail. The proceedings went through a series of changes over the course of time. Originally, they were designed for criminal acts not covered by the laws. Later, the criminal act…

[German version] (ἐπιδικασία; epidikasía). In Athens, the legitimate natural sons of the testator or those adopted during his lifetime (  eispoíēsis ) could claim their inheritance through the simple act of   embateúein , but outside heirs needed an epidikasia decree from the archon to do so ( Archontes [I]). This arrangement, similar to the granting of the Roman   bonorum possessio , authorised the applicant to come into the inheritance, but did not exclude the possibility of a later court decision regarding the right of succession of another pretender (  diadikasía ). Similarly, the   e…

[German version] (xρῆσις; chrêsis). Literally ‘make use (of)’, but also ‘place (something) at (somebody's) disposal’, embracing the modern senses of loan (the meaning ‘oracle’ can be disregarded here). For loan transactions, already in Athens chresis alternates with the narrower, technical term   dáneion (Dem. Or. 49,6; 7; 17; 21; 44; 48). Chresis Thür, Gerhard (Graz) Bibliography H.-A. Rupprecht, Unt. zum Darlehen im Recht der graeco-ägypt. Papyri der Ptolemäerzeit 1967, 6ff. Id., Einführung in die Papyruskunde, 1994, 118.

[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] (μοιχεία; moicheía). In Greek law, clandestine sexual intercourse with a free, respectable woman against the will of her kýrios (II.). It was therefore not only a matter of “adultery” but of wounding of the family honour; the closest male relative of an unmarried woman was also insulted. Only the head of the household ( oíkos ) was meant to decide on a woman's sexual matters, family relationships and descendants. If a man invaded this relationship, he fell victim to private revenge. If he was caught in the act, (Lys. 1,30; 13,66), the kýrios or his closest male relative…

[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] (ὠνὴ ἐν πίστει/ ōnḕ en pístei, literally 'purchase on trust') in Graeco-Egyptian law describes a real security corresponding to 'assignment by way of security' (beside enéchyron, pawning, hypothḗkē and hypállagma ). In papyri, OEP dogmatically corresponds to ancient Greek prā́sis epì lýsei . The seller (= loantaker) sells to the buyer (= loangiver) a thing at a price which corresponds to the size of the debt. The object purchased serves as security for the debt, on the payment of which, ownership ( kyrieía, see Kýrios II.) reverts to the seller. This is the conse…

[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] (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] (τιμή/ timḗ, literally 'honour', 'esteem'), is used in Attic law in two aspects. (1) In the Archaic period a killer could stave off the victim's relatives' right of revenge by paying weregeld ( time, fine) in accordance with an agreement of conciliation ( Aídesis ). However, somebody killed lawfully, in self-defence or retribution for an unlawful act, or for breaching a ban, would remain 'unavenged' (ἄτιμος/ átimos), and their relatives could not claim a time [3. 101; 2. 99]. In later atimía , deprivation of civic rights, the idea of payin…

[German version] After the conquest of Egypt by Alexander [4] the Great (331 BC), the native population continued to live with its traditional legal concepts as they are preserved in documents ( Demotic law) and perhaps laws ( Codex Hermopolis). The elite of Ptolemaic Egypt, which originated from Greek mercenaries and immigrants, regulated its private affairs according to its own concepts that had merged into a legal koine. Only the Greek towns of Naucratis, Alexandria [1] and Ptolemais [3] ha…

[German version] (πρυτανεῖα/ p rytaneîa). At Athens (also at Miletus and Ilium), the court fees to be paid in advance by both parties to an action, but which the loser then forfeited to the winning party, were called prytaneîa. Prytaneîa were to be paid in most private cases (however, in inheritance cases, the parakatabolḗ was prescribed); in public cases, generally the παράστασις ( parástasis). The prytaneîa ran 3 drachmai for a contested value between 100 and 1,000 drachmai, 30 drachmai above that threshold, with no prytaneîa paid below the 100 drachmai threshold. It is uncertain wh…

[German version] (προστιμᾶν/ prostimân), 'additional penalty' available to the plaintiff. In Athens in cases of theft (Klope) courts had the option of imposing loss of honour in addition to a fine. The thief would be locked in the stocks for five days and nights and placed in the pillory (Lys. 10,15; Dem. Or. 24,114 and 146). Presumably prostimân happened in a third vote, after the jurors had voted on guilt and the fine. Thür, Gerhard (Graz) Bibliography A.R.W. Harrison, The Law of Athens, vol. 2, 1971, 177  D. Cohen, Theft in Athenian Law, 1983, 62.

[German version] (Δατηταί; Datētaí). ‘Dividers’, i.e. private arbiters in Athens, chosen by the parties, who presided over disputes amongst joint heirs. The procedure was initiated by private litigation for a division into shares, δίκη εἰς δατητῶν αἵρεσιν (Aristot. Ath.Pol. 56,6), against a joint heir who objected to a compromise. Usually, the archon was responsible for accepting the litigation while the Polemarch was responsible in exceptional cases if the litigation was directed against a metic (…

[German version] (παραγραφή/ paragraphḗ, derived from παραγράφειν ( paragráphein, 'write beside') describes various institutions in Greek legal language. Specifically in the law of Athens, those accused, who claimed that they had been proceeded against in contravention of the 403/02 BC amnesty (see Triákonta ), had, on the basis of a law introduced by Archinus, the opportunity of adding to the statement of claim, that the díkē [2] ' was not maintainable' (μὴ εἰσαγώγιμον εἶναι, mḕ eisagṓgimon eînai; Isocr. 18,2f.). Subsequently, in separate proceedings, the dikastḗrion [2] had t…

[German version] (Ἐνεχυρασία; Enechyrasía). In Greek law the enforcement of a demand for money or the release of goods. It was used against movable and immovable assets (outside of Athens also against the person) of the debtor after the expiry of a term that is not precisely known. It was based on a judgement or an enforceable document and took the form of the creditor personally taking a colleratal. In Athens the dḗmarchos ( Demarchoi) of the debtor's community of residence gave him access to the collateral. The creditor was free to choose the collateral objects (h…

[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…

(δημιόπρατα; dēmióprata). [German version] [1] Public auction of goods for the benefit of the Athenian state treasury The public auction of goods for the benefit of the Athenian state treasury. They were initially submitted for confiscation in the course of the   dḗmeusis mostly by the plaintiffs in the main proceeding. After the index (the   apographḗ ) of the goods to be confiscated had been read to the public assembly, ‘to notify everyone of the dispossessed property’ (Aristot. Ath. Pol. 43,4), it was forwarded to the Eleven, …

[German version] (ἐπίκληρος; epíklēros). Not quite correctly translated as ‘heiress’. If an Athenian citizen or   métoikos was survived only by daughters, they were not entitled to the inheritance in their own right, but their legitimate sons were, and so the inheritance (  klḗros ) could in some circumstances benefit a different family. Because of that danger the law allowed the nearest male collateral relative of the testator ( Anchisteia), to obtain at the same time from the archon or polemarch ( Archontes I), by a process of   epidikasía , the immediate assignment of the klḗros and e…

[German version] (βλάβης δίκη; blábēs díkē). In Greek law, a private action for damage to property. In the case of intentional damage, the guilty party had to pay compensation to the tune of twice the value of the damage caused, as assessed by the plaintiff in his petition. The blabes dike may originally have been legally applicable only as regards violation of the law relating to neighbours. It may only have been by virtue of case law that this restricted profile of action was extended to include other cases of damage to property. Prevailing o…

[German version] (κατήγορος; katḗgoros). The prosecutor in Athens. Athenian public criminal law was based on the principle of popular complaint ( graphḗ ), a special office for public prosecution did not exist. Nonetheless, in cases that threatened the state directly, the council or the public assembly could nominate citizens to represent the interests of the state without holding an office. They were called kategoros, or, more frequently, synḗgoros (‘attorney’) (representation of the demes: Aristot. Ath. Pol. 42,1; IG II2 1196; 1205). In such cases, the public assembly c…

[German version] (ἐγγύησις; engýēsis). In Greece a festive legal act concluded between the bridegroom and the   kýrios of the bride in the presence of witnesses on which the husband's rights are founded (also called ἐγγύη, engýē), formerly wrongly interpreted as ‘engagement’. It only became fully effective with the transfer of the bride to the husband (  ékdosis ). In Gortyn the engýēsis is never mentioned but it is by Plato (Leg. 774e). In the papyri engýēsis is a synonym of   engýē . Thür, Gerhard (Graz) Bibliography H. J. Wolff, Beiträge zur Rechtsgesch. Altgriechenlands, 1961, 1…

[German version] (λιπομαρτυρίου δίκη; lipomartyríou díkē). Law suit on account of failure to provide a witness statement. The procedural testimony ( martyría ) consisted in the Greek poleis of a statement pre-formulated by the plaintiff or the defendant that was pronounced to the witness in the procedure and which the latter confirmed by his very appearance before the court. When a witness was summoned privately by a procedural party (καλεῖν, kaleîn, Pl. Leg. 937a, PHalensis 1,222f., IPArk 17,12; προσκαλεῖν, proskaleîn, Dem. Or. 49,19), he had two options: either he refuse…

[German version] (ποινή; poinḗ). Used in Homer quite concretely for blood money (Hom. Il. 18,498; aídesis ), but also generally for revenge, retribution, later extended to any monetary penalty a private person could demand for a tort ([4. 10, 35]; cf. Latin poena ; however, the extension to fines to be paid to the state or to corporal punishment entered Greek only by way of back-translation of the Latin term). The connexion with blood money (also ἄποινα, ápoina; cf. ἀποινᾶν, apoinân, demand poine, Dem. Or. 23,28 and 33; IPArk 7,14) lives on in the negative νηποινεὶ τεθνάναι ( nēpoineì tethn…

[German version] (παραμονή; paramonḗ). Noun formed from the verb παραμένειν ( paraménein, 'to stay with someone') used throughout Greece to denote a number of legal relationships. In Egyptian and Mesopotamian papyri the word paramone regularly occurs as a civil-law obligation whereby the debtor subjected himself or a dependant of his, to the power of the creditor to repay the capital sum or the interest ( antíchrēsis [6. 127]). Contracts for the letting of services or the completion of a task ( místhōsis ) often contained a paramone-clause, however, these did not entail civil-la…

[German version] (ἀγχιστεία; anchisteía). In Athens the closest collateral relatives were combined as anchisteia. In the event of  murder of a member of their family they had a duty to bring an action against the perpetrator and the right to grant pardon ( Aidesis) to an unintentional perpetrator (IG I3 104,13-25). The anchisteia also referred to the circle of those with inheritance rights if there were no direct descendants (blood or adopted   eispoiesis ). The anchisteia comprised 1) the brothers of the deceased coming from the same father and their descendants, 2) c…

[German version] One can only speak of a land register (LR) in the legal sense when a complete, comprehensive register of property - either of all inhabitants (personal property system) or of all plots of land in a precinct (real property system) - is generally acknowledged, thus guaranteeing the right of ownership of the registered purchaser. In antiquity, there were numerous simple property registers ( Estate register), which, however, mostly served as the basis for tax assessment (examples and literature [1]). Institutions for the control of legal transactions regarding p…

[German version] (πρόκλησις; próklēsis), literally 'challenge'. The concentration in cases before the Athenian courts of justice ( d ikastḗrion ) on a single time-limited trial created a need for careful preparation of material before the case, or in a preliminary trial before the relevant court magistrate ( anákrisis , diaitētaí ). Próklēsis was an opportunity to provoke the opponent to make binding statements before the trial. This means both the act, before witnesses, of making a deposition aimed at the opponent and its content  and the fixin…

[German version] (παρακαταθήκη; parakatathḗkē). derived from the verb παρακατατίθεσθαι ( para-kata-títhesthai, to deposit) the noun parakatatheke, also parathḗkē, is employed in the entire Greek sphere to denote a range of legal relationships in which objects of persons were entrusted to someone under a duty of care. Although the term was used in Byzantine legal literature as a Greek translation for the Roman term depositum , Greek parakatatheke had a more wide-ranging application. For example the person to whom it was entrusted was entitled to use or consume …

[German version] (ἀπαγωγή; apagōgḗ). ‘Taking away’ was a drastic, speedy procedure in criminal cases in Athens. In its original form it permitted two categories of criminals (κακοῦργοι and ἄτιμοι, kakoûrgoi and átimoi), if caught in the act, later also where the facts of the case were obvious, to be taken away to prison and if they confessed to be punished immediately, or otherwise to be kept in custody and handed over to the court. Responsibility lay partially with the Eleven and partially with the thesmothetai. The penalty was death. Later written charges of the same name cou…

[German version] (παράβολον; parábolon). Literally payment, a sum of money that according to Poll. 8,63, had to be deposited in Athens as security payment when lodging an éphesis , however, it was probably indentical to the parakatabolḗ (cf. also Aristot. Oec. 1348b 13). Further expressions for payment in the context of a legal procedure: ἀπάρβολος ( apárbolos, i.e. 'without parábolon': IG IV 175, 8f. and 197, 21-27; SGDI 3206,117); παρβάλλειν ( parbállein, to pay: IPArk 17,65f.) In the papyri the words παραβολή ( parabolḗ; as also in OGIS 41) and παραβόλιον ( parabólion) are used as …