The Law In Classical Athens Summary

Ancient Athens is praised for its democratic institutions, yet its legal systems and courts have been relatively understudied by legal scholars. Although many books exist in which topics of Athenian law are discussed in detail, for the past century, most of them have been written in German. There are only a few books in English which provide adequate discussion on the topics of Greek law and specifically Athenian courts. Many historians argue that this neglect is intentional, and is mainly due to the lack of evidence. Even for the state about which we know the most, Athens, there are only a limited number of primary sources available. In addition, Athens has often been considered a failure with respect to law because it was run by amateurs.

MacDowell’s main motivation is that at the time, there was not a satisfactory introduction to the Athenian legal system in English. His goal was to provide a book which could be read by anyone interested in the Greeks, even if they have no previous knowledge of their laws. He admits that his book does not include everything. The book is centered around the period which the Attic orators existed (435-320 BC). His main objective is to explain the manner in which the Athenians provided themselves with the rules by which a civilized society orders the relations between its members and the State, and between one member and another, and the machinery that developed over 300 years. MacDowell is a classicist and modestly states that his work may seem to be unsophisticated to lawyers or students of jurisprudence. However, MacDowell is quick to point out that the Athenians themselves were not professional law-makers and had no knowledge of

The first two chapters provide a readable overview of the history of democratic Athens. Lanni leaves out any discussion of substantive law, instead focusing on the institutions, structure, and procedures of the classical Athenian legal system. Following chapter two, Lanni examines the notion of relevance employed by the popular courts. She breaks down extra-legal argumentation into three categories: the discussion of the broader background and context of the dispute, including past interactions between the disputing parties; defense appeals to the jury’s pity based on the harmful effects of an adverse verdict; and arguments based on the character of parties. The next chapter focuses on the Athenian homicide courts. She tries to address both why homicide cases were treated differently and also what these differences reveal about the Athenian legal system. In the end of this chapter, Lanni concludes that the unusual homicide procedures suggest that Athenians were capable of imagining a more formal legal approach, but only desired this type of judicial approach in only a few specific cases. She goes further in saying that greater jury discretion in the popular courts underlings the conscious reluctance to embrace the stricter mode of legal argumentation. Chapter five explores the lack of legal consistency and predictability that accompanied the Athenian legal system. In chapter six, Lanni discussed the special procedures for maritime