Nomos
Essays in Athenian Law, Politics and Society

Ten scholars explore ways of reading Athenian legal texts in their social and cultural context.

Paul Cartledge (Edited by), Paul Millett (Edited by), Stephen Todd (Edited by)

9780521522090, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 November 2003

260 pages, 2 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.4 x 1.7 cm, 0.408 kg

The relationship between law, politics and society in democratic Athens is a central but neglected aspect of ancient Greek history that is beginning to attract increasing interest. Nomos brings together ten essays by a group of British and American scholars who aim to explore ways in which Athenian legal texts can be read in their social and cultural context. The focus is on classical Athens, since that is where the evidence is fullest, but the range of sources examined is broad, including the whole spectrum of literary and epigraphical texts, with special reference to the corpus of Athenian forensic oratory. All passages from Greek are translated; technical and legal terms, modern as well as ancient, are explained in a comprehensive glossary. These essays are designed to be accessible to those interested in social history and legal anthropology, as well as to historians of the ancient world.

Notes on contributors
List of abbreviations
Preface
1. Law, society and Athens Stephen Todd and Paul Millett
2. The purpose of evidence in Athenian courts Stephen Todd
3. Fowl play: a curious lawsuit in classical Athens Paul Cartledge
4. Plato and the Athenian law of theft Trevor Saunders
5a. Vexatious litigation in classical Athens: sykophancy and sykophant Robin Osborne
5b. The sykophant and sykophancy: vexatious redefinitions? David Harvey
6a. The law of hubris in Athens Nick Fisher
6b. The Solonian law of Hubris Oswyn Murray
7. The social context of adultery at Athens David Cohen
8. Sale, credit and exchange in Athenian law and society Paul Millett
References
Glossary
Index.

Subject Areas: General & world history [HBG]