The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Law

This Companion volume provides a comprehensive and interdisciplinary study of Greek law.

Michael Gagarin (Edited by), David Cohen (Edited by)

9780521818407, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 12 September 2005

496 pages
23.7 x 16.8 x 3.2 cm, 0.9 kg

'The book excels substantively in its broad collection of Greek legal and political thought, accessible to the most inexpert of readers. … this collection's great achievement - demonstrating the seemingly innumerable ways in which new light can be shed on well-established themes in this timeless and timely field.' Law and History Review

This Companion volume provides a comprehensive overview of the major themes and topics pertinent to ancient Greek law. A substantial introduction establishes the recent historiography on this topic and its development over the last 30 years. Many of the 22 essays, written by an international team of experts, deal with procedural and substantive law in classical Athens, but significant attention is also paid to legal practice in the archaic and Hellenistic eras; areas that offer substantial evidence for legal practice, such as Crete and Egypt; the intersection of law with religion, philosophy, political theory, rhetoric, and drama, as well as the unity of Greek law and the role of writing in law. The volume is intended to introduce non-specialists to the field as well as to stimulate new thinking among specialists.

Part I. Law in Greece: 1. The unity of Greek law
2. Writing, law and written law Rosalind Thomas
3. Law and religion Robert Parker
4. Early Greek law Michael Gagarin
Part II. Law in Athens I: Procedure: 5. Law and oratory at Athens Stephen Todd
6. Relevance in Athenian courts Adriaan Lanni
7. The influence of procedural choice on Athenian court-room strategies Lene Rubinstein
8. The role of the witness in Athenian law Gerhard Thur
9. Theories of punishment David Cohen
10. The rhetoric of law in fourth-century Athens Harvey Yunis
Part III. Law in Athens II: Substantive Law: 11. Crime, punishment, and the rule of law in Classical Athens David Cohen
12. Gender, sexuality, and law Eva Cantarella
13. Family and property law Alberto Maffi
14. Athenian citizenship law Cynthia Patterson
15. Commercial law Edward E. Cohen
Part IV. Law Outside Athens: 16. The Goryns laws John Davies
17. Greek law in foreign surroundings Hans-Alpert Rupprecht
18. Hellenistic law: general framework Joseph Meleze Modrzejewski
Part V. Other Approaches to Greek Law: 19. Law, Attic comedy, and the regulation of comic speech Robert Wallace
20. Greek tragedy and law Danielle Allen
21. Law and political theory Josiah Ober
22. Law and nature in Greek thought A. A. Long.

Subject Areas: Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1]