Democratic Law in Classical Athens / / Michael Gagarin.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Texas Press Complete eBook-Package 2020
• VerfasserIn: Gagarin, Michael,
• Place / Publishing House: Austin : : University of Texas Press, , [2021]; ©2020
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Series: Fordyce W. Mitchel Memorial Lecture Series
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (208 p.)

The democratic legal system created by the Athenians was completely controlled by ordinary citizens, with no judges, lawyers, or jurists involved. It placed great importance on the litigants’ rhetorical performances. Did this make it nothing more than a rhetorical contest judged by largely uneducated citizens that had nothing to do with law, a criticism that some, including Plato, have made? Michael Gagarin argues to the contrary, contending that the Athenians both controlled litigants’ performances and incorporated many other unusual features into their legal system, including rules for interrogating slaves and swearing an oath. The Athenians, Gagarin shows, adhered to the law as they understood it, which was a set of principles more flexible than our current understanding allows. The Athenians also insisted that their legal system serve the ends of justice and benefit the city and its people. In this way, the law ultimately satisfied most Athenians and probably produced just results as often as modern legal systems do. Comprehensive and wide-ranging, Democratic Law in Classical Athens offers a new perspective for viewing a legal system that was democratic in a way only the Athenians could achieve.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Introduction -- Chapter 1 Democracy -- Chapter 2 Performance -- Chapter 3 Negotiation -- Chapter 4 Rhetoric -- Chapter 5 Rules and Relevance -- Chapter 6 Justice -- Chapter 7 Public Interest -- Chapter 8 The Rule of Law -- Chapter 9 The Success of Democratic Law -- Bibliography -- Index of Ancient Texts -- General Index