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2 books match the query 'Justice, Administration of (Greek law)'

cover of Democratic Law in Classical Athens

Democratic Law in Classical Athens

By Michael Gagarin

University of Texas Press, 2020

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.

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cover of The Justice of the Greeks

The Justice of the Greeks

Raphael Sealey

University of Michigan Press, 1994

Among the most distinguished scholars of ancient Greek law writing today, Raphael Sealey in his newest book examines the Greek contribution to the concept of justice. The Justice of the Greeks considers a series of themes inherent in or characteristic of Greek law, and it illuminates the fundamental difference between Greek law and other legal systems both ancient and modern.
The introductory chapter surveys theories of law and maintains that every system of law is characterized by distinctive principles, concepts, and aims. The process of issuing laws in writing led the Greeks to regard laws as discrete things, whereas modern thought--drawing on the Roman practice of argument by analogy--assumes that law is a continuum. The Justice of the Greeks also considers ancient codes of written law, Greek distinctions of personal status, and the development of procedures for the peaceful settlement of disputes.
The Justice of the Greeks is directed toward people versed in the history and literature of Classical Greece. It aspires to bring the study of Greek law out of isolation, and to reveal its place in the main current of legal development. Scholars of comparative law, as well as classicists and legal historians, will find much of interest in this unusual book.
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