The Ancient Greeks' Legal System Explained

Ancient Greek law was a diverse and complex system, with each city-state (polis) administering its own set of laws. Despite this diversity, there were some common foundations, including cultural unity, and a shared language and religion. The most well-known Greek legal system is that of 4th-century Athens, which is often used as a model for understanding Greek law as a whole. Athenian law is known for its focus on procedural aspects and the administration of justice, rather than substantive definitions of prosecutable acts. The laws were written in a format that stated an offence and the corresponding punishment.

Athens is also known for its democratic approach to justice, with courts run by commoners and juries made up of hundreds of citizens. The opinions of these juries, made up of the common people, were the deciding factor in court cases, which were often public events.

The development of Ancient Greek law was influenced by famous lawgivers, such as Draco and Solon of Athens, who established the first known written laws in Ancient Greece, as well as philosophers like Plato and Aristotle, who contributed to progressive discussions about law.

The influence of Greek philosophers on the law

Greek law was determined by three dominant factors. The first was the existence of a multiplicity of city-states (poleis), each of which had its own set of laws. The second was that many of these poleis had their laws laid down in written statutes. The third was the absence of a body of jurisprudence comparable to that of the Romans.

The philosophers of ancient Greece did not care for the law as it was. Instead, they were concerned with the discovery of abstract standards of justice. The influence of Greek philosophers on the law is most evident in the work of the Roman jurist and philosopher Cicero (106–43 BCE). Cicero articulated the first conception of what is called "natural law". He sought to situate the positive (human-enacted) law of the Roman state in relation to what he considered objective moral truths, which he also called "laws". In his work *De republica* (On the Republic), he famously held that:

> true law is right reason in agreement with nature…to curtail this law is impious, to amend it illicit, to repeal it impossible…nor will it be one law at Rome and a different one at Athens, but one and the same Law, eternal and unchangeable.

Cicero's idea that there are moral criteria for determining the validity of positive law gained currency in the centuries that followed. St. Augustine of Hippo’s (354–430 CE) later claim that "an unjust law does not seem to be a law at all" served for centuries as a kind of slogan of the natural-law tradition.

The great Christian philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas (1224/25–74) gave natural-law theory its first systematic treatment. Aquinas defined law in part as an "ordinance of reason". He claimed that valid positive law is necessarily derived from objective moral principles (or moral truths). This derivation can occur in two ways. First, law can be derived by a kind of immediate deduction from moral principles, such that there is a direct correspondence in content between a moral and a legal rule. Second, law can be derived from morality by a more-indirect process, which Aquinas called (in Latin) *determinatio*—determination or specification of how a general moral principle applies in specific circumstances to facilitate human coordination. Aquinas held that if positive law is not derived from valid moral principles in either of these two ways, then it is "unjust" and fails to be "law".

The role of the assembly in creating laws

The role of the assembly, or the ekklesia, in creating laws was a significant one in ancient Greece. The ekklesia was the popular assembly, open to all male citizens once they qualified for citizenship. In Athens, the ekklesia was responsible for declaring war, military strategy, and electing officials. It also had the power to nominate and elect magistrates, which gave them an indirect role in electing members of the Areopagus, the council of former archons.

The ekklesia played a crucial role in the legislative process. It had the final say on legislation and could call magistrates to account after their term of office. Each year, the Assembly met to discuss the existing body of laws, and any citizen could propose changes. However, the process of creating new laws was complex and involved several steps. The Assembly would first vote on whether to change the laws, and if they decided to do so, a board of "Nomothetai" or "legislators" would be selected to review and revise the laws. This process resembled a trial, with advocates speaking for and against the existing laws. The Nomothetai would then vote on the proposed changes, and any changes that were passed were published and read aloud at the next meeting of the Assembly.

The Assembly also undertook an annual review of all existing laws to ensure consistency and eliminate redundancies. They met three or four times a month, and votes were taken by a show of hands, counting of stones, or voting using broken pottery. A quorum of 6,000 members was sometimes required to conduct business. The ekklesia was a key institution in the Athenian democratic system, allowing citizens to have a direct say in the creation and revision of laws.

The diversity of laws across Greek city-states

Ancient Greece was not a single state but a collection of independent city-states, or poleis, each with its own political and legal systems. While these were arguably based on the same general principles, there was no unified system of law across the country.

The most well-known Greek judicial system is that of 4th-century Athens, often used as a model for Greek law. However, it is important to note that each city-state had its own unique set of laws and legal practices. For example, while Athens is commonly associated with democratic ideals and progressive laws, other city-states, such as Sparta, developed their own distinct legal codes and practices.

One notable example of the diversity of laws is the contrast between the legal codes of Draco and Solon in Athens. Draco, appointed lawgiver in Athens around 620 BCE, was known for his harsh and severe punishments. His homicide law, which established exile as the penalty for murder, was the only one of his laws that was kept when Solon became the lawgiver in approximately 594 BCE. Solon, known for his fairness and neutrality, created a new set of laws, including reforms related to land ownership, debt cancellation, and the abolition of slavery for native Athenians.

Another illustration of the diversity of laws can be found in the city-state of Thebes, where Philolaus of Corinth published the first-ever law code for that city. Similarly, in the city-state of Corinth, Pheidon composed the first set of city laws, and Megara likely had a law code promoting Athenian-style democracy.

The absence of a unified legal system in Ancient Greece is further highlighted by the fact that there is no systematic collection of ancient Greek laws. Our understanding of their legal practices comes from various sources, including the works of philosophers, orators, and historians, as well as inscriptions, poems, and legal documents preserved in Egyptian papyri.

The process of arbitration and enforcement

The ancient Greeks had no unified legal code, with each city-state (polis) administering its own laws. However, arbitration was a common method used to settle disputes between Greek states or members of a single state.

Arbitration

In Ancient Greece, arbitration was available for civil suits. In the Athenian legal system, both private and criminal procedures began with the summoning of the defendant to the magistrate and the filing of a written complaint. If the case was a civil suit concerning pecuniary affairs, the parties were sent to a public arbitrator (diaitētēs). If one of the parties refused to accept the arbitrator's award, or if the matter was not subject to compulsory arbitration, the case was referred to a court (dikastery) presided over by a magistrate.

Enforcement

Enforcement of a judgment was generally left to the plaintiff. Victorious plaintiffs in private lawsuits had to enforce the judgment themselves by attaching the property of the defendant.

International Arbitration

In modern Greece, international commercial arbitration is regulated by the 1958 New York Convention (NYC) and the UNCITRAL Model Law. The Greek legal regime on arbitration is dualistic, with domestic arbitrations or non-commercial arbitrations regulated by the Code of Civil Procedure.

Enforcement of Arbitration Agreements

Greek courts will not hear a case for which arbitration has been agreed upon. If a party brings an action before an ordinary court and the other party invokes the arbitration agreement as a defence, the court must refer the parties to arbitration.

Arbitral Tribunals

The parties in arbitration jointly appoint an arbitral tribunal to rule on their dispute. The tribunal consists of either a sole arbitrator or three arbitrators. The tribunal issues its award after hearing the case and examining the evidence produced by each party. The award is enforced like a court judgment and is recognised in more than 150 countries.

Arbitral Awards

Arbitral awards are recognised and enforced in Greece in accordance with Decree-Law 4220/1961, through which the New York Convention was ratified by Greece. The sole arbitrator or the arbitrator designated by a multi-member tribunal must file an original copy of the award with the secretariat of the single-member first-instance court of the place of arbitration, unless the parties have agreed otherwise.

The development of legal codification

Ancient Greece was not a single state but a collection of city-states, or poleis, each with its own political and legal systems. However, these were largely based on the same general principles and shared a legal terminology.

In the fifth century BC, the Areiopagos, a homicide court, was split into four types of courts, each trying a different type of homicide case. The emergence of these new courts, ruled by a group of about fifty-one members called the ephetai, marked a new age of dikastic courts. Regular public prosecutions were now referred to as a graphe, and a dike was a private prosecution.

The Draconian code was completely reformed by Solon, who became the archon of Athens around 593 BC. Solon is known for his numerous legal innovations, including reforms to land ownership, the cancellation of debts, and the abolition of slavery for native Athenians. He threw out all of Draco's laws except for the homicide law and created new laws, particularly in the categories of tort and family law. Solon's laws fit into the four basic categories of Ancient Greek law: tort, family, public, and procedural.

While Athens is commonly associated with Greek law, other city-states also had notable lawgivers. For example, in Thebes, Philolaus of Corinth published the first law code of that city, and in Corinth, Pheidon composed the first set of city laws.

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