CMS 231/ History 231

Litigation in Ancient Athens

 Week 2 Class 2 Lecture


 Athenian Constitution

 Athens the City-State

Athenian Constitution

 

  • Oligarchy
    • Council = Areopagus
      • retired archons [magistrates] automatic members
      • tried homicide cases and heard political trials
      • supervised magistrates and politicians
      • made policy
    • Archons:
      • originally, three main (with a number of subsidiary) [number grew as constitution became more democratic]
        • King Archon
          • religious affairs
          • tried religious cases
        • Eponymous Archon
          • municipal affairs
          • tried
        • Polemarch
          • in charge of military
          • military suits
      • had to be a member of the Eupatridai to be eligible
    • Political Assembly
      • obviously was one [e.g. Board of Chairmen of the 48 naukrariai]
      • but we know nothing about them/what they did

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  • Solon's consitution
    • Councils:
      • Areopagus
        • continued same functions, except, policy increasingly in hands of Boule (Council of 400)
      • Council of 400 [Boule]
        • included 100 members from each of 4 tribes
        • policy: prepared agenda of matters decided by assembly
    • Archons [Magistrates]
      • Solon organized the Athenian population into classes of wealth based on income. Originally only top two classes eligible for archonships.
        • because the economic division was not based on land ownership (as was the typical case in the ancient world); the political elite in Athens was a more open group (in terms of social origins)
    • Courts
      • Heliaia - assemblies of citizens which sit as courts of appeal from decisions of archons in lawsuits [also evidence that they were courts of original jurisdiction - but for what kind of cases is not clear]
      • all citizens (not just victims) could prosecute lawsuits [except for homicide]
    • Assembly [Ekklesia]
      • codified exisitng laws
      • the number of citizens eligible to participate increases

 

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  • Kleisthenes
    • Councils
      • Areopagus
        • loses some of its oversight of magistrates functions to Council of 500
        • loses jurisdiction of political trials to Assembly
      • Council of 500
        • replaces Solon's Boule
        • 50 members from each of 10 new tribes
          • b4 Kleisthenes
            • 4 tribe
              • each tribe w/ 3 ridings/trittyes & 12 naukrariai
              • each tribe also divided into phratries, and phratries into gene
          • after Kleisthenes
            • Attica divded into 3 regions [city, country & coast]
            • each region divided into 10 ridings
              • each riding included a variable number (1-10) demes [which K invented]
            • deme
              • was a natural geographic unit
              • was a political unit [all members residing in deme were made members of it - but, remained members even when you moved] - 139 in all
              • deme membership was required for citizenship
            • 10 new tribes [old 4 abolished]
              • each tribed made up of a city, country and cost riding (assigned by lot)
              • each tribe sent units drawn up from its members to army
              • phratries and gene continue as social organization but not political
        • presidency of Council rotated through tribes; individual presiding officers (who managed actual meetings of Assembly) chosen by lot from tribe in whose month it was to serve)
    • Archons
      • polemarch replaced by a Board of Elected Generals
      • After 487, archons selected by lot from an elected short list
    • Assembly
      • hears political trials
      • determines ostracism

 

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  • Ephialtes [circa 460]
    • Councils
      • Areopagus loses all of its powers except homicide jurisdiction (Boule, Dikasteria and Ekklesia obtain different powers)
        • a very controversial and radically democratic move for which Ephialtes was murdered
    • Archons
      • more citizens [top 3 income classes] eligible to become archon. Eventually even thetes started serving in magistracies. Technically they weren't supposed to, but everyone tolerated it.
    • Courts
    • Assembly

  • Pericles (circa 450)
    • Councils
    • Archons
    • Courts
      • pay for service in jury (eventually, pay for service as archon or on Council)
    • Assembly
      • father had to be a citizen of Athens; mother had to be the daughter of a citizen of Athens
        • restriction of citizenship unusual for a democracy
        • had the effect of sparing Athens land redistribution problems that plagued other democracies of age

         

 

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  • The Oligarchic Revolutions
    • oligarchs of 410/411
      • phase 1 [first 4 months]
        • a council of 400 chosen by oligarchs - to run things [?combine function of council and assembly?]
      • phase 2 [last 6 months]
        • a citizen list of 5,000 based on wealth would form assembly
        • 9 proedroi would organize agendas
    • The Thirty
      • claimed to perform services of Council; elected as law revisers
      • citizenship reduced to 3,000 based on wealth

 

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Athens the City-State

 

  • population
    • organized by legal status
      • citizens [+ their wives, daughters and minor children]
        • born a citizen; or Assembly passed a law making you a citizen [6,000 quorum required]
        • proven by registration in phratry and deme
        • principal privileges were political (Assembly, jury, magistracies); economic (right to buy land; right to hold licenses for state economic activities; right for pay for political service; right to receive theatre money; right to receive a state pension and state food distributions); legal (law cared more about what happened to citizens than anyone else; citizens couldn't be tortured or physically punished; couldn't be sold into slavery for debts)
        • principal duties were military and economic (taxes- eisphora - but only the wealthier citizens paid it; and liturgies - only very wealthiest paid it ); no requirement that citiens exercise political rights
          • military: ephebia at 18-20; liable for service until the age of 59

 

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  • metics [free adults who were not Athenian citizens but were registered as residents of Attika]
    • had right to sue and be a witness
    • had to perform festival liturgies
    • had to have an Athenian citizen as sponsor
    • had to perform military service
    • had to pay a metic's tax
    • had to pay eisphora and perform festival liturgies

  • slaves [non free adults or children]
    • could be a witness, but only if tortured first
    • property of owner ("animal tool")
    • could not be arbitrarily killed (but difficult to enforce if owner was killer)
    • could seek sanctuary and asked to be sold to another master
    • could own no property
    • could marry only with owner's consent; children belonged to owner
    • could enter temples and take part in religious festivals

  • status inherited and could be improved or lost [atimia]

 

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  • these orders did not necessarily correspond to economic classes, social spheres or religious spheres
    • many wealthy metics and poor citizens
    • often metics and wealthy citizens were in the same social circles
    • poor metics, slaves and poor citizens would often work side by side
    • religious organizations and rituals often included metics and slaves, sometimes in positions of respect
  • these orders are of crucial importance in the political sphere

  • organized by age
    • adults (for citizens) = 18; registry in deme
      • nb, in 4th century, citizenship rights only accrue at 20 [after completion of military training in ephebate]
      • had to be 30 to be a juror, archon or legislator (some offices required holders to be even older)

  • organized by gender

  • census
    • 450 - probably around 60,000 citizens [nb, much too big to be a polis]
    • 322 - probably around 30,000 citizens (+ 30K children and 30K women); 40,000 metics; 150,00 slaves
      • ancient sources are notoriously difficult to use
      • modern estimates have to be based on models drawn from different historical periods

 

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