Litigation in Ancient Athens

 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

 

• 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

• 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

• 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

• 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

 

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

• 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]

• 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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