Robert Backer

Dave Whitison

Humanities 9G

12/3/09

Ancient Greece - Law

Ancient Greece knew more about legal procedure then its criminals. Athenian law was split into two different actions.In Athens imprisonment was applied to those waiting for trial or execution. These are two important facts about law in ancient Greece.

Athens two different law actions were public and private. Public actions in the Government involved the entire community. The private actions only involved certain individuals. In private meetings the injured party had to “bring the action” which means that the people that suffered the injury had to show their case in court. If homicide occurred then the victims relatives had to prosecute the murder. Execution was for crimes like murder and temple robbing.

Those who were waiting for trial or execution had imprisonment for a short time. The prisons consisted of 12 small rooms which could of been cells for the prisoners. A group called the Eleven supervised the prisoners. The Eleven also supervised the execution of criminals. Criminals that received the death penalty were buried unless they received the penalty because of a extreme case like tomb robbery.

Law was a important issue in ancient Greece. “There were several weaknesses in the legal system even though it was excellent for the standards of the day” which shows that even though there were flaws in Athens’ legal system it was still ahead of its time. Athens’ truly was ahead of its time and had one of the most advanced legal systems (Garland).