The Administration of Justice From Hesiod to Solon (Classic Reprint)

Book excerpt: Excerpt from The Administration of Justice From Hesiod to Solon In the following pages an attempt has been made to reconstruct the machinery for the administration of justice in Greece for the period between Hesiod and Solon. Many of the earlier investigators in this field, failing to recognize the continuity of institutions, did not pay sufficient attention to antecedents in earlier practice and survivals in later practice. Nor did they have the benefit of Aristotle's Constitution of Athens which has been of great aid in clearing up some much disputed problems. Hence their discussions of such matters as the Areopagus, the Ephetae and the Thesmothetae are inadequate. On the basis of Aristotle's Constitution and various modern investigations it has seemed possible to bridge this gap. For the age of Homer and Hesiod I have accepted the conclusions of Professor Bonner in his two studies "Administration of Justice in the Age of Homer," (Classical Philology vi. pp. 12 ff.) and "Administration of Justice in the Age of Hesiod" (ibid. vii. pp. 17 ff.). The lawgivers and the early codes I have myself discussed in an earlier paper, "Early Greek Codes" (ibid. xvii. pp. 187 ff.). These codes, however, with the exception of the great code of Gortyn, furnish little information about procedure. Hence the discussion is largely confined to the Athenian system. The subject was suggested in a research course in Greek History under Professor Robert J. Bonner at the University of Chicago and the dissertation has been written under his direction. I have constantly availed myself of his advice and criticism and I wish here to express my gratitude for the many helpful suggestions which his thorough knowledge of Greek and Anglo-American law enabled him to give. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.