Disputes and Democracy: The Consequences of Litigation in Ancient Athens

Athenians performed democracy daily in their law courts. Without lawyers or judges, private citizens, acting as accusers and defendants, argued their own cases directly to juries composed typically of 201 to 501 jurors, who voted on a verdict without deliberation. This legal system strengthened and...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
1. Verfasser: Johnstone, Steven (VerfasserIn)
Format: Elektronisch E-Book
Sprache:English
Veröffentlicht: Austin University of Texas Press [2021]
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:FAW01
FAB01
FCO01
FHA01
FKE01
FLA01
UPA01
UBG01
URL des Erstveröffentlichers
Zusammenfassung:Athenians performed democracy daily in their law courts. Without lawyers or judges, private citizens, acting as accusers and defendants, argued their own cases directly to juries composed typically of 201 to 501 jurors, who voted on a verdict without deliberation. This legal system strengthened and perpetuated democracy as Athenians understood it, for it emphasized the ideological equality of all (male) citizens and the hierarchy that placed them above women, children, and slaves. This study uses Athenian court speeches to trace the consequences for both disputants and society of individuals' decisions to turn their quarrels into legal cases. Steven Johnstone describes the rhetorical strategies that prosecutors and defendants used to persuade juries and shows how these strategies reveal both the problems and the possibilities of language in the Athenian courts. He argues that Athenian "law" had no objective existence outside the courts and was, therefore, itself inherently rhetorical. This daring new interpretation advances an understanding of Athenian democracy that is not narrowly political, but rather links power to the practices of a particular institution
Beschreibung:Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 27. Okt 2021)
Beschreibung:1 online resource
ISBN:9780292767744

Es ist kein Print-Exemplar vorhanden.

Fernleihe Bestellen Achtung: Nicht im THWS-Bestand! Volltext öffnen