|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| We listen to: | ||
INTRO |
AREOPAGOS, THE HILL OF ARES Aristotle: Athenian poliitia: After that, there was civil strife for a long time between the notables and the multitude. For their political relationships were in every respect oligarchical, and in particular the poor (both they themselves and their wives and children) were in slavery to the rich. And they were called peletai (pelatai: those who work at the side of their neighbors. These and the hektemoroi are also (called) thetes, inasmuch as they work the land for a sixth part of the produce. s. v. pelatai (2): those who are in subjection for a payment, when near a neighbor, going over as near as possible because of a lack of resources) and hektemoroi (Hesychius: hektemoroi: those who farm the land for a sixth-part), for in return for that payment they worked the fields of the rich. Now the whole land was in the hands of a few, and unless they handed over their payments, they and their children became liable to seizure. And until the time of Solon, for everyone loans were made with their bodies; he was the first to become Leader of the Demos [Prostates tou Demou]. This slavery was the most bitter and most resented part of the constitution for the many, though they had many other complaints besides these. For they had no share at all, so to speak. Plutarch: Solon - At this point, too, the inequalities between rich and poor had, as it were, come to a head; the city stood on the brink of revolution, and it seemed as if the only way to put a stop to its continual disorders was to set up a tyranny. All the common people were indebted to the rich. For, either they were farming for them, paying a sixth part of what they got ( being called hektemoroi and thetes), or else receiving money with their bodies as security, they were subject to seizure by their creditors, some being slaves for him and others being sold abroad. Many also were driven by necessity to sell their own children (for no law hindered) and to flee from the polis on account of the rapacity of the creditors. The majority, however, and the most spirited stood together and exhorted each other not to look the other way, but to choose one trustworthy man as leader, to liberate the debt-slaves and redistribute the land, and make a complete change in the politeia. He established the Boule of the Areopagos, which was composed of those who had been archons each year, of which he himself was a member because of his having been archon. However, seeing that the people were becoming restive and unruly because of the abolition of debts, he established a second boule, choosing out from each tribe (of which there were four) one hundred men, whom he instructed to consider motions before they came before the Demos, and to allow nothing to be brought before the Ekklesia unless previously discussed. he appointed the other Boule to be general supervisor and guardian of the laws, believing that with two boulai, like two anchors, the polis would be better in the tossing of the sea and the Demos would come through relatively unscathed. Now the majority say that Solon established the Boule of the Areopagos, as has been set forth, and it seems to be a strong witness for their point-of-view that nowhere does Drakon speak of or name the Areopagos, but always refers to the Ephetai in matters of homicide. But the Thirteenth Axon of Solon has the eighth of the Nomoi, written as follows, and I quote: "As many of the atimoi as were atimoi before the archonship of Solon shall be epitimoi, except those who were convicted by the Areopagos or those who were convicted by the Ephetai or at the Prytaneion by the basileis for murder or manslaughter or tyranny, and who were in exile at the time when this thesmos appeared." This shows, on the contrary, that the Boule of the Areopagos existed before the archonship and the nomothesia of Solon. For how could anyone have been condemned in the Areopagos if Solon was the first to give the right of judgment to the Boule of the Areopagos? Unless perhaps some obscurity of letters or omission took place, so that those seized for the crimes which today the Areopagos and Ephetai and Prytaneis judge are to remain atimoi, and everyone else is to be epitimoi. Well anyway, each individual must decide this for himself. Julius Pollux: The Ephetai, fifty-one in number: Drakon established them, the criterion for selection being noble birth [ aristinden ]. They used to judge those indicted upon charges involving blood in the five dikasteries. Solon established the Boule of the Areopagos along side of them. The Jury Courts formed the core of Athens' judicial branch; but another court, the Areopagos, was also highly respected. The Areopagos, so called because it met on the Hill of Ares, was a survival from an earlier period; before the establishment of democracy, the Areopagos had been the old aristocratic senate, the most powerful body in Athens. Democratic reforms transferred most of the Areopagos' powers to the Council or the Assembly, transforming the Areopagos into a court with fairly limited jurisdiction (whose extent appears to have fluctuated over the years). These reforms also changed the Areopagos' composition from a body of hereditary nobles to a board consisting of former Magistrates. The Areopagites held office for life, an extremely unusual provision by Athenian standards ? but since the Areopagites were drawn from the Magistrates, who in turn were chosen by lot, the Areopagos, like the Jury Courts, could be expected to represent a fair cross-section of the Athenian population, while the fact that all Areopagites had served as Magistrates guaranteed that they would have more political experience than the average jury. The Areopagos seems to have enjoyed a kind of mystique, and its decisions were highly respected. During the Roman period, after Athens had ceased to be a democracy, the Areopagos recovered many of its old aristocratic powers, and became once more the supreme power in Athens. That is why, in the first century AD, the apostle Paul was brought before the Areopagos ("Mars' hill"), rather than the Council or Assembly, to explain his doctrine. The Athenian court system was comprised of a series of courts. A few of the courts that we are aware of that existed in ancient Athens are: 1) the Middle Court 2) the Greater Court 3) the Red Court 4) the Green Court 5) the Areopagus 6) the Palladion 7) the Delphinion 8) the Prythaneion MONOMELES PROTODIKIO One of the three types of first-instance court in the Greek judiciary system: magistrates' courts, courts of first instance with a single judge and courts of first instance with several judges. Private law disputes are dealt with by a given type of court essentially according to the seriousness of the case. The first-instance courts with a single judge deal with cases involving a value of 500,000-1 million drachmas. These also include individual labour disputes, which in fact constitute the most important area of their jurisdiction (there are no special labour courts in Greece). The law (Article 16 of the Code of Civil Procedure) defines individual labour disputes as all disputes which either arise from work as an employee ( e.g. claims relating to an e mployee's pay or payments for overtime exceeding maximum working hours) or are generated by any other reason provided it relates to work as an employee. These same courts are also competent to deal with disputes under collective labour law, i.e. disputes arising from a collective agreement or provisions of similar standing, especially arbitration awards. EFETIO: Court of appeal The principal second-instance level of jurisdiction in Greece. These courts rule on appeals against the decisions of the first-instance courts in their district presided over either by a judge sitting alone or by several judges, that is, the decisions of all first-instance courts other than magistrates' courts. Appeals against the decisions of magistrates' courts are dealt with by the relevant first-instance court presided over by several judges  |
   OUR EDITORS FIND EMBORIKI FINE   SUPERB BAKERY PRODUCTS BY        |