The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Law

Description

This Companion volume provides a comprehensive overview of the major themes and topics pertinent to ancient Greek law. A substantial introduction establishes the recent historiography on this topic and its development over the last 30 years. Many of the 22 essays, written by an international team of experts, deal with procedural and substantive law in classical Athens, but significant attention is also paid to legal practice in the archaic and Hellenistic eras; areas that offer substantial evidence for legal practice, such as Crete and Egypt; the intersection of law with religion, philosophy, political theory, rhetoric, and drama, as well as the unity of Greek law and the role of writing in law. The volume is intended to introduce non-specialists to the field as well as to stimulate new thinking among specialists.

'... a fascinating sampling of the stimulating work accomplished so far from the predominantly Anglo-American perspective ... individual chapters of this book will inevitably be cited on undergraduate reading lists. Teachers will also benefit from engaging with the 'extraordinary intellectual range of contemporary contributions to the study of Greek legal ideas and institutions.'.' Journal of Classics Teaching 'The book excels substantively in its broad collection of Greek legal and political thought, accessible to the most inexpert of readers. ... this collection's great achievement - demonstrating the seemingly innumerable ways in which new light can be shed on well-established themes in this timeless and timely field.' Law and History Review