Keeping to the Point in Athenian Forensic Oratory
Law, Character and Rhetoric
Published on 31. January 2025
Book
Hardback
304 pages
978-1-3995-2387-5 (ISBN)
Description
When a litigant initiated a lawsuit in Classical Athens, he submitted a written plaint to the relevant magistrate. This document contained his name, the name of the defendant, the legal procedure employed, and the specific violations of part of the law. If the magistrate accepted the plaint, the legal charges were read to the court before and after the litigants spoke, and the judges swore in their oath to vote only about the charges in the plaint, that is, whether the defendant had violated a specific law or not. In private suits, litigants took an oath to 'keep to the point', that is, discuss only the legal charges. In public cases litigants were under the same obligation. This volume examines several Athenian court speeches and show that litigants paid close attention to legal relevance in court. Consequently, the essays in this volume make the case for integrated approach to rhetoric and law emphasizing an institutional understanding of Athenian forensic oratory.
Reviews / Votes
A well-documented, clear and comprehensive analysis of the institutional aspect of Athenian forensic oratory, highlighting the relevance of legal arguments in Classical Athens. An essential reading for the study of Athenian forensic oratory, emphasising its inherently legal character and advocating for a balanced historical perspective, without the pitfall of comparing ancient Athenian practices to modern legal ideals. -- Athina A. Dimopoulou, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens This is an important book. By bridging the gap between law and rhetoric, it provides new methodological insights into the question of consistency in the legal arguments deployed by the Attic orators. Keeping to the point is a milestone in the debate on the rule of law in classical Athens. -- Michele Faraguna, University of MilanMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
603 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-3995-2387-5 (9781399523875)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Unknown | Edward M. Harris | Alberto Esu
Keeping to the Point in Athenian Forensic Oratory
Law, Character and Rhetoric
E-Book
01/2025
1st Edition
Edinburgh University Press
€231.99
Available for download
Persons
Edward M. Harris is Professor Emeritus of Ancient History at Durham University. He has published Aeschines and Athenian Politics (OUP, 1995), Democracy and the Rule of Law in Classical Athens (CUP, 2006), and The Rule of Law in Action in Democratic Athens (OUP, 2013). He has translated Demosthenes, Speeches 20-22 (UT Press, 2008) and Demosthenes Speeches 23-26 (UT Press, 2018) and co-edited with L. Rubinstein, The Law and the Courts in Ancient Greece (Duckworth, 2004) and with D. Leao and P. J. Rhodes, Law and Drama in Ancient Greece (Duckworth, 2010). Alberto Esu is Lecturer in Classical Greek History at the University of Manchester. He has published on ancient Greek law and institutions, political thought, and Athenian oratory. He is the author of Divided Power in Ancient Greece: Decision-Making and Institutions in the Classical and Hellenistic Polis (2024) and has co-edited (with E. M. Harris), Keeping to the Point in Athenian Forensic Oratory: Law, Character and Rhetoric (EUP, 2025).
Content
Preface and Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
List of Contributors
Introduction
Alberto Esu and Edward M. Harris
Part I. Keeping to the Point in Major Public Procedures
1. The Rhetoric of the Graphe Paranomon in the Trial on the Crown
Guy Westwood
2. Law, Office and Honour: Legal Relevance and Forensic Arguments in Demosthenes' Against Androtion
Alberto Esu
3. Gossip, Morals and Poetry: Legal Relevance in Aeschines' Against Timarchus
Matteo Barbato
4. How Does Lycurgus Keep to His Point? Legal and Rhetorical Relevance in Against Leocrates
Jakub Filonik
5. Institutions, Character and Relevance: Keeping to the Point in Dokimasiai
Peter A. O'Connell
Part II. Keeping to the Point on Hybris, Violence and Disenfranchisement
6. The Legal Charge in Demosthenes' Against Meidias
Edward M. Harris
7. Did Ariston Keep to the Point? Dike Aikeias and Graphe Hybreos in Demosthenes' Against Conon
Linda Rocchi
8. Trial and Error: Impiety and Legal Relevance in Andocides' On the Mysteries
Rebecca Van Hove
Part III. Keeping to the Point on Inheritance and Damages
9. Character Evidence in Isaeus' Speeches from Inheritance Disputes
Brenda Griffith-Williams
10. Against Timotheus: Keeping to the Point in a Suit for Damage
Giacinto Falco
Conclusions: Some Rules of Thumb in the Study of Athenian Forensic Oratory
Mirko Canevaro
Bibliography
General Index
Index Locorum
List of Abbreviations
List of Contributors
Introduction
Alberto Esu and Edward M. Harris
Part I. Keeping to the Point in Major Public Procedures
1. The Rhetoric of the Graphe Paranomon in the Trial on the Crown
Guy Westwood
2. Law, Office and Honour: Legal Relevance and Forensic Arguments in Demosthenes' Against Androtion
Alberto Esu
3. Gossip, Morals and Poetry: Legal Relevance in Aeschines' Against Timarchus
Matteo Barbato
4. How Does Lycurgus Keep to His Point? Legal and Rhetorical Relevance in Against Leocrates
Jakub Filonik
5. Institutions, Character and Relevance: Keeping to the Point in Dokimasiai
Peter A. O'Connell
Part II. Keeping to the Point on Hybris, Violence and Disenfranchisement
6. The Legal Charge in Demosthenes' Against Meidias
Edward M. Harris
7. Did Ariston Keep to the Point? Dike Aikeias and Graphe Hybreos in Demosthenes' Against Conon
Linda Rocchi
8. Trial and Error: Impiety and Legal Relevance in Andocides' On the Mysteries
Rebecca Van Hove
Part III. Keeping to the Point on Inheritance and Damages
9. Character Evidence in Isaeus' Speeches from Inheritance Disputes
Brenda Griffith-Williams
10. Against Timotheus: Keeping to the Point in a Suit for Damage
Giacinto Falco
Conclusions: Some Rules of Thumb in the Study of Athenian Forensic Oratory
Mirko Canevaro
Bibliography
General Index
Index Locorum