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checkers09's review
3.0
Trials from Classical Athens give an overview of the few surviving legal trials from Classical Athens covering cases of homicide, assaults, property, commerce, citizenship and slander.
Each case is given a brief introduction from the writer giving context on what the case is about and the people involved. There is also a conclusion which stipulates the importance of the case as well as speculating on the validity of the statements made by the speaker.
The book gave me a lot of interesting insights into the Athenian legal system, which was more advanced than I imagined. Although there is a lack of lawyers and judges, the system of adjudicating guilt was very dense and organised. Unlike modern trials each side involved in the case gives their argument on their own, giving a focus on the rhetorical skill to succeed in a case. Speakers would use relevant laws, depositions and witness testimony to make their point before a body of citizens would vote on which side of the story they believed.
The trials are recorded in the notes of speech writers such as Demosthenes and Lysias, whose work has been some of the fortunate few to have survived to the present day. Even though it's a gift to have these speeches at all it's frustrating that all of the cases are written prior to the trial itself, meaning we only have one side of the story and have no way of knowing the outcome of the trials. Additionally, most of the trials don't record the witness testimony and laws, which would go a long way in helping to understand if the prosecutor/defence is grasping at straws or actually has convincing evidence.
Despite these drawbacks, I found the book had some interesting cases that demonstrated the highly advanced state of rhetoric in Greece as well as giving a great deal of insights into the Ancient Athenian legal system.
Each case is given a brief introduction from the writer giving context on what the case is about and the people involved. There is also a conclusion which stipulates the importance of the case as well as speculating on the validity of the statements made by the speaker.
The book gave me a lot of interesting insights into the Athenian legal system, which was more advanced than I imagined. Although there is a lack of lawyers and judges, the system of adjudicating guilt was very dense and organised. Unlike modern trials each side involved in the case gives their argument on their own, giving a focus on the rhetorical skill to succeed in a case. Speakers would use relevant laws, depositions and witness testimony to make their point before a body of citizens would vote on which side of the story they believed.
The trials are recorded in the notes of speech writers such as Demosthenes and Lysias, whose work has been some of the fortunate few to have survived to the present day. Even though it's a gift to have these speeches at all it's frustrating that all of the cases are written prior to the trial itself, meaning we only have one side of the story and have no way of knowing the outcome of the trials. Additionally, most of the trials don't record the witness testimony and laws, which would go a long way in helping to understand if the prosecutor/defence is grasping at straws or actually has convincing evidence.
Despite these drawbacks, I found the book had some interesting cases that demonstrated the highly advanced state of rhetoric in Greece as well as giving a great deal of insights into the Ancient Athenian legal system.
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