Overview
The ancient Greeks invented written law. Yet, in contrast to later societies in which law became a professional discipline, the Greeks treated laws as components of social and political history, reflecting the daily realities of managing society. To understand Greek law, then, requires looking into extant legal, forensic, and historical texts for evidence of the law in action. From such study has arisen the field of ancient Greek law as a scholarly discipline within classical studies, a field that has come into its own since the 1970s. This edited volume charts new directions for the study of Greek law in the twenty-first century through contributions from eleven leading scholars. The essays in the book's first section reassess some of the central debates in the field by looking at questions about the role of law in society, the notion of ""contracts,"" feuding and revenge in the court system, and legal protections for slaves engaged in commerce. The second section breaks new ground by redefining substantive areas of law such as administrative law and sacred law, as well as by examining sources such as Hellenistic inscriptions that have been comparatively neglected in recent scholarship. The third section evaluates the potential of methodological approaches to the study of Greek law, including comparative studies with other cultures and with modern legal theory. The volume ends with an essay that explores pedagogy and the relevance of teaching Greek law in the twenty-first century.
Full Product Details
Author: Paula Perlman
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Imprint: University of Texas Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.20cm
, Height: 2.50cm
, Length: 22.90cm
Weight: 0.513kg
ISBN: 9781477315217
ISBN 10: 1477315217
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 14 March 2018
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Temporarily unavailable
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Reviews
As a whole, the volume provides a succinct and learned overview of modern thinking on issues that have been debated since the subject flourished in the 1970s, and includes some convincing and innovative readings...the volume will be a great resource for students, established scholars, and indeed teachers of Greek law. * Bryn Mawr Classical Review *
As a whole, the volume provides a succinct and learned overview of modern thinking on issues that have been debated since the subject flourished in the 1970s, and includes some convincing and innovative readings...the volume will be a great resource for students, established scholars, and indeed teachers of Greek law. * Bryn Mawr Classical Review * [Ancient Greek Law in the 21st Century] is a miscellany, as it is intended to be. The only real unifying theme is the diversity of approaches and directions that modern scholars can take in approaching ancient Greek law. In this, the book's stated aim, it is successful. I found the contributions stimulating, and the work as a whole offers exciting promises to both new and established scholars for groundbreaking work that remains to be done. * American Historical Review * Perlman's new volume...seeks to guide the direction of [the study of ancient Greek law] in the 21st century. Although each contribution is concerned with a different topic, they all provide a critical analysis of problems in the scholarship and offer solutions for them...[Ancient Greek Law in the 21st Century] has universal value for scholars dealing with modern legal problems. * Alternative Law Journal *
As a whole, the volume provides a succinct and learned overview of modern thinking on issues that have been debated since the subject flourished in the 1970s, and includes some convincing and innovative readings...the volume will be a great resource for students, established scholars, and indeed teachers of Greek law. -- (10/01/2018) Perlman's new volume...seeks to guide the direction of [the study of ancient Greek law] in the 21st century. Although each contribution is concerned with a different topic, they all provide a critical analysis of problems in the scholarship and offer solutions for them...[Ancient Greek Law in the 21st Century] has universal value for scholars dealing with modern legal problems. -- (05/01/2019) [Ancient Greek Law in the 21st Century] is a miscellany, as it is intended to be. The only real unifying theme is the diversity of approaches and directions that modern scholars can take in approaching ancient Greek law. In this, the book's stated aim, it is successful. I found the contributions stimulating, and the work as a whole offers exciting promises to both new and established scholars for groundbreaking work that remains to be done. -- (06/04/2019)
Author Information
Paula Perlman is a professor of classics at the University of Texas at Austin. Her books are The Laws of Ancient Crete, c.650–400 BCE, coauthored with Michael Gagarin, and City and Sanctuary in Ancient Greece: The Theorodokia in the Peloponnese.
