What is the Concept of Law in Ancient Greece? (2)

The functioning of the political structures and institutions that make up democracy is as follows: There was a popular assembly (ekklesia) covering all classes in the society. Political problems were discussed in Ekklesia and agreements with other states were negotiated. The military ruler of the city-states was called Polemarchus. Archons (high-ranking officials) who completed their term of office were called Areopagus. In addition to these, there was the Council of Four Hundreds (bule), which would increase in number to five hundred people in the following period. This assembly, whose members were determined by lot, assumed the executive function. Its five hundred representatives consisted of ten demes (tribes) sent by Athens. Those who were involved in the administration at the local level were called "demes". Representatives from each tribe, chosen by lot, set the agenda of the People's Assembly and carried out administrative affairs. With the lottery system, it was ensured that each citizen was elected only once, and thus almost all of the citizens could be present in this assembly. High public officials consisted of nine archons and other important civil servants. The People's Assembly (ekklesia) had the right to adjudicate with the People's Courts (heliaia) and, in addition, once a year with the Pottery Court.

Among the police, Athens is kept apart from the others, especially with its democracy culture. Athens BC. Until the 7th century, it was ruled by a monarchy. Later, it began to be ruled by a group of aristocrats. During the rule of the aristocrats in Athens, trade developed along with production, but this situation resulted in social inequalities and economic conflicts. So much so that people who could not pay their debts during this period became slaves. As such, people began to live with the fear that they would lose their property and become slaves at any moment. Class conflicts in Athens brought with it a coup attempt. Aristotle explained five main reasons for the coups in his work named Politics:

Inequality. It is qualitative equality that will ensure justice and equality in society. Those who do not accept the situation, the lesser rise to be equal, the equal to be greater. This causes social inequality and riots and coups occur.
It is the gaining of a certain segment of society in terms of economic or political power. If a certain group gains power, the state also gains power. However, the power gained by this group and that of the state should grow or shrink at the same rate so that there is a balance. Because this disproportionate situation will cause rebellions and coups.
Abuse of power driven by self-interest and greed for prestige. When individuals gain a strong position, they may attempt various coups to dominate and seize the state.
It is the various races, nations and geographical factors that make up the society. The presence of a foreign mass in the population is sufficient for the beginning and cause of a possible revolt.
When a government or a part of the government gains more power or becomes more popular than the others, divisive activities occur and this arouses the masses.

BC In 632, Kylon, who remained behind the poor, attempted to become a tyrant. Aristocrats were able to suppress this coup attempt with difficulty. Those who attempted the coup wanted the law that was in the hands of the aristocrats to be put into writing in order to be protected legally. Because the law, which the aristocratic class enforced with unwritten laws, was a tool to fulfill the wishes of the wealthy nobles. The fact that the laws would be written would lose the effect of the oral laws (thesmoi), which the aristocrats showed as God's command, but which were beneficial for the noble and wealthy in practice, and would instead make the political and social life of every part of the society equal. This situation was achieved after the riots in many Greek police outside of Athens. While the task of determining the laws was carried out by some people with dictatorial powers called aisimnetes in Ionia and nomotetes in other places, it was carried out by some commissions over time. Among the most famous of the legislators are Lykurgos in Sparta, Zalevkos in Lokroi, Charondas in Katana, Pittakos in Lesbos, and Drakon and Solon in Athens.

Lykurgos

Many historians of antiquity, who have made their names known until today -Plato, Xenophon, Herodotus, Aristotle, Polybios, Plutarch, Diogenes Laertius, Diodorus Siculus and Cicero- have mentioned Lykurgos, the king of Sparta, and his laws. So much so that there are some opinions that Plato was inspired by Lykurgos while writing his work called The Republic. It was Plutarch who compiled the information about Lycurgus and his laws, because in his work "Lycurgos' Life" there are various aspects of his life, such as his travels, his political career, and his death fast. 

i information is included. It is known that Lykurgos reluctantly took over the government after the death of his elder brother Polydektes. Later, it is learned that his brother's wife will give birth to a child, and when the child was born, Lykurgos left the throne to him. After his reign, which lasted for about eight months, he traveled from city to city and studied various management systems in this process. He started his travels from Crete, where he was interested in Minoan law and met the wise philosopher Thales. Afterwards, Thales went to Sparta and engaged in raising the people. After his visit to Crete, he went to Asia Minor and Anatolia. Here he met the epics of Homer and took them to his hometown. He went from Anatolia to Egypt and then visited Libya, Iberia and India. When he was called from Sparta to return to his country, he returned to Sparta to apply the knowledge he had acquired in his country. After arriving in Sparta, his first job was to go to the temple of Delphi and sacrifice to the gods. By seizing the state treasury in the Delphi temple, he started a rebellion and rebuilt the army and the state with his team of twenty-eight people. Then, he introduced a different education system from the one the society is used to, introduced the property law, and made reforms on married life and lifestyle in order to shape his citizens. Lykurgos' reform of the senate was that the senate consisting of twenty-eight people ensured communication between the people and the king. In this way, the Senate was in a position of a kind of balancing element. After a while, the ephoros (watchdog) institution, which was elected by the senate for a period of one year, was established. The Ephoros institution had very broad powers, such that it could arrest the ruler if necessary. Lykurgos divided the existing lands equally with the land reform. The basic principle in this equality was that everyone should get along equally and there was no superiority among them other than virtue. The fact that the distribution of land is shared not only by men but also by women stands out as a distinguishing feature from other Greek societies. He eliminated gold and silver coins as currency and replaced them with iron money. It was very difficult to carry and store gold and silver coins at that time because they were quite large in weight and footprint. With the change of money, the need for courts decreased and excesses such as grace and elegance disappeared. In fact, this situation is also reflected in the food. People could not set ostentatious tables in their homes and eat while lying down, because it was forbidden. Meals were simply eaten at common tables for fifteen people. Issues related to the state were discussed at public meals, and people of all ages were listening and learning about them. The oldest individual at the table was advising that what was spoken at the table would remain at the table, and that no information would come out of the door. Lykurgos did not allow the laws to be put into writing. He hoped that the laws would become a tradition over time, a way of life for people, because he thought that if they were compulsory, they might not be so permanent. Lykurgos started training for women and girls. There have been various initiatives that will increase the value of women and adapt them to society. The institution of marriage symbolized simplicity, avoiding anything excessive. So much so that the spouses did not live together, they even met on a whim. The institution of marriage had many differences compared to today. For example, a man could have a child with a married woman with her husband's permission, because the children were considered the children of the country. Those who worked the land were slaves and had to pay taxes. On the other hand, people in Sparta were forbidden to leave the country because their educated state could be spoiled by foreigners.

BC Although it is known that Lykurgos had a great effect in the Megara uprising in 640, it is seen that the Lykurgos Laws were also effective in the Miletus revolt in the sixth century. So much so that even the period of Solon and Pericles carried the manifestation of this situation. Lykurgos had carried out three important revolutions in Sparta during his lifetime. The first of these is the revolution regarding the institution of slavery. The second is the revolution in the organization of the army and the state. The third is the innovation it adds to the fields of culture, art and science. It is known that he made many revolutions during his lifetime. Lykurgos thought that death should also serve a political purpose, and he made the people swear that the existing laws would not change until he went to the Delphi temple near his death and brought a new law. Thus, he ensured that the laws remained in force for another four hundred years. Herodotus: “Once upon a time, the Spartans had very bad laws. They could neither make peace among themselves nor live in peace with other neighboring peoples, but with the emergence of a person called Lycurgus, both peace within the country and Sparta's relations with its neighbors improved. he said.

Draco

From the tenth-century Byzantine encyclopedia Suda 

According to the known information, Dracon is a Greek noble of Attic origin who lived before the period of Greece called the Seven Sages. Again, according to the information obtained from the encyclopedia, he spent some of his life on the neighboring island of Aegina. He is one of the six judges (archons) in terms of his administrative duties. At the same time, in Athens, BC. Exactly two hundred years after the democracy established in 507, he was appointed to maintain order in the society who prepared the first written laws in 621. Drakon's appointment to this post corresponds to the aftermath of Kylon's coup attempt. It is said that Drakon dictated the laws and that "laws are written in blood, not ink". In Drakon's time, society feared the tyranny of the rich and noble. Because this group inflicted very heavy and terrible punishments on the society, and these punishments were often at the mercy of the people in the administration, since these punishments were not written. In order to reduce the pressure in the environment due to the severity of the penalties, he divided the crime of killing into two as intentional killing and involuntary killing regarding the issue of tit-for-tat. Thus, while the penalty for intentional killing was death, the person who involuntarily killed a person was given the penalty of exile. So much so that Sparta took the systematization of the law established by Dracon in Athens and made a law that included new regulations on political and social life. However, it is known that Drakon's laws are very strict. The penalty for even the smallest theft is death. Aristotle, on the Draconian laws: “Punishments have no noteworthy feature other than their severity and magnitude.” he said.

The Draconian laws were basically based on harmonizing the family, faith and customary law with the wealthy masses, thus reducing the grudges of the poor against the rich. Thanks to the written laws, everyone has come to know the laws (nomos). However, these regulations have not been a solution to the poor. Because the economic problems still continue and the Athenian society has witnessed revolts on this issue. When the riots broke out, another lawmaker, Solon, was assigned this time. Dracon's law on homicide also remained in effect until the time of Demosthenes. The remaining laws were repealed by Solon's law reform.

(To be continued)