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

Considering the geographical situation of Greece, it is possible to understand the reasons why the Greeks could not establish a national unity at the beginning. Establishing a union was realized as a result of the start of commercial activities and cultural exchanges, as a result of getting to know each other. These communities, speaking a common language but dispersed in different regions, called themselves Hellen. Social structure in Hellenes; Genos (family) formed from families, fratriai (sister unions) arising from the need for unity of genos, and nets formed from unity stemming from blood ties. The tribe was represented by free men holding a gun, and from time to time they met to discuss the security and future of the tribe. At the same time, considering a possible war situation, they chose a basilevs -commander- among them. While the king took care of administrative affairs in times of peace, he was busy with the management and administration of the army in times of war. The Greeks had taken this social structure construction from the Dorians.

Although the Dorians considered the lands they conquered as the property of the entire tribe, when it came to cultivating the land, they chose to plant and recycle temporarily by drawing lots. In the light of this information, it is seen that there was a collective property in the early periods of the Greek Middle Ages. This process over time marriage, inheritance, occupation and so on. It was delayed due to such reasons and the Greek people deviated from the understanding of collective property and obtained autonomous properties. This situation caused economic inequalities and class discrimination occurred. Aristocrats formed the wealthy class of property owners. Homer epics contain information about the aristocratic class. In the aristocratic class, each family has a god or hero that it chooses to base its lineage on. The monarch belonged to one of these noble families, and the aristocratic class lived with the king. In a possible war, this noble class would also join the war with the king to collect loot. In times of peace, they were generally interested in hunting and had fun with songs and poems at the drinking assemblies they attended. This class, which also organized sports races from time to time, would also come together to sacrifice on religious holidays. Aristotle's saying, scholazontes eleutheriōs hama kai sōphronōs (to lead a prudent, unrestrained idle life) epitomizes the life of the noble class. Because this class ate the bread of the lower class, it had time to spend the whole day in mental activities.

In this respect, Heracleides Ponticus, a contemporary of Aristotle, states that luxury and pleasure that relax and strengthen the mind are the distinguishing features of free people; on the other hand, he argues that labor (to ponein) is for slaves and simple people with narrowed minds (systellontai). The status of popular communities under the aristocrats varied. Some people were free and landed, others were tenants or slaves who worked the land. As an example of the words used in the meaning of slave in Greek; doulos, andrapodon, oiketēs can be given. Sometimes words such as pais (boy) and its variants or sōma (body) were also used to mean slave. One of the first Peripatetics—strongly likely—Theophrastus, on slavery: “The first and most necessary type of property is the best and most suitable for housekeeping (oikonomikotaton): that is, human diversity (anthrōpos). Therefore, we must first find ourselves industrious slaves (douloi spoudaioi).” he said. Theophrastus depicted slaves in two separate classes as ordinary workers (ergatēs) and stewards (epitopos). On the other hand, while Aristotle stated that a household consisted of slaves and free people, he described the master and slave as the most basic elements of the household, together with his wife and husband, father and children. In addition, Polybius stated that “slaves are among the most basic necessities of life, as are cattle”.

Slaves were awarded only three things: food; to work and to be punished. In addition, many Roman and Greek writers underlined that the slaves' being of different nationalities was a necessary method of preventing a possible revolt.

Police (πόλις)

One of the most important elements of the social history of the ancient Greek world is the polis. The Achaeans brought the concept of polis to the Ancient Greek world. The Achaeans dominated the concept of the city from the very beginning. So much so that when they migrated to the Anatolian shores, they not only occupied the cities of the Hittites, but also captured the surrounding lands and drew a certain political border. Thus, they created the concept of polis or ptolis, which is assumed to be of Anatolian origin and not Greek in terms of word origin. On the other hand, this concept was initially used in the sense of "chateau" (1). Later, it took the meaning of the city established at the foot of the castle. Cities have come into existence in various forms. The Greeks called this settlement concept sinoikismos. First time in ancient Greece 

nt-state was founded in Ionia. Three basic principles were observed in the police: Being free and independent from the outside (elevtaria), making and executing the laws by oneself (avtonomia), being self-sufficient as much as possible (avtarkia). Each polis had a chora, which means autonomous rural area. In ancient times, the word chōra (χωρα) was often used as a synonym for agroi (fields), i.e. rural areas attached to the city-state, in Greece, in some ancient Greek colonies on the western coast of Asia Minor, in Italy and Sicily. In general, there was no fundamental difference between those living in the center of Polis and those living in the surrounding countryside (choritai). Although both groups were Greek, they shared more or less the same culture. Pausanias, in a passage written during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, about the Panopeus polis located east of Mount Parnassos: “There are no public buildings [arceia], gymnasium, theater, market place [agoria], water fountains, and people live in empty desolations like mountain huts at the edge of a valley. if you can really call a place a cop.” he said. On the other hand, Aristotle; “The first quality of the police is that it is a community of spaces.” he said.

At the center of the polis are temples, government offices, agoras with market places. Some of its inhabitants were free citizens, some were free people without political rights (meoikos in Athens and perioikos in Sparta), some were landed peasants without free rights (Helots in Sparta) or slaves who were the property of their masters. A policeman was basically represented by the will of the free citizens living in and around the city. In terms of government, the polis differed from the forms of government of other contemporary civilizations because the ruler of a city-state was a god-like ruler with infinite authority, while in Greece the ruler had less power in terms of authority, with citizens also interested in politics and administration, and even having a say. On the other hand, the meetings held for the continuity of the police in the people's assemblies called ekklesia took place in time, instead of the meetings held by those who could hold a gun to maintain the existence of their tribes.

City-states BC In the process of getting to know each other around the 8th century, piracy, looting and extortion emerged among the police. Thus, the “normal” definition of the relationship between city-states was considered a period of war, and periods of peace consisted of short periods. However, since there is a respect for sanctuaries among city-states that adopt the same religion, joint religious unions have been established in order to protect such areas and prevent them from being destroyed. On the other hand, the establishment of the police was very beneficial to the aristocratic class in the beginning. As a matter of fact, over time, they left their castles and migrated to the city and started to look after government affairs. However, later, as the business grew, the king started to take assistants (officers) to take care of administrative tasks. Examples of these officials are the tesmotets, who were the guardians of the law in Athens, and the auditors, or ephoros, in Sparta. While these officials were first appointed by the king, they began to be chosen by the society/people over time. Thus, aristocrats obtained high titles in government. On the other hand, the king's powers were limited by the existence of the above-mentioned public assemblies called ekklesia.

As a matter of fact, in the end, the kingdom had to leave its powers entirely to the aristocratic class. Kingdom 8-9 in Ionia. century, while it disappeared in the 8th-7th century in Greece. disappeared during the century. The abolition of the kingdom in Athens occurred naturally, as the king was responsible for religious affairs as archon basilevs in the new government. Athens has turned into a larger police, with free citizens, popular assemblies, and courts. Thucydides, the classical historian of the Peloponnesian war, bases the history of the unification of Athens and Attica under a single polis, before the Trojan war, under the rule of king Theseus. Thucydides also said that Theseus destroyed the separate assemblies and governments of small cities and brought all citizens together in Athens, where he established a single assembly and government. In ancient Greek historiography, this union is indicated by the concept of sunoikosmos (living together). In particular, the reason why Athens was preferred and in the spotlight compared to other policemen was that its people had more freedom of thought, and with this feature, it attracted many thinkers from other settlements in the Mediterranean.

Democracy (δημοκρατία)

In ancient Greece, the polis appeared before democracy, but they developed in parallel with each other. The police contrasts with the idea of ​​the rule of the nobility, which is basically based on a broad and common blood line. Because in this regard, Socrates: “Government, nothing 

̧somehow descendants do not belong to the nobility and nobility, society should be governed by knowledgeable and virtuous people, not nobles.” he said. Socrates, who argues that knowledge and virtue are not inherited but can be learned later, thus shed light on the development of the concepts of justice and equality. In this respect, the presence of the police is also a sign of the transition to local democracy. The Greeks called the forms of government applied in the political units they called the police as demokratia. It corresponds to between 500-300 years.

The concept of Demokratia is formed from the words demos (people living in the city) and kratos (ruling power). It is known that democracy is a regime that emphasizes the principle of equality in terms of oligarchy and freedom in terms of tyranny. At the same time, demos BC. There is information that it includes the meaning of Athenian communities gathered in ekklesia in the 5th century. In this regard, it should be emphasized that the demo is a concept that represents only free people, since slaves are not included in the demo. The masses that make up the concept of demos; large landed nobles (eupatrid), the middle class (demiurgoi) who were interested in crafts and agriculture, the poor peasant with a small land (georgoi), and the urban workers (thethes) who had no land and no specific job. On the other hand, the nobles among themselves; They are divided into well-born (eupatrids), landlords (geomars) and horsemen (hippeis). Plato describes people from different social classes in his work called the Republic; “…the god who created you has added gold to the leaven of those among you who are capable of leading; therefore, they are the ones with the highest value. Silver to the yeast of the helpers; He added iron and bronze to the leaven of farms and other artists.” explained as. In Greek society, women and foreigners who are in the concept of demos do not have political rights although they are free. In this respect, it is seen that the concept of demos includes free citizens who have political rights and social inequality is encountered. So demokratia in Ancient Greece can be defined as “citizen rule”. According to Aristotle, democracy has eleven principles:

1) All citizens can access all existing public offices.

2) Everyone of each of the individuals; each individual can manage everyone

3) Except for the responsibilities that require experience or training, the individuals who will undertake these responsibilities are determined by lot.

4) No or very low requirement of wealth for any public office

5) Except for the exceptions, the individual is not brought to the same task twice in a row.

6) Giving all tasks for a short period of time like one year

7) Existence of jury courts, each of whose members are elected from among citizens

8) People's Assembly (ekklesia) being the dominant authority

9) Remuneration of officials in the legislative, executive and judicial organs and bureaucracy

10) Just as nobility, wealth, and culture are characteristic of the aristocracy, so are their opposites to democracies

11) Structuring public institutions in a way that will prevent them from increasing their powers over time

Footnote

(1) The term “castle” here refers to the magnificent structures built by the Achaeans on the hills.

(To be continued)