ABSTRACT
It is a curious irony that Athenian law, which is so well documented during the century from ca. 420-320 BC, becomes virtually invisible in the Hellenistic period. Scholars who have sought to explain the political tenor of Demetrius' legislation have seldom asked how the legal system actually functioned under Demetrius. The new sumptuary legislation reduced competition among the rich in another area; and although the details of Ferguson's speculations about contracts and wills must be rejected, it is not impossible that Demetrius laid down some new rules for financial transactions that removed potential areas of conflict and generally made business dealings more efficient. The fourth-century philosophers appear to agree that there should be greater precision and order in legislation, and this conceptual goal may have helped shape some of the rules enacted by Demetrius. Aristotle remarks that a legislator should draw from the laws of others but must also apply his intelligence and understanding to the process of selection.
