ABSTRACT
The purpose of this section of the book is to provide a broad introduction to the Athenian legal system as a background for the specific cases which follow. It is neither full nor systematic. A full treatment of this theme would be beyond the scope of the book. For the reader who wishes to explore Athenian law and legal practice in greater depth there are three excellent books available. Even after a quarter of a century A.R.W. Harrison’s The Law of Athens remains invaluable for its presentation of detail as well as the acuity with which issues are addressed, though for the Greekless reader it is somewhat opaque. Equally valuable, but very different, is D.M. MacDowell’s The Law in Classical Athens, which combines thoroughness and attention to detail with a ready accessibility to the non-specialist and requires no knowledge of Greek. S.C. Todd’s The Shape of Athenian Law provides both a broad overview of the Athenian system as a whole and a perceptive account of the methodological and informational problems of the study of Athenian law.
