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The Role of Written Documents in Athenian Trials

  • Edward M. Harris
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Witnesses and Evidence in Ancient Greek Literature
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch Witnesses and Evidence in Ancient Greek Literature

Abstract

In his Against Ctesiphon (3.73) Aeschines observes that politicians may change their stories in their oral statements and try to cover up their crimes, but public records kept by public officials allow the people to discover those who have been corrupt in the past. This chapter studies the role of written documents in public cases in classical Athens. It reviews the kinds of written documents available in the Metroon (laws and decrees of the Council and Assembly, honorary decrees from other states, records of trials, letters from officials and foreign kings, records of import and export duties, leases of mines and sales of property, lists of citizens). These documents were used extensively in public cases starting in the late fifth century (Andocides’ On the Mysteries, Lysias’ Against Agoratus) down the late fourth century (Aeschines’ Against Ctesiphon, Demosthenes’ On the Crown) and are often used more than the testimony of witnesses.

Abstract

In his Against Ctesiphon (3.73) Aeschines observes that politicians may change their stories in their oral statements and try to cover up their crimes, but public records kept by public officials allow the people to discover those who have been corrupt in the past. This chapter studies the role of written documents in public cases in classical Athens. It reviews the kinds of written documents available in the Metroon (laws and decrees of the Council and Assembly, honorary decrees from other states, records of trials, letters from officials and foreign kings, records of import and export duties, leases of mines and sales of property, lists of citizens). These documents were used extensively in public cases starting in the late fifth century (Andocides’ On the Mysteries, Lysias’ Against Agoratus) down the late fourth century (Aeschines’ Against Ctesiphon, Demosthenes’ On the Crown) and are often used more than the testimony of witnesses.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. Acknowledgements VII
  4. Introduction: Witness and Evidence in Legal, Oratorical and Other Literary Contexts in Antiquity 1
  5. Part I: Written and Oral Evidence
  6. The Role of Written Documents in Athenian Trials 17
  7. Rumour and Hearsay Evidence in the Athenian Law-courts 39
  8. Part II: The Rhetoric of Information-Gathering and Decision- Making
  9. Audience Memory as Evidence in the Trial on the Crown 59
  10. Additional Information in Witness Testimonies in Classical Athens 81
  11. Self-Quotations as Witnesses and Evidence: The Case of Isocrates’ Antidosis 97
  12. Antiphon’s Witnesses: Extending the Earliest Greek Theories of Argumentation 113
  13. Part III: Scripting Witnesses and Evidence: Prose and Verse Texts
  14. The Questions in (Answering the Question about the Historicity of) Plato’s Apology of Socrates 135
  15. Plato’s Apology of Socrates: The Rhetoric of Socrates’ Defence and the Foundation of the Ancient Quarrel between Philosophy and Poetry 155
  16. Witnesses and Evidence in Thucydides: The Institutional and Rhetorical Context of the Digression on the Tyrannicides 185
  17. The Torture of Prometheus 215
  18. Poet, Patron, Message: Witness-Roles and the Game of Truth in Epinician Eidography 229
  19. Part IV: The Cultural Workings of Witnesses and Evidence
  20. Information and Decision in Sophocles’ Trachiniae and Euripides’ Medea and Ino 249
  21. Scandals as Evidence in Attic Forensic Oratory: The Case of Aeschines’ Against Timarchus 267
  22. Notes on Editors and Contributors 283
  23. General Index 285
  24. Index Locorum 289
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110751970-002

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents V
  3. Acknowledgements VII
  4. Introduction: Witness and Evidence in Legal, Oratorical and Other Literary Contexts in Antiquity 1
  5. Part I: Written and Oral Evidence
  6. The Role of Written Documents in Athenian Trials 17
  7. Rumour and Hearsay Evidence in the Athenian Law-courts 39
  8. Part II: The Rhetoric of Information-Gathering and Decision- Making
  9. Audience Memory as Evidence in the Trial on the Crown 59
  10. Additional Information in Witness Testimonies in Classical Athens 81
  11. Self-Quotations as Witnesses and Evidence: The Case of Isocrates’ Antidosis 97
  12. Antiphon’s Witnesses: Extending the Earliest Greek Theories of Argumentation 113
  13. Part III: Scripting Witnesses and Evidence: Prose and Verse Texts
  14. The Questions in (Answering the Question about the Historicity of) Plato’s Apology of Socrates 135
  15. Plato’s Apology of Socrates: The Rhetoric of Socrates’ Defence and the Foundation of the Ancient Quarrel between Philosophy and Poetry 155
  16. Witnesses and Evidence in Thucydides: The Institutional and Rhetorical Context of the Digression on the Tyrannicides 185
  17. The Torture of Prometheus 215
  18. Poet, Patron, Message: Witness-Roles and the Game of Truth in Epinician Eidography 229
  19. Part IV: The Cultural Workings of Witnesses and Evidence
  20. Information and Decision in Sophocles’ Trachiniae and Euripides’ Medea and Ino 249
  21. Scandals as Evidence in Attic Forensic Oratory: The Case of Aeschines’ Against Timarchus 267
  22. Notes on Editors and Contributors 283
  23. General Index 285
  24. Index Locorum 289
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Heruntergeladen am 21.9.2025 von https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110751970-002/html
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