Heliaia
Heliaia or Heliaea ( Greek ἠλιαία ) was the supreme court of ancient Athens .
The name of the court is derived from the Greek verb ἡλιάζεσθαι to gather , according to another version the name comes from the fact that the court was held in the open air, i.e. under the sun ( ἥλιος ). The Heliaia was also called the "great Ekklesia ". The judges were Heliasts ( ἡλιασταί ) or Dikasten ( δικασταί called).
Institution and composition of the Heliaia
It is not clear whether the Heliaia was introduced by Kleisthenes or by Solon ; the latter is said to have given her the function of a court of appeal against measures taken by the archons . The court consisted of 6,000 judges who were drawn annually from male citizens over 30 years of age; It was excluded who had debts to the state treasury or was disenfranchised, in particular who had lost civil rights through the humiliating punishment with atimia ( ἀτιμία ), furthermore who suffered from mental or physical deficiencies, insofar as these prevented the proceedings from proceeding fully follow. If an unsuitable person was a member of a court, notification was given and he was brought before the Heliaia. If convicted, the court could determine whatever penalty or fine it deemed appropriate. If it was a fine, the delinquent would go to jail until he had paid both the debt that was the subject of the notice brought against him and the additional fine imposed on him by the court. The judges were rewarded; They received one obolus for each day of the meeting , later at Kleon's instigation (425 BC) three obols.
The 6,000 judges were drawn from the 10 phyls , each phyle provided 600 heliasts, and then divided into panels (departments) with 600 members each, of which 500 or 501 were permanent members, the remaining substitutes.
After the draw, the heliasts had to swear the heliast's oath once a year. After being sworn in, they were given a boxwood pass with their names, that of their father and their Deme, and one of the ten first letters of the alphabet (Alpha to Kappa). In a detailed procedure, in which a lottery machine was also used, the composition of the panel was drawn on the individual days of the meeting and the cases to be negotiated were assigned to them. Depending on the matter to be dealt with, the panel met with 201 to 501 or 1001 to 1501 heliasts. The court met as a plenary on special matters.
Jurisdiction
Originally, the jurisdiction of the Heliaia was limited to deciding on lawsuits against archons and other holders of public office. Ephialtes had by a decision of the people's assembly (Ekklesia) 461 the Areopagus ( Ἄρειος πάγος ), who was considered the bulwark of the oligarchs, withdrew most of the powers that were given to the Heliaia. Only in blood justice ( murder and arson ) and in the sacred area did the Areopagus retain its powers, while the Heliaia was responsible for almost all civil and criminal matters. There were two types of lawsuits: public lawsuits (γραφαί) and civil actions (ἴδιαι δίκαι). Any citizen could file a public lawsuit if the public interest had been violated. In the civil action, however, only the injured party could bring the action, and in the first instance a random arbitrator decided; The matter was only brought before Heliaia if there was an objection. Public complaints were, for example, high treason, popular fraud, asebie , hubris, Dokimasia , but also serious theft, damage to parents, orphans and heirlooms , adultery and pimping. In place of the Areopagus , the Heliaia took over the responsibility for the graphs paranomon and thus for the control of the decisions of the people's assembly (Ekklesia).
Procedure
The Heliaia met on all working days, with the exception of the last three days of the month and the days on which the people's assembly (Ekklesia) met. The meetings took place in the open air in a demarcated area, with the audience outside.
The presiding official ( ἡγεμών hegemon ) was responsible for recording the complaints. After a preliminary investigation, he had to summon the parties to the dispute and the witnesses. On the morning of the day of the meeting, he determined by lot the competent panel and the place of the meeting. He presented the results of his preliminary investigation. The plaintiff, defendant and the witnesses were then heard. The parties pleaded themselves, without the support of a legal expert; however, they had often had their pleadings drawn up by logographers . The speaking time was checked with a water clock ( Klepsydra , κλεψύδρα ). In public complaints, each party was allowed to speak for three hours because only one case was on the agenda and the entire day was available. In civil actions, four cases could be provided for one day.
The decisions to be made were voted in secret without consultation. However, the judges were able to talk to one another during the voting process and by shouting they could express approval or rejection of the statements of the parties. When voting, the heliasts put their bronze voting stones in urns. In the event of a tie, the action was dismissed. If necessary, the sentence was decided in a second vote.
Judgments
The heliasts could impose fines (in civil and criminal matters) or corporal punishment (only in criminal matters) such as the death penalty or atimia ( ἀτιμία , the loss of civil rights), sometimes in connection with expropriation and exile ( ἀειφυγία ).
In a public lawsuit, if the defendant lost the trial, the fine or disputed property would go to the treasury, with the plaintiff also participating in the confiscated property. In the case of a civil action, the winner of the case was entitled to the fine or the goods for which the action had been taken. This encouraged citizens to bring irregularities to justice. However, the prosecutor had to deposit court money, which he was only reimbursed if the defendant was convicted. In addition, the prosecutor was even punished if at least a fifth of the judges did not vote in favor of his complaint. A safeguard against inappropriate complaints was built in.
Known procedures before the Heliaia
The process of Socrates
In 399 BC, Socrates was accused of Asebie (godlessness) by Meletus , Anytos and Lykon . The court found him guilty by 281 votes to 220 and sentenced him to death in another vote with 361 votes.
The process of Pericles
Several followers of Pericles , especially Anaxagoras and Phidias , were tried. The influential wife of Pericles, Aspasia , was also charged. With a narrow majority of the judges' votes, she was acquitted.
According to Plutarch , Pericles was charged twice, first after the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War , then during the first year of the war when he was fined five or 15 talents . Before the war, a law had been passed at Drakontides's request, according to which Pericles should settle the public funds and the judges should decide on his case with ballot papers which were placed on the altar of the goddess on the Acropolis.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Spelling without Spiritus asper , as this symbol is missing in the inscriptions, cf. Michael Hillgruber : The tenth speech of Lysias (= investigations into ancient literature and history. Vol. 29). Introduction, text and commentary with an appendix on the interpretations of the law by the Attic speakers. de Gruyter, Berlin et al. 1988, ISBN 3-11-011556-5 , p. 67 , (at the same time: Cologne, University, dissertation, 1986/1987).
- ↑ Aristotle , The State of Athens , 91 (English)
- ^ Aristotle, Der Staat der Athen, 24 and 62.1
- ↑ a b c Aristotle, The State of Athens , 63.3 (English)
- ↑ Aristophanes , The Wasps , 662 (English)
- ↑ Aristotle, The State of Athens , 64 (English)
- ↑ Plutarch , Pericles 9 (English)
- ↑ Demosthenes , Kranz speech 18.133 (English)
- ↑ Aristoteles, Politika , 2.1274a ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)
- ↑ Demosthenes ring speech 18.196 (English)
- ↑ The Socrates trial ( Memento of the original from August 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)
- ↑ Kurt A. Raaflaub : Challenge the Olympian? Processes around Pericles. In: Leonhard Burckhardt , Jürgen von Ungern-Sternberg (Ed.): Great trials in ancient Athens. Beck, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-406-46613-3 .
- ↑ Plutarch, Pericles 32.1 and 35.1 (English)
