Gortys town charter
The town charter of Gortys ( ancient Greek Γόρτυς ) or Gortyn , also known as the Great Inscription , is one of the oldest known European laws. It dates from around 500 BC. BC to 450 BC And is located in Gortys on Crete .
The inscription
In the 1880s, Italian archaeologists carried out excavations at Gortys; In 1884 Federico Halbherr and Ernst Fabricius discovered inscription tablets.
The inscription, composed of 42 stone blocks, was originally on the walls of a public building in the agora of the ancient polis . Only twelve of the panels that were on the walls of a Hellenistic building that were included in the construction of an odeion in Roman times have survived .
The text is written in an old Doric dialect and consists of twelve columns with 53 to 55 lines each; the lines run in the boustrophedon ( "how an ox turns" - means when plowing); writing alternately from left to right and from right to left; when writing from right to left, the letters are mirrored. In this early Greek alphabet, the characters Φ (Phi) , Χ (Chi) , Ψ (Psi) , Ζ (Zeta) , Η (Eta) and Ω (Omega) are still missing .
content
In terms of content, this longest preserved Greek inscription is more of a kind of amendment of older, unknown laws than a new codification .
Regulations are codified
- Family law , e.g. B. Adoption , the legal status of divorced women and widows, the legal status of children born after a divorce and that of children from mixed marriages (between slaves , free people and foreigners)
- "When husband and wife divorce, she should have what she brought with her to the husband, and half of the yield, if such is available from her own property, and half of what she won (earned) whatever it is ... "
- Inheritance law , e.g. B. the so-called heiress
- Property law , e.g. B. Purchase and pledging of real estate and property to slaves and their children: The child of an unmarried female slave should be awarded to the master of her father, the child of a married slave should be awarded to the master of her husband ...
- Criminal law , e.g. B. Penalties for adultery and rape
- "Whoever rapes a free person or a free person should kill (pay) a hundred stateres ... but if a suitor a housekeeper, he should kill five drachmas ... Whoever rapes his own slave should pay two stateres".
- Procedural law , e.g. B. “Memory men ” or “Merker” ( Greek μνημόνες , Mnemónes ) were called in when real estate was sold and in the event of divorces and adoptions , also as respondents in real estate disputes ; the burden of proof is also regulated:
- “Whatever the law prescribes to judge, be it according to the witnesses, be it according to the testimony of the oath, the judge is to judge as the law prescribes; he should decide on the other things on the basis of the statements made under oath. "
literature
- Johannes Baunack, Theodor Baunack: The inscription from Gortyn. Hirzel, Leipzig 1885 (reprint, Gerstenberg, Hildesheim 1972, ISBN 3-8067-0098-2 ).
- Franz Bücheler , Ernst Zitelmann : The right of Gortyn. Sauerländer, Frankfurt am Main 1885 ( Rheinisches Museum für Philologie. Erg.-Heft 1885, ZDB -ID 206575-7 ), (Unchanged reprint: Scientia Verlag, Aalen 1960).
- Josef Kohler , Erich Ziebarth : The town charter of Gortyn and its relation to common Greek law. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1912 (reprint. Gerstenberg, Hildesheim 1972, ISBN 3-8067-0097-4 ).
- Stefan Link : If some want to share, but others don't ... To the Great Law of Gortyn. col. 5, 28-54. In: Göttingen Forum for Classical Studies 7, 2004, (PDF; 294 KB) .
- Rainer R. Metzger: Investigations into the liability and property law of Gortyn. Reinhardt, Basel 1973, ISBN 3-7245-0308-3 ( Swiss Contributions to Classical Studies 13), (At the same time: Bern, Univ., Law and Economics Fac., Diss., 1969).
- Gerd Sachs: The great legal inscription from Gortyn. A mirror of Cretan society in archaic and classical times , Verlag Dr. Kovač, Hamburg 2017, ISBN 978-3-8300-9538-5 .
- Adonis Vasilakis: The large inscription of the Gortyn Law Code. MYSTIS publishing house, Heraklion 2005, ISBN 960-885342-7 .
- Ewald Weiss: The large inscription from Gortyn and its provisions on self-help and trial. (1948). In: Erich Berneker (Hrsg.): On the Greek legal history. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1968, pp. 315-349 (= ways of research 45, ISSN 0509-9609 ).
supporting documents
- ↑ Stefan Link: The coercion of the ward in Gortyn (IC IV 72.16-20) ( PDF; 55 kB )
