The Growth of Criminal Law in Ancient Greece
Calhoun, George M. The Growth of Criminal Law in Ancient Greece. Originally published: Berkeley: University of California Press, 1927. x, 149 pp. Reprinted 2000 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN-13: 9781584770374; ISBN-10: 1584770376. Smyth sewn light gray cloth bound hardcover with blue gilt stamped spine and front cover. New. $45.95 * In this foundational monograph, George Miller Calhoun provides a rigorous philological and historical reconstruction of the transition from private redress to a formalized system of public law in the Hellenic world. This work challenges the prevailing 19th-century orthodoxy that viewed homicide law as the sole progenitor of criminal justice. Calhoun argues instead that the genesis of the Greek legal framework lay in a broader societal imperative to maintain communal order, moving beyond primitive "self-help" mechanisms toward a sophisticated state-administered judiciary. The work meticulously examines the evolution of legal concepts from the Homeric age through the pivotal legislative reforms of Solon in Athens, where the introduction of the graphe-the public action-signaled the birth of the modern conception of criminal liability. Through a disciplined analysis of ancient legal vocabulary and judicial procedure, Calhoun demonstrates how the Athenian polis asserted its authority over individual grievances, transforming personal torts into violations of the public interest. This study remains an indispensable resource for scholars of Ancient History and Jurisprudence, offering a definitive account of the intellectual and social forces that shaped Western legal philosophy.
Price: $45.95
Book number 26766