Greece - Greek Law - Ancient Greek Government

The Spartan educational system included a secret training known as the krypteia or cryptia.

Section from Plutarch's biography of Lycurgus of Sparta on the Great Rhetra, including lines from the Spartan poet Tyrtaeus on the rhetra.

Cylon tried to become dictator of the Athenians and Draco was the Athenian whose laws were written not in ink but blood.

Introduction to the opinions of ancient philosophers, historians, and orators on the subject of the Athenian experiment in democracy.

What they were and how the four tribes of Attica functioned. The power hierarchy of the oikos, genos, phratry, and tribe.

Because of their lifestyle the word Spartan now refers to a life free of luxury and the word laconic to a language without elaboration. Here you'll find out more about these ancient enemies of the Athenians.

Solon, the law-giver of Athens, got rid of debt-bondage and instituted constitutional reforms that paved the way for the first democracy.

Comparison of Spartan and Cretan law (c. 340 B.C.) and delineation of the flaws in the Spartan Constitution.

Attributed to Aristotle (c. 350 B.C.). Translated by Sir Frederic G. Kenyon.

A student paper looks at the development of Greek law, sacrilege, political crimes, theft, corruption, and punishment.

From Crete (450 B.C.). These 600 lines of law code dealing with family relations and property rights discovered in the nineteenth century are the largest document on Ancient Greek law.

List of the twelve known ostracisms with approximate dates and names, with a photo of an ostrakon.

Information on how the Greeks without the aid of modern technology were able to keep track of the bureaucratic arrangements of an ancient democracy, including who's in office, who's eligible, and how decisions were reached.

From the Internet Classics Archive, the Benjamin Jowett translation.