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JanKucharski
Thesecond,closelyrelatedcorollaryoftheproceduralorientationofAthenian
lawisthatpenaltiesinAthenianlawtendnottofollowtheoffenceitself(legal
substance),butdependonproceduresusedbythelitiganttoredressit.Thus,touse
Demosthenes’exampleoftheft,11acriminalbroughttotrialthroughaprivatesuit
(dikēklopēs),iffoundguilty,hadtopaydamagesinthedoubleoftheincriminated
sumorthestolenobject’svalue,inadditiontowhichhecouldbealsoboundin
thestocksforfivedays.If,however,theaggrievedpartychosethemoreserious
procedureofpublicprosecution(graphēklopēs),12thethiefcouldfacethedeath
penaltywhich,however,wasnotfixedbylaw(thecasebeingatimētosagōn).13It
wasastatutoryrequirementinthemostextremepossibilityofdealingwiththeft:
thatof“arrest”(apagōgē)alongwithitsvariation(ephēgēsis).
Proceduresinwhichthepenaltieswerenotfixedbylawarereferredtoas
timētoiagones,namedsobecauseconvictioninsuchcaseswasfollowedbyase-
condhearinginwhichthepunishmenttobeimposedwas“assessed”(timēsis)by
thejury.Theassessmentofpenaltywaslimitedtotwooptionsonly,thatproposed
bytheprosecutorontheonehand,andbythedefendantontheother.Thisismost
explicitlybroughtoutinSocrates’deliberation,asPlatowouldhaveit:14
Thismanhasassessed(timatai)thedeathpenalty(thanatou)forme.What
shouldIthereforeassessinreturn?
Thus,inacaselikethepublicprosecutionoftheft(graphēklopēs)thedefend-
antcouldriskcapitalpunishmentonlyiftheprosecutorchosetoproposeitinhis
indictmentandif,uponconviction,thejuryfoundhisproposition,andnotthe
defendant’s,moresuitableduringtheassessment.
Itseems,therefore,thatcompilinganecessarilyincompleteanduncertainlist
ofcapitaloffencescannotdojusticetothecomplexityoftheAthenianlegalsys-
teminthisrespect.Morepromisingwouldbealistofprocedureswhichmayhave
beenfollowedbyadeathsentenceuponconviction.Amongtheseadistinction
shouldbemadebetweenthoseinwhichcapitalpunishmentwasstatutory(agōnes
11Cf.Hansen’sexample:“Itisanacceptedmodernconceptionoflawandjusticethat,for
example,amagistrateguiltyofcorruptiondeservesoneandthesamepunishmentregardlessof
thelegalprocedureemployedagainsthim.NotsoinAthens.Corruptionmightbepunishedwith
deathifthetypeofprocesswasaneisangelia,withatenfoldfineiftheoffenderwasbroughtto
trialbyaneuthynai,andhemightescapewithconfiscationofthebribeiftheprosecutorpreferred
tobringinanapographe.”M.H.Hansen:Eisangelia.TheSovereigntyofthePeople’sCourtin
Athens…,p.9.
12TheexistenceofagraphēklopēsforthetheftofprivatepropertyhasbeendoubtedbyD.Co-
hen:TheftinAthenianLaw.München1983,pp.44-49;cf.howeverS.C.Todd:TheShapeof
AthenianLaw…,pp.108,283-284.
13R.Osborne:“LawinActioninClassicalAthens”…,p.43;cf.Idem:AthensandAthenian
Democracy…,p.176.
14tiPᾶtoiδ᾿oὖVPoiὁἀVὴpooVάtoU.sἶsVlἐγὼδὲδὴtίVogὑPῖVἀVtitiPήσoPoi(Pl.Ap.36b).
