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3 - Law and Religion

from Part 1: - Law in Greece

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 August 2006

By
Robert Parker
Edited by
Michael Gagarin  and
David Cohen
Michael Gagarin
Affiliation:
University of Texas, Austin
David Cohen
Affiliation:
University of California, Berkeley
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Summary

Within the rubric “law and religion,” a bundle of issues are united. One of the most important emerges from a fragmentary decree passed by the Athenian assembly either in the 440s or the 420s:

(name lost) proposed. A priestess for Athena Nike . . . shall be appointed from all Athenian women, and a door shall be built for the shrine in accord with the specification of Kallikrates. The leasing officials shall contract out the work in the prytany of Leontis. The priestess shall receive 50 drachmai and the legs and skins of public victims. And a temple and a stone altar shall be built in accord with the specification of Kallikrates. (ML 44)

We see here how legislation concerning “the gods” or “the things of the gods” (these being the nearest Greek equivalents for the untranslatable “religion”) was passed in Athens: it went through the people's assembly like legislation on any other topic.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Law , pp. 61 - 81
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2005

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  • Law and Religion
  • Edited by Michael Gagarin, University of Texas, Austin, David Cohen, University of California, Berkeley
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Law
  • Online publication: 28 August 2006
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL0521818400.004
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  • Law and Religion
  • Edited by Michael Gagarin, University of Texas, Austin, David Cohen, University of California, Berkeley
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Law
  • Online publication: 28 August 2006
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL0521818400.004
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Law and Religion
  • Edited by Michael Gagarin, University of Texas, Austin, David Cohen, University of California, Berkeley
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Law
  • Online publication: 28 August 2006
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL0521818400.004
Available formats
×