Are both sides in a trial allowed to speak in Athens?

Are both sides in a trial allowed to speak in Athens?

FIRST TIME IN COURT: The first trip gave both parties a chance to speak before a judge. If the judge felt there was enough cause, that judge would assign a trial date. That trial date had to be posted as well.

Who could speak in ancient Athens court?

Whereas a man could speak in court and vote in the Assembly when he was eighteen, he had to wait until his thirtieth birthday to take the juryman’s oath and his place among an annual panel of 6,000 men.

What were trials like in Athens?

Here are the basic parameters: Any citizen could initiate a trial (there were no public prosecutors in Athens) simply by registering it with the magistrate under whose jurisdiction it fell; the magistrate would preside over a trial to be judged by a jury of 200+ randomly selected men who would listen first to …

Did Athens have trial by jury?

The Athenian jurors were chosen randomly by lot, which meant that juries would consist, in theory, of a wide range of members from different social classes. Jurors were chosen on an annual basis, as were all other offices within the state (with the exception of the generals, known as strategoi).

What were the rules in ancient Athens?

Athens had laws covering personal property and providing for damages if that personal property was ruined or stolen. The Greeks even had a law protecting trademarks. The Greeks distinguished between premeditated murder and accidental killing. Murderers were sentenced to capital punishment or permanent exile.

Did ancient Athens have lawyers?

In the Athenian legal system, there were no professional lawyers, though well-known speechwriters such as Demosthenes composed speeches which were delivered by, or on behalf of others. These speechwriters have been described as being as close as a function of a modern lawyer as the Athenian legal system would permit.

How were magistrates chosen in ancient Athens?

The vast majority of Athenian magistrates were chosen by lot, and almost all were chosen for a non-renewable one-year period. The people could choose by this method 1,100 people annually: 500 members of the Council and another 600 magistrates. The remaining 100 magistrates were appointed by direct election.

How many jurors decided each trial in Athens?

In Athens, jurors did not retire to a juryroom to deliberate–they made their decisions without discussion among themselves, based in large part on their own interpretations of the law. The 500 jurors voted on his guilt or innocence by dropping bronze ballot disks of the sort pictured above into marked urns.

What was the court system like in ancient Greece?

FAMOUS ANCIENT GREEK TRIAL: The trial of Socrates. Nothing probably would have happened to Socrates if he had followed the rules. He knew how the court system worked in ancient Athens. But when the court him guilty, he was angry. The other side suggested death as punishment.

Where did the trials take place in ancient Athens?

Different scholars say that there were different areas where the trials took place. The trials were diverse in their matters, public and private, and the courts were diverse in their makeups (number of jurors). Most of the trials took place in the main part of the city, the Agora, but some happened throughout the city and surrounding area.

How did the jury deliberate in ancient Athens?

Following the arguments, the herald of the court called on the jurors to consider their decision. In Athens, jurors did not retire to a juryroom to deliberate–they made their decisions without discussion among themselves, based in large part on their own interpretations of the law.

What was the famous trial of Socrates in ancient Greece?

FAMOUS ANCIENT GREEK TRIAL: The trial of Socrates. Nothing probably would have happened to Socrates if he had followed the rules. He knew how the court system worked in ancient Athens. But when the court him guilty, he was angry.