Making law grip: inequality, injustice, and legal remedy in Solonian Attica and ancient Israel

Lewis, David

Abstract

This study examines problems to do with social justice and class relations in two societies of the archaic eastern Mediterranean: Attica and Israel. It shows that both societies faced similar social problems (predatory lending, enslavement for debt, corrupt judicial processes, violence); both societies produced legal responses to these problems, both in the area of substantive law, and in structural/procedural innovations. However, the greater proximity of Israel to Near Eastern superpowers meant that these reforms were not carried through (Judah was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC), whereas the Greeks, located further afield, were not menaced by a Near Eastern superpower until such reforms were already entrenched.

Citation

Lewis, D. (2017). Making law grip: inequality, injustice, and legal remedy in Solonian Attica and ancient Israel. In I. Xydopoulos, K. Vlassopoulos, & E. Tounta (Eds.), Violence and community: law, space and identity in the ancient Eastern Mediterranean world. Routledge

• Publication Date: Apr 5, 2017
• Deposit Date: Apr 4, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 6, 2018
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Book Title: Violence and community: law, space and identity in the ancient Eastern Mediterranean world
• ISBN: 9781472448323
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/854923
• Publisher URL: https://www.routledge.com/Violence-and-Community-Law-Space-and-Identity-in-the-Ancient-Eastern/Xydopoulos-Vlassopoulos-Tounta/p/book/9781472448323
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of a book chapter published by Routledge in Violence and community: law, space and identity in the ancient Eastern Mediterranean world on 5th April 2017, available online: https://www.routledge.com/Violence-and-Community-Law-Space-and-Identity-in-the-Ancient-Eastern/Xydopoulos-Vlassopoulos-Tounta/p/book/9781472448323