Legal expertise and legal experts in Athenian democracy

Abstract

This essay refutes the view that the Athenians of the Classical period were hostile to legal expertise. The Athenians had much respect for the Areopagus and the Exegetai, who were experts in law and religion. The legal expert Phanodemus was often praised and entrusted with important responsibilities. Litigants in public cases often show their legal knowledge by copious citation of statutes. They sometimes accuse their opponents of deceitful use of rhetoric never attack them for legal expertise. In the speech of Lysias Against Nicomachus, the accuser charges the defendant with illegally modifying the rules about sacrifices but never arouses suspicions about his legal expertise.