What was the law of Leptines’ really about? Reflections on Athenian public economy and legislation in the fourth century BCE

Abstract

The article investigates a case study of fiscal policy formation in fourth century BCE Athens: that of the law of Leptines. The law was enacted but later challenged through a procedure of constitutional judicial review (graphe nomon me epitedeion theinai). Through a detailed analysis of the arguments at the trial, the article reconstructs the financial issues that the law was meant to solve, regarding the liturgical system and its wider implications. Recent scholarship has highlighted the complexity and sophistication of Athenian public finances and economic policy. The article finds a window into the debates from which the relevant institutions originated.

Tracing the Optimal Level of Political and Social Change under Risks and Uncertainties: Some Lessons from Ancient Sparta and Athens

“…As a measure of comparison, the daily wage of an unskilled worker during the 4th century BCE was 1.5 drachmae. 8 Due to space limitations, we cannot retrieve all this evidence here, but a detailed analysis of such legal and judicial procedures is provided by Schwartzberg (2004), Harris (2013), Lyttkens et al (2018) and Canevaro (2018), among others. 9 They were members of the nine archons, an ex-aristocratic body.…”

“…319-20). Under the same reasoning, any citizen could sue the proposer of a law through the graphe nomon me epitedeion theinai procedure, with a charge that the proposal was unconstitutional, or that it did not follow the correct procedures when it was submitted to the Athenian Assembly (Canevaro 2018). Fines were very severe for those who proposed such laws or decrees.…”

“…Thus, the main duty of the nomothetai was to certify that a decree or law proposed by a citizen did not contradict any other existing laws (Harris 2013, pp. 244-45;Canevaro 2018). If the proposed laws did contradict any other existing laws, they were rejected.…”

A Brief Overview of the Political Economy of Ancient Greek Polis and Demokratia

“…By breaking traditional ties between tribal members and introducing randomness into the distribution of responsibilities, Cleisthenes' reforms forced Athenians to collaborate by sharing the private information each had. As a matter of fact, the development of a political economy thought in ancient Greece evolved hand in hand with the rise of demokratia, as a form of criticism of that political regime mixing everyone (Ober, 1993;Carugati, Ober and Weingast, 2016;Canevaro, 2018).…”