<i>NOMOTHESIA</i>IN CLASSICAL ATHENS: WHAT SOURCES SHOULD WE BELIEVE?

Abstract

In the fifth century b.c.e. the Athenians did not make any distinction between laws ( nomoi ) and decrees ( psêphismata ). The Assembly passed both kinds of measures in the same way, and both general enactments and short-term provisions held the same legal status. At the end of the fifth century, however, the Athenians decided to make a distinction between the two kinds of measures and created the rule that no decree would be superior to a law (Andoc. 1.86; Dem. 23.86, 218; 24.18, 59, 116, 188; 46.2). The Assembly continued to pass decrees in the same way, but a new body of nomothetai was created to ratify laws ( nomoi ). There were also two separate procedures for rescinding the two kinds of measures: one could bring a graphê paranomôn (a public action against an illegal decree) against a psêphisma and a graphê ‘nomon mê epitêdeion theinai’ (a public action against an inexpedient law) against a nomos . This much is clear; scholars do not agree however about the procedure for passing a new law ( nomothesia ) in fourth-century Athens.