Introduction

The purpose of this work is to review the most significant social, political and legal aspects of the existence of the ancient Greek state. In view of the fact that Ancient Greece was not a state formation typical of modern times, but, in fact, was a collection of so-called city-states, the work is based on the consideration of the two most curious in many respects (but at the same time very different from each other) policies - Athens and Sparta. While Athens was a kind of “model” of the ancient Greek policy, Sparta in some cases acted as a direct antagonist of Athens, but, nevertheless, is considered by historians as an integral part of Ancient Greece.

First of all, it is necessary to pay tribute to the unique political system of ancient democracy, developed and existed in ancient Greece until the cessation of the existence of the latter as a state; largely with the help of ancient philosophy, masterpieces were created in ancient Greek law, which entered the treasury of world culture and to this day are an integral part of the life of modern legal society. Although legal science as such did not arise in Greece, and there was no strict fixation of legal concepts, nevertheless, Greek lawyers of the Hellenistic era (see below) managed to increase and improve the composition of legal formulas. The creation and fixation of an extensive system of obligatory legal norms, which had a decisive influence on the legal thought of the Middle Ages and modern times, is one of the most outstanding achievements of the Romans. An outstanding role in the history of the formation of this experience was played by the thinkers of Ancient Greece. They stood at the origins of the theoretical approach to the problems of state, law and politics. Through the efforts of ancient Greek researchers, a transition was made from the mythological perception of the surrounding world to the rational-logical way of its knowledge and explanation.

The development of political and legal thought in ancient Greece can be divided into three stages:

1) the early period (IX - VI centuries BC) is associated with the emergence of ancient Greek statehood. During this period, there is a noticeable rationalization of political and legal ideas and a philosophical approach to the problems of state and law is formed;

2) the heyday (V - the first half of the 4th century BC) - this is the heyday of ancient Greek philosophical and political-legal thought;

3) the period of Hellenism (the second half of the 4th - 2nd century BC) - the time of the beginning of the decline of ancient Greek statehood, the fall of Greek policies under the rule of Macedonia and Rome.

1. Formation and development of the ancient Greek state

1.1. The origins of the ancient Greek state

The ancient Greeks called themselves Hellenes, and their country - Hellas. In the ethnographic sense, by Hellas they understood all those areas where their settlements were located. So that Hellas, or Greece (the word "Greece" is of Latin origin) was also called the colonies of the Greeks in southern Italy, and the islands of the Aegean Sea, and the islands of Asia Minor. In a geographical sense, the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula was called Hellas or Greece. In fact, Hellas was divided into three main parts: northern, middle (Hellas proper) and southern (Peloponnese). The peculiarity of geographical and economic conditions to some extent influenced the forms of social life. The mountainous terrain, the lack of fertile land, the indented sea lane, and the frequent migration of the population affected the occupations of people. Here, even in the Crete-Mycenaean period, the development of crafts and construction reached a high level. Since ancient times, along with maritime trade, maritime robbery flourished. In Sparta, the basis of the economy was agriculture, in Athens - industry and trade. In fact, the history of ancient Greece is the history of individual state formations, politically independent policies. A polis is a city-state, an association of a number of rural settlements around a city that dominates these settlements. The main subject of study of legal historians are only two policies - Athens and Sparta, which were the largest in the Greek world and had the greatest influence on the development of other policies. Of the latter, Corinth, Megara, Thebes, Argos, Chalkis, Eretria, Miletus, Smyrna, Ephesus, and some others were very significant.

1.2. The development of ancient Greece and the emergence of policies

Unlike the countries of the Ancient East, Greece entered the slaveholding formation much later. Tyranny, as a form of government, prevailed only in the first stage of the slave era. However, slavery reached its highest development here, especially towards the end of the 5th and beginning of the 4th century BC. The form state structure policies were not the same. Along with the prototypes of monarchies, there were also republics. Under a monarchy, by definition, power in the state belongs to one person, who usually passes it on by inheritance. Under a republic, all governments are elected, and the republics have been aristocratic (power in the hands of the highest comparative minority) and democratic ("Democracy" literally means "power of the people"). The culture of Ancient Greece was of inestimable importance for European civilization. Many concepts and terms of that era came into use in political and legal thought. The universal endowments and achievements of a small people have secured for them a place in the history of the development of mankind that no other people can claim.

The highest flourishing of culture occurred under the conditions of the political regime of the Athenian democratic republic. In this sense, the history of Ancient Athens is unique and inimitable. The decomposition of the tribal system and the emergence of the state as such in Sparta and Athens dates back to the end of the archaic era (IX-YIII centuries BC). At the turn of the VIII-VI centuries. BC. major changes took place in the life of the tribes inhabiting the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula. The number of iron tools increased, the culture of agriculture and crafts increased, and their own written language appeared. The tribal system gave way to class society. All this testified to the beginning of a new era in the history of Ancient Greece. Military democracy was the last stage of the tribal system. During these times, the population of Attica was divided into phyla (tribes), phratries and clans. Due to debt bondage, the number of full-fledged members of the genus with a plot of land (clear) gradually decreased. The lands of many community members became the property of the tribal nobility, who exploited slaves, robbed neighboring tribes and engaged in sea robbery. Dispossessed community members joined the ranks of farm laborers (fetov), ​​beggars and vagabonds. Property inequality increased even more at the end of the period of military democracy. The rich elite of the tribal nobility completely controlled the activities of patriarchal institutions: military leaders were elected from it, the nobility subjugated the council of elders, which was formed only from representatives of noble families. Lost real power: basileus (scepter holder), i.e. tribal king, military leader, chief priest and judge. A tribal gathering - a people's assembly - was convened mainly to approve the decisions of the Council of Elders by shouting. The emergence of private property initiated the emergence of the state. Free citizens opposed the mass of exploited slaves. As a result of profound changes in Greek society VIII-XIX centuries. BC. polis states were formed.

To the idea that Roman power is due to a mixture of three state forms: monarchy (consulate), aristocracy (senate) and democracy (national assembly). The political thought of Polybius became a kind of link between the political and legal teachings of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. The political and legal thought of Ancient Rome (VIII century BC - V century AD) is often considered in unity with ...

Legal thought, which found its expressions Democrat, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle. The third period (4-2 centuries BC) is the period of Hellenism, the time of the beginning of the decline of ancient Greek statehood. So, Ancient Greece can be considered the cradle of democracy - it was there that the first democratic states were born, the level of development of which few can achieve in the modern world. Yes, of course it's hard...

DONBAS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

"HISTORY OF THE STATE AND LAW OF UKRAINE"

Lecture notes

APPROVED

at a meeting of methodological

whom Council DITM MNTU

Protocol N_______

dated _____________ 2005

Kramatorsk, 2005

Guidelines for the discipline "History of the state and law of Ukraine"

(for students of specialties 06.0601 and 06.0502). Comp. Samokhina L.V.

Kramatorsk, DITM MNTU, 2005

TOPIC 1. SLAVE-OWNING STATE FORMATIONS AND LAW IN THE TERRITORY OF MODERN UKRAINE (I millennium BC - V AD)

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Plan

1. State of the Scythians.
2. ancient city-states.
3. Bosporus kingdom.

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State of the Scythians

The arrival of Iranian nomadic tribes and their assimilation with local Cimmerian tribes is usually dated to the end of the 8th-7th centuries. BC.

In the VII-III centuries. BC. in the steppe regions of the Northern Black Sea region in the territory of modern Southern and South-Eastern Ukraine, and partially in the Crimea, Scythian tribes dominated.

By the 7th century BC. the Scythians had a powerful tribal union. After the Persian wars, the royal Scythians rise. They were the most numerous tribe and lived on the left bank below the Dnieper until Sea of ​​Azov and the lower Don, and in the steppe Crimea. Nomadic Scythians lived on the right bank of the lower Dnieper. Within the steppe belt of Ukraine lived the Scythians-plowmen (ancestors of the Ukrainian people).

In the VII-VI centuries. BC. most of the Scythian tribes were already at the last stage of the primitive communal system, although tribal ties were still quite strong. The main social unit was the tribal community. There was no private ownership of the land; it was owned by the tribe. Land plots were allocated by lot. The tribal organization played a big role among the Scythian nomads during the division of pastures and nomadism.

At the same time, signs appear that testify to the decomposition of the tribal system: tribal nobility stands out, property differentiation appears, slaves appear. True, the role of slave labor in Scythia was insignificant.

Complied community development and the organization of government in the form of a military democracy. The most important issues were considered at the people's meetings of soldiers. Councils of tribal elders and, above all, allied councils had influence. A special role belonged to the military leaders - the kings. Their power was already inherited, but the candidacies of the tsar and his heirs were still approved by the people's assemblies.

Significantly accelerated the changes and wars with the Persians. In this struggle, the royal Scythians came to the defense of the entire union of the Scythians, thereby securing a dominant position among the tribes. This made it possible for them to exploit the agricultural tribes, to demand tribute from them. The power of the military squad nobility was strengthened.

At the turn of the V-IV centuries. BC. in Scythia, a class society is being formed and a slave-owning state is emerging.

Social system. The ruling elite of society included the royal family, the military aristocracy, warriors, tribal nobility, which merged with the environment of the ruler, rich merchants. Priests were a separate social group.

A large stratum of society was made up of free community members. They carried military service, paid tribute, performed duties.

The bulk of the urban population were free artisans and merchants.

Slaves occupied the bottom rung of the social ladder of the Scythian society. The main source of slavery was military captivity, the conquest of neighboring tribes. Slavery was patriarchal. Slave labor was used in the household.

Political system. Type of state - slaveholding. The form of government is a slaveholding monarchy.

The head of state was a king with unlimited power. At the same time, there was already an idea of ​​the divine origin of royal power, in many cases the king performed priestly functions, was the supreme judge.

The administrative apparatus consisted of the closest royal relatives, personal servants. The most influential assistants to the king were part of the royal council.

However, the emergence of the state apparatus did not eliminate the tribal organization. Its vestiges were still preserved in the local government.

Right. The main source of law was custom, modified and adapted to the interests of the ruling elite in customary law. The Scythians avoided borrowing foreign customs, especially Hellenic ones. Along with customary law, another source of law appears - the rules established by the royal power.

The norms of Scythian law protected private ownership of livestock, housing, things, slaves.

The supreme ownership of the land belonged to the king, who established the procedure for the use of pastures and lands.

The law of obligations regulated the contractual relations of exchange, purchase and sale, donation.

Marriage and family law was based on the principles of patriarchy. The genus was counted along the male line, and polygamy was practiced. The elder wife had a privileged position in the family. In inheritance, the principle of minority (minor junior) was applied. The eldest son, during the life of his father, received part of the property, and the younger son, after the death of his father, received the main part of the property.

The most serious crimes were considered crimes against the king: an attempt on his life, disobedience to orders. All these crimes were punishable by death.

There were crimes against property (theft, robbery), against the person (murder, treason, slander).

Common types of punishments were the death penalty, exile, cutting off right hand. A search was made for the perpetrators.

ancient city-states

The first settlements of Greek colonists were founded in the middle of the 7th century. BC. on the island of Berezan. Soon new colonial cities arose. Among them: Olbia, Panticapaeum, Theodosius, Kimmerik, Chersonese, Tyra, Flints.

They reached their heyday in the VI-V centuries, after which their decline begins. The Greek city-colonies differed little from the metropolis.

Social system. The ruling class was formed by shipowners, merchants, owners of craft workshops, landowners, usurers.

There were many free farmers, artisans, small traders. Their labor prevailed in handicraft production.

Free full-fledged citizens were only men - natives of policies and who took the oath of allegiance to the city upon reaching the age of political majority - 25 years. Only they enjoyed political rights, could hold public office.

The exploited part of the population were slaves. Their labor was used in handicraft production, in home and agriculture. The sources of slavery were captivity, birth from a slave.

Political system. It was built on the same principles as the political structure of the ancient city-states in Greece.

The essence of the state is slaveholding. The form of government is democratic and slave-owning republics. Moreover, if in the V-II centuries. BC. democratic elements prevailed in management, then from the 1st century. BC. Democratic rule is replaced by aristocratic rule.

The supreme body of power was the people's assembly - the People. The entire male population of the city took part in it. In practice, these were gatherings of the city community of full-fledged citizens. It was precisely such gatherings that the Olveopolites called - eclessia.

People's assemblies approved decrees, resolutions, orders of collegiums. Resolved internal and foreign policy, regulated maritime trade, took citizenship, concluded foreign policy agreements, appointed officials and controlled their activities.

Operational management was carried out by a permanent body of power - City council (bulle).

The city council prepared decisions for the people's assembly, checked candidates for positions (dokimassiya), and controlled their activities.

Elected colleges were the third link in management - magistracy or individual officials magistrates. They headed separate branches of government. Their competence: financial activities, the work of the judiciary, military affairs.

The most important was the college of archons, which supervised the work of other magistracies.

Right. The basis of the legal system was the legal system of the Athenian slave state. At the same time, the customs and traditions of local tribes influenced the legal development of policies.

The main sources of law were the laws of the people's assemblies, the orders of the magistracies and magistrates, and local customs.

Property relations were subject to legal regulation. The land was in private, state or temple property. The law of obligations was developed in detail - purchase and sale, loan, donation, storage. There was a lease of land - a mortgage. The entire land fund of Chersonesos was divided into three parts: personal land plots, public land plots, temple lands

Among the crimes, the first place was occupied by state crimes - conspiracy, disclosure of state secrets, an attempt on the state system. The death penalty, fines, confiscation of property, enslavement were used.

Bosporan kingdom

The Bosporan kingdom reached its heyday in the 4th-3rd centuries. BC. It took shape as a union of several Greek states-policies and occupied the territory of the Kerch and Taman peninsulas to Novorossiysk.

Socio-economic relations were the same as in individual Greek policies and local tribal unions. The economic basis was developed agriculture, trade, crafts.

Social system. The division into slave owners and slaves, free and not free, was determined quite early.

The ruling class consisted of the tsar and his entourage, officials of the state apparatus, kups, ship owners, landowners, owners of craft workshops - ergasteries.

Slavery was the main form of social dependence. Slaves were divided into public and private. The labor of state slaves was used in the construction of fortifications, canals and dams, and irrigation facilities. Slaves constituted the main productive force of the Bosporan society.

Along with slave labor, the labor of the dependent population was used.

Political system. The essence of the state is slaveholding. The form of government is a despotic monarchy. Spartok - the ruling dynasty was the archons of the Bosporus and at the same time the kings of subject tribes. The archons for a long time retained autonomy and independence in internal affairs. Later, their power becomes hereditary and approaches the monarchy. The ruler had a double title: archon and king.

Supreme power, command of the army, judicial and priestly functions were concentrated in his hands.

The center of the state apparatus was the palace of the king, where all affairs of state administration were decided. An important role was played by the manager of the palace (butler) and the personal royal secretary, treasurer.

Right. The sources of Bosporus law were the legislative activity of the kings, Greek law, local customs, norms and institutions of Roman law.

There was state and private ownership of land, livestock, movable property.

Commodity production, internal and international trade, their own monetary system stimulated the development of contractual relations.

The heaviest were state crimes. In the Bosporus kingdom they knew crimes against property and person.

As a punishment, the death penalty, confiscation of property, and fines were applied.

The choice of religion by a people is always determined by its rulers. The true religion is always the one professed by the sovereign; the true god is the god whom the sovereign orders to worship; thus, the will of the clergy, which leads the sovereigns, always turns out to be the will of God himself.

From the Dark Ages - a period of decline that came in the XI-IX centuries. BC e. - Hellas carried the seeds of a new state system. From the first kingdoms there remained a placer of villages that fed the nearest city - the center of public life, a market and a refuge during the war. Together they constituted a city-state ("polis"). The largest policies were Athens, Sparta, Corinth and Thebes.

Rebirth from darkness

During the Dark Ages, Greek settlements spread from the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula to the western coast of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), covering the islands of the Aegean Sea. By the beginning of the 8th century BC. e. Greeks began to restore trade relations with other peoples, exporting olive oil, wine, pottery and metal products. Thanks to the recent invention of the alphabet by the Phoenicians, a script lost during the Dark Ages has begun to revive. However, the established peace and prosperity led to a sharp increase in the population, and it became increasingly difficult to feed them due to the limited agricultural base.

Trying to solve this problem, the Greeks sent entire parties of their citizens to develop new lands, found new colonies that could provide for themselves. Many Greek colonies settled in southern Italy and in Sicily, so this whole area became known as "Greater Greece". For two centuries, the Greeks built many cities around the Mediterranean and even on the Black Sea coast.

The process of colonization was accompanied by drastic changes in policies. The monarchy gave way to the aristocracy, that is, the rule of the most noble landowners. But with the expansion of trade and the introduction of metallic money into circulation around 600 BC. e. following the example of the neighboring kingdom of Lydia in the south of Asia Minor, their positions were noticeably shaken.

In the VI century BC. e. conflicts constantly arose in the policies, tyrants often came to power. "Tyrant" is a Greek word, like "aristocracy", but the ancient Greeks did not mean that the tyrant's regime was cruel and anti-people, but meant that a person forcibly seized power, but could at the same time be a reformer.

Despite the reforms of the famous legislator Solon, the tyrant Pisistratus seized power in Athens. But after the expulsion from Athens of Peisistratus' successor Hippias in 510 BC. e. a democratic constitution was adopted. Political system ancient Greece. This is another word of Greek origin, which means the rule of the demos, that is, the people. Greek democracy was limited as women and slaves did not have the right to vote. But due to the small size of cities, citizens could not depend on their elected representatives, as they took a direct part in determining laws and discussing particularly important decisions at popular assemblies.

In the 5th century BC e. conflicts broke out between democratic and oligarchic parties in many policies. Supporters of the oligarchy believed that power in society should belong to the wealthiest citizens.

Athens and Sparta

If Athens can be called a stronghold of democracy, then Sparta was rightfully considered the center of the oligarchy. Sparta was distinguished by a number of other features.

In most Greek states, the percentage of slaves to free citizens was quite low, while the Spartans lived as a "master race" surrounded by a superior number of potentially dangerous helot slaves. To maintain their dominance, the entire people of Sparta was turned into a caste of warriors, who were taught from early childhood to endure pain and live in barracks.

Although the Greeks were ardent patriots of their cities, they recognized that they were one people - the Hellenes. They were united by the poetry of Homer, belief in the all-powerful Zeus and other Olympian gods, and the cult of the development of mental and physical abilities, the expression of which was the Olympic Games. In addition, the Greeks, who honored the rule of law, felt their difference from other peoples, whom they indiscriminately dubbed "barbarians." Both under democracy and in oligarchic policies, everyone had legal rights, and a citizen could not be deprived of his life at the whim of the emperor - unlike, for example, the Persians, whom the Greeks considered barbarians.

However, the Persian expansion, which began in the VI century BC. e. and directed against the peoples Ancient Greece and Asia Minor, seemed inevitable. However, the Persians were not particularly interested in the lands of the Greeks - poor and remote on the other side of the Aegean until Athens supported the Asian Greeks who rebelled against Persian rule. The uprising was crushed, and in 490 BC. Persian king Darius sent troops to take revenge on Athens. However, the Athenians won a landslide victory at the Battle of Marathon - 42 km from Athens. In memory of the feat of the messenger, who ran all this distance without stopping, in order to quickly inform the joyful bear, to the program Olympic Games marathon included.

Ten years later, Darius' son and successor, Xerxes, staged a much larger attack. He ordered to line up his ships in a row, forming a bridge across the Hellespont Strait, dividing Asia Minor and Europe (the current Dardanelles Strait), through which his huge army passed. In the face of a common threat, the Greek cities were forced to unite. The political system of ancient Greece. The army of Xerxes came from the north, and the Greeks, who gathered troops from different cities, accomplished a real feat, putting a barrier in the way of the Persians. King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans gave their lives trying to hold the narrow Thermopylae Gorge as long as possible.

Unfortunately, the death of the Spartans was in vain, since Ancient Greece still fell under the onslaught of the enemy. The inhabitants of Athens were evacuated, and the invaders burned all the temples in the Acropolis. Although a year before the war, the leader of the Athenians, Themistocles, seriously strengthened the fleet, in terms of the number of ships, he was hopelessly inferior to the superior forces of the Persians and the Phoenicians they had conquered. But Themistocles managed to drive the Persian armada into the narrow Strait of Salamis, where it was unable to maneuver. This caused panic in the ranks of the Persians and allowed the Greeks to completely defeat the enemy fleet.

Decisive battle

Since Sparta actually retired from the liberation struggle, Athens became the undisputed leader in ancient Greece. In 478 BC. e. The Delian League was concluded, which allowed Athens and its allies to pool their resources and continue the war. However, the union soon turned into an instrument of political radicalism. The allies were obliged to introduce democratic forms of government in their states on the model of Athens and to finance the maintenance of an ever-increasing fleet for the needs general defense. After the end of the war with the Persians in 449 BC. e. the union was preserved, and all attempts to withdraw from it were severely suppressed.

Classical Athens

5th century BC e. is considered the great age of classicism of Greek civilization, which is primarily identified with Athens. But both before and after this period, other Greek policies made a very significant contribution to Greek culture, giving the world many masterpieces of poetry, ceramics and sculpture, as well as the first philosophers who tried to explain the universe from the standpoint of physics, and not magic and miracles.

And yet the main achievements of human thought and art are connected with Athens. Among the temples built on the Acropolis, the most famous is the Parthenon, with its perfect proportions and superb stucco decorations. The first dramatic works in the world arose on the basis of Athenian rituals in honor of the god Dionysus. Athenian philosophers, including the famous Socrates and Plato, were the first to deeply analyze questions of morality and political ideals. In addition, Athens was the birthplace of Herodotus of Halicarnassus, the first true historian (that is, a scholar engaged in critical research, and not just retelling of fables and rumors).

No less outstanding historian was Thucydides, who was not only the commander of the Athenian army, but also the chronicler of the great Peloponnesian war of 431-404 BC. Worried about the growing power of Athens, the Spartans founded the Peloponnesian Union, which included representatives of the large Peloponnesian Peninsula in the south of the mainland of Ancient Greece. The first clashes between the two alliances were indecisive, and it seemed that this situation would continue for a long time. However, after the plague broke out in Athens, which claimed the life of the leader of the Athenians, Pericles, Sparta won this confrontation. But although the Spartans controlled the area around Athens (Attica), the city itself remained impregnable for them, since the famous Long Walls surrounding the city cut off the approaches to the port of Piraeus, from where supplies were delivered to Athens. The political system of ancient Greece. Thus, Athens' dominance of the sea was preserved.

Defeated Winners

After a seven-year truce, war broke out again, when the Athenian army, which had besieged the powerful Greek city in Sicily of Syracuse, was itself surrounded, and the entire expeditionary force was completely destroyed. The Spartans closed Athens in a tight blockade ring. The Athenian fleet was defeated in the battle of Aegospotami. In 404 BC. e. the starving city was forced to surrender.

Sparta and Thebes

The dominance of Sparta also did not last long, she was opposed by the unification of Athens, Corinth and Thebes. In 371 BC. e. The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, inflicted a crushing defeat on Sparta at the Battle of Louctra.

The superiority of Thebes turned out to be even more fleeting, and in the second half of the 4th century Greece entered as never before disunited. In comparison with other states, Macedonia, located in the north of Greece, remained an underdeveloped outskirts, but it was ruled by the talented king Philip II of Macedon, and she had a well-trained army. In 338 B.C. e. in the battle of Chaeronea, the Macedonian army completely defeated the combined army of the Athenians and Thebans. Ancient Greece had a single ruler. A new era has begun.

Nature told the woman: be beautiful if you can, wise if you want, but you must be prudent by all means.

The process followed a different historical path in Athens and Rome, where the slave-owning state arose as a result of the emergence of private property and the split of society into classes.

The Greco-Roman world did not develop out of nowhere, not in isolation, not like a "closed society". The early centers of civilization and the first proto-states arose in the Mediterranean basin as early as the 3rd - 2nd millennium BC. e., and not without a noticeable influence of the Eastern world. The ever-increasing political contacts of the Greeks with Eastern countries allowed them to use and rethink someone else's, overseas state-legal experience, to look for their own more rationalistic approaches to lawmaking and politics.

One of key features in the formation of the state in Ancient Greece was that this process itself, due to constant migration and the movement of tribes, went in waves, intermittently. A peculiar combination of internal and external factors in the process of the genesis of the state in Greece makes the widely spread thesis that the emergence of the state in Athens occurred in a “pure form”, i.e., not sufficiently convincing. directly from the decomposition of the tribal system and class formation. The significant influence of an external factor, in particular the Etruscan one, which has not yet been fully studied, also affected the genesis of the Roman state.

Features of the process of formation of statehood in the ancient world were largely determined by the natural-geographical factor. Greece was a mountainous country with little natural land suitable for crops, especially those requiring collective irrigation work. Therefore, an oriental-type community could not be preserved here, but there were favorable conditions for the development of crafts, in particular metalworking. The broad development of exchange and then trade relations, especially maritime trade, contributed to the rapid development of a market economy and the growth of private property. The increased social differentiation became the basis of a sharp political struggle, as a result of which the transition from primitive states to highly developed statehood took place more rapidly and with more significant social consequences than it took place in other countries of the ancient world.

Natural conditions influenced the organization of state power in Greece in other respects as well. The mountain ranges and bays that cut through the coast, where a significant part of the Greeks lived, turned out to be a significant obstacle to the political unification of the country and, all the more, made centralized government impossible and unnecessary. Thus, the natural barriers themselves predetermined the emergence of numerous, relatively small in size and rather isolated from each other city-states - policies. The polis system was one of the most significant, almost unique features of statehood, characteristic not only of Greece, but of the entire ancient world.

From the point of view of their internal organization the ancient policy was a closed state, overboard which remained not only slaves, but also strangers, foreigners, and even people from other Greek policies. For the citizens themselves, the polis was a kind of political microcosm with its forms of political structure, traditions, customs, law, etc., sacred for a given city. Among the ancient Greeks, the polis replaced the land-communal collectives of the civil and political community that had disintegrated under the influence of private property. Big differences in economic life, in the sharpness of the political struggle, in the historical heritage were the cause of a wide variety of internal structure of city-states. But the unconditional predominance in the polis world had various republican forms - aristocracy, democracy, oligarchy, plutocracy, etc.

The very development of Greek society from patriarchal structures and proto-state to classical slavery and the flourishing of ancient democracy reveals some patterns in the development political life and in changing the very forms of organization of cities - states. At the end of the II millennium BC. e. in the Greek world, there was a relatively general tendency to increase the power of the king as a military leader, judge, supreme head of the palace economy, etc. In the methods of his reign, the despotic features inherent in the monarchs of antiquity, especially those of the East, more and more appeared. A similar picture can be observed several centuries later in Rome during the Age of the Kings.

The collapse of patriarchal-communal ties, on which the sole power of the king (basileus, rex) relied, the growth of opposition from aristocratic families with great wealth and social influence, resulted in the destruction of royal power in almost the entire ancient world.

The liquidation of the monarchy led to the victory of the republican system, as well as the final approval of the polis system of state organization. But in the early republican period, the democratic potential inherent in the polis system, which provides for elements of direct democracy, did not receive full development. The common people in the policies, who had no political experience and drew their ideas from the patriarchal-religious past, ceded the reins of government in almost all ancient policies to the tribal, priestly and new propertied aristocracy. The further process of democratization of political life in the ancient city-states was accompanied by an intensification of the struggle between the aristocracy, which held power in its hands and sought to conserve the old polis system, and the people, who were increasingly aware of their civil unity. The result of this struggle was a series of legislative reforms that undermined the monopoly of the aristocracy in state bodies and created the basis for the development of democratic institutions.

In many Greek city-states, the final establishment of a democratic system was preceded by the usurpation of power by a single tyrant ruler, usually from an aristocratic milieu. He used his power to undermine the old aristocratic and patriarchal orders, to protect the interests of the general population of the policy.

For a deeper understanding of the nature of the state, consider as an example character traits ancient state of the western type - Athens.

The processes of state formation in the Greek policies - ancient Athens and Sparta - are considered the most studied. At the turn of 2-1 millennia BC. in ancient Greek society there was no state yet, but society was already divided into ordinary people and tribal nobility.

The tribes were ruled by the people's assembly (it is also the army), the council of elders (they are also military leaders), the leader-basileus. This last period of the primitive communal system is called military democracy.

The main industry was agriculture, handicrafts and trade were developed. Almost all free people had slaves. The male dominated the family. Gradually there were processes of mixing of the population, merging of tribes into a single nation. The tribal organization of the management of society gave way to state institutions.

Thus, by the 8th century BC. from a mixed population grew the city of Athens. The Council of Elders was transformed into a permanent and unelected body - the Areopagus. Positions in it could be occupied only by representatives of the tribal nobility from the class of eupatrides ("noble") - the landed aristocracy. The Areopagus made laws and exercised judgment. Every year it elected 9 supreme elders - archons.

The population consisted of small farmers (geomors), artisans (demiurges) and "demos" - the people (sailors, merchants, "new people", etc.). Demos was in opposition to the aristocracy.

In the VI century BC. as a result of the "great turmoil", the demos forced the poet to be elected archon and politician Solon and give him emergency powers, including the right to legislate.

Solon carried out a number of reforms: he abolished debt bondage, canceled land debts (mortgage stones were removed from the fields). A property qualification was introduced: the richest were ranked in the first category, the simply rich in the second, and the rest of the population in the third and fourth. Posts in the state apparatus began to be filled only by representatives of the first two categories; positions of archons, treasurers - only the first category.

According to Solon's reforms, the supreme body of power was the people's assembly, in which all categories of the population participated. In opposition to the popular assembly, the following were created: the Council of Four Hundred and Helia (a jury). The council of four hundred was elected by the old tribes (100 people per tribe).

The People's Assembly was responsible for a wide range of issues. It adopted laws and issued resolutions on a number of private problems, resolved issues of war and peace, concluded or terminated treaties and alliances with other states, considered applications for state crimes, and acted as a judicial instance. The activities of the People's Assembly were significantly influenced by the highest body for managing state affairs - the Council of Five Hundred. Along with the representative bodies of the Athenian state, he was elected for one year. The Council of Five Hundred prepared draft laws, as well as other matters related to the conduct of the People's Assembly, managed the finances of the state, gave opinions on a number of legislative proposals, controlled the activities of officials, and implemented the decisions adopted by the People's Assembly.

The order of formation and activity of the People's Assembly and other state bodies, undoubtedly, testifies to the democracy of the Athenian state. However, it was a very limited, narrow-class democracy. From participation in social and political life, he completely excluded women, all citizens under the age of twenty, former freedmen slaves, and other members of Athenian society.

The assembly adopted laws, discussed defense issues, considered requests, disposed of the treasury, and so on. Every citizen had the right of legislative initiative.

The National Assembly of Athens was convened 4 times a month. All citizens of Athens who had reached the age of 18 participated in it (usually 2-3 thousand people, a quorum of at least 6 thousand people was required only when solving especially important issues; total number full-fledged citizens were about 35 thousand people).

During the next reform, in 509 BC, the tribal division of citizens was completely eliminated; instead, a territorial division of citizens was introduced. The Council of Four Hundred was liquidated, and instead the Council of Five Hundred was created, the election to which took place on a territorial basis.

Half a century later, the Areopagus loses all political functions. By the middle of the 5th century BC. categories are abolished, and the filling of public positions becomes available to all citizens, regardless of their property status.

There was a law under which a citizen who did not join any party during civil strife was deprived of civil rights.

Heliea resolved issues of granting citizenship rights, monitored the legality of filling positions, approved international treaties, carried out court in political, religious and other cases, reviewed the sentences of officials.

The Council of Five Hundred exercised direct control, dealt with issues of external relations and finances. Thus, the Republic of Athens became the initiator of the military-political union of the neighboring states-policies. The Council of Five Hundred consisted of 2 colleges: the college of strategists and the college of archons.

The strategists were elected by the people's assembly and were in charge of the army and navy. The archons dealt with complaints in family matters, supervising foreigners, religious matters, preparing cases for consideration in Heliai, presiding over colleges, etc.

All officers were elected for a one-year term. Every citizen had the right to put forward his candidacy. The Athenian state apparatus was quite numerous - about 20 thousand people. It should not be forgotten that the Athenian democracy rested on slavery.

Athens is an example of the classical form of the emergence of the state, since the state arose directly from class opposites developing within the tribal system. Two revolutions that took place over the course of one century and consolidated by the reforms of Solon (594 BC) and Cleisthenes (509 BC) led to the final destruction of the old, tribal structure, existing forms of government, to the territorial division of the population and the formation political power with its legislative, legislative, executive bodies, permanent army, police and customs guards, prisons and other state institutions.

Ancient statehood is characterized by the presence of private ownership of land and tools of production, which created the prerequisites for the formation of civil society and civil laws. They originally had the idea of ​​political democracy and political freedom. Although the ancient legal system recognized, to some extent, the autonomy of the individual and the inviolability of private property, the idea of ​​the primacy of state interests over personal ones, i.e. the personal principle was subordinated to class-corporate interests.

F. Engels pointed to three main forms of state formation among the Greeks, Romans and Germans: Athenian, Roman and ancient German. The state in Athens is the purest, classical form - it arises directly and mainly from the class antagonisms that develop within the tribal society itself. In ancient Rome, the formation of the state accelerated in connection with the struggle of the plebeians and patricians. Among the ancient Germans, the formation of the state was accelerated by the conquest of foreign territories.

The slave-owning democratic republic, of which the Athenian state was a classic example, was distinguished by the fact that not only representatives of the ruling slave-owning class, but also free citizens took part in the formation of its highest state bodies. In Athens, democratic principles of filling positions were also formed: election, accountability, turnover, etc. Elections were held by voting in the national assembly or by drawing lots.

The monarchical form of government of the slave-owning state of Ancient Rome differed significantly from the eastern despotism. It arose in 27 BC. and existed until 476 AD. In its development, this form went through two stages: the principate stage (from 27 BC to 284 AD) and the dominate stage (from 284 AD to 476 AD .). At the first stage, there was a process of formation and development of the monarchical form of slave-owning Rome, combined with the process of gradual loss of significance by republican institutions, and at the second stage, the process of its decomposition, acting as a consequence of the process of decomposition of the slave-owning society and the state itself and the emergence of new, feudal relations.

In contrast to the eastern despotisms, the monarchical form of slave-owning Rome was based on much more developed slave-owning production relations. From the republican form of government (509-27 BC) to the monarchical Roman state went through transitional forms of government - military dictatorships. A distinctive feature of the monarchical form of slave-owning Rome was the existence in the early stages of its development, along with the monarchical institutions, of a number of republican institutions and institutions. At the later stages of the development of the slave-owning society (3rd century AD), a highly centralized military-bureaucratic monarchy was established in Rome and functioned for a long time.

A slave-owning aristocratic republic existed in Rome from the 6th to the 1st centuries. BC. From the point of view of the economic and socio-political development of Roman society and the corresponding changes that took place in the state and law, this period of time is divided into two components: the period of the formation and consolidation of the republic (VI-IV centuries BC) and the period its heyday and decline (III-I centuries BC). The bodies of state power in the Roman Republic were formally considered popular assemblies, which were competent to make decisions that had legal force. However, these meetings did not have the right of legislative initiative, but could only accept or reject proposals from magistrates - officials elected from representatives of the slave-owning class and authorized to perform functions in the field of judiciary and administration.

In addition, the decisions of the people's assemblies needed some time to be approved by the Senate. The latter consisted of representatives of a large landed, commercial and military aristocracy, was elected in an undemocratic way - by consuls, and from the 4th century. BC. - censors who compiled lists of senators. The Senate concentrated in itself the most important state-imperious prerogatives. He had significant powers in various fields state activities. In the field of legislation, in addition to approving the laws adopted by the assemblies, the Senate in a number of cases had the right to completely abolish or temporarily suspend the operation of laws. In the administrative field, he had the authority to issue general orders concerning the strengthening of public order, the internal and external security of the state, religious cults, issues of war and peace. In the field of financial activity, the Senate had the right to dispose of the state treasury, draw up plans for state and military spending, establish regular and additional taxes. In cases of exacerbation of social contradictions that threatened the foundations of a slave-owning society, or in the event of an attack on the country from outside, the Senate had the right to establish a dictatorship and grant emergency powers to an official - dictator.

Features of the creation of the Roman state consisted in the fact that this process was accelerated by the struggle of the plebeians with the Roman tribal nobility - the patricians. The plebeians were personally free people from the population of the conquered territories, but they stood outside the Roman clans and were not part of the Roman people. Owning landed property, the plebeians had to pay taxes and serve military service, they were deprived of the right to hold any position, could not use and dispose of Roman lands. The struggle of the plebeians as the main revolutionary force against the privileges of the patricians was mainly a struggle against the ancient social order based on blood ties. The victory of the plebeians in this struggle blew up the old tribal organization and erected a state system based on territorial division and property differences.

The ancient Greeks inhabited the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula, the islands of the Aegean Sea and the western coast of Asia Minor. Numerous Greek settlements were scattered along the shores of the Mediterranean basin. Slave-owning states were formed here as city-states (polises). They consisted of several rural settlements united around one urban center. Small states arose on the basis of former tribal communities.

The very nature of Greece also contributed to the formation of small policies. The entire Balkan Peninsula was cut by impassable mountain ranges. The narrow Isthmus of Corinth separated one part of the peninsula from the other.

Greek colonies stretched far to the west and east. In the west, they were located along the coasts of Italy, the islands of Sicily and Corsica, the southern coasts of France and Spain. In the east, Greek colonization captured the northern shores of the Black Sea (Pontus Euxinus). Greek cities grew up here: Olbia, Tanais, Chersonesus, Gorgippia, etc. The political system was different both in the cities of the metropolis and in the colonies.

In the process of the decomposition of the tribal system, power was in the hands of the wealthy commercial and industrial strata of the urban population. A democratic form of government was created here with its popular assemblies and elected bodies of power. And in a number of city-states, power fell into the hands of individual rulers. In the same places where power was held by the tribal nobility, aristocratic republics were formed. Oligarchy was distinguished from the aristocracy, where power was assigned to representatives of wealthy citizens.

On the pages of this textbook, the most ancient period in the history of Greece (Homeric Greece) and two states: Athens and Sparta, as the most powerful of the Greek city-states, which had a great influence on the fate of other Greek policies, will be considered. Athens was an example of a slave-owning democracy, and Sparta was an example of a slave-owning aristocracy.

Homeric Greece

Nothing so vividly and figuratively reveals to us about the life, struggle, culture of the people, the decomposition of its tribal relations as the famous poems of Homer "Iliad" and "Odyssey". According to legend, they belong to the ancient Greek blind poet-storyteller. The poems consist of songs, each of which can be perceived as an independent story about a particular event. The Iliad tells of the war between the Achaeans (as the Greeks called themselves) and the Trojans. The poem "Odyssey" presents us with pictures of the peaceful life of the Greek tribes who did not yet know the state.

For a long time, the events described in the poems were considered fiction, beautiful legends that had no reality under them. And only after the discovery of Troy by Heinrich Schliemann, what was considered the poet's fantasy turned out to be reality. He also managed to find the treasures of the Trojan king Priam. The golden treasure of one of the most powerful kings of hoary antiquity, sprinkled with blood and tears, lying under the ruins of Troy burned by the Greeks for more than 3 thousand years, was born a new day. The events described in the poems date back to the end of the 2nd - the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e.

Homeric Greece was a society at the stage of decomposition of the primitive communal system. The entire population was divided into clans (genos), unions of clans (phratries) and tribes (phyla). Each person belonged to some kind. A person expelled from the clan could not count on protection from society.

The actual leadership of society was in the hands of the tribal aristocracy, which also owns large land plots cut off from the communal land fund. The elders of the clans, the phratries and phyla receive the best and largest part of the spoils of war. Dozens of slaves work for them. Livestock was a measure of value: bulls were used to pay for goods, paid a ransom for a bride, etc.

Here on the Balkan Peninsula there is little fertile land, there was no need for irrigation. The craft began to develop. Nature rewarded the Greeks with beautiful clay, copper, olive groves. Blacksmiths, potters, tanners, olive oil extractors are mentioned in Homeric poems. Slaves appeared. Basileus kings and noble people had dozens of slaves in their homes. Wealth accumulates among the tribal nobility, industrialists and merchants. Who is rich is the “best”, “noble”, “valiant”. Homer calls the poor people "thin", "bad", "wretched". More and more people appear who are deprived of their land allotment (claire).

In Homeric Greece, there is a process of decomposition of the primitive communal system. However, a large patriarchal family continues to exist. But more and more often one could meet a monogamous family, consisting of a husband, wife, and their children.

In 621 BC in Athens, the first written laws of Draco appeared. Their publication was the result of an acute struggle of the people (demos) against the tribal nobility. The laws were based on the customs of the tribes. They were distinguished by great severity and zealously defended private property.

Solon's reforms. In Athens, production and commodity-money relations reached a relatively high level very early. This is due to the high level of development of productive forces, which was achieved on the shores of the Mediterranean by the VIII-VI centuries. BC. Here, the nature of Attica also spoke its word, where there is little fertile land, but a favorable location for trade, especially external. The Aegean Sea is dotted with small islands, and sailors could safely get from one island to another or keep them as a guide when sailing.

In Athens, a large stratum of merchants and artisans formed, whose interests in many respects coincided with the interests of the peasants. "Demos", which means "people", consisting of peasants, artisans, merchants, sailors, etc., was in constant struggle with the tribal aristocracy. In society, there is an increase in the wealth of some and the impoverishment of others. The debt of small farmers has become a mass phenomenon. The fields were full of foundation stones. The majority of the peasants turned into six shareholders, obliged to give 5/6 of the harvest to the owner of the land they rented. The poor, unable to pay their debt, are forced to pay their land plot creditor for debt. Eupatrides took the debtor himself or a member of his family for debts, sold them to a foreign land or left them to work for themselves. The ruin of the peasantry and the general indebtedness of the poor led to an open uprising against the tribal aristocracy.

In the city, trade and craft circles also sought to push the tribal nobility out of power. The struggle of the demos brought Solon to the political arena, who in 594 BC. was elected archon and endowed with emergency powers. He received the right to "cancel or preserve the existing and introduce a new one." The urban demos saw in Solon its leader and protector from the Eupatrides.

Solon began his reform with the introduction of a law that abolished all the debts of six-dollars. This law did not allow in the future to enslave a peasant or members of his family for debts. Thus debt slavery was abolished.

They didn't reach us. Plutarch noted that the laws of Draco were distinguished by their cruelty, that almost all crimes were punishable by death. We also know the laws of Solon, which were not limited to the norms of the state system (see above), but also contained the norms of both civil and criminal law.

From the V-IV centuries. BC. laws in Athens become the main, or rather, the only source of law.

The pledge right, together with the usury that nourished it, became very widespread. The pledged things were transferred to the creditor and in case of non-payment of the debt they became the property of the lender.

Common contracts were a contract of sale, contracts of employment, loans, contracts, loans, partnerships.

If a thief was caught in the act, he could be captured and imprisoned, and a night thief could be killed.

Military crimes (desertion, cowardice, evasion of military service) constituted a special group.

The formation of the state system is associated with the name of the legendary legislator Lycurgus, who is credited with issuing a special document - a retra (agreement). This document appeared in the conditions of acute struggle in Spartan society. Property inequality destroyed the primitive communal foundations and led to the formation of classes and the state.

Sparta was like Athens city-state(policy). Subsequently, Sparta, thanks to its military power, united a number of cities in southern Greece (Peloponnese) and formed the Peloponnesian Union, which also included rich cities like Corinth, Megara, etc.

The social system for a long time retained significant remnants of the primitive communal system. Community ownership of the land is preserved. Production is developing poorly. The main occupation is agriculture.

From the very first steps of its formation, the Spartan state acquires all the features of a military camp. This is due to the need to keep in obedience a huge mass of enslaved people. The Spartans (full citizens of Sparta) took care to prevent a split on the basis of property among the "equals", as the Spartans called themselves.

Perieki did not enjoy political rights, but were free people. They could acquire property, make transactions. Their main occupation was craft and trade. Perieki carried out military service as heavily armed warriors.

Helots differed from the slaves of the ancient world, because. Sparta did not know domestic slavery and serf helots lived separately on land owned by the Spartans. Helots were owned by the state, but any Spartiate who owned a helot could, however, kill him, sell him, punish him. Helot had no land of his own. He worked on a site provided to the Spartiate by the state. However, the helot had his own economy and tools. The helot was obliged to give half of the harvest to his master. The latter could use the helot in the household. During the fighting, the helots turned into lightly armed warriors and were the first to be thrown into battle.

The obedience of the helots was achieved by the Spartans by methods of severe terror. The most courageous and strong helots were killed during the so-called kritiya (mass murders). Every year, the ephors declared war on the helots, as if laying a legal basis for massacres. Quite often the helots raised uprisings. So, in 464 BC. began a general uprising of the helots against their masters. In view of the menacing size of the uprising, Sparta was forced to turn to Athens for help.

Political system. Sparta was a slave-owning aristocratic republic. It was dominated by a small but close-knit group of aristocratic families, holding in their hands the following authorities: two kings; council of elders - gerusia; popular assembly (apella) and ephors.

The power of the two kings came from the power of the tribal leaders of the Homeric era. The dual royal power arose, probably as a result of the unification of the Dorian and Achaean tribes. Over time, the real power was with the ephors. The king, who went on a campaign, owned to a large extent the power of a military leader, although here he was under the supervision of two ephors. The king was also the high priest and chief judge. Later, the kings were left with family and hereditary affairs.

Unwanted kings could be replaced by ephors. Every eight years, the ephors carried out fortune-telling by the stars and, under the pretext of unfavorable positions of the stars for the king, they could depose the kings and even put them on trial. The kings were surrounded by honor. Everyone had to stand before them, except the ephors.

Gerousia - the council of elders in a class society already consisted of the most prominent representatives of the ruling classes in the amount of 28 members. Both kings were also members of the Gerousia.

Members of the gerousia (geronts) were elected from noble persons who had reached the age of 60, already free from the obligation to perform military service. Gerontov was elected by the people's assembly by shouting for life. The Gerusia preliminarily considered all the questions submitted to the people's assembly. She dealt with coal affairs, including government ones. Civil matters were within the jurisdiction of the ephors.

The popular assembly (apella) did not play any significant role in Sparta. Citizens from the age of 30 participated in the people's assembly. As a rule, officials and ambassadors of other states spoke. Voting was done by shouting. If it was difficult to determine the decision in this way, then the participants in the meeting dispersed in different directions.

The conduct of the people's assembly included, first of all, the election of geronts, ephors, chiefs of the army and navy. The assembly decided which of the kings to go on a campaign, accepted new citizens and deprived individual citizens of citizenship.

Ephors occupied special position in Spartan society. The actual management of the affairs of the state belonged to the ephors. There were five of them, they were annually elected in the national assembly. The transfer of real power to the ephors is explained by the fact that the nobility of Sparta did not rely on the kings who hereditarily occupied the throne, they preferred to transfer power to their direct proteges!

The management of the country was in the hands of the college of ephors, they controlled the activities of all officials. Any violation of discipline and established morals was punished very severely. In their activities, the ephors reported only to their successors.

Unwritten, customary law dominated Sparta. For a long time communal ownership of land was preserved. The sale of land and houses was prohibited. Since the time of Lycurgus, the number of land plots remained unchanged in Sparta and therefore the number of citizens should not exceed 10 thousand people. The allotment passed to the elder brother, other brothers could become full citizens only if a land plot appeared without an owner.

A woman in Sparta occupied a relatively high position. She had property rights. The honorable position of a woman can be explained by the remnants of matriarchy.

For several centuries, Sparta retained the features of a military-agricultural state, and changes were outlined here only in the 4th-3rd centuries. BC. In 196 BC. Sparta lost its political independence, falling with all the states of Greece under the rule of Rome.