The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1875-07-15
Athenian and Roman Courts.

The Athenian and Roman courts pre-
sented fine fields for the exercise oil
legal talent. and not a few practices
were In vogue which would be con-
sidered remarkable at the present day.
At Athens it was not customary for q
man to speak IN any cause unless
he had a personal interest In the suit al
issue. At first every one was forced to
speak IN his own behalf, but this rule
was afterwards so far relaxed as to per
NIT relative or intimate friend to IN
tercede for him. After this, persons
who were themselves incompetent to
frame an Grafton, employed others to
write for them, and some of the most
legal orations of antiquity were thus
written for pay and delivered by others.
There was famous IN Athens, as well
as Rome, a large class of men who CD
tanned a livelihood solely IN this way.
Another species of orations were those
which were written but never delivered
in public. An instance of this is sae
famous speech of Demosthenes agairs
Midius, and in view of this fact, it is
amusing to read in it the compIaeent
account he gives of the attempts which
have BEEN made TO bride him to be
silent, and of his contemptuous reiec-
ton of all others. OF the fifteen extant
orations of Antiphon. twelve we're never
delivered and of Gicero's six speeches
against Verres, only one was uttered,
because Verres prudently went into
voluntary exile.
PericIes is said to have been the fir It
who wrote his speeches beforehand and
committed them to memory, but if this
be so, his example was soon widely fol-
v,Ot Lone oFknra hoav
of Demosthenes delivering a set speech
at the court of Philip, and forgetting
what he had written, was forced to
stop. Akin TO this is the case of Cicero,
whose splendid Grafton for Milo is the
delight of all scholars, but its delivery
was a grand failure. He was embar-
raised by the presence of the yelling
populace and the srmed guardt at that
celebrated trial, and forgetting his
speech lost his cause.
The iuries of the ancjents were
strange bodies, often forming, in fact,
popular assemblies, numbering hun
dreds, and sometimes even thousands.
ANY notable cause among the Athenians
was tried by an assembly of the people
who crowded together and in person
Judged the case. At other times they
delegated certain deputies to hear the
argument and give Judgment. These
Judges as they were called, or jurors,
as we would say, were in such num-
bers as to form a kind of popular
assembly. Every year, body
of six thousand citizens was set aside
to hear causes, and from this body the
Jurors were chosen, five hundred at a
time, sometimes several juries sitting
together. The votes of the jury were
taken by each man casting a bean or
pebble into an urn passed around for the
purpose.
Among the Romans the juries were
not so large. except on special occasions.
The king, afterwards the consul, and in
later times the praetor, presided at the
trial, but seemed to have little influence
in modify ing the decision, acting merely
as a presiding officer.
In Athens there were large numbers
of professional jurors, who gained a
livelihood by sitting as judges and
hearing causes, but in Rome no such
classes of persons existed. One of the
finest comedies of Aristophaues, The
Wasps," was founded on the abuse of
justice among the Greeks. In his time
the Jurors were well paid by the state
for their servicee, and besides had
good chance of receiving brides from
the contending parties, as well as having
their ears daily tickled by the most
lavish hattery that the silver tongUed
Greek orator could bestow, so that the
Office of 'Dicast," as 1t was called,
was coveted. In Rome, although there
was bribery enough, few persons had the
opportunity Of becoming judges, and, of
course, fewer sought the opportunity.