The education system in ancient greece. General characteristics of the state and law of ancient Greece Features of the formation of Greek states polis democracy

1) unification of 12 small settlements into a single whole with the center in the city of Athens (sinoikism);

2) dividing the population into three groups based on occupational characteristics:

• on eupatrides ("noble", owners of large land plots, monopolists in the political sphere),
• demiurges (artisans, merchants),
• geomor-peasants;

3) administrative-territorial division into 48 districts - navcrary, which was primarily military (in case of war, each district exhibited a warship with a crew) and fiscal significance.

Theseus also made certain concessions to the commoners - according to legend, it was the Athenians who were the first Greeks who turned from a crowd of people (Laos) into a people of citizens (demos).

After the Trojan War, Greek aristocrats everywhere ceased to elect Basileus kings, concentrating power in their hands (the last Athenian king Codr in 1068 BC. E. Fell in a battle with the Dorians). As a result, an oligarchy is established in Athens. The highest authority is the Areopagus (council of Ares Hill) and the collegium of nine archons (archon - priest, archon - military leader, archon - head of civil affairs, six archons - custodians of judicial rules). Although the National Assembly was convened, but of great importance did not have.

1. the right to elect and be elected (the involvement of citizens in management was total - for 35 thousand citizens there were up to 20 thousand simultaneously filled and paid government positions in the spheres of legislative, executive, judicial power);
2. broad rights in the property sphere, especially in the acquisition of real estate - only citizens could be land owners;
3. the right to help from the state in case of need - indigent citizens with three or more sons were exempted from state taxes and military service, they were provided with free food and tickets to various entertainment events.

In addition to rights, citizens had the following responsibilities:

• defense of their state (all citizens from 18 to 60 years old were considered liable for military service, young men from 18 to 20 years old, even in peacetime, underwent compulsory military training in the army, navy, or border service, only soldiers could hold public office);
• respect for laws and rulers;
• payment of taxes (honorable taxes were imposed on especially wealthy citizens - liturgies, i.e. building ships, sponsoring theatrical performances and sports, free feasts for the poor);
• marriage, raising children (a right, which is at the same time an obligation, only married citizens with children could fill public office).

The next very large category of the Athenian population was the metecs - foreigners who lived for a long time in the territory of Athens (for 35 thousand citizens - up to 10 thousand metecs).

The Metecs in Athens were significantly limited in their rights:

1. they were forbidden to acquire ownership of land and other real estate (which contributed to the development of lease agreements);
2. every foreigner was obliged to have a patron - a prostate - from among the citizens: this patron represented the interests of the metek in court (naturally, not disinterestedly);
3. payment of a special tax - metekion (a foreigner who did not pay the tax could be sold into slavery with his family, and his property was confiscated);
4. the duty to serve in the Athenian army (especially during the war) - the national assembly could grant citizenship to a foreigner for merit, although such cases were extremely rare;
5. complete lack of political rights.

In spite of all these numerous restrictions, the metecs very willingly settled in Athens. Their desire may have been due to the following reasons:

• Athens, being the world center of crafts, trade and culture, opened up wide opportunities for foreigners in the economic sphere;
• the military power of Athens, a strong fleet and city fortifications made living in this state at least relatively safe;
• the Athenians were very tolerant of the religions of the metecs - freedom of religion (unthinkable in those states from which the metecs came from);
• if a foreigner fulfilled all duties in relation to Athens - had a patron, paid taxes, served in the army, he could count on protection and patronage from the state that sheltered him.

Perhaps the most numerous category of the Athenian population were slaves (up to 100 thousand). In Athens, there was a classic, ancient slavery, in which most of the product - handicraft, agricultural and even intellectual, was produced by slaves,

Sources of replenishment of slavery were:

• war captivity;
• buying slaves in international markets;
• natural reproduction (birth from a slave);
• conversion into slavery for non-payment of metekion (for foreigners).

In Athens, there were both private and state

slaves, and the latter were in a more privileged position (especially police slaves - the Athenians considered it a shame for themselves to perform police functions and entrusted it to slaves). The attitude towards slaves in Athens was exactly the same as in Rome ("Servi res sunt"): "slaves are things", however, cruel treatment of slaves, and especially the murder of other people's slaves, was punished quite severely (for fear of a riot ).

The state system of the Athenian Republic in the 5th-4th centuries. BC e.

During the period of the highest prosperity of Athens, the following form of state existed:

1. form of government - republic (most government bodies and positions are elective, removable and fixed-term);
2. the form of government is a policy (i.e., a unitary state);
3. the political regime is democratic (all citizens have at least formally equal rights to govern the state).

In the Athenian Republic, a system of division of power into legislative, executive and judicial powers began to take shape, in which the branches of government have different competencies and the possibilities of influencing each other. Meanwhile, in Athens, the principle of separation of powers was not fully implemented, many bodies duplicated the functions of each other (especially the popular assembly - ecclesia, which was a legislative, judicial and control body). Nevertheless, the system of government bodies in the republic represented the following picture: the supreme legislative power (and in general the supreme power in the state) was transferred to the ecclesia, in the activities of which all citizens of Athens who had reached the age of 20 could take part.

Of the 30-35 thousand citizens, usually 1-2 thousand people were present (only to resolve the issue of ostracism, a quorum of 6 thousand people was required). The meeting was held about 4 times a month, its agenda was brought to the attention of citizens in advance (as a rule, the urban part of the population attended the national assembly as the richest, educated, politically active and having free time). Usually they voted by show of hands (hairatonia); sometimes a secret ballot was used with the help of colored stones, beans, or shards (under ostracism, the name of a potential opponent of democracy was written on the shards). Anyone could formally submit bills and speak in the people's assembly, but most often it was done by officials or the so-called demagogues - a special category of semi-professional politicians.

The functions of the people's assembly were as follows:

1. legislative (the project was previously considered by the Council of 500, adopted by the people's assembly and approved by helium);
2. election of the highest officials of the republic - strategists;
3. declaration of war and conclusion of peace;
4. solution of food supply issues (acute in trade and craft Athens, dependent on imported grain);
5. reception and departure of ambassadors;
6. granting citizenship and much more.

In general, it should be noted that the ecclesia was a body with absolutely indefinite competence and had powers of power in all spheres of life.

Civil law. Lfinsk law classified property as follows:

• movable (slaves, utensils, ornaments) and immovable (land, buildings), the possession of which was the right of citizens' privilege, inaccessible to foreigners - metecs;
• visible and invisible. The attribution of money and jewelry to invisible property is explained by the fact that fines and confiscation of property were the most common in Athens, and it was easier to hide money and jewelry (as opposed to land), to make it “invisible”. The attribution of money to invisible property is also due to the fact that money can be in a usurious trade, function in the form of IOUs (chirographs).

A feature of Athenian law was early development private ownership of land with ample opportunities to own, dispose, generate income (in contrast to the legal systems of the Ancient East, where private ownership of the main means of production was poorly developed, was subordinate and dominated by state, temple, communal ownership).

In Athens, the early development of private land ownership can be explained by the following factors: the obligation was considered unlawful), Athenian law (like modern law) prioritizes the consent of the parties and prefers the written form of concluding an agreement, which in turn can be explained by the literacy of the majority of Athens population.

Marriage and family - the most important institutions of civil law in Athens were governed mainly by custom. Just like in the Ancient East, a woman in Athens was in a humiliated, subordinate position. Oikurema - "a thing for household chores" - this is how the Athenians called their wives. The difficulty of divorce on the initiative of the wife, the lack of rights to their own children, restrictions in the property sphere, the possibility of virtually unpunished murder of the wife, whom the husband found with her lover - all this can be explained by the fact that the labor of a woman was of very little importance for the economy of Athens (they produced material goods mostly slaves). Hence such restrictions, strange at first glance for such a civilized, cultured people as the Athenians were.

There were two types of inheritance - by law and by will. Inheritance by will (not very common) arose in cases where there were no legal heirs - children. There is no doubt that a positive feature of Athenian inheritance law was the equalization of the rights of legal heirs - sons and daughters, although the latter received not an inheritance, but a dowry (inheritance due to marriage).

The Athenians strove to ensure that the hereditary mass did not go beyond the family and clan, therefore they had very frequent marriages between fairly close relatives - an uncle and a niece, a cousin and a sister. Such incestuous marriages are explained not by some special perversion of the Athenians, but by a very limited circle of full-fledged citizens, as well as by the desire to preserve the acquired property within the framework of one family or clan.

Criminal law and process. In the criminal law sphere of Athens, we can observe a certain humanism, which manifests itself in the following:

1. the main punishments for citizens were fines or confiscation of property (in contrast to the Ancient East, where the main punishments were the death penalty, corporal and self-mutilating punishment);
2. the death penalty for citizens could be imposed for an insignificant number of acts (treason, godlessness, deceit of the people);
3. a person sentenced to death could not only choose the way of leaving life (sword, poison-cicuta, rope), but also independently carry out the sentence:
4. corporal and self-mutilating punishment, public executions of citizens were not practiced at all;
5. atimia (dishonor) was widely used - deprivation of political rights (a type of punishment unknown to ancient Eastern law);

Such humanism, very unusual for those harsh times, was apparently due to the following reasons:

1. a relatively low level of criminality among citizens (most of the Athenians belonged to the middle class of society - not rich, but not poor either);
2. the high level of well-being of citizens made it possible to replace corporal and self-harm punishment with fines;
3. there were few citizens, each was counted as a warrior, taxpayer and owner;
4. citizens themselves established laws for themselves, including criminal ones.

In the early stages of Athenian history, criminal law was harsh, it is enough to recall the infamous Draconian laws of 621 BC. e. ("Draconian measures") punishing death for stealing vegetables in the market and idleness, allowing the possibility of punishing not only people, but also animals, even inanimate objects (for example, a fallen statue that crushed a citizen was sentenced to death and drowned by the Athenians). However, during the heyday of Athenian democracy and law, cruelty remained only in relation to slaves and foreigners.

The types of crimes known to the criminal law of Athens:

• against the state (treason, deception of the people);
• against the person (murder, insult);
• against property (theft, robbery);
• against the family (kidnapping of a girl, betrayal of his wife).

The main types of punishment were fines, confiscation of property, dishonor, expulsion, capital punishment, corporal punishment (for slaves and meteks), and sale into slavery (for meteks).

In the IV century. BC e. Athens fell under the rule of Macedonia, and in the II century. BC e. become one of the provinces of the Roman Empire.

The territory of Attica (the region of Greece, where the Athenian state later arose) was inhabited at the end of the II millennium BC. four tribes, each of which had its own assembly, a council of elders and an elected leader - basileus... The transition to a productive economy with the individualization of labor led to the division of communal land into plots with hereditary family ownership, to the development of property differentiation and the gradual separation of the clan elite and the impoverishment of the mass of free communes, many of whom turned into fetov- laborers or for debts fell into slavery. These processes were accelerated by the development of crafts and trade, which was favored by the coastal position of Athens.

Geographic conditions that required adaptation of economic management to the environmental conditions, depletion of local natural resources, which intensified with the transition to a producing economy, the development of exchange and the associated intensification of intertribal contacts and, as a result, the weakening of kinship ties and the assimilation of clans and tribes, the need for settlement and the elimination of the emerging conflicts that went beyond the tribal boundaries, became prerequisites for the unification of the tribes of Attica under a single authority.

A consequence of this and at the same time an important stage in the long process of the formation of the state in Athens were the reforms traditionally associated with the name of the legendary hero Theseus. The reforms attributed to him are the result of gradual changes that took place over a number of centuries and were completed by the 8th century. BC. One of these reforms was the unification (synoikism) of the tribes inhabiting Attica into a single Athenian people. As a result of synoikism, a Council was created in Athens, which governed the affairs of all four tribes. The first blow was struck at the old tribal organization.

Spartan state formed by the Dorians in the south of the Peloponnese, in the Evrota Valley, very favorable for agriculture. Starting with a handful of settlements in the 9th century, the newcomers gradually carried out the further conquest of the communities of the region called Laconica, with the seizure of land, livestock and people, and the latter were forced to work on the conquered land and not leave it.

The Greek city-states were a city with adjacent rural areas. The largest was the Athenian polis, located on an area of ​​2500 sq. km, while most other policies had an area of ​​about 250 sq. km.

Athenian city becomes a territorial form of the political organization of society.

The territorial organization of society insistently demanded a uniform (independent of tribal differences) and, therefore, centralized management of public affairs, a much more active regulation of developing social relations. There was a need for political (state) power, standing above society and capable of becoming, on the one hand, a means of agreement and reconciliation, on the other hand, a force of submission and enslavement. This was initiated by the consolidation of not only social, but also political inequality between the free, their division (also attributed to Theseus) into:

• eupatrides- noble,
• geomor- farmers and
• demiurges- artisans.

The Eupatrides, the tribal elite, moved exclusively to the occupation of public positions, which led to the further separation of public authority from the population. Geomors and demiurges, together with merchants and the poor, who constituted the majority of the free, were gradually removed from the direct active management of public affairs.
The Eupatrides, relying on their wealth and the exclusive right to hold public office, gradually limit the power of Basileus associated with the traditions of tribal democracy. Its functions are transferred to new officials elected from the Eupatrides - archons... The collegium of archons not only took over the military, priestly and judicial functions of the basileus, but over time took over the entire leadership of the country.

Then, in the VIII century. BC, another new public administration body arose - Areopagus... Replacing the council of elders, the Areopagus elected and controlled the archons, as well as the popular assembly, and exercised supreme judicial power. The Areopagus included all former and current archons, i.e. again, representatives of the Eupatrides.

Attic society turns into a political society - a society under the power that has emerged from it and stands above it. The former syncretism (indivisibility) of society and power comes to an end.

At the same time, another process, characteristic of the emergence of the state, continues to develop - the territorial division of the population. In the VII century. BC. the country was divided into counties - navcraria, whose inhabitants, regardless of tribal affiliation, were obliged to build and equip a warship at their own expense, as well as supply a crew for it.

Following the revolution in economic relations that stretched out for centuries, there was a social revolution, and then a political revolution, which ended in the emergence of the state. The emergence of the state in Athens was accompanied by a fierce struggle between the tribal aristocracy and the demos, which ended in the victory of the demos. As a result of this victory, a slave state in the form of a democratic republic arose in Athens.

In the first half of the 5th century. BC. Athens turns into one of the leading states of the Greek world. This was facilitated by the victory of the Greek states in the Greco-Persian wars, the intensive economic development of Athens and the strengthening of the democratic system in them. Formed during the Greco-Persian wars, the union of the Greek states was initially led by Sparta. By the 70s, when hostilities were transferred to the sea, the leadership of the union passed to Athens.
The dissatisfaction of the allies was suppressed by force, Athenian settlements (kleruchia) began to be created on their territory, which turned practically into military garrisons, Athenian officials were sent to many allied states, and some cases of allied states were considered by the Athenian courts.

The hegemony of Athens in the union turned it into a powerful Athenian arche - a power that mercilessly exploited the allies, enriched itself at their expense and kept them in the alliance by force.
Changes in the foreign policy position of Athens, their enrichment entailed changes in socio-political relations.

Patriarchal slavery is becoming a thing of the past. It is being replaced by classical, antique slavery. Slaves, who are beginning to be seen as simple instruments of labor, gradually become the main productive force. State slaves are mainly exploited in mines and quarries, private slaves in the fields and in artisan workshops or are rented out. The number of slaves increased significantly and was about four times the number of free Athenians. The contradiction between disenfranchised slaves and slave owners turned into the main antagonistic contradiction of Athenian society. The contradictions between the Athenian citizens and the Meteks (foreigners who settled in Athens), the number of which grew and reached half the number of Athenians, also intensified. Metekas engaged in trade and crafts were significantly limited in property rights, completely deprived of the right to participate in political life.

Athenian democracy entered its prime. An important role in this was played by the carried out in the middle of the 5th century. BC. reforms of Ephialtes and Pericles.

In essence, the Athenian state was a political organization of free citizens, ensuring the protection of their interests and the obedience of a huge mass of slaves. By its form of government, it was a democratic republic in which Athenian citizens enjoyed equal rights and could take an active part in political life. It finally took shape in the 5th century. BC. and existed (with some interruptions) until the thirties of the IV century. BC.

The formal equality of Athenian citizens was combined with their inequality in property, which sharply increased by the end of the 5th century. BC. Along with the prosperity of a small group of large (by the scale of Athens) landowners and trade and artisan wealthy, the situation of the bulk of citizens - small farmers, artisans and lumpen - has deteriorated significantly. Contradictions also grew between the Athenians and the Metek people with limited rights. All this led the Athenian democracy to an acute crisis.

The crisis situation sharply aggravated as a result of which began in 431 BC. The Peloponnesian War between Athens and the states of the Athenian Maritime Union actually subordinate to them, on the one hand, and Sparta, who stood at the head of the Peloponnesian Union. The defeat in the war, which led to large material and human losses, the collapse of the maritime union and, consequently, to the loss of the ability to use the resources of the states that were part of it, had as its result an oligarchic coup of large slave owners, who were burdened by the democratic order and especially the financial obligations imposed on them in relation to the poor and the state. True, democracy was soon restored, but after the surrender of Athens in the war in 404 BC. a new oligarchic coup followed. Its success also proved to be short-lived. The democratic system was restored, but not a trace remained of the former greatness of Athens. The country was devastated, the state treasury was empty, trade fell into decay, maritime hegemony was a thing of the past. The peasants went bankrupt, sold their land and joined the ranks of the urban poor, who did not receive sufficient aid from the state treasury. Discontent also gripped the rich slave owners, now forced to support the free poor, the only ally in the face of the oppressed slaves, only from their own means.

Torn apart by internal contradictions, weakened by general discontent, Athenian democracy was powerless to resist the one that had risen by the 4th century. BC. Macedonia. In the II century. BC. after the invasion of the Roman legions, Athens, like all of Greece, turned into one of the provinces of the Roman State.

(for more details see:

History of the state and law of foreign countries. Part 1. Textbook for universities. Ed. prof. Krasheninnikova N.A. and prof. Zhidkova O. A. - M. - Publishing house NORMA, 1996 .-- 480 p.)

States in the Greek world were formed and for a long time existed in the form of city-states - small-sized city-states (Athens is one of the most powerful Greek city states along the borders, it was possible to get around in a day).

The lack of political unity, the small size of the Greek city-states can be explained by the following factors:

1) states have developed as a direct result of the collapse of tribal relations in relatively small groups of people;

2) there were no economic prerequisites for unification - unlike the ancient Eastern states, the enormous size of which was often due to a single irrigation system, there were no large rivers suitable for irrigation in the Greek world;

3) the orientation of the trade of Greek policies to the external market, which hindered the creation of a single economic space;

4) the nature of Greece (rugged mountains) contributed to the disunity of its peoples.

Greek policies (there were several hundred) were located not only on the territory of mainland Greece, but also on the islands, as well as in Italy, Crimea, Asia Minor. Perhaps the greatest role in Greek ancient history was played by Athens, which is still the capital of Greece.

(For a deeper study of the material in this paragraph, you should refer to the list of recommended literature).

More on the topic §1. Features of the formation of the Greek states:

1. § 1. On some interrelationships of medieval literacy, legal education and legal intellectuality instead of historiography
2. § 11. The nature and forms of education in the Muscovy of the XVI century.
3. The concept of "state serfdom" and the communal-state model of the legal evolution of the Russian peasantry

The Greco-Roman world did not take shape from scratch, not in isolation, not as a "closed society". Early centers of civilization and the first proto-states arose in the Mediterranean basin as early as the III-II millennium BC, and not without a noticeable influence of the Eastern world. Subsequently, especially during the period of "great colonization" (VIII-VII centuries BC), with the founding of a number of Greek settlements (cities) on the Asian coast, the interaction of the two civilizations became even closer and deeper. The Greek cities in Asia Minor - Miletus, Ephesus, and others - became open gates through which trade, cultural and other ties of the then East and West were carried out. The ever-increasing political contacts of the Greeks, and later the Romans, with the Eastern countries allowed them to use and rethink the foreign, overseas state-legal experience, to look for their own more rationalistic approaches to lawmaking and politics.
Creation of the first proto-states, and then of larger state formations in the south of the Balkan Peninsula and on the islands of the Aegean Sea in the III-II millennium BC. was the result of the conquest of the autochthonous population of this region (Pelasgians, Minoans) by the Achaean Greeks. The conquest led to the mixing and interbreeding of various cultures, languages ​​and peoples, which gave rise to the high Cretan-Mycenaean civilization, represented by a number of rising and declining states (Knossos, Mycenaean kingdoms, etc.).
The monarchical nature of these states, the presence of a large state-temple economy and a land community testified to their similarity with typical eastern monarchies. The Cretan-Mycenaean traditions for a long time affected the subsequent statehood of the Achaean Greeks, which was characterized by the presence of a communal structure associated with the royal palace, which served as the supreme economic organizer.
One of the most important features in the formation of the state in Ancient Greece was that this process itself, due to the constant migration and movement of tribes, went in waves, intermittently. So, the invasion in the XII century. BC. to Greece from the north of the Dorian tribes again threw the entire natural course of the formation of statehood back. The "dark ages" that followed the Dorian invasion (12th century BC - first half of the 8th century BC), and then the archaic period, again returned the Hellenes to tribal statehood and proto-states.
The peculiarities of the process of the formation of statehood in the ancient world (in contrast to the countries of the East) were largely predetermined by natural and geographical factors. Greece, for example, was a mountainous country, where there was little fertile and suitable for grain crops land, especially those that would require, as in the East, collective irrigation work. In the ancient world, the land community of the eastern type could not spread and survive, but in Greece there were favorable conditions for the development of handicrafts, in particular metalworking. Already in the III millennium BC. the Greeks widely used bronze, and in the 1st millennium BC. tools made of iron, which contributed to an increase in the efficiency of labor and its individualization. The widespread development of exchange and then trade relations, especially sea trade, contributed to the rapid establishment of a market economy and the growth of private property. Increased social differentiation became the basis of an acute 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. the ancient world.
Natural conditions influenced the organization of state power in Greece in another respect. The mountain ranges and bays that cut the sea 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 it impossible and unnecessary to centralize government. Thus, the natural barriers themselves predetermined the emergence of numerous, relatively small in size and quite isolated from each other city-states - policies. The polis system was one of the most significant, practically unique features of statehood, characteristic not only of Greece, but also of the entire ancient world.
The geographic and political isolation of the polis (in the mainland and on the islands) with a far-reaching division of labor made it dependent on the export of handicrafts, on the import of grain and slaves, i.e. from common Greek and international maritime trade. The sea played a huge role in the life of the ancient (primarily Greek) polis. It provided his connection with the outside world, with other policies, with colonies, with eastern countries, etc. The sea and sea trade linked all city-states into a single polis system, created an open common Greek and Mediterranean political culture and civilization.
The liquidation of the monarchy led to the victory in the ancient world of the republican system, as well as to the final approval (before the era of crisis and the disintegration of the slave society) of the polis system of state organization.

In the early stages of its development, law in terms of the level of legal technology and the degree of development of the basic institutions had many similarities with the legal systems of the countries of the East. The development of law in ancient Greece and Rome was carried out within the framework of separate policies, and the level of development of democratic institutions in individual city-states was reflected in law.
The recognition of legislation, rather than custom, as the main form of lawmaking (Greece), or its approval as one of the most important sources of law (Rome), was accompanied by the codification of legal customs that developed in a more archaic era. This is the oldest, according to Greek tradition, the codification of law carried out by Zalevko in Locra (Italy), as well as the codification of Harond in Catano (Sicily). Similar collections were compiled in other Greek city-states, including Athens at the end of the 7th century. BC. (Dragon Laws).
The beginning of a new democratic constitution in Athens, providing for a developed procedure for the adoption of laws by the people's assembly, was laid by the reforms of Solon and Cleisthenes in the 6th century. BC. In Rome, traditional legal customs were processed and recorded in the Laws of the XII tables. These laws also provided for a rule according to which the decision of the people's assembly is considered law.
In Athens, where a democratic system of legislation was established, where law in the eyes of citizens was associated with reason and justice, a kind of legal state took shape, the benefits of which could not, however, be enjoyed by slaves and foreigners. To an even greater extent, the cult of law and observance of the law developed in Roman society. Unconditional adherence to republican laws was for the Romans not only a legal obligation, but also a matter of honor. The eminent Roman jurist Cicero, who viewed the state not only as an expression of the common interests of all its members, but also as a union of many people, "bound together by agreement on matters of law", reflected the same interconnection of the Roman republican state with its own laws and law in general. Thus, the idea of ​​the rule of law has its origins in republican Rome.
It is no coincidence that it was in Roman society, where laws have long been considered sacred, that the most perfect in the conditions of the ancient world was developed legal system that is holistic and comprehensive. Roman law for the first time in history acted as a systemic, carefully developed, legal entity itself. Classical Roman law is the pinnacle in the history of the law of antiquity and the ancient World in general. It represents one of the greatest achievements of ancient culture, the impact of which on the subsequent development of European law and civilization can hardly be overestimated. It has acquired, to a certain extent, a timeless, ahistorical character.

1. Features of the formation of Greek culture

In the V-IV centuries. BC e. Greek culture became one of the most developed systems of the ancient world. Three major features give it an exceptional character: completeness, diversity and a certain completeness of the constituent parts of culture (literature, art, philosophy); its humanistic orientation; the great contribution of the Greeks to the treasury of world culture, the creation of masterpieces that enriched the cultural creativity of the next generations and firmly entered the life of the peoples of the Mediterranean and Europe.

The culture of the Greeks was primarily created on the basis of a more dynamic mode of production, a rationally organized economy. The Greek economy with commodity production, built on the basis of private property, provided a surplus product through a more organized and efficient exploitation of workers, created sufficient material opportunities for cultural creativity. The ruling class, consisting of the owners of relatively small estates, workshops, ships, had to take an active part in organizing production, was interested in general cultural progress. The social basis of the polis organization was an average citizenship, primarily wealthy landowners, who, at the same time, were full citizens and warriors. This socially and politically active category of citizenship was more ready for the perception of cultural values ​​than, for example, the downtrodden and disenfranchised members of the community in the countries of the Ancient East.

The process of cultural creativity in different cities of Greece had its own degree of intensity, and it was more fruitful in states with a democratic system. The absence of a closed layer of the ruling bureaucracy and the mercenary army separated from the bulk of citizenship, the concentration of power in the hands of the People's Assembly, the annually replaced and controlled administrative apparatus, the militia as the basis of the military organization gave rise to the proximity of state institutions and the bulk of citizenship, assumed active participation of citizens in public affairs , education of a cultural and politically minded person. Constant participation in debates, discussion of bills and decisions in the People's Assembly shaped the political thinking of a citizen, on the one hand, and on the other, contributed to the flourishing of oratory. It is no coincidence that it was in Greece of the 5th – 4th centuries. BC e. famous speakers appear: Pericles, Cleon, Isocrates, the famous Demosthenes.

The development of Greek culture was facilitated by the absence in the country of a powerful priestly organization, such as, for example, in the countries of the Ancient East, where the process of cultural creativity was taken under its control. The nature of the Greek religion, the simplicity of cult rites, and the holding of the main religious ceremonies by elected magistrates ruled out the possibility of the formation of an extensive and influential priestly corporation. This predetermined the freer nature of education, the upbringing system, worldview and the entire culture. Another important factor acted in the same direction: the fairly wide spread of literacy, that is, the ability to write and read, wonderful works of historians, philosophers, playwrights, and writers were available to the Greeks. A wide spread of literacy is characteristic of democratic states, which presuppose the political activity of ordinary citizens, their participation in elections, voting, drafting decisions, familiarity with documents of state importance. It was the ability to read and competently judge what was read that was an important stimulus for the creativity of Greek thinkers.

One of the indispensable conditions for the formation of Greek culture are the features of its natural environment. In general, natural conditions at that stage of historical life were quite favorable for the flourishing of Greek culture. And the point is not that the Greek nature is very generous to man and easily provides him with all the benefits, but that she encouraged people to work, demanded diligence from them as a necessary condition of existence. Hilly terrain, medium fertility land, overgrown with tenacious shrubs, in the classical period of Greek history began to bring generous harvests of grapes, olives, fruits, vegetables, and in a number of areas - and grain, because the Greeks had to clear crops from trees and shrubs, loosen and fertilize stony land, introduce new agricultural techniques, and develop new varieties. There are many minerals in the territory of Balkan Greece: iron and copper ore, high-quality clay, building limestone and marble, silver and gold. However, they lie deep in the ground and, in order to get them and use them in production, it was necessary to cut deep mines, draw branched drifts from them, and all this required knowledge, sharpness, diligence, faith in the creative forces of man.

It is impossible to imagine Greek nature without the sea. The sea played a huge role in the life of both individuals and almost all Greek city-states. The coastline of the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula is cut by numerous bays, bays and harbors. The Aegean Sea is dotted with hundreds of large and small islands. In the sea, the Greeks fished fish and mollusks for food, along the sea routes they established connections between different, even distant policies, with coastal local tribes. The sea protected from the enemy, and the sea brought peoples closer together, sea communications not only ensured the receipt of food and raw materials, but also contributed to mutual enrichment, the exchange of cultural achievements. The Greeks took possession of the sea, it became a part of their life, way of life, culture. But in order to master the capricious and powerful element, one had to show courage, have special knowledge, adapt to the whims of sea currents and winds, develop methods of navigation, new types of ships were needed that could set off on a long voyage.

The deep aestheticism of Greek culture was largely generated by the beauty of the surrounding nature. In Balkan Greece, this small country with low mountains, dividing the territory into many small valleys, covered with green forests descending from the mountains, and an endless sea, you can see a balanced combination of different types of landscape and various natural colors of mountain peaks, green valleys, blue sea, blue sky. The worldview of the ancient Greek of the classical time, the entire Greek culture is characterized by a subtle sense of nature, inherent proportionality and natural harmony, which was realized in different ways in music, philosophy, architecture, sculpture, and literature.

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