The Nature of Premeditation in Athenian Homicide Law

Abstract

An inscription (IG i2 115) consisting of a prelude and then of Drakon's law of homicide has long been known. The prelude dates it 409/8 B.C.; it was evidently part of the recodification of Athenian law carried out by Nikomakhos and a board of anagrapheis in most of the years 411/0–400/399 B.C. Drakon's law was on a separate stele, of which the upper part, probably about half, survives. In some period since Antiquity the marble was used as pavement, and the resulting wear has deterred study of it since the edition of 1867. Recently, however, R. S. Stroud has published a new edition of the code inscription and this has stimulated renewed interest in the Athenian law of homicide. Stroud has provided not only a new and much expanded text of the code but also some persuasive solutions to problems that have long perplexed scholars. The code deals with unpremeditated (μὴ ἐκ προνοίας) homicide. This very aspect—the precise scope of the code—receives, oddly, scant treatment. I propose to look into it.By scope I mean what sorts of homicide were covered by the extant portion of the code. Another, and I think inevitable, way of looking at this problem is to ask, Where did the missing portion of the code, dealing with premeditated homicide, stop, and where did the surviving portion start, i.e. where was the line drawn in Athens between premeditated and unpremeditated homicide? Thus stated, the question makes it clear that one cannot deal with the problem of premeditation in vacuo; it must be examined in the context of Athenian homicide as a whole.