Voluntary Prosecution in its Ancient Greek Context

In the ancient Greek poleis, the prosecution of crimes against the community was largely entrusted to volunteers. Voluntary prosecution (VP) was therefore one of the key elements of the administration of justice in these societies.

It is also an institution that, despite being often linked to classical Athens and to democratic ideology, is found in different places, periods, and political regimes. By combining the analysis of literary and epigraphic sources (6th2nd cent.

BC) with a cutting-edge multidisciplinary approach at the intersection of sociology, legal theory, and theory of emotion, this project aims to provide the first comprehensive history of VP in ancient Greeceof its ideological tenets, its institutional framework, and the normative expectations of the community around it, both in and, especially, outside of Athens.

I will achieve this aim through three objectives: a) mapping the use of VP in ancient Greece by producing an online database of laws and decrees related to VP, with visualisation of the material through an interactive online atlas; b) drawing a sketch of the different identities and possible motives of volunteer prosecutors, and of how their interactions with VP, with one another, and with the community both shaped and was shaped by a shared internalised set of values and standards of behaviour that was fully institutionalised; c) analysing the emotional components of VP, and how they had an impact on societal attitudes and institutional arrangements related to VP.

Prosec.co will place VP in the wider context of voluntarism in the ancient Greek world, and take into account the different perspectives of the individuals that were involved with it, from wealthy citizens to foreigners, down to the poor, women, and enslaved individuals.

This will advance not only the scientific debate around ancient Greek society, culture, and institutional design, but also contemporary discourse on private initiative, voluntarism, and civic engagement.