The Police in Ancient Greece

Black figured amphora depicting cavalrymen. Credit: mharrsch. CC BY 2.0/flickr

While ancient Greece didn’t person a constabulary unit successful the aforesaid mode we deliberation of them today, they did person systems for maintaining bid and enforcing laws.

The word “police” utilized by modern states to picture the assemblage enforcing the instrumentality and maintaining order, comes from Middle French police, successful crook from Latin politia, which is the Latinization of the Greek politeia lasting for “citizenship, administration, civilian polity”.

This is derived from the connection polis which describes thing other but the metropolis oregon much accurately the city-state. In ancient Greece, the connection politeia represented each authorities and the unit of powerfulness mastered by the caput of the authorities (lord) to guarantee compliance with what had been voted into force.

The Greek word, however, for constabulary is astynomia, a compound noun consisting of asty (the officialese connection for the city) and nomos (law).

Therefore, arsenic an institution, the constabulary are straight linked to the emergence and improvement of “the city.”

And since the instrumentality is quintessential for the survival, prosperity and maturation of the metropolis connected each imaginable levels, the constabulary tin beryllium said to contiguous the matrimony of an existent information (the improvement of the city) and a spiritual 1 (obedience to the law).

Police was chartless successful past Greece till the 5th period BC

In Ancient Greece, the constitution of the constabulary was chartless until the 5th period BC. Historical grounds shows that from that clip on, constabulary authorities began to signifier and excel, peculiarly successful the city-state of Athens, wherever publically owned slaves were utilized by magistrates arsenic a constabulary force.

A radical of 300 Scythian slaves alleged “rod-bearers” was utilized to defender nationalist meetings to support bid and power the crowds, and besides assisted successful dealing with criminals, handling prisoners, and making arrests.

They acted connected behalf of a radical of eleven elected Athenian magistrates “who were liable for arrests and executions and for immoderate aspects of nationalist order” successful the city. Despite being called “archers”, the Scythian constabulary astir apt did not usage bows and arrows.

Archer drafting an arrow from his quiver arsenic helium turns to sprout astatine the enemy. Public Domain

One of Aristophanes’s comedies has a Scythian archer arsenic a character, and helium speaks breached Greek with an accent.

Other duties associated with modern policing, specified arsenic investigating crimes, were near to the citizens themselves.

From the 5th period BC erstwhile the foundations of greatness and prosperity had been laid down for the radical of Athens, constabulary authorities were established with their ngo being akin to that of modern constabulary authorities.

The main concerns of this archetypal past constabulary were order, demeanor, hygiene, extortion of morals, Market police, surveillance, supervision of construction, surveillance of foreigners, the prevention of nationalist accidents, etc.

Particularly, determination were divers authorities acceptable up by the authorities to support its payment and citizens. All these abstracted bodies were monitored and regulated by the Athenian ultimate court, the Areopagus.

Police successful past Sparta

On the different hand, successful past Sparta, constabulary authorities were not arsenic galore and abstracted arsenic successful Athens. The constricted societal beingness of the Spartans and the much authoritarian authorities included the royal power, the House of the Elders, the Agora, portion the existent powerfulness laic successful the hands of the Ephors, a assemblage whose members were elected annually by big Spartans and were of precocious esteem.

Among their different duties, the Ephors were successful complaint of maintaining nationalist bid wrong their city- authorities and regularisation arsenic judges successful cases brought earlier them.

Executives of the Ephors’ decisions were the Hippeis, the 300-member selected royal defender of honor. There were abstracted authorities supervising children, women and cultivation issues.

Similar constabulary authorities are recorded to person been utilized successful different city-states too.

(With accusation from H. Stamatis’ book,  Greek “Ηistory of the City’s Police”)