Covering some of the same ground of James Davidson’s Courtesans and Fishcakes, John Dillon expands a seminar series he gave at Trinity College, Dublin into a chatty and personal book, as if he were in conversation with a group of students. Although the title refers to “ancient Greece”, Dillon apologizes that he’s limited to ancient Athens – since that’s the only place with any documentation. He also apologizes for ancient Athens, noting that there were things about the world’s first democracy – slavery, pederasty, and the treatment of women – that make modern people uncomfortable.

Dillon’s sources are legal speeches, plays, and histories. One of his points is the Athenians had virtually nothing in the way of public records – no marriage certificates, no land titles, no proof of citizenship – so proof of these things depended on the testimony of witnesses – so it was important to have friends and allies who were willing to testify. (if slaves were involved, their testimony could only be accepted after torture; however, Dillon notes there’s no record of this ever being actually applied). There was also no office of public prosecutor; any Athenian adult male citizen could bring a case before a jury (which was also composed of Athenian adult male citizens). And there was no way to enforce a jury’s decision; again it was up to the victor to gather his friends and collect whatever judgment had been awarded.

Another case Dillion describes showing the importance of trusted friends concerns a case of adultery. While there’s often claimed to be an “unwritten law” in the US allowing an enraged husband to kill his wife’s lover if their caught in the act, it was actual a “written law” in ancient Athens. But it had to be done right then and there; if the man got out the window or even as far as the hearth, he was temporarily safe (he might still get the death penalty, but he’d have to be taken to court). So if you had reason to believe your wife was messing around on the side, you had to have some friends with you when you burst into the bedroom to testify justice was executed fair and square.

Interestingly enough, the woman got off; women were not considered smart enough to resist the blandishments of seducers. Divorce from an adulteress was mandatory, however, even if the husband forgave her; and he didn’t have to give her dowry back.

This segues into the theme that it wasn’t much fun to be a woman in Athens. Girl babies were frequently exposed at birth (Dillon notes the “lucky” ones were picked up by madams and raised to be prostitutes). Slave girls were entirely at the mercy of their masters. A slave could be freed – this was considered the “gentlemanly” thing to do for your old nanny, for example – but free girls commanded a premium in the brothels. A metic woman was the next step up; metics were “foreigners” living in Athens. The only way to be an Athenian citizen was to be born to Athenian parents; there was no way to be “naturalized” and marriage between a metic and a citizen was illegal. Sex wasn’t, of course, so a metic woman down on her luck could end up as a street or brothel prostitute – a porno - or, with effort and talent, become a live-in concubine – a pallakê – or even an independent courtesan – a hetaira. Finally, there were Athenian citizen women; these had some civil rights but they were exercised on their behalf by parents, guardians, or husbands. They could rarely end up on the sex trade; Dilllon speculates that the divorced adulteress mentioned above may have ended up that way if her family refused to take her back because of the disgrace. Of course, the expected route for an Athenian citizen girl was marriage; even that was a little dicey since one Athenian describes “breaking in” his very young wife using exactly the same word used for training a horse. A husband could divorce for grounds other than adultery simply by sending her back to her family, but in that case he had to give the dowry back. A wife could divorce a husband by appearing before the archon. I note with some irony that women from Sparta – usually seen as an autocratic state – seem to have more rights than women from democratic Athens ; according to The Spartans, Spartan women were expected to be literate, compete in games (with other women) – and adultery was more or less encouraged.

Homosexuality is another topic the Dillon dances around with a little. He notes – his words – “There were probably no more ‘true” homosexuals in Classical Athens then there are in modern society …”. However, it was apparently considered acceptable for a man, regardless of what his “true” sexual orientation was, to kidnap a boy – even a free one - take him somewhere outside the city, and rape him – and it was considered improper for the boy to enjoy the experience; some ancient authors discussing the subject decided “true love” could only be between a man and a boy, with only “vulgar love” between a man and a woman. Slave boys were always available, of course, and it was possible for a free man to be a “rent boy” or even a male courtesan – but an Athenian citizen who adopted such a role lost almost all his civil rights.

Dillon’s style makes this an enjoyable read. I’d note the reader is expected to know the basics of Classical Athenian history – who Socrates, Thucydides, and Pericles were and what the Peloponnesian War was about, for example. There’s a very basic map of Athens and some illustrations of typical Athenian houses. There are extensive, and useful footnotes, and a bibliography of both ancient and modern sources; however the index seems very sparse. ( )