The Social and Legal Position of Metics, Foreigners, and Slaves

Abstract

The Demosthenic Corpus is the richest source available to us on the social and legal position of foreigners, metics, and slaves in Athenian society. Partly because of its size but also because most of the speeches in it were composed at a critical point in Athenian history documenting the high point of classical culture and literary production but at the same time the dramatic end of the polis, the Corpus is marked by both the complexity and richness of classical culture but also the anxieties and historical conflicts of the times. In this respect it becomes a faithful mirror of fourth-century Athenian society, law, and history. This chapter will explore the social and legal position of foreigners, metics, and slaves in fourth-century Athens through the prism of the Corpus Demosthenicum, cross-referencing with other significant sources on the topic.