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K. Hopwood (ed.), Organized Crime in Antiquity, London: Duckworth and the Classical Press of Wales, 1999. Pp. xv + 278, incl. five sketchmaps and an index. ISBN 0-7156-2905-0. UK£40.00.
This work consists of an introduction, nine papers read at a conference held in Lampeter in Wales in 1996 and an index. In the Introduction (pp. vii-xv) Hopwood traces some differences between the ancient and the modern (Western!) concept of crime. The conference was based on the assumption that important insights can be gained into the structure and development of a society by examining the forms of crime in it. A major conclusion emerges that organised crime flourishes best in a society where there is a large gap between the rich and the poor. The most prominent form of organised crime in the classical world was that perpetrated by groups of bandits, who might well have regarded themselves as freedom-fighters. Mitchell (p. 157) provides a useful definition and discussion of the terminology used for the various types of this sort of anti-state activity that fall short of formal warfare.
H. van Wees discusses in the first chapter (pp. 1-51) the curbing of violence that took place in Greece in the seventh and sixth centuries BC as the early city states came into being. He shows how the transition occurred from the dominance of the type of heroic figure lording it over his personal followers prominent in Homer to communities succeeding in gaining more control over powerful individuals. The power of the early aristocrats was often asserted by marked aggression and open violence. Their 'honour' was of supreme importance to them as they claimed to maintain a type of order in the community in exchange for which they received 'gifts'. He makes an extended and very illuminating comparison with early mafiosi figures in Sicily and shows how their sense of values was adapted to their role in society. The early Greek states succeeded in containing the depredations of these epic 'princes' only gradually; attention is given to the role played by Solon in Athens in replacing individual violence by acceptance of laws.
In chapter 2 (pp. 53-96) N. Fisher asks whether there was much organised crime in fifth- and fourth-century Athens. Even when fully developed Athens...