The Forensic Stage: Settling Disputes in Graeco-Roman New Comedy

This book explores the ways in which legal disputes were settled out of court in fourth-century BC Athens and in second-century BC Rome. After examining pretrial scenarios in the Attic orators and comparable ones in Roman legal sources, the author turns to the plays of Greek New Comedy and their later Roman adaptations. There she identifies similar scenarios, especially in disputes concerning sexual violations, the marriages of heiresses, and divorces, and shows that recognition of legal scenarios aids interpretation of New Comedy texts.