Some Observations on the Nomos Georgikos

• Published in: Colloquia Humanistica 2018-01, Vol.7 (7), p.205-226
• Main Author: Toševa-Nikolovska, Daniela
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 19th Century; casuistic nature; corporal punishment; Ekloga; Farmer's Code; History of Law; Nomos Georgikos; Slavic settlements
• ISSN: 2081-6774; 2392-2419
• DOI: 10.11649/ch.2018.011

the subject of this paper is the Byzantine law code, the Nomos Georgikos (Νόμος γεωργικός) known as the Farmer’s Code. Tis law code has been a subject of research since the 19th century, and many scholars have assumed nexus causalis between the Nomos Georgikos and the Slavic settlements based mainly on circumstances. My examination was not oriented towards defining the ethnicity of the Byzantine farmers, but towards defining the nature of the law code by analysing its form and its penal system. the NG was aimed at protecting the farmer’s property – movable and immovable, by prescribing corresponding punishments. the punishments concerning immovable property are material, while the punishments prescribed for movable property are material and/or corporal, such as beating, lashing, branding and mutilation. Capital punishment is rare, because offences towards property are not considered capital offences. The punishments in the NG are very similar to the Ekloga; however, the main difference between the two codes is the absence of a duality of punishment in the NG. In the NG corporal punishments are not alternatives to monetary penalties; they are the only punishment prescribed. This is only natural for a law code intended to solve disputes between peasants only, a monolithic group of people who did not belong to the category of honestiores.