ОБЕЗБЕЂЕЊЕ ПОТРАЖИВАЊА У АНТИЧКОЈ АТИНИ
SECURED TRANSACTIONS LAW IN ANCIENT ATHENS

Summary/Abstract: Secured transactions are a concept whose roots can be traced back to the early periods of human history. Its various forms could already be encountered in antiquity. Numerous ancient civilizations were familiar with some form of this institution, including ancient Greece. Given that private property was already well-developed in ancient Athens, it is no surprise that the Athenians were familiar with several different methods of securing claims.Until the time of Solon, there was even the possibility of pledging personal freedom, but this was abolished with his rise to the position of archon in the 6th century BC. However, many other ways remained in which a debtor could guarantee the fulfillment of their obligation to a creditor. First and foremost, there was personal security and real security for claims. The most common form of personal security was suretyship (engye), which functioned on the same principle as it does today: a third party would guarantee the creditor that they would fulfill the valid and due obligation of the main debtor, if the debtor themselves did not do so. As for real security, it appeared in several forms: apotimema (securing a dowry and the property of a ward), prasis epi lysei (conditional sale with right of redemption), enechyron (pledge of movable property), and hypotheke (mortgage, i.e., pledge of immovable property). The authors of this paper will focus on the analysis of all individual types of security in ancient Athens. Uncovering the principles on which they were based is especially interest￾ing, as these principles later became the foundation of modern civil law in numerous legal systems.

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