Androlepsy, in

ancient Greek law Ancient Greek law consists of the laws and legal institutions of Ancient Greece. The existence of certain general principles of law is implied by the custom of settling a difference between two Greek states, or between members of a single state, ...

, was a custom in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

that if a citizen was killed abroad, and the criminal was not delivered for punishment, the victim's relatives were allowed to arrest as many as three citizens of the offending city. They would be held hostage until the actual criminal was handed over, and perhaps tried for murder instead of him. The Greeks called this androlepsia, and the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

clarigatio In ancient Roman international law, a clarigation was a loud, clear call or summons made to an enemy to demand satisfaction for some injury received, without which there would be a declaration of war. Clarigation equates to what the Ancient Greeks ...

. The persons entrusted with the office of seizing the three hostages were usually the

trierarch Trierarch ( gr, τριήραρχος, triērarchos) was the title of officers who commanded a trireme (''triēres'') in the classical Greek world. In Classical Athens, the title was associated with the trierarchy (τριηραρχία, ''triēr ...

s, and the commanders of

warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster a ...

s. The word is formed of ''άνήρ'', "man", and ''λαμβάνω'', "I take". Some authors also use ''androlepsia'' for

reprisal A reprisal is a limited and deliberate violation of international law to punish another sovereign state that has already broken them. Since the 1977 Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions (AP 1), reprisals in the laws of war are extremel ...

References

* *William Smith
"Androlepsia"
from ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'', John Murray: London, 1875.

References

See also