Chapter 361
The plaintiff and the defendant stood in front of Tritodemus. According to the law, the plaintiff and the defendant were allowed to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in court, as they did not necessarily have a good understanding of the complicated Code of Dionysia. On the other hand, Polyxis, who was the first to be tried in the case, decided to defend himself, and as he had committed a crime far exceeding that of the original accuser (the emancipated slaves), he was prosecuted by the public prosecutor appointed by the court. The public prosecutor was the former clerk of the Devers, Aristoclades.
After Aristoclades became a citizen of Diónia, the Devers suggested that he work in the court, and he passed the examination smoothly. Starting as a court recorder, he worked hard and studied the law of Diónia at the same time. When he became an official citizen of Diónia, he became a junior judge in the circuit court. For more than a year, he judged more than 200 cases and disputes without any mistakes, and became a rising star among the judges of Diónia. For this trial, the Devers personally appointed him as the public prosecutor, and they had high hopes for him.
Because the Devers had transplanted the court system of the later generations to Diónia, it was different from the others from the beginning.
The most respected court in Athens in this era did not have a special judge, and only a marshal maintained the court procedures. The power of trial was in the hands of the jury, but the number of the jury was not fixed, and the number was determined according to the size of the case. The highest number of jury members could reach more than two thousand, and the result of the trial was decided by majority vote. Therefore, in Athens, regardless of the size of the case, the participation of the jury was mandatory. Every day, about three to four thousand citizens went back and forth between the various courts in the city and the port, and the other city-states jokingly called the people of Athens as the Greeks who loved litigation.
However, in Dionia, other than important cases such as murder cases, treason cases, and so on, which could only be decided by a jury, other civil disputes were usually decided directly by the judge. Even if the defendant requested for a jury, it was highly likely that the request would be rejected. The reason was that the citizens of the Diónia Federation were busy with military training, field work, market trade, public infrastructure construction … They did not have much free time to sit in court and listen to the plaintiff and the defendant talk about things that had nothing to do with them.
And because the city of Athens was extremely wealthy, there was monetary compensation for being a juror. Some citizens even made a living as a juror, so the citizens were happy to do it.
In short, with the current strength and financial resources of Diónia, it was impossible for them to afford such a time-consuming and costly Athens -style trial, and they did not intend to implement it. The people of Diónia were worried that breaking the law would affect their ability to enter the Legion, to hold public office, to receive awards from the city, and so on. Therefore, serious crimes were rare. Therefore, it was rare for the public to witness such a large-scale trial with a jury. It could be said that it was the first time for many people to witness the operation of a trial in Diónia.
Victory Square was quickly filled with people, and there were still people rushing over from outside the square …
When the face of the water-clock had fallen to the mark of eight, Tritodemus rang the bell for the opening of the court.
Since the plaintiff and the defendant were already in the court, it was the prosecutor who made the statement. After a brief explanation of how Aristocrates filed a complaint at the Temple of Emancipation, the patrol conducted a routine search, and the evidence found … Then, after a brief explanation, the evidence found was shown to the jury, accusing Polyxis of illegal occupation of land, restriction of freedom of others, and other crimes.
The audience below the stage began to stir.
Tritodemus had to ring the bell to remind the crowd to keep quiet. Then he signaled that the defendant, Polyxis, could begin his defense.
As a veteran of politics for a long time, Polyxis still held his head high and remained in high spirits, because he knew that if he appeared depressed, the people would think that he was guilty. Initially, although he did not participate in the formulation of the legal trial system, he listened to the whole process of the Devers persuading the senators, so he knew that the key to acquittal in a large-scale trial in Diónia was the jury. So he said in a passionate voice, "Members of the jury, at this moment, I think of my father, my grandfather … As one of the earliest founders of the city of Turií, they poured all their efforts and blood into this land that was once a wilderness, and that's why the city is prosperous today. Influenced by my father's generation, I have been working hard for this city since I became an adult. Like all of you, I worked in the fields, served as a soldier, participated in battles, and served as a low-level public official. Later, I was elected by the people as a general of Turií, and I did my best for this city … "
At this moment, Aristocrates stood up and interrupted him, "Polyxis, as one of the generals of Turií, you should take responsibility for the burning of the city! And when the city was finally breached, as a general, you did not lead the people to fight the enemy, but disappeared. How dare you say that you sacrificed everything for the city! It's not true at all! "It was obvious that Aristocrates had carefully investigated Polyxis' life in advance.
As soon as he finished speaking, someone in the audience responded, "He's right! Back then, I was in the team that fought against the Crotone Empire. Many people died in the battle, including Neonsis, but I never saw you, Polyalexis! "
"Coward!"
"Coward!"
…
Someone in the audience began to curse.
"Quiet! Quiet! " Tritodemus had to ring the small bell again to remind the people to keep quiet, and at the same time, he warned, "Both of you, don't talk about topics that have nothing to do with this defense, and go back to the issue of the charges."
It should be said that because there were not many large-scale trials in the courts of Diónia, and young judges like Aristocrates were inexperienced, otherwise, they could have protested as soon as Polyxis opened his mouth.
But their confrontation at the beginning attracted the attention of the people. The court was like a battlefield, and the battle of words was a matter of life and death. The risk and intensity of it were far greater than watching a play. The people of Diónia began to widen their eyes, looking forward to the more exciting debate.
Polyxis was quite embarrassed. He was so selfish that he really forgot that he had been a deserter. He originally wanted to continue to promote his hard work in the Senate, but now he had no chance. He took a deep look at his opponent, and then began to say, "As a senator of the Senate of Diónia, I have always regarded the Consul Devers as a role model, and in response to the revelation of Hades, I have given freedom to a large number of slaves in my family, regardless of the losses of my family. So far, 57 slaves have been released, and six have become official citizens. I don't think there is any other citizen of Diónia who treats slaves as well as I do! Not at all! "Polyxis looked around him with a stern expression.
"The freed slaves, out of gratitude and gratitude, give me some money every year as a reward. I could not refuse their kindness, so I reluctantly accepted it. Because with more money, I can buy more slaves and give freedom to more slaves! … Alas, but I never thought that I would be mistaken for corruption! This … This is really a huge blow to my enthusiasm to learn from Consul Devers! This is a misunderstanding! " He put on an aggrieved look to the jury.
Aristocrates said coldly, "Your Honor, may I ask the witness to question whether Polyxis is corrupt or not?"
Tritodemus nodded in agreement.
Aristocrates called a total of ten witnesses, all of whom were freed slaves of Polyxis. Some had just been released, some had become probationary citizens, and some were already official citizens. These witnesses with citizenship did not want to appear in court, but the court enforced it, because it was the obligation of the citizens of the League.
After they swore to God Hades that they would not lie, Aristocrates asked them questions one by one, each sharper than the last. During this period, Polyxis tried to interrupt several times, but was scolded by Judge Tritodemus.
Seeing that Polyxis was in a bad situation, the witnesses were afraid of being accused of lying and sentenced to "blasphemy," so they confessed everything.
Now the people near the wooden platform understood: First of all, the location of the land owned by these witnesses was already enviable. It was all fertile land on the Sybari Plain. When the League was first established, there were many people and little land. In order not to let the land become barren, a lot of land was rented by free people and freed slaves. Later on, the rent of land in Sybari became scarce, and it was not enough even for the preparatory citizens, let alone the freedmen. The newly released slaves of Polyxis were able to rent a good piece of land, and this was a very big problem.
Secondly, after these witnesses paid the League's taxes, they had to pay Polyxis another 40% of their land income.
Thirdly, the witnesses who had become official citizens had to pay Polyxis 5% of their land income every year. Why did the official citizens take the initiative to give him money? Because Polyxis had bribed some people in the Ministry of Agriculture, and when distributing the "plots" of land to the official citizens, he would do something to add an extra acre and a half. Because their "plots" were often located in remote places, they were not easily discovered. Therefore, when these citizens from the Polyxis family received benefits, they were afraid that their land would be confiscated during the annual inspection by the Ministry of Agriculture, so they took the initiative to give Polyxis benefits.
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