Territorio della polis e statuti giuridici e amministrativi della terra: terminologia, concetti, problemi

This article aims to take stock of several issues concerning the legal and institutional articulation of the territory of a Greek city. The starting point is the centrality of land as an economic resource, to which was connected the fundamental principle that land ownership was the exclusive privilege of citizens. A result of such centrality was the control exercised by the polis over land use through its magistrates, as shown not only by political philosophers but also by institutional practices, as witnessed by inscriptions. The most debated problem concerns the distinction between sacred, public, and private land. If the status of private land is not in question, the dividing line between public and sacred land is less clearly definable, in so far as the management of the latter was inevitably integrated into the administration of the polis. After a discussion of the terminology used to describe such reality, it is suggested that the relationship between polis and sacred properties may be represented through the legal category of ‘joint ownership’. In the final part, the forms of public control over polis territory are analysed, with particular reference to respect of boundaries, sale of real properties, access to a variety of resources and easements.