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Adeia
ELISABETTA PODDIGHE

The Greek term adeia corresponds to the concept of immunity as a special permission, such
as safe conduct when passing through enemy
territory (Plut. Alc. 23), as well as to the
immunity vote granted in Athens by the
assembly (ekklesia) allowing discussion of
a subject that otherwise could not be discussed.
The immunity vote was prescribed when
persons who had a statement to make were
debarred from addressing the assembly (e.g.,
slaves, metics, women, criminals), or when the
statement concerned an entrenched matter.
In both cases an assembly competent to grant
an adeia required definition as to the voting
method (two votes at separate meetings before
the action could be taken) and attendance
(a quorum of 6,000 votes: Dem. 24.45).
When the adeia was granted to a criminal who
was prepared to turn informer for the prosecution, he could not be prosecuted as an accomplice: this was the case of the slave Menon
against Pheidias (Plut. Per. 31) and of the
metic Teukros against ALKIBIADES (Andoc.
1.15). An adeia was granted as a general
amnesty in 405 BCE when the assembly enacted
a law that all the disenfranchised (atimoi) and
public debtors could propose measures in the
assembly with impunity (Andoc. 1.77). The
abuse of adeia as indemnity may explain its
late usage with the meaning of impunity
(Dem. 19.190, 272; McElwee 1975).

When it concerned an entrenched matter,

the adeia served as a device to confer authority
on the assemblys decisions, as shown by
Kallias second financial decree dating from
434 to 418 (?). The decree specified that the
proposal of a property tax (eisphora) and that
of using monies from the treasury of Athena in
excess of 10,000 drachmas were governed by
similar penalties as those governing the man
who put the proposal to the vote, unless an
immunity vote was passed a vote that served
to protect the proposal itself (IG I3 52B.1219;
Schwartzberg 2004; Poddighe 2010).
SEE ALSO:

Amnesty; Atimia; Democracy,

Athenian; Eisphora.

REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS

Goldstaub, M. (1889) De adeias notione et usu in
iure publico attico. Breslau.
Lewis, D. M. (1974) Entrenchment-clauses in Attic
decrees. In D. W. Bradeen and M. F. McGregor,
eds., Phoros: Tribute to Benjamin Dean Meritt.
819. Locust Valley, NY.
McElwee, L. A. (1975) Adeia, amnesty and
immunity at Athens from Solon to Demosthenes.
Albany, NY.
Poddighe, E. (2010) Riflessioni sul fondamento
etico-legale e sul carattere finanziario delleisphora
ateniese tra V e IV sec. a.C. In A. Greco and
G. Mariotta, eds., Strumenti e tecniche della
riscossione dei tributi nel mondo antico: 97117.
Padua.
Schwartzberg, M. (2004) Athenian democracy
and legal change. American Political Science
Review 98: 31125.

The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine,
and Sabine R. Huebner, print pages 6566.
2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah04003