<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article is missing information about other Grecian city states besides Athens . Please expand the article to include this information . Further details may exist on the talk page . (March 2017) </Td> </Tr> <P> Ancient Greek law consists of the laws and legal institutions of Ancient Greece . </P> <P> 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, by resorting to external arbitration . The general unity of Greek law shows mainly in the laws of inheritance and adoption, in laws of commerce and contract, and in the publicity uniformly given to legal agreements . </P> <P> While its older forms can be studied by the laws of Gortyn, its influence can be traced in legal documents preserved in Egyptian papyri and it may be recognized as a consistent whole in its ultimate relations to Roman law in the eastern provinces of the Roman empire, with scholars in the discipline of comparative law comparing Greek law with both Roman law and the primitive institutions of the Germanic nations . </P>

The oldest source of law in our democracy that is applied by u.s. courts is called