On Sunday, March 8, 2026, International Women’s Day, the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion presents the final lecture of the archaeological temporary exhibition EKATOMBOLIS: The World of Archaic Crete.

The speaker will be Dr. Maria Giouni, Professor of Legal History at the Law School of the Democritus University of Thrace.

The lecture will be introduced by Ms. Georgia Milaki, Deputy Regional Governor of Crete for Culture and Equality.

The belief that women, as the “weaker sex,” are disadvantaged compared to men runs throughout human history, as it was only in the 20th century that gender equality was enshrined in law in most countries. In ancient societies, women’s role was mainly confined to the home, while public life belonged to men. In Athens and Rome, women were deprived of political rights, had no independent property rights, and were subject to lifelong guardianship, as their transactions were carried out through a guardian, even if that guardian was their own son.
Less well known is the fact that in ancient Crete, women had more freedoms and legally guaranteed rights.

A valuable source for understanding this reality is the famous Great Inscription of Gortyna, a leading monument of ancient Greek law.

This unique inscription captures the image of Gortynia in the 5th century BC, a woman with extensive property and inheritance rights. The women of Gortyna appear to have been self-sufficient and financially independent from their husbands, with the right to manage their property, a reality that differs significantly from what was the case in other areas of the ancient Greek world.

Maria Giouni is Professor of Legal History at the Law School of Democritus University of Thrace. She is Director of the Postgraduate Program in Private Law and Student Ombudsman at Democritus University of Thrace. She has served as Dean of the Law School of the Democritus University of Thrace, member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, Marie Curie Fellow of the Gerda Henkel Foundation, a partner at Royal Holloway University of London, a visiting professor and partner at Balliol College, University of Oxford.

Her academic interests focus on legal and political institutions from antiquity to the modern era. Her books, publications, and lectures deal in particular with the emergence of positive law in the Archaic period, especially in the cities of Crete, the interaction of Greek and Roman institutions in Roman Greece, the position of women and slaves, and the relationship between ancient drama and law and politics. Her publications include, among others, the studies Provincia Macedonia: Institutions of Private Law in Macedonia during the Roman Empire, City Law: Justice and Legislation in the Ancient Greek City, The Genesis of Written Law in Doric Crete, and History of Political Institutions in Antiquity. She has organized numerous national and international conferences and has edited collective volumes and conference proceedings.