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paragraphe · A counter-indictment, in which the defendant charges the plaintiff with bringing an illegal prosecution. The procedure was invented (or possibly re-organised) around 400, to help those threatened with charges which broke the Amnesty: the latter had been imposed under Spartan supervision to protect former supporters of the Thirty Tyrants, the oligarchic junta of 404/3 which had been overthrown by the democratic restoration of 403/2. Paragraphe, however rapidly extended its scope: for the defendant, it seems to have had the advantage that it was itself a prosecution; whereas the older procedure of diamarturia simply served to block a particular claim by the plaintiff, paragraphe enabled the defendant to turn the tables, becoming himself the prosecutor and (if successful) imposing a penalty on his opponent.

Greek: παραγραφή.

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