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From: The Spectator
Date: 20051029
Author:Jones, Peter

Craig Brown's exquisite disembowelling of the 'publicist' Max Clifford in the review pages the other week would have reminded the Greek comedian Aristophanes (c. 450-386 BC ) of his attacks on a similar pest in the Athenian world -- the sukophantês (lit. 'figrevealer': origin quite obscure).

The problem started with the Athenian reformer Solon (c. 640-560 BC ), who instituted a legal system without a state prosecution service. The result was that all cases had to be brought privately.

This worked perfectly well when a litigant had been personally harmed, but it created problems when the ...

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