Soru

In classical Athens during the fourth century BCE, inscribed stone markers known as horoi were erected on real property to signify encumbrances, such as mortgages or dowry pledges. Legal historians long assumed that horoi functioned as formal public records analogous to modern title registries, establishing an uncontestable public notice of debt. However, recent epigraphic surveys reveal that horoi omitted essential contractual details: they rarely recorded the total amount of debt owed, the interest rates, or the maturity dates of the loans, and often failed even to identify the creditor by name. Instead, the primary legal utility of the horos appears to have been evidentiary and symbolic within local communities, serving notice that the current occupant did not possess unencumbered ownership and thus could not alienate the property or offer it as security to another creditor. Because Athenian law lacked a centralized civic land registry, creditors relied upon local communal memory and the physical presence of the stone to deter fraudulent subsequent encumbrances, rather than using it to enforce automatic title transfers upon default.

Based on the passage, which of the following statements about fourth-century BCE Athenian horoi and credit practices are logically supported? (Select all that apply.)