HISTORICAL ROOTS
OF LAW
Turning Points in History - Hammurabi's Code of Laws http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDALXORbtR4
Hidden Histories: Law and Orderhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxOZ7KUC1yk
Code of Hammurabi
(Babylonian King, 3800 years ago)
• Took nearly 300 laws and
recorded them in a way
that could be understood
by his citizens
• One of earliest records of
written law
• Codification – process of
arranging written laws so they
can be understood
• Categories (family, criminal,
property…)
• Judges could match offense
and punishment by looking at
the written ‘code’
• ‘Code’ principles
• the strong should not injure
the weak
• Retribution – Every crime
deserved a punishment
• (eye for an eye)
Code of Hammurabi (column of
stone)
Created about 3800 years ago
Discovered in 1901
Modern Day Iraq
Kept at the Louvre in Paris,
France
Structure of Society:
• GODS
• KING
• MALE NOBLES
• WIVES & CHILDREN OF MALE NOBLES
• POOR AND SLAVES
Let’s Look at their Laws…
• http://avalon.law.yale.edu/ancient/hamframe.asp
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w5NGOHbgTw
• Why is Hammurabi’s code significant?
• What aspects of Hammurabi’s do we still value in
current legal society?
Legal Significance - Hammurabi
• Laws reflected a patriarchal society
• Wealthy given more protection than the poor
• Laws based both on retribution and restitution, but mostly on
retribution
• KEY TERMS:
• Codification =
• Patriarchal =
• Restitution =
• Retribution =
Moses and Mosaic Law
• Centuries after Hammurabi
• Laws given to Moses –
make up the first five
books of the Old Testament
(613 laws or ‘mitzvot’) –
including the ‘Ten
Commandments”
• Holds a central position in
both the Jewish and
Christian faiths
• Punishmens of Mosaic law
were severe
Mosaic Law
• Concerned with punishing a deliberate action than an
accidental act of harm
• Likely to punish the guilty party than permit a person of
high status to shift punishment to a person of lesser status
• Care for the poor was expressed
• Both the Code of Hammurabi and the Mosaic Law show
the importance of respect for the parents
• Human Rights: Mosaic Law • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUURj3U70XU
Legal Significance
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=Id6oS3L-D9A
• Religion as a source of law and
morality
• Laws come from ‘God’
• First 4 commandments – belief
and loyalty to one God
• Next 6 commandments –
relationships between people
• Protection and care for the poor
Greek Law (around 400 BCE)
• Only a small number of
people in ancient Greece
(Athens) were recognized as
citizens and had political
rights
• Citizens excluded women,
children, aliens and slaves
• Women who were on trial
were not allowed to speak for
themselves
• Responsibilities of the citizen
included voting, jury duty and
the running of the country
• Our jury system can be traced
to Athens, though they
originally had as many as
1501 jurors
The Trial of Socrates
The trial of Socrates took place over a nine-to-ten hour
period in the People's Court, located in the agora, the civic
center of Athens. The jury consisted of 500 male citizens
over the age of thirty, chosen by lot from among volunteers.
Athens used very large numbers of jurors, from 500 to as
many as 1501, in part as a protection against bribes: who
could afford to bribe 500 people? All jurors were required to
swear by the gods of Zeus, Apollo, and Demeter the Heliastic
Oath:
"I will cast my vote in consonance with the laws and decrees
passed by the Assembly and by the Council, but, if there is
no law, in consonance with my sense of what is most just,
without favor or enmity. I will vote only on the matters
raised in the charge, and I will listen impartially to the
accusers and defenders alike."
The Death of Socrates - Jacques-Louis David (1787)
Legal Significance – Greek Law
• Responsibilities of the citizen included voting, jury duty and the
running of the country
• Jury system
Egyptian Law
• Based on a common sense view of right and wrong,
following the codes based on the concept of Ma'at.
• Ma'at (goddess) represented truth, order, balance and
justice in the universe.
• This concept allowed that everyone, with the exception
of slaves, should be viewed as equals under the law,
regardless of wealth or social position.
• However, when punishment was carried out, often the
entire family of the guilty suffered as well.
• For example, when individuals were sentenced to exile,
their children were automatically outlawed along with
them. If a relative deserted from military service, or
defaulted on the labor demands of the state, the entire
family might be imprisoned.
Legal Significance – Egyptian Law
• Sense of right and wrong
• Everyone, with the exception of slaves, should be
viewed as equals under the law, regardless of
wealth or social position
Roman Empire (100CE – 500CE)
Roman Law
• http://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=tSKQCS4V-dg
• Began by early Romans –
became the basis of law
for Western Europe
(except England)
• As the Roman Empire
grew so did the
complexity and number
of its laws
• New profession devoted
to the study of legal
matters developed - Law
• Byzantine emperor Justinian (527564CE) codified 1000 years of Roman
law to create the “Justinian Code”
• Laws emphasized equality – that the
law should be fair and just, and that all
people are equal under the law,
regardless of their wealth or power
Roman Law
• Roman law is based on two basic
principles:
• (1) the law must be recorded
• (2) justice cannot be left in the hands
of judges alone to interpret
• The Twelve Tablets are now
considered the foundation of
modern law
• Laws reflected a patriarchal society
- women had no status as persons
• Because the Roman Empire had
spread into a large sophisticated
and complex society laws increased
– as laws increased so did the need
to have people who were
• Experts in the field of law to advise
those who were not = LAWYERS
A Roman Soldier trumpets the arrival of the new laws.
Note the tools that identify the workers and the woman
who is calling to others to come and see the laws.
Legal Significance
• Public prosecution of crimes
• Citizens should be represented by an expert of
law – trained lawyers
• Trial by Jury
• Trial procedures – opening/closing statements,
present evidence…
France and the Napoleonic Code
• French military and political leader during
the latter stages of the French Revolution.
• As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the
French from 1804 to 1815.
• Napoleon commissioned a new code of laws
called the Napoleonic Code, also known as
the French Civil Code
• These laws represented a compromise
between the Germanic law of northern
France and the Justinian Code of Southern
France
• This law became popular because its nontechnical style made the law accessible to
the public
NAPOLEON THE LAWMAKER
Painting by Jean-Baptiste
Mauzaisse
France and the Napoleonic Code
The Napoleonic Empire in 1812
“I closed the gulf of anarchy and brought order out of chaos. I
rewarded merit regardless of birth or wealth, wherever I found
it. I abolished feudalism and restored equality to all regardless
of religion and before the law. I fought the decrepit
monarchies of the Old Regime because the alternative was the
destruction of all this. I purified the Revolution."
-Napoleon Bonaparte
Legal Significance – Napoleonic Code
• Created a Civil Code – made law accessible to all
people (amended code still used in France and
Quebec)
• Education accessible to public – primary and
university
• All citizens are equal under the law – regardless
of social standing
• All people paid taxes – poor did not pay more tax
vs. rich
• Separations between religion and government
• Religious tolerance – no discrimination
Justinian’s Code
• After 395 CE the Roman Empire was split into the
Byzantine Empire and the Western Roman Empire
• Byzantine Emperor Justinian commissioned ten men to
study and clarify the 1600 books of Roman Law
• Justinian Code served as an important basis for law in
contemporary society
Legal Significance
• The term ‘justice’ is derived from Justinian’s
name
• Formed the basis of civil law (laws governing
personal relationships) which, along with
criminal law, became one of the main legal
systems to govern western civilization
One of the carvings around the walls of Napoleon’s tomb - Napoleon is
shown with the Justinian code in his right hand and the Napoleonic
code in his left