The Code of Hammurabi

Alec Lindsey

World Civilizations 101 01

9-19-14

        The Code of Hammurabi, in ancient Babylon King Hammurabi wasn’t aware of it but he created the first form of democracy. This was a framework of government that he used in his Empire to keep order, and peace. His ideas and laws that he ruled his great Empire so successfully with carried over throughout history. Over time as other great Empires and nations prospered, many similarities arise in how these Empires were ruled. Civilizations such as the Barbarians in Germania, and the Romans in Italy had common features regarding their laws and punishments for disobedience or injustices.

        In ancient Babylon, the Code of Hammurabi stated in the 22nd law that “If a man commits a robbery and is then seized, that man shall be killed…”^[1] In these early civilizations, these harsh punishments were normal to these citizens. It was only fair to have some form of punishment for being unjust. So if a man was robbed of something and caught the perpetrator, the thief will be killed. These punishments in the Babylonian Empire weren’t uncommon. King Hammurabi believed in the idea of “eye for an eye” which meant an equal punishment for an injustice. This wasn’t the case in every law he created, but he based a lot of his punishments on equality.

        In the early Roman Empire, ten legislators were assigned by Roman politicians to create a framework of government laws and govern their people with these laws. They created the Twelve Tables of Roman Law, which were categorized laws that touched on punishments and rules to follow. A law that is claimed in Table 2 section 4 states that “Where anyone commits a theft by night, and having been caught in the act is killed, he is legally killed.”^[2] This is a crazy concept to grasp, that any man can be killed for being accused of thievery. This is very common to the law that King Hammurabi used in his Empire. This was the only way that in these time periods, these civilizations could make laws that were just to everyone. In present time this law would not be very fair to anyone and would be absurd, a man would stand a court hearing and there his penalties would be notified. The most the punishment would be is a hefty fine, and possible jail time depending on what the crime was or what was stolen. It isn’t fair to the person accused of the crime to be only accused of theft and killed for that, there needs to be proof of evidence. If someone is accused of a crime such as this, and has no evidence and is just assuming than that person can get into a lot of trouble for just that.  

        In Germania, the Barbarians had extremely harsh punishments almost the most inhumane punishments that have ever existed. Dastards otherwise known as someone sneaking or being a malicious coward and stealing from another, was doomed to a harsh way of death. The punishments varied due to the principle of the crime committed, but never the less, the perpetrator was not going to get away from it. The delinquency was another factor that played part in the decision of punishment, sometimes a younger person would be fined by their cattle and horses and that would be obtained by the king. For a full grown man who is caught committing these crimes or even accused of doing so would be killed. Some of these punishments would consist of being drowned and suffocated in mud, or hung from a tree. These were not uncommon for the Barbarians of Germania, they were very aware of the harsh punishments that awaited them for these crimes. This was a somewhat useful way of preventing such crimes, because no one wanted to be killed in such a brutal aspect or to be made as an example of what not to do. The laws that took place in the time of the Barbarians are also known to have carried over by the majority, to the Vikings civilization. These people were also very brutal with their punishments, and lived a very similar lifestyle in being fearless soldiers and conquering many other nations.

        Under King Hammurabi’s rule it is found in his law code given to him under the Gods, that “If he should break the bone of another man, they shall break his bone.”^[3] This was found in the Code of Hammurabi stated in law 197. This is a very harsh punishment to take into hand. For instance, what if there was some sort of accident and a man was hurt by another? The punishment would most likely be the same, just because King Hammurabi believed so much in the concept “eye for an eye”. This could be a law that is very unfair but at the time equality was a must and this was the first set of laws based on a democracy. There are many scenarios that this could happen and it would be crazy to break another man’s bone to be fair. If a man was building a house for someone, and something went wrong and was dropped on another worker by accident, it would only be fair to break the bone of the man who broke his.

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