The Birth of Law
Rules and laws — and the conventions or customs from which they are descended — have been a part of human life ever since our ancestors first began to live in large and settled groups. But our knowledge is vague of laws that were in effect before the invention of writing in about 3500 B.C. The earliest known legal text was written by Ur-Nammu, a king of the Mesopotamian city of Ur, in about 2100 B.C. It dealt largely with compensation for bodily injuries, and with the penalties for witchcraft and runaway slaves.
TASK 1. Find in the text the words that mean the following:
• the use of magic power, especially with the aid of evil spirits
• a punishment imposed for a violation of law or rule
• an accepted social custom or practice
• not clearly or explicitly stated or expressed
• payment for damage or loss, restitution
• one from whom a person is descended
• harm or damage done or suffered
TASK 2. Answer the following questions:
1. Why is it difficult to judge about the earliest laws?
2. Where and why did the first laws appear?
3. What issues did the early laws emphasise? Why?
TASK 3. The word LEGAL has the following meanings in Russian:
Юридический
legal person — юридическое лицо
Правовой
legal text — правовой текст
3)судебный
legal action — судебный иск
Законный, дозволенный законом
legal owner — законный владелец
Легальный
legal activities — правомерная, законная деятельность
TASK 4. Read the text and write down Russian equivalents for the words and expressions in bold type:
Laws of Babylon
One of the most detailed ancient legal codes was drawn up in about 1758 B.C. by Hammurabi, a king of Babylonia. The entire code, consisting of 282 paragraphs, was carved into a great stone pillar, which was set up in a temple to the Babylonian god Marduk so that it could be read by every citizen.
The pillar, lost for centuries after the fall of Babylon in the 16th century B.C., was rediscovered by a French archaeologist in 1901 amid the ruins of the Persian city of Susa. Hammurabi's words were still legible. The pillar is now in the Louvre museum in Paris.
The laws laid down by Hammurabi were more extensive than any that had gone before. They covered crime, divorce and marriage, the rights of slave owners and slaves, the settlement of debts, inheritance and property contracts; there were even regulations about taxes and the prices of goods.
Punishments under the code were often harsh. The cruel principle of revenge was observed: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, which meant that criminals had to receive as punishment precisely those injuries and damages they had inflicted upon their victims. Not only murderers but also thieves and false accusers faced the death penalty. And a child who hit his father could expect to lose the hand that struck the blow. The code outlawed private blood feuds and banned the tradition by which a man could kidnap and keep the woman he wanted for his bride. In addition, the new laws took account of the circumstances of the offender as well as of the offence. So a lower-ranking citizen who lost a civil case would be fined less than an aristocrat in the same position — though he would also be awarded less if he won.
Nevertheless, Hammurabi's laws represented an advance on earlier tribal customs, because the penalty could not be harder than the crime.
TASK 5. Answer the following questions:
1. Why do you think Hammurabi decided to have his laws carved into a pillar?
2. Why was the pillar set up in a temple?
3. What spheres of human life were covered by Hammurabi's code? Explain the choice.
4. How do you understand the principle "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth"?
5. In your opinion, were punishments always fair?
6. Why do you think people of different ranks were treated differently by Hammurabi's code?
TASK 7. Translate the following passage into English paying special attention to the words and expressions in bold type:
Кодекс Хаммурапи
В 1901 году французские археологи обнаружили каменный столб среди руин персидского города Сузы. Текст, высеченный на столбе, был древнейшим сводом законов. Он был составлен Хаммурапи, царем Вавилона, в XVIII столетии до н. э.
Кодекс Хаммурапи состоит из 282 статей. Выставленный в храме вавилонского бога Мардука, 'столб законов' должен был служить правосудию и одновременно напоминать: законы должны знать все.
Кодекс охватывал все сферы жизни. Он ставил вне закона кровную месть, убийство, похищение невесты. Наказания за них были суровы.
В основе Кодекса лежит идея талиона: наказание должно быть "равным" преступлению — 'око за око, зуб за зуб'. В соответствии с кодексом, если человек, обвинивший другого в краже, не мог привести свидетелей, подтверждающих его слова, ему грозила смерть как клеветнику.
Кодекс также рассматривал вопросы имущества и наследства. Хаммурапи устанавливал денежный штраф, при назначении которого учитывалось как само правонарушение, так социальное положение граждан.
TASK 1. Read the text and write down Russian equivalents for the words and expressions in bold type:
The Legal Heritage of Greece and Rome
The ancient Greeks were among the first to develop a concept of law that separated everyday law from religious beliefs. Before the Greeks most civilizations attributed their laws to their gods or goddesses. Instead, the Greeks believed that laws were made by the people for the people.
In the seventh century B.C., Draco* drew up Greece's first written code of laws. Under Draco's code death was the punishment for most offenses. Thus, the term draconian usually applies to extremely harsh measures.
Several decades passed before Solon — poet, military hero, and ultimately Athens' lawgiver — devised a new code of laws. Trial by jury, an ancient Greek tradition was retained, but enslaving debtors was prohibited as were most of the harsh punishments of Draco's code. Under Solon's law citizens of Athens were eligible to serve in the assembly and courts were established in which they could appeal government decisions.
What the Greeks may have contributed to the Romans was the concept of 'natural law'. In essence, natural law was based on the belief that certain basic principles are above the laws of a nation. These principles arise from the nature of people. The concept of natural law and the development of the first true legal system had a profound effect on the modern world.
*Draco — [‘dreikou] — Драконт (т.ж. Трахонт), афинский законодатель
TASK 2. Answer the following questions:
1. What does the ancient Greek concept of law comprise?
2. Why were the first laws mainly attributed to divine powers?
3. What is the origin and the meaning of the word 'draconian'?
4. How do you understand the concept of 'natural law'?
5. What was Solon's contribution to ancient law?
TASK 3. Read the text and use the words in bold type to render the text in Task 6:
Solon (b. 630 — d. 560 B.C.)
Solon, the Athenian statesman, is known as one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece. He ended exclusive aristocratic control of the government, substituted a system of control by the wealthy, and introduced a new and more humane law code. He was also a noted poet.
Unfortunately it was not until the 5th century B.C. that accounts of his life and works began to be put together, mostly on the evidence of his poems and his law code. Although certain details have a legendary ring, the main features of his story seem to be reliable.
Solon was of noble descent but moderate means. He first became prominent in about 600 B.C. The early 6th century was a troubled time for the Athenians. Society was dominated by an aristocracy of birth, who owned the best land, monopolized the government, and were themselves split into rival factions. The social, economic, and political evils might well have culminated in a revolution and subsequent tyranny (dictatorship), as they had in other Greek states, had it not been for Solon, to whom Athenians of all classes turned in the hope of a generally satisfactory solution of their problems. Because he believed in moderation and in an ordered society in which each class had its proper place and function, his solution was not revolution but reform.
Solon's great contribution to the future good of Athens was his new code of laws. The first written code at Athens, that of Draco, was still in force. Draco's laws were shockingly severe (hence the term draconian), so severe that they were said to have been written not in ink but in blood. On the civil side they permitted enslavement for debt, and death seems to have been the penalty for almost all criminal offenses. Solon revised every statute except that on homicide and made Athenian law altogether more humane.
TASK 4. Render the following text into English using the vocabulary and information from the texts above:
Драконт
Драконт — афинский законодатель, чьи крайне суровые законы предусматривали только одно наказание — смерть — за незначительные нарушения и тяжкие преступления, совершенные в Афинах. Его имя теперь связывают со всем жестоким и безжалостным — 'драконовские меры', 'драконовы законы', 'драконовский кодекс'.
Кодекс Драконта, который принято датировать 621 г. до н.э., не был первым записанным сводом афинских законов, но он, возможно, был первым всеобъемлющим кодексом или переработкой предыдущих законов.
Позднее Солон отменил драконтовы законы и издал новые, оставив лишь прежнее наказание за убийство.