"The first stage in the evolution of law is personal revenge. "Vengeance is mine," say sthe primitive individual; "I will repay." Among the Indian tribes of Lower California every man was his own policeman, and administered justice in the form of such vengeance as he was strong enough to take. So in many early societies the murder of A by B led to the murder of B by A's son or friend C, the murder of C by B's son or friend D, and so on perhaps to the end of the alphabet; we may find examples among the purest-blooded American families of today. The principle of revenge persists throughout the history of law: it appears in the Lex Talionis (a phrase apparently invented by Cicero -- or Law of Retaliation -- embodied in Roman Law; it plays a large role in the Code of Hammurabi, and in the "Mosaic" demand of "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth"; and it lurks behind most legal punishments even in our day."
Will Durant, Story of Civilization, Vol.1: Our Oriental Heritage, Ch.3, Pt.III, 1935 (bold added)
No comments:
Post a Comment