Give an example of Draco's law?

Answer 1

Draco was a late-7th Century (ca 621 BCE) Athenian magistrate who reformed and codified the laws. Punishments were severe. When asked why some crimes carried the death penalty when much greater crimes carried the same penalty, he responded that he thought the lesser crimes deserved death, and couldn't think of anything more for the worse ones. This code has given rise to the modern expression Draconian when referring to very severe rules. Although his laws were severe, they contained many basic sensible and civilised rationalisations, eg murder must be punished by the state and not by vendetta. The laws were revamped and relaxed by Solon in the 6th Century.

Answer 2

Draco was an Athenian tyrant. Draco's laws were some of the first written laws after Hammerabi's Code. Even though his laws were very harsh it was a step towards democracy for Greece because it limited the rulers' power. They limited power in that everyone had to follow them (including Draco) and they couldn't be made up as things happened.

Answer 3

"Around 600 B.C., a Greek citizen named Draco developed a written code of law for the Athens population. This code of law, by today's standards, is so severe and infamous that another eponym was formed into our language. We now use the term Draconian to describe an unusually harsh law. Draco's laws eliminated private modes of justice and placed all legal authority in the government's hands. While some misdemeanors were punishable by death, some severe crimes were punishable by exile." Examples of original Draco Laws... "Even if a man unintentionally kills another, he is exiled. The kings are to adjudge responsibility for the homicide either the killer or the planner; and the ephetai are to judge the case. If there is a father or brother or sons, pardon is to be agreed to by all, or the one who opposes is to prevail. But if none of these survives, by those up to the degree of first cousin once removed and first cousin, if all are willing to agree to a pardon; but the one who opposes is to prevail. But if not one of these survives, and if he killed unintentionally and the fifty-phratry members admit him to the country and let the fifty-one choose these by rank. And let also those who killed previoiusly be bound by this law.

A proclamation is to be made against the killer in the market place by the victim's relatives as far as the degree of cousin's son and cousin. The prosecution is be shared by the cousins and cousins's sons and by sons-in-law, fathers-in-law, and phratry members...

http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/compass/0307/4.html "And if without pronoia [one man kills another], let him be exiled; and dikazein tous basileas. Guilty of homicide [is either the perpetrator] or the planner; and the ephetai shall diagnonai." According to C., dikazein tous basileasmeans that the kings shall propose a formal means of resolving a case, for example by oaths or witnesses. Only if the litigants fail to agree to a formal means, do the ephetai then adjudicate their dispute. As G. Thuer has shown, dikazein can mean to propose a formal means of resolving a dispute, in Homer for example by an oath or a payment acceptable to both parties(1). (1) Ref: G. Thür, "Zum dikazein bei Homer," ZSS 87 (1970) 426-44. (From http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2000/2000-05-02.html#n1