It was 621 BC in Athens, in ancient Greece. A man named Draco was chosen to write out the first laws for the city. For 900 years prior to that in Athens, laws were oral. In other words, not written down.
Draco wrote his laws on pyramid shaped rocks mounted on sticks that could be twirled around, so you could read each side. These laws were draconian. The death penalty was mandated for almost everything. If you stole a cabbage, you faced death. If you stole an apple, you faced death. If you committed a murder, you faced death. Tough-on-crime Republicans like radio personality Dan O’Donnell might be approving of Draco’s laws.
Draco’s laws were so harsh they were almost entirely repealed in 594 BC by the great lawgiver Solon. The laws were so savage that they lasted only 27 years before reason set in. The laws were so draconian that Draco’s name became the English word “draconian”!!!
Draco was asked why his laws were so draconian. He replied that the only way to prevent the lesser crimes like theft, was death.
AND SINCE THERE WAS NO WORSE PUNISHMENT THAN DEATH, MURDER WAS ALSO PUNISHABLE BY DEATH. – By Rolf Lindgren
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