Peter Freund Portfolio Reflection

6/18/2017 Law & Ethics

HIST 134 122921

Law and Ethics are one of the most important pieces of any so-called Democracy.

America boasts of its judicial system which is one of the most costly, vast, and thorough systems

in the world. Our law all comes back to a single, agreed upon, document the Constitution.

From there it spreads out, having hundreds of thousands of written laws. It would make the

ancient Greeks envious.

As good as it would be to start with the Greeks, I would rather start with Cyrus the Great

from Persia. In America, the Greek world is cited more than necessary as a prime example of

Democracy. During this time, for as forward thinking as the Greeks were, the Persians - under

Cyrus - had a much more tolerant and kind government. There is no such thing as perfect but Id

like to show that the Persians had a gentler and more productive approach to law and ethics. To

start, Cyrus when he conquered Media, Lydia, and Babylon allowed displaced people to

return home and allowing them to continue to follow their own customs and religion (Mod 6,

Wikipedia). His conquering of Babylon and political shrewdness gave way to him creating

strategic trade routes for the Achaemenid Empire (Mod 6, Wikipedia). The Jews, who he let

return to Jerusalem and build a temple (even giving them financial and political support), is a

direct representation of the Cyrus Cylinder which is an important legal document that supports

religious freedom and tolerance (Vision & Motivation, Tavaana). Cyrus even included local

clergy and elites into his new ruling structure (Goals & Objectives, Tavaana). Cyrus did not
allow this to happen for no reason, however. His mind was political, and therefore, he saw a

benefit from pursuing gentle options. If he had pushed back against other religions and people

Cyrus would have had to deal with rebellions. Since the Persian Empire was just forming, Cyrus

could not afford to take that route, and in the end, emerged as a benevolent ruler. This is not to

say there werent things like slavery, however, the way they were treated was entirely different.

Slaves were closer to laborers than in-servitude; almost everyone was paid based on their skill

and what they brought to the job (Ildari, Cannon, The Persian Empire). The tolerant and kind

laws he enforced reflected a Greatness not seen in other leaders. Cyrus earned the Great,

unlike many other warring idols. Im not all for god-like rulers, Nero and Commodus should be a

distinct reminder of that, but there is much we can learn from his leadership. Cyruss style and

determination left one of the biggest impacts of any leader on their entire civilization.

Next, I would like to pursue the Mesopotamians and having the best organized and

longest code of laws from ancient times. King Hammurabi, who ruled from (1792 1750 BCE),

had the laws inscribed on stone stelae which was placed in various temples throughout his

realm (Mod 2, Mesopotamia Law & Government). This was one of the first forms of written

law, consisting of 282 laws. Hammurabis code is influenced by the eye for an eye form of

justice (Hammurabis Code, Ancient History Encyclopedia). The code helped create order and

described a simple straightforward way to offer consolation (and hopefully retribution) for

crimes committed. Since Hammurabi conquered the Sumer and Akkad, controlling the amassing

culture under the Mesopotamian Empire (Hammurabis Code, Ancient History Encyclopedia).

The code was a sign of comfort to the regular citizen and a warning to the dissenting. Although

we do not know as much about Mesopotamia as we do Persia or Greece, we can understand

through the development of laws and the way they approached law making (as in the eye for an

eye stance) says a lot about a culture and society. However, the law is only one part of the

whole, if we dont view their writings along with the actions we cannot formulate an

intelligible position or even a responsible reflection. We know Mesopotamia had slaves, we

know that they conquered and subjugated just like Persia, but unlike Persia, we dont know

much about how they enacted their laws. We can only make theories based on clues left behind.

The Hammurabi Code is a testament to the strength and perseverance of law throughout history,

and, written or oral, law is necessary to the progress of civilization. Mesopotamia is a major part

of history because of their ideas on law and ethics (not to mention their art and architecture).

Lastly, I will bring up the Greeks. This is the most relevant example to America, and it is

truly a reflection of the way we conduct our judicial system. Ancient Greece was the founding

father of Democracy and, in a way, the process of which laws are created (in modern day US).

I wont argue the Greeks are relevant to our society, but I will argue that they shouldnt be put on

the pedestal we give them. Their treatment of women, of slaves, and of outsiders was distasteful

at best. However, they have printed the lasting blueprint of the ideal law system, in western

minds. We may not accept the bad in their society, but the concept of no one man having too

much power is directly Greek. I think when most people bring up the Greek government, they

mean the monarchy which shared power with an assembly, specifically Athens (not Sparta)

(Cartwright, Greek Government). At 18 any male citizen could speak at the assemblies (in

theory), which just like today, any 18 year old male or female can vote for local, state, and

federal representatives who speak for them(Cartwright, Greek Government). I think the most

important thing we should take away from the Greeks is how their system greatly influenced
ours. Although, the Hammurabi Code lasted thousands of years, the influence is not seen like

that of the Greeks. Greek law and government systems are almost directly replicated today, in

America. A system created around 460BCE and made its way all to 2017CE, almost 2500 years.

This system not only had a major impact on Greek society in the past, but stayed influential till

the present.

Today our system of laws and ethics are fundamentally damaged. Our congress and

senate closely resemble Greek aristocrats more than the states they claim to represent. Corruption

is the day to day and actions/laws are done for show, rather than to an actual effect. We argue

over personal delusions, splitting our country in two. If things get worse, we could mimic Rome,

split in two and fall apart. There is much to learn from the past about law, ethics, and

government - history is duly important to our future. Without history, we know nothing.
 Bibliography

"Achaemenid Empire." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 31 Jan. 2005. Web. 13 June

2017. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire>.

"Cyrus the Great and Religious Tolerance." Tavaana. E-Collaborative for Civic
Education, n.d. Web. 13 June 2017. <https://tavaana.org/en/content/cyrus-great-and-religious-
tolerance>.

Engineering an Empire: The Persians. Dir. Hassan Ildari and Mark Cannon. Perf. Peter
Weller, Michael Carroll, Beeta Hadian. THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. KPI Productions, Mechanism
Digital, 5 Nov. 2012. Web. 13 June 2017. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcTnjj1dtd0>.\

"Life In Mesopotamia." Ancient Mesopotamia: This History, Our History. Life in

Mesopotamia. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 June 2017.
<http://mesopotamia.lib.uchicago.edu/mesopotamialife/index.php>.

"Hammurabi's Code: Babylonian Law Set in Stone." Ancient History Encyclopedia.

Ancient History Encyclopedia Limited, 04 Oct. 2011. Web. 13 June 2017.
<http://www.ancient.eu/article/68/>.

Cartwright, Mark. "Greek Government." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History

Encyclopedia Limited, 17 Mar. 2013. Web. 13 June 2017.
<http://www.ancient.eu/Greek_Government/>.