Writing Laws: Hammurabi to Solon

People are still writing laws as rules of behaviour in our society, and they started long time ago, so you should know more about them and their history (what we know so far), so you watch or listen the lecture done yesterday by Professor Melissa Lane, Gresham Professor of Rhetoric.

When and why do written laws emerge in ancient societies, and when started to writte them in books instead of scuplting them into the walls or any other visible place? Writing is important, and the lesture consideres it. This lecture also considers these questions in light of evidence such as the law code of Hammurabi; the earliest attestation of written laws in Greek (found in Crete); and the full-blown commitment to written laws by the Athenian lawgiver Solon. It explores how writing relates to the functions of law more generally, in light of debates in contemporary legal philosophy.