Sometimes our blogs can be a bit lighter in tone, although... you be the judge...
Courts and the legal profession have changed significantly over the centuries. While Charlemagne had to urge his judges to deliver sober justice, today our magistrates perform their duties with great dedication. Nevertheless, some elements have remained the same over time. From "the sack" and "the bull" to "the cauldron" and "the barrel," a good lawyer is just as indispensable today as it was centuries ago.
The Punishment of the Sack
Although our current legal system shows some similarities to Roman law, certain principles differ significantly. For instance, during the Republic, the Roman family patriarch, or "pater familias," held supreme authority. He could decide on his children’s wealth, marriage, and even life.
The central role of the "pater familias" made patricide one of the most serious crimes. The punishment for this was, to say the least, "peculiar" and was known as the "punishment of the sack" (poena cullei). The Roman jurist Modestinus described this punishment in detail:
"The punishment for patricide, as prescribed by our ancestors, is that the perpetrator is beaten with rods stained with his blood, then sewn into a sack with a dog, a rooster, a snake, and a monkey, and the sack is thrown into the depths of the sea, that is, if the sea is nearby; otherwise, it is thrown to wild beasts, according to the Constitution of the divine Hadrian." (Dig. 48.9.9.)
The Bull
According to tradition, the Athenian Perilaus invented a torture device for Phalaris, the ruler of Sicily. Specifically, a bronze bull. The idea was that the prisoner would be locked inside the bull and burned alive. According to the inventor, the cries of the unfortunate victim would produce a "melodious bellowing." However, according to the satirist Lucian, Phalaris was "not amused" and had Perilaus himself die inside the bronze bull.
Although Lucian’s satire should be taken with a grain of salt, according to tradition, several saints perished in the bronze bull. For instance, Saint Eustachius was allegedly boiled in the bull on Emperor Hadrian’s orders.
The Cauldron
Even in the late Middle Ages, "original" punishments were devised. For instance, counterfeiters were punished with the so-called "cauldron death," which involved boiling the convicted person alive in a cauldron of hot oil. Such a cauldron can still be "admired" in Deventer, the Netherlands.
However, English King Henry VIII deemed the cauldron death suitable for other crimes as well. When a cook poisoned several people, Henry VIII declared that poisoning would henceforth be considered high treason, and perpetrators would be boiled alive.
And the Barrel
Not only serious crimes like patricide or poisoning were punished in unusual ways; drunkenness was also not tolerated. Drunkards who had disturbed public order were, in the Middle Ages, placed in a so-called "drunkard’s cloak": a barrel with only their head sticking out. To make the punishment not only humiliating but also painful, these "barrels" were sometimes equipped with metal spikes or weighted down with weights.
Clients today are no longer burned or boiled alive if they were poorly represented, but danger often still lurks in unexpected corners.
So don’t hesitate to visit Vanbelle Law Boutique in time for your legal and tax questions and concerns.
Hugo Decker
Junior Associate
