Source Sets / World History
What makes a law code fair?
Law codes from Babylon, Rome, India, China, and Byzantium let students compare how societies defined crimes, punishments, property, and status, and judge what 'fair' meant then and now.
Teach it
✓ Lesson readyA ready-to-run lesson for this set: Socratic Seminar: What Makes a Law Code Fair?. Slides include a hook, one slide per source, directions, a take-a-stand vote, an exit ticket, and a teacher script in the speaker notes.
1. Hook: a striking quote 3-5 min
to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers; so that the strong should not harm the weak
Hammurabi, prologue to his law code (Babylon, c. 1754 BCE)
Ask: Hammurabi said his laws would protect the weak from the strong. As you read the laws today, test his promise: who did each code protect, and who did it not?
2. Main activity: Socratic Seminar: What Makes a Law Code Fair?
Grouping: Fishbowl: inner circle of 8 to 10 speakers, outer circle of observers; switch halfway
Setup: Opening question: “Which of these law codes was the most fair by the standards of its own time, and which seems most fair by ours?” Use the class’s fairness criteria from the hook. There is no single right answer; strong answers quote the codes.
Materials (printables are in the Lesson Plan Doc)
- Seminar text cards for all 6 sources (printable pages in the Lesson Plan Doc)
- Seminar prep sheet (in the Lesson Plan Doc)
- Observer tally sheet
- Prepare 8 min
Students read the six text cards and fill in the prep sheet. Each student marks one quote to use. - Round 1 seminar 12 min
Inner circle discusses the opening question. Rules: talk to each other, not the teacher; cite a code each time; invite quiet voices in. Outer circle tallies who cites evidence. - Switch 2 min
Outer circle moves in. - Round 2 seminar 12 min
Follow-up question: Several codes set different penalties for different kinds of people. Why might ancient societies have thought that was fair? - Debrief and vote 6 min
Observers share one strong comment and one point no one raised. Then use the take-a-stand slide. - Exit ticket 5 min
Students answer on a slip before leaving.
Take a stand: Is a law code fair if it is clear and the same for everyone, even if its punishments are harsh?
- Yes, clarity and equal rules come first: Written laws like the Twelve Tables let both sides state their case, and a public code tells everyone the rules in advance.
- No, the punishments must fit too: Hammurabi’s code and the Laws of Manu relied on severe punishment, and some codes set penalties by status, as with freed men or Romans and Franks.
3. Pacing options
15-minute bell-ringer
- 3 min Hook: Hammurabi’s promise
- 9 min Compare Hammurabi’s laws 196 and 198 with the Salic Law on robbery: who was protected more?
- 3 min Exit ticket question 1
Full 50-minute lesson
- 4 min Hook and fairness criteria
- 8 min Seminar preparation
- 12 min Round 1
- 2 min Switch
- 12 min Round 2
- 7 min Debrief and vote
- 5 min Exit ticket
4. Exit ticket
- Which law code best kept Hammurabi’s promise that “the strong should not harm the weak”? Use a quote.
- Name one law from today that would have seemed unfair in its own time. Explain why.
5. Differentiation
Support
- This set has no Adapted Docs yet; read key passages aloud or chunk them for struggling readers.
- Read the short codes aloud first: the Twelve Tables and the Code of Justinian.
- Provide a word bank: code, penalty, status, freed man, colonus, plunder, decree.
- Sentence frame: “This law protects ___ but not ___, because ___.”
Extension
- Compare the Tang Code’s family-based punishments with the U.S. Constitution’s ban on punishing the family of a person convicted of treason (Article III). Why might the two systems differ?
- The Laws of Manu is often given a very early date. Research how scholars date it today and why.
Suggested sequence
- Code of HammurabiDocument · Yale Avalon Project · World: Ancient (to 500 CE) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 15 minTranslation of the Babylonian law code.Ask: What do laws reveal about a society?Open with this source to frame the question.
- The Twelve Tables 451/450 BCE selectionsDocument · Fordham University · World: Ancient (to 500 CE) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 15 minTranslated primary source: The Twelve Tables 451/450 BCE selections.Ask: What questions would you want to ask the author?
- The Laws of Manu, c. 1500 BCEDocument · Fordham University · World: Medieval (500-1500) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 30+ minTranslated primary source: The Laws of Manu, c. 1500 BCE.Ask: How would people at the time have experienced this rule?
- Selections from The Great Tang Code: Article 6, "The Ten Abominations," by Zhangsun WujiDocument · Columbia University, Asia for Educators · World: Medieval (500-1500) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 15 minTranslated excerpt: Selections from The Great Tang Code: Article 6, "The Ten Abominations," by Zhangsun Wuji, with an introduction from Columbia University's Asia for Educators.Ask: What does this law reveal about what the society valued and feared?
- Codex Justinianus: Coloni Bound to the Soil, c. 530Document · Fordham University · World: Medieval (500-1500) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 5 minTranslated primary source: Codex Justinianus: Coloni Bound to the Soil, c. 530.Ask: How would people at the time have experienced this rule?
- The Salic LawDocument · Yale Avalon Project · World: Medieval (500-1500) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 20 minThe law code of the Salian Franks, with fines for crimes.Ask: What does a law code reveal about who mattered in a society?Close with this source before writing.
Culminating writing prompt
Using evidence from at least three sources in this set, write an argument that answers the question: “What makes a law code fair?” Cite each source by title, explain how its author, audience, and purpose affect its reliability, and respond to at least one counterargument.
Printable writing sheet (make a copy)
Students can plan with the Claim-Evidence-Reasoning organizer.