Source set · 6 sources ✓ Lesson ready

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.

Timeline of key events →Unit: The Ancient World →

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✓ Lesson ready

A 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.

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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

Leveled readings: 4 key passages in this set are adapted to about grade 4, 7, and 10 reading levels, shown next to the original wording.

Leveled readings (make a copy)

Code of Hammurabi
Document · Yale Avalon Project · World: Ancient (to 500 CE) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 15 min
Translation of the Babylonian law code.
Ask: What do laws reveal about a society?
Open with this source to frame the question.
Leveled reading Original ↗Copy Doc SOAPSTone HIPP / HAPP
The Twelve Tables 451/450 BCE selections
Document · Fordham University · World: Ancient (to 500 CE) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 15 min
Translated primary source: The Twelve Tables 451/450 BCE selections.
Ask: What questions would you want to ask the author?
Leveled reading Original ↗Copy Doc SOAPSTone HIPP / HAPP
The Laws of Manu, c. 1500 BCE
Document · Fordham University · World: Medieval (500-1500) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 30+ min
Translated primary source: The Laws of Manu, c. 1500 BCE.
Ask: How would people at the time have experienced this rule?
Original ↗SOAPSTone HIPP / HAPP
Selections from The Great Tang Code: Article 6, "The Ten Abominations," by Zhangsun Wuji
Document · Columbia University, Asia for Educators · World: Medieval (500-1500) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 15 min
Translated 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?
Original ↗SOAPSTone HIPP / HAPP
Codex Justinianus: Coloni Bound to the Soil, c. 530
Document · Fordham University · World: Medieval (500-1500) · Grades 6-8, 9-12 · ⏱ 5 min
Translated primary source: Codex Justinianus: Coloni Bound to the Soil, c. 530.
Ask: How would people at the time have experienced this rule?
Leveled reading Original ↗Copy Doc SOAPSTone HIPP / HAPP
The Salic Law
Document · Yale Avalon Project · World: Medieval (500-1500) · Grades 9-12 · ⏱ 20 min
The 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.
Leveled reading Original ↗Copy Doc SOAPSTone HIPP / HAPP

Quick check

Five questions built only from this set’s sources: four multiple choice and one short answer. Print it or assign it in Google Classroom. The answer key gives the source line for every answer.

Quick check (make a copy)Answer key (make a copy)

Preview the questions

Which source in this set contains this passage? “The king occupies the most honorable position and receives Heaven’s precious decrees.”
In Hammurabi's laws 196 and 198, what happened if a man put out the eye of a freed man instead of another (free) man?
Which source in this set contains this passage? “Punishment alone governs all created beings, punishment alone protects them, punishment watches over them while they sleep…”
According to the Salic Law, Title XIV, how did the law treat a Frank who plundered a Roman?
Short answer: Choose two sources from this set. Using a specific detail from each, explain how they help answer the set’s question: “What makes a law code fair?” Write 3 to 5 sentences.

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)

Build a DBQ DBQ packet (make a copy)

Students can plan with the Claim-Evidence-Reasoning organizer.