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1 J. Fam. L. 89 (1961)
Ancient Laws on Adultery - A Synopsis

handle is hein.journals/branlaj1 and id is 83 raw text is: Ancient Laws on Adultery - A Synopsis By DANIEL E. MURRAYt The history of man indicates that as soon as he created the relationship of marriage, adultery was not far behind. It is believed that a study of the ancient laws will show that although we now treat the adulteress and the adulterer more humanely,' our underlying feelings correlate with those of ancient man. The so-called unwritten law,12 which justifies (in the eyes of the laymen) a man killing the seducer of his wife, was contained in the written codes of many ancient coun- tries. Our modern dual standard of treatment (at least in the social sense) of the adulterer and the adulteress is of ancient legal origin. The man paid a fine and the woman was burned alive. The reasons behind the prohibition of adultery are as numerous and ancient as the races of man. Some races treat, the act of adultery as sinful, a violation of the moral sense of the community.3 Others treated it as the possible source of the bastardization of a family life line and a destruction of the unity of a family.4 Others treat it as a violation of the man's right of property in the body of his wife.5 Probably the tacit underlying reason in all legal systems was that adultery was a blow to a man's pride; another was considered superior in l'amoutr. In ancient times, there was no sharp line of demarcation between tort and criminal punishment for adultery. Such a concept must wait for a later day. A reading of the various - Assistant Professor of Law, University of Miami. 1 E.g. Fla. Stat. Sec. 789.01 (1941). Whoever lives in an open state of adultery shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison not exceeding two years, or in the county jail not exceeding one year, or by fine not exceeding five hundred dollars. Where either of the parties living in an open state of adultery is married, both parties so living shall be deemed to be guilty of the offense pro- vided for in this section. 2. Texas views that Homicide is justifiable when committed by the husband upon one taken in the act of adultery with the wife, provided the killing take place before the parties to the act have separated. Vernon's Penal Code Art. 1220 (1925). 3. This concept of sin was particularly evident in the laws of Hammurabi. the Hebraic law, the Hindu law, and the later laws influenced by the Church. 4. Traces of this concep can be found in the Germanic laws and those of England, inf ra. 5. This notion was current in the Germanic laws. See Huebner, History of Germanic Private Law. 617-618 (1918).

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