A Study Of The Mutilation Punishment In Byzantine Empire

The Digest issued in the winter of 533 AD includes the Roman jurist Callistratus’ view of penalty,which is closest to capital punishment,that is,mining servitude followed by banishment to an island.From the first half of the seventh century,however,the Byzantine Empire saw cases in which the emperor inflicted the penalty of corporal on the losers of political struggles.Based on a good starting point of pardoning deaths,it gradually developed into a movement aimed at severing the political career of political opponents by humiliating them.The origin of this mutilation punishment not only derive from lex talionis,but also it is likely that its use against political opponents began under the influence of the Sassanid Empire’s customary law.In the first half of the eighth century,Leo III the Isaurian began to use mutilation punishment as a legal punishment at the legislative level by incorporating into the codex Ecloga a number of penalties that could be inflicted on the bodies of the offenders.Among rules of mutilation punishment in the Ecloga,with the rhinotomy being used mainly for sexual offences,while the four entries,including blinding,tongue-cutting,hand-cutting,and castration,embody the characteristics of intimidationism and retaliation.The Byzantine Empire’s laws continued to use mutilation punishment for a long time,with cases found even at the end of the 13 th century.There are some differences between mutilation punishment in the Byzantine Empire and that in imperial China,with differences focusing on geographical circumstances,political factors,the content of the law itself,and the purpose of the legislation.However,similarities exit between the Byzantine Empire’s legislation on mutilation punishment and the arguments in favor of its reinstatement in the controversy over its existence in imperial China.This may be reflected in the deterrent advantages and moral and legislative science disadvantages of mutilation punishment compared to punishment against freedom under the monarchy system.The incorporation of mutilation punishment into the state penal system in the Byzantine Empire,on the basis of the existing punishments of imprisonment and banishment,may have an impact on the understanding of Chinese legal history that "imprisonment and banishment filled the gap between capital punishment and caning after the abolition of mutilation punishment." However,in Byzantine Empire’s conditions,banishment could not fill the gap between light punishment and capital punishment,and Leo III the Isaurian chose to incorporate mutilation punishment into the penal system.