How did ancient empires account for slow propagation of information e.g. in their legal codes?
Upvote:2
I'd say that accounting for propagation delay explicitly with the day + n method is the exception rather than the rule. The most common accounting for this is to consider the law/edict in effect only when it is officially received.
Thus the process goes like this:
- After drafting the edict, the sovereign signs or seals an edict, indicating authenticity and preventing tampering
- The edict is sent via messengers to the recipient
- Receiving the edict is sometimes a ritual, and the messenger bears witness to the event. From this moment on the edict is in effect
Obviously the messenger service is a highly privileged one, with severe consequences for any obstruction.
For example, the process of announcing an edict applicable to the entire Qing Empire was very elaborate:
- The edict was drafted by the innermost cabinet,
- edited by the Grand Secretariat,
- written and signed/sealed by the Emperor according to a specific format,
- taken to the top of Tiananmen and read aloud as a ceremony,
- taken to the Ministry of Rites and multiple copies made,
- each copy sent to regional governors, who would in turn repeat the reading, copying and sending steps until the edict reached all levels of government
Upvote:4
See article II of the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812. http://war1812.tripod.com/treaty.html
It lays out a series of delay times for many different parts of the world for the terms of the Treaty to come into effect.
More post
- 📝 Did any Chinese revolutionaries being helped by the Japanese get suspicious of Japan's intentions?
- 📝 Was Col. John K. Waters (Gen. Patton's son-in-law) wounded in the buttocks or the stomach during Patton's raid on Oflag XIII-B near Hammelburg?
- 📝 Why did South Korea (and the UN) accept an armistice line that put Seoul in artillery range of North Korea?
- 📝 Why did anti-Chinese riots occur during the Indonesian Reformation of 1998?
- 📝 What Was the Constitutional Basis that Made Pompey "Consul Without Colleague" for 52BC
- 📝 How effective was the (Western) Allies bombing campaign over Germany in drawing down the Eastern Front Luftwaffe?
- 📝 Did the passage from Latin to English, in England, help science flourish?
- 📝 How does a runic alphabet work?
- 📝 What is the chair depicted in Cesare Maccari's 1889 painting "Cicerone denuncia Catilina"?
- 📝 Why is Nazi Germany called a "fascist" regime?
- 📝 Was there any new military innovation during the Siege of Malta?
- 📝 Did American colonists object to the protections of Catholicism in the Quebec Act?
- 📝 What were the differences between mortars and other artilleries in world war I?
- 📝 What happened to Israel when Persia attacked Egypt?
- 📝 Why would Jesus' parents travel to their birthplace for a Roman census?
- 📝 What was the origin of religious tolerance in Europe?
- 📝 How did Christianity replace Roman Paganism and other ancient religions?
- 📝 Did everyone have to carry identity papers in Nazi Germany?
- 📝 Why is Christopher Columbus credited for "discovering" America?
- 📝 What was the status of peasants who left to join the People's Crusade?
- 📝 During World War 1, were any policies in place to handle large scale troop mutiny?
- 📝 Lenin Jacket Picture: What's the story?
- 📝 How common was travelling before the invention of the steam engine?
- 📝 Why is Titus known as Titus?
- 📝 Has there been any court cases regarding the Third Amendment to the United States Constitution?
- 📝 How, just how you can burn down a stone structure?
- 📝 Why did the German army execute so few soldiers in World War I compared to most other armies?
- 📝 Why did Meiji government consider switching from Japanese to English?
- 📝 How did the Swedish army deal with prisoners of war in the Thirty Years War?
- 📝 At the start of Barbarossa, what was the state of Germany's oil supply?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How did ancient empires account for slow propagation of information e.g. in their legal codes?
- 📝 How did the ancient Romans count with their fingers?
- 📝 How did ancient armies keep the route of supplies to their battlefield?
- 📝 How did Americans adopt processed and off-site butchered meat for domestic consumption in their food supply?
- 📝 How did ancient Greek musicians tune their instruments?
- 📝 How did the Romans build their armies for the First Punic War?
- 📝 How did people distinguish slaves from free people in Ancient Rome?
- 📝 Did ancient peoples ever hide their treasure behind puzzles?
- 📝 How did they cook on ancient ships?
- 📝 How did German unification affect existing sentences for criminal convicts?
- 📝 Did Roman unmarried men have a preferred hand and finger for wearing their seal ring?
- 📝 How did Nazi Germany produce such an impressive portfolio of officers for WW2?
- 📝 How did the ancient Greeks synchronize time?
- 📝 How did early adopters of the automobile fill up their cars?
- 📝 When did the term "Nationality" first come into use? How did ancient civilizations refer to themselves? By ethnicity?
- 📝 Given their reputation for fighting to the last man in the Pacific, why did 700,000 Japanese troops surrender in Manchuria?
- 📝 How did medieval manors handle population growth? Was there room for more fields to be ploughed?
- 📝 How much did it cost to attend events at the ancient Roman colosseum?
- 📝 How would slaves have addressed their masters in Ancient Greece?
- 📝 Historically, why did the US station their nuclear weapons in Germany for delivery through German pilots?
- 📝 Why did England consistently adopt red as their primary colour for insignia and uniform?
- 📝 How long did it take for a diplomat to travel between Berlin and Vienna in the 1770's?
- 📝 How did the Bolsheviks fund their government?
- 📝 How quickly could the Roman legions march? How did it compare to their cavalry?
- 📝 How did Christianity replace Roman Paganism and other ancient religions?
- 📝 What names did the ancient Egyptians give to different stages of their history?
- 📝 What historical reasons did the Nazis give for hating the Jews? How did they identify non-practicing Jews?
- 📝 How much of an impact did the Roman emperors' civil wars have on their decision to debase the coinage?
- 📝 How long did it take for a letter to arrive in England in the 1830s?
- 📝 If salt was scarce and expensive, how did people "salt the earth" to ensure their enemies would stay defeated?