Throughout human history, there has always been some sort of rule relating to the punishment of just and unjust acts. To the righteous came rewards, and to the unrighteous came punishment. It's a law as old as time. A philosophy about dealing with the unjust is the most controversial in modern times and throughout our history; it is the ethical decision of the death penalty. This controversial issue of the death penalty has been going on for centuries. This dates back to 399 BCE, when Socrates was forced to drink hemlock for his "corruption of youth" and "impiety." A brief history of the death penalty is necessary so that one can be aware of these laws. nature since this is how we would begin to understand how it can be applied in the most virtuous way and to understand its morality. The death penalty dates back to the 18th century BCE, where the Code of King Hammurabi of Babylon applied the death penalty to be established as punishment for 25 different crimes. This was also seen in the 14th century BCE in the Hittite Code; in the draconian Code of Athens of the 17th century BCE (a code which provided for the death penalty only for all crimes); and in the Roman Law of the Twelve Tablets of the fifth century BCE (this law marked the beginning of a formal law that carried out death sentences by such means as crucifixion, drowning, beatings to death, burial alive and impalement). The origins of death In the ancient world, punishments were very brutal executions. The punishment was most widespread in the 10th century AD, when Britain used classical hanging. From that moment on, the death penalty had a sort of difficult existence and ended up being abolished for situations which...... middle of paper...... stalls and still seem arbitrary. The only sure answer one can conclude when discussing matters of this nature is this: Until objective truths about these moral dilemmas are known, no answer can ever be considered valid by relation to another. Cairns, Huntington and Hamilton, Edith. The Collected Dialogues of Plato. Defense of Socrates (Apology). Library of Congress Catalog, Nineteenth Printing, May 2010 http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/kansas-city-massacre-pretty-boy-floydhttp://library. thinkquest.org/12663/summary/http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005141