DK the law book 法律书-通俗易懂的大思想系列big ideas simply explained

law is much more than a system of rules governing the conduct of members of society Its rich complexity stems from its history, how it was created and administered, its function, the way it operates, and its effects.

法律不仅仅是一套规范社会成员行为的规则体系，其丰富的复杂性源于其历史、创建和管理方式、功能、运作方式及其效果。

Around 10,000 years ago, as people began to gather in ever larger settlements, they had to find new ways to live and work together peacefully.

大约10000年前，当人们开始聚集在越来越大的定居点时，他们必须找到新的方式和平地生活和工作。

Clear laws were needed to settle disputes. The earliest known law code—dating from around 2100 bce and set down by order of Ur-Nammu, king of Ur, a city in Mesopotamia (now Iraq)—listed commensurate punishments for crimes.

解决争端需要明确的法律。已知最早的法典可追溯到公元前2100年左右，由美索不达米亚（现在的伊拉克）乌尔市国王乌尔·纳姆（Ur Nammu）下令制定，列出了对罪行的相应惩罚。

Murder, for instance, was punishable by death—an early bid, echoed in many later law codes, to ensure that justice fit the offense. From the earliest times, rulers invoked their gods to give laws authority.

例如，谋杀罪可以判处死刑，这是早期的要求，在后来的许多法律法规中得到了响应，以确保正义与罪行相符。从最早的时候起，统治者就援引他们的神来赋予法律权威。

The Jewish Torah enshrined laws by tradition given to Moses by God. Around 1046 bce, King Wu of the Chinese Zhou dynasty similarly claimed a divine mandate for his rule.

犹太律法根据上帝赋予摩西的传统将法律神圣化。大约在公元前1046年，中国周朝的吴王也同样宣称他的统治是神圣的。

In the 4th century ce, Christianity’s Catholic canon law developed into a legal system that has influenced modern civil law and common law, while Islamic Sharia law is based on the word of Allah in the Koran.

公元4世纪，基督教的天主教教规法发展成为影响现代民法和普通法的法律体系，而伊斯兰教法则以《古兰经》中的真主一词为基础。

New civilizations established legal frameworks for laws with procedures and officials to ensure compliance. Their philosophers debated the nature of justice and shaped political ideas.

新文明为法律建立了法律框架，规定了确保遵守的程序和官员。他们的哲学家辩论了正义的本质并形成了政治思想。

In Athens, the ancient Greek city which practiced the earliest democracy, reason and a concept of justice as a virtue guided Plato’s and Aristotle’s theories of law.

雅典是古希腊最早实行民主、理性和正义作为美德的城市，它指导着柏拉图和亚里士多德的法律理论。

The early Roman Republic’s Twelve Tables explained laws and spelled out citizens’ rights. In China, between 476 bce and 221 bce, scholars proposed radically different systems—Daoism, Confucianism, and Legalism—ranging in nature from laissez-faire to authoritarian.

罗马共和国早期的十二个表格解释了法律并阐明了公民的权利。在中国，从公元前476年到公元前221年，学者们提出了截然不同的体系——道教、儒家和法家，从放任到专制。

Each had a lasting impact.

每一个都有持久的影响。