Capital Punishment

The Death Sentence

Capital punishment is surrounded with solemnity, for no graver penalty could be exacted than that of death, the extinguishing of an individual’s existence. Not that it has always been this way. For much of human history, a life could depend upon the whim of a king, while in 18th-century England, a man could be hanged for the theft of a sheep. Reputedly a powerful wizard, and certainly a forceful influence on the feelings of the masses, Lucius Pituanius was viewed with profound suspicion by the authorities in imperial Rome. Finally, in A . D . 30, the Emperor Tiberius declared him an enemy of the state, and he was hurled to his death from the top of the Tarpeian Rock. Words to Understand “Bloody Code”: popular expression for the list of offenses punishable by death in Britain. It grew in length through the 18th century. Capital punishment: death as punishment for a crime; also called the death penalty. Death penalty: capital punishment, death as punishment for a crime. Democracy: a community or country in which the people control their government. Execution: the act of killing a person as punishment for a crime. Exile: the state or period of forced absence from one’s country or home. Intellectual: a person devoted to study and thought, especially about profound or philosophical issues. Miscreant: one who behaves criminally or viciously Satirical: relating to the use of wit, irony, or sarcasm to expose human vices and follies.

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