What was the biggest empire that never had capital punishment?
Upvote:8
It is hard to answer your question.
Are you asking about the biggest empire that never ever had capital punishment during its entire existence as an empire? The problem with that would be defining what counts as an empire and also in some cases defining how long an empire lasted.
It seems to me that the longer an empire lased, the more likely it would be to change whether it had capital punishment. If you question is about an empire which never had capital punishment during its entire duration, then the shorter an empire lasted the better. An empire which lasted for a really short time might have had capital punishment the entire time or might have been without capital punishment the entire time. So short lasting empires would be a logical group of candidates to search for empires without capital punishment for their entire duration.
Here is a link to a thread about various empires or states that are often classified - accurately or not - as empires and which lasted for short periods of time.
https://historum.com/threads/the-shortest-lasting-empires-in-history.134850/1
In post number one I list 18 empires and "empires" which lasted for no more than 27 years.
Several other empires and "empires" were suggested, and in post number twelve on page two I gave a revised list of 20 empires and "empires" that lasted between 27 years and 12 days.
In most number thirteen I list 21 empires and "empires" that lasted between 27 years and 12 days in my final list.
So perhaps a study of the laws of those 21 empires and "empires" might find one or more without the death penalty. if any of them were without the death penalty (which I doubt) the largest of them would be the largest empire without the death penalty. Unless some larger empire lasted for more than 27 years without the death penalty, which I doubt.
But if you are asking for the largest empire which ever abolished the death penalty, even if that empire later restored the death penalty, then you have some luck.
According to Wikipedia's List of Largest Empires by land area at their greatest extent, number 22 on the list is the Tang Empire, the empire of the Tang Dynasty, at its greatest extend in AD 669 or 715. In those eras the Tang Dynasty ruled 5,400,000 to 10,760,000 square kilometers or 2,080,000 to 4,150,000 square miles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_empires2
Emperor Xuanzong (reigned 712-756) abolished the death penalty in China in 747, but it was reinstated in 759 due to the bloody An Lushan Rebellion that killed millions in 755-763.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment#Tang_dynasty3
The size of the eastern section of the Roman Empire, the so called "Byzantine" Empire, fluctuated greatly over time. After the defeat at Manzikert in 1071, the Empire lost a lot of land to invaders. In 1097 the size of the Empire was about 555,000 square kilometers, but by 1143 it had regained much lost territory and was up to 950,000 square kilometers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_of_the_Byzantine_Empire4
This increase of about 1.7117 times in the size of the Empire in only 46 years was due to the leaderships of the Emperors Alexios I Komnenos (reigned 1081-1118) and John II Komnenos (reigned 1118-1143).
Emperor John II Komnenos (r. 1118-1143) fought many wars in which many thousands of people were killed, but he was said to have never executed or mutilated any Roman subjects as legal punishment during his 25 year reign.
Present day Japan has an area of 377,973 square kilometers or 145,936 square miles. Medieval Japan didn't include the island of Hokkaido with an area of 83,423.84 square kilometers or 32,210.12 square miles, so Medieval Japan would have had an area of 294,549.16 square kilometers or 113,725.88 square miles, or less.
The death penalty was abolished or suspended in Medieval Japan for over 300 years from some time in the 9th century until the Hogan Rebellion in 1156.
.................................................................................
(added 10-26-19.
The oldest country I know which abolished the death penalty was Magadha under the Gupta Dynasty (at latest under Chandragupta II who reigned from 375 - 413/415). The Chinese monk Faxian (he traveled from 399 - 412) mentions that even high treason was only punished by cuting the right hand.
Post number 58 on page 6 of: https://historum.com/threads/which-was-the-first-country-to-abolish-the-death-penalty.124922/page-66)
............................................................................
These are the only examples I know of where states which might be classified as empires abolished or suspended the death penalty, and none of them did so for their entire existence.
See also:
https://historum.com/threads/was-emperor-xuanzong-of-tang-the-first-monarch-to-abolish-the-death-penalty.180620/5
I think that the OP is incorrect in supposing that an empire without the death penalty would combine violence and nonviolence any more than a nation or other non empire without the death penalty would. That supposes that empires are more violent than non empires, and that seems to be without proof.
More post
- 📝 What was the troop ratio between the Reds and the Whites in the Russian Revolution?
- 📝 Is David Graeber correct to assert that patriarchy did not exist in Sumeria?
- 📝 Was it widespread during the 17th and 18th Century for British country people to be evicted and replaced with more profitable agriculture?
- 📝 Was the end date of Soviet-Japanese Border War the direct reason of starting Soviet invasion on Poland in 1939
- 📝 What gift did Saladin send to Richard when he was ill?
- 📝 Do any Egyptian hieroglyphics mention the ten plagues?
- 📝 During the French Revolution, how did the French address non-citizens?
- 📝 Were there any successful revolutions that didn't end in a totalitarian regime?
- 📝 Entry-level articles on USA slavery?
- 📝 Has any other book in history been as "prescriptive" as Mein Kampf?
- 📝 How did Qing China keep in contact with other places?
- 📝 How did the countries devolved from USSR turn from communism to democracy or other ideology peacefully after the collapse?
- 📝 The allure of totalitarianism/ communism/ fascism
- 📝 What historical evidence do we have for the Prophet Muhammed?
- 📝 Did Hitler, or any non USSR residents in the 30s-40s know about Stalin's purges?
- 📝 Is taking away decorations of traitors a normal modus operandi?
- 📝 How many were "deliberately" killed after Stalin's rule in Soviet Russia?
- 📝 Which car was the first to come with a cigarette lighter receptacle?
- 📝 Who is responsible for the partition of Palestine?
- 📝 Were the (early 17th C) arrivers/colonists to North America (USA) outcasts from European societies?
- 📝 What was the impetus for some African nations to participate in the slave trade?
- 📝 Why did Fakhr-al-Din seek a treaty with Tuscany, of all places?
- 📝 How long did it take arriving passengers to become indentured servants and where did they stay until then?
- 📝 How many 'pubs' (alehouses, inns and taverns) were there in England in 1577?
- 📝 Did Admiral Ghormley have access to intellegence reports on Japanese movements prior to the Battle of Savo Island?
- 📝 Why would Jesus' parents travel to their birthplace for a Roman census?
- 📝 Could German citizens visit Japan during the Nazi era? And if so what would the locals think of them?
- 📝 Was any war started by a country (both of its people and leadership) knowing defeat was inevitable?
- 📝 Is there any evidence that Jesus' Mother lived in Ephesus?
- 📝 Louis XIV of France, "L'État, c'est moi", and the royal 'we'
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What was the biggest empire that never had capital punishment?
- 📝 What was the biggest region in the Holy Roman Empire that was never Protestant, if any?
- 📝 What was the northernmost region/city in the Roman Empire that spoke Greek as the native language?
- 📝 Did Adolf Hitler ever address the fact that his own appearance was almost an exact opposite of what he considered the ideal Aryan appearance?
- 📝 What led some people to (correctly) believe that there was no land under the ice cap at the North Pole?
- 📝 What was the first solar eclipse that was demonstrably predicted in advance?
- 📝 What is the evidence to claim that political order in ancient Rome was sufficiently different under "kingdom", "republic" and "empire"?
- 📝 What was the planned line of succession for the Nazi Party in the event that Hitler died?
- 📝 What was the "Favorable result" that the German admiralty was expecting from the naval attack on the Royal Navy in 1918?
- 📝 What was the liquor that was based on petrol which was produced in the USSR during the Second World War?
- 📝 What was the legal status of an East German once he had reached West Germany?
- 📝 What was the device that general Birdwood was using in the "Gallipoli" TV series?
- 📝 From 1936-45 what was the prescribed punishment in Nazi Germany for failing to join or participate in the Hitler Youth?
- 📝 What was the largest land area that Germany has ever controlled?
- 📝 What was the reason for the Ottoman empire to adopt the crescent moon as its flag/coat of arms?
- 📝 Communication lag during the Age of Sail: what if enemy claimed that peace agreement was signed?
- 📝 What was the other 99% that PARC didn't show to Apple?
- 📝 What was the South actually afraid Lincoln or Congress would do that precipitated the Civil War?
- 📝 What was the maximum percent of the Soviet territory that was under Nazi control?
- 📝 Considering what was known about Hitler in 1933, why would German bishops declare that Catholics could cooperate with the new State?
- 📝 After World War II, what happened to the Soviet industrial facilities that had been evacuated?
- 📝 What evidence support the theory that the killing of unwanted children was practiced in ancient Athens?
- 📝 What was the largest empire in terms of time of communication between its two ends?
- 📝 What was the persecuted group that was formally banned from leaving France?
- 📝 What evidence supports the claim that Shivaji's father was Muslim?
- 📝 What was the reason that Poland wanted a part of Germany north of Stettin/Szczecin and west of the Oder?
- 📝 What Was the Political Condition of the Region that Encompasses the Modern Russian State in the time of the Roman empire?
- 📝 What were the alleged crimes that Conradin, King of Sicily and Jerusalem, was accused of?
- 📝 What was the cost of buying Silk in the Roman Empire
- 📝 During World War II, were there any parts of the Japanese overseas empire that was capable of local re-supply?
