Editing Crime (section)

=== Early history ===
Restrictions on behavior existed in all prehistoric societies.{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=18}} Crime in early human society was seen as a personal transgression and was addressed by the community as a whole rather than through a formal legal system,{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=9}} often through the use of custom, religion, or the rule of a tribal leader.{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=46}} Some of the oldest extant writings are ancient [[Criminal code|criminal codes]].{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=9}} The earliest known criminal code was the [[Code of Ur-Nammu]] ({{c.|lk=no|2100|2050 BC}}),<ref name=schoyen>{{cite web |url=https://www.schoyencollection.com/law/sumerian/ur-nammu-ms-2064 |archive-url= |archive-date= |title=The Ur-Nammu Law Code |work=[[Schøyen Collection]] |access-date=July 1, 2024}}</ref> and the first known criminal code that incorporated retaliatory justice was the [[Code of Hammurabi]].{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=26}} The latter influenced the conception of crime across several civilizations over the following millennia.{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=47}}

The [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] systematized law and applied their system across the [[Roman Empire]]. The initial rules of [[Roman law]] regarded assaults as a matter of private compensation. The most significant Roman law concept involved ''dominion''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Daube, David. |title=Roman law: linguistic, social and philosophical aspects. |date=1969 |publisher=Edinburgh U.P |isbn=0852240511 |location=Edinburgh |oclc=22054}}</ref> Most acts recognized as crimes in ancient societies, such as violence and theft, have persisted to the modern era.{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=42}} The criminal justice system of Imperial China existed unbroken for over 2,000 years.{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=36}}

Many of the earliest conceptions of crime are associated with [[sin]] and corresponded to acts that were believed to invoke the anger of a deity.{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=18}} This idea was further popularized with the development of the [[Abrahamic religion|Abrahamic religions]]. The understanding of crime and sin were closely associated with one another for much of history, and conceptions of crime took on many of the ideas associated with sin.{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=8}} [[Islamic law]] developed its own system of criminal justice as [[Islam]] spread in the seventh and eighth centuries.{{sfn|Roth|2014|p=64}}