Zaleucus

Zaleucus (fl. 7th century BC, b. 663 BC) was a law-giver of the ancient Locrians, a Greek people settled in Lower Italy. He had a supreme respect for law, and was severe in the enforcement of it. He punished adultery with the forfeiture of sight. He refused to exonerate his own son who had been guilty of the offence, but submitted to the loss of one of his own eyes instead of exacting the full penalty of the culprit. He had established a law forbidding any one to enter the Senate-house armed. He did so himself on one occasion in a sudden emergency, was reminded of the law, and straightway fell upon his sword as a sacrifice to the sovereignty of the claims of social order.

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