The earliest legal system surviving in fully preserved form is the Code of Hammurabi, promulgated in ancient Babylonia around 1780 B. C., approximately half a millennium before the time of Moses (more information). The inscription of this code on an eight-foot-tall stone monument in a public place clearly indicates its intention: to resolve conflicts in a predictable, non-arbitrary manner, that is, in accordance with the rule of law. The detailed provisions emphasize the protection of property, including not only land but all kinds of material goods, and the administration of contracts. Although the code was designed for a slave society rather than a free market, some intimation of the role of law in a free society is already contained in its first paragraph, where it is declared that this code shall ensure "that the strong shall not harm the weak."

Although the human need for a stable, predictable, non-arbitrary final arbiter on the use of force is what allows governments to flourish, they may of course be diverted to various other purposes, to be discussed throughout this final section of the course. Nevertheless, even more oppressive governments, such as the latter-day Roman Empire, have served this function, albeit imperfectly. The end of the Pax Romana around the fifth century led to virtual anarchy in much of Europe, with a marked decline in trade, living standards, and population, from which Europe did not begin to recover until the late Middle Ages. The requirement for a final arbiter on the use of force explains the existence of governments as functional entities and therefore provides an objective basis whereby we may evaluate them as functioning more or less well (cf. p. 2.3:1).