Sex and Familial Crimes in the D Code: a Witness to Mores in Transition

Abstract

This essay examines D's treatments of sex and familial crimes carrying the threat of death (môt statements). The findings suggest that D is in the process of limiting the fringe powers vested in the paterfamilias and consolidating those powers in regional tribunals under community/state authority. This witness to mores in transition had perhaps the most profound effect on women, since it involved the limitation of pater nal authority in family and sex matters. Consequently, D reflects a benevolent attitude towards women, but not primarily as a result of a 'humanistic orientation' (Weinfeld); rather, D's concern for women is the result of the transition in mores from familial to communal authority—a transition engendered by social pressures and a social world marked by Internal anxiety, vulnerability and danger.