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With no centralised justice system people had to rely on people keeping their word. If people had lied and cheated all the time their society would have collap
by mr_toad 2y ago
With no centralised justice system people had to rely on people keeping their word. If people had lied and cheated all the time their society would have collapsed.
An oath breaker didn’t just harm an individual, they did harm to the whole community, and the whole community viewed them negatively.
- troad 2y agoYes, though that could apply to any pre-modern society, whereas the Indo-Europeans were especially caught up on contracts and hospitality, even compared to similar societies. It's all quite fascinating, and in the context of them going on take over a vast swathe of Eurasia, one wonders whether this kind of ritualised deal-making was a significant competitive advantage that their neighbours lacked at the time.