vengeance

legal concept

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Last updated

July 14, 2026

Quick Summary

Vengeance is the act of responding to an injury or offense with retaliation or retribution. It is a concept deeply rooted in legal history, appearing in ancient Near Eastern law codes like the Code of Ur-Nammu and the Code of Hammurabi.12345

Retributive justice, a legal concept closely related to vengeance, focuses on punishing lawbreakers and compensating victims, with the severity of punishment often proportionate to the crime's seriousness. This principle is famously encapsulated by the idea of "an eye for an eye". Retribution emphasizes that punishment should be deserved and follow culpable actions, holding offenders accountable for their guilty acts and guilty state of mind.5

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Roman law
Delict and contract
…from a system of private vengeance to one in which the state insisted that the person wronged accept compensation instead of vengeance. Thus, in the case of assault (injuria), if one man broke another’s limb, talio was still permitted (that is, the person wronged could inflict the same injury as…
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…from a system of private vengeance to one in which the state insisted that the person wronged accept compensation instead of vengeance. Thus, in the case of assault (injuria), if one man broke another’s limb, talio was still permitted (that is, the person wronged could inflict the same injury as…
Read More