Sweeter than Honey: Revenge and Honor in the International System

Abstract

Eye sockets bared to an equally pitted gaze. Honor metered in scales of limbs, tooth, and tallow. Fire fought with fire; cruelty met in like kind. This is the world of talionic justice. First articulated in ancient Babylonian law, the talion has sated honor societies throughout time, appearing similarly in Palestinian, Judeo-Christian, Roman, Germanic, and Nordic codes of law and practice.¹ As inscribed in the Twelve Tables of Rome, talio esto enjoins the uncompensated victim: “let there be retaliation.”² Under the talion, the integrality of one’s honor and one’s body are equivalent in the eyes of the law. Physical loss can be recouped through reprisal—literal addition (to honor) through subtraction of another’s physical wholeness. This law appears almost instinctual, as we seemingly delight in seeing harm befall those who have harmed us, and it continues to underlie modern criminal and civil justice systems. However, the right to retaliation, particularly the right to pursue justice yourself, is conspicuously missing in one notable legal system: the international legal system.