Regarding the law of the princedom, the previous reform Alpheo had passed sought to bring order and consistency to a system that had, for generations, thrived on chaos and whim of governors.
Before his decree, the law in the royal cities was a matter of the judge's temper rather than the law's letter. Each magistrate, steward, or governor ruled as he pleased, choosing punishment according to mood, custom, or personal grudge.
What was a fine in one city might be a hanging in another.
Until Alpheo's reform, there had been no clear boundary between justice and vengeance.
Sentences ranged wildly from paying a fine, to public humiliation, to mutilation, branding, or death. A thief might lose his fingers, an adulterer might be paraded naked through the streets, and a debtor might be chained in the square until his family bought back his freedom.
