Draconian

Draconian is an adjective that means laws, rules, or punishments that are extremely severe, harsh, or cruel. The word comes from Draco, an ancient Athenian lawmaker from the 7th century BC who created a strict legal code. Even minor offenses carried the death penalty. Active from about 625 to 600 BC, Draco replaced the system of oral law and blood feud by the Draconian constitution, a written code to be enforced only by a court. Tradition held that all of his laws were repealed by Solon, except for those on homicide. An inscription from 409/8 BC contains part of the current law and refers to it as "the law of Draco about homicide". Nothing is known about the specifics of any other laws established by Draco. According to some scholars, Draco may have been a fictional figure, entirely or in part. Biographical information about him is almost entirely lacking.

Folklore about Draco's death are improbable: he went to Aegina to establish laws and was suffocated in the theater when his supporters honored him by throwing hats, shirts and cloaks on him. Some scholars suppose that Draco wasn't a person; drakon means 'serpent' in Greek, and a sacred serpent on the acropolis was worshipped in the Athenian religion. Therefore, the "laws of Draco" may have been laws issued in the name of the sacred serpent by its priests.

Although the full Draconian constitution no longer exists, severe punishments were reportedly meted out to those convicted of offenses as minor as stealing an apple. There may have been only one penalty, execution, for all convicted violators of the Draconian constitution, and the laws were said to be written in blood instead of ink. Since the 18th century, the term draconian was used to refer to unforgiving rules or laws.