Oordeel van Cambyses 1645

This is a 1645 engraving, made by Cornelis van Dalen I, called "The Judgement of Cambyses". We see a corrupt judge being punished, based on a story from Herodotus. The print was made in the Netherlands, a Republic at this time. The institutions of law and justice are here made visible. Cambyses, the Persian King, can be seen on the left, and the corrupt judge Sisamnes is on the right. The story goes that Sisamnes was flayed alive on the orders of the King, as punishment for taking bribes. Cambyses then appointed Sisamnes' son as his replacement, ordering him to sit on a chair covered with his father's skin, as a reminder of the cost of corruption. This print, appearing on the frontispiece to a book, highlights a self-conscious debate about justice. To understand this debate more fully, we can examine legal and political texts from the period, and understand the ways in which the Dutch Republic conceived of its own institutions.