CHAPTER IX 
ARCHAIC PERIOD (ANGLO-SAXONS) 
The first, or Archaic Period, accordingly, may bo said to 
have begun shortly after the end of the Roman occupancy 
(410 A.D.) and to have extended down to the time of Edward I 
(1272 A.D.), altho during all this time it was changing and 
becoming like the Strict Period, with which it was followed, 
and it became so nearly like the Strict Period in the time of 
Henry II that some perhaps might choose the time of Henry II 
for the ending of the Archaic Period instead of that of Ed- 
ward I. 
Characteristics. The end, or purpose, of the law in the 
Archaic Period was the preservation of the peace. Society 
wanted to put a stop to the intolerable situation of warfare 
which existed where men were primitive and there was no 
law. As we look back upon the work of society in this period 
we wonder why it did not at once outlaw private warfare 
and substitute for vengeance and self-help a law enforced by 
the state. But we must remember how people looked upon 
vengeance and self-help then. They had always been resorting 
to them. They would refuse to give them up. They wanted 
a new order, or at least the best of them did, but at the same 
time they wanted the old order, or at least the worst of them 
did. Perhaps it will help to understand the situation in Archaic 
times to think of the present situation so far as war between 
the nations is concerned. We ought to outlaw public war and 
substitute law for force in international relations. But how 
do people take to the suggestion? The first effort here as in 
Archaic times seems to have to be not to destroy vengeance 
and self-help but to regulate them. The history of the Archaic 
Period, consequently, is a history of the regulation of venge- 
ance and self-help. 
Anglo-Saxons. This regulation, at first, was very modest. 
It consisted for the most part of efforts to prevent the avenger 
from making good his loss at the expense of his innocent 
neighbors. This was accomplished by the requirement as a 
matter of custom that the avenger attempt to identify the 
wrongdoer, that he follow the trail of the thief (fresh pur- 
suit; hue and cry), that he resort to distress; and that he 
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