Introduction 
Have you ever wondered how crimes and punishments have evolved through out the Ages? In this writing there will be detail of crimes and punishments through history. Through the ages, theft has been the most common crime committed but it is now considered as a petty crime. In the Roman times, if you committed like patricide(killing your father) you would be put in a sack of snakes and chucked in a river to drown.

Roman times  

During the spans roughly 500bc-400ad the magnificent Roman Empire had Concorde most of the citizens world. The Roman Empire had many enslaved people, as well as citizens who were free man and women. They were often treated differently if they broke the law. There was no police force in Roman times but they did have a group called vigils. There was about 700 vigils who defeat criminals. The Romans designed there punishments to discourage potential criminals. How you were punished depend on who you were and your position in Roman society. Whipping and fines were the most common punishment in Roman times.

Anglo-saxons

The Anglo Saxons period in Britain was from around 410 to 1066. A lot of the population lived in small villages in the country side and very few lived in towns. There wasn’t a police force like we have today. Keeping law and order was the responsibility of everyone in the village. If someone was seen committing a crime then the witnesses could raise a hue ( cry , shouting for help). Everyone who heared it was expected to help chase and capture the suspects. The leader of the village would use the laws written by the king to decide what punishment you would receive. The church and local lords had the power to decide punishments. The church had its own courts and a different system of punishment. The Anglo Saxon didn’t have prisons. Most people found guilty of crimes were punished with fines

Tudors

The tudor period was from 1485 to 160ce. This was a time of many changes. Explores discovered new lands and maps had rewritten and there was religious changes across England and Wales. There was no police force during tudor times. Of ten in smaller towns and villages, preventing crime was left up to the people. In some villages and towns they employed “ parish constibles” who would be responsible for keeping the peace and catching criminals. Whipping was a common punishment for a wide variety of crimes. Vagrants(homeless people) , thieves who stole goods worth less than a shilling and those who refused to attend church would all be whipped.

Victorian times 

The Victorian times was in Britain was between 1837 to 1901.in the Victorian period the population increased and many people began to move from the country side to the towns and cities to work in factories.living conditions were often cramped with one family per room and the whole street would share an outside toilet and a water tap. In 1829, a poltitican called sir Robert peel introduced the first English police force in order to improve public order in London. Over the next ten years , many other areas of the country formed their own police force. Police men were poorly paied and they would patrol a certain area,known as their “beat”.for the first time in history prisons became the main form of punishment in this period. They were awful places.many prisoners were sent to Australia for hard labour the law allowing this was eventually changed in 1857. “Prison hulks” were ships that moored in harbour and housed criminals who were to be transported or taken to court.
Hard labour  was a common punishment.many Victorians believed that having to work very hard would prevent criminals from committing crime in the future.

World war 2

World War Two was fought between 1939 and 1945.it was a time of great hardship for many. Children in the city were evacuated to the countryside.During the war the number of reported crimes in England and Wales rose.the government had introduced new rules such as blackout ,air raid warnings and rationing. There was police forces in Britain during the war. Police duties increased because of the war.their usual tasks include keeping the peace dealing with criminals and making sure that trafic flowed freely in towns and cities.looting was a big problem the number of boomed properties provided a big temptation to looters many were given fines or short prison sentences.black market: many items sold on the black market without a rational card. if caught selling on the black market then the punishment could be a fine and imprisonment. The numbers of murders increased dramatically during the war.air raids killed so many people that it was often impossible for the police to investigate all deaths and criminals took advantage of this . If you were found guilty of murder you could be put to death.