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Originally Posted by Battara
Bill, some of these were used as both a beheading sword and as a symbol of the datu's power and authority, especially when dispensing justice.
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That's what I figured, especially with the more ornate versions, a symbol of the ruler's power of life and death.
It's interesting that as society's concept of 'justice' has evolved the ruler (president, governor, etc.) has retained the power to grant life, but that the power to sentence a person to death has been abrogated to a jury of the condemned person's peers, at least in theory. Whether or not maintaining a death penalty is civilized is a debate for another forum.
Question: since it was invented by a Frenchman and was used primarily by France and its colonies, is a Guillotine an "ethnic weapon"?
