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"The more public the punishments are, the greater the effect they will produce upon the reformation of others," declared Seneca in ancient Rome. Over the centuries, many societies came to believe otherwise. The rituals of execution, rooted perhaps in a primitive need for sacrifice, catharsis and revenge, seemed less to cast out the evils of humanity than to feed its blood lust. By the late 18th century, a reform movement had taken hold in Europe, aided by the invention of such "humane" devices as the hanging machine and the guillotine.
Today the death penalty has been abolished in Canada, at least officially in much of Latin America, and in most of Western Europe. In Eastern Europe only Albania has abandoned capital punishment, and it remains in force throughout Asia and the Islamic world. Last year, the world leader in announced executions was Iran, with more than 600.