In policing, the part that’s actually new is the idea of _prison_. Punishment used to be either a: fine, b: beating/maiming, or c: death.

Rome’s Urban cohorts which is the one im most familiar with didnt have investigatory function

Real life used to operate on video game logic where if you weren’t seen when the crime happened or ran away long enough you got away with it

Eh, maybe. Prison has been around for a long time, tho historically often also tied to hard labor

Holding a few high value/profile individuals that you for some reason couldn’t put to death, or corporeal punishment through hard labor, yes, but the idea that the punishment would be incarceration for a predetermined time, after which you’re released/rehabilitated - that’s very new

Definitely true tho that as society gets larger it is better able to absorb the costs of reducing arbitrariness in its justice system, and reducing cruelty in its penal system.

Even the idea of punishment as improvement of the punished isn't that new - some of my favorite Benjamin Rush diatribes are ones where he's demanding that the new American states adopt less inhumane systems which transform the punished into better citizens in the name of republicanism.

Wasn't that long ago that workhouses were a big thing

And unfortunately for us, the workhouse model still has more influence than it should in the way we structure our post-conviction penal system and the way it disposes of and conceives of inmate time and 'improvement' value.

There’s literally a world famous play about it.

Solid musical too

Banishment of the temporary or permanent nature is also very popular, results may vary (Richard II would not be an advocate for banishment's success, for instance)

Since someone accidentally put a hot iron knife on the fuel pile