Political Thought

Polybius The Roman Historian. No discussion of the principles of Roman government was attempted until after Rome had become the greatest state in the world, and a beginning was then made by a Greek. Polybius (204-122 B.C.) was one of the statesmen who directed the policy of the Achaean League at the time when Macedonian … Read more

Roman Theory of Law. The Roman idea of law developed gradually. The first Roman laws were a mixture of religious regulations, customary rules, and popular conceptions of justice. As usual among early peoples, religion was an important element in authority, with offenses against public order being regarded as injuries to the gods rather than as … Read more

Nature of Roman Political Thought. In general, the Romans derived their philosophical ideas from the Greeks, the doctrines of the Stoics being especially popular. Deliberate purpose played little part in the creation of Roman political institutions. Aside from the general policy of playing off her enemies one against another, and of attaching each newly conquered … Read more

Rome contributed little to the literature of political thought. Roman political institutions and legal system, however, exerted a tremendous influence on political evolution; and for many centuries after her fall the idea of the state was based upon the institutions that Rome had established. Rome first appeared as a city-state, formed by a union of … Read more

The Sophist’s Philosophy. Traces of political thought appear in the earliest literature of the Greeks. Homer portrayed a patriarchal regime in which kings were descended from the gods, exercised despotic authority, and held the mass of the people in contempt. In Hesiod and the fragmentary writings of the Seven Sages, the support of monarchy was … Read more

Nature of Greek Political Thought. Perhaps the chief characteristic of Greek thought was its concern for first principles or the central rules controlling the universe. One early Greek philosopher, as evidence of this spirit, declared that he would rather discover one causal law than be king of Persia. The Greeks conceived the universe as the … Read more

Other factors were equally important in shaping Greek political thought. Foremost among these were a sense of community and a spirit of camaraderie which have few modern parallels. The lives of Athenians were not as compartmentalized as ours often are. Distinctions between public and private interests melted away into a common concern for the community. … Read more

Greek and Roman cities were political communities, which possessed the institutions required for autonomous collective decision-making. This remained a characteristic of ancient cities from one end of antiquity to the other, even if under monarchical or imperial rule the autonomy of poleis and civitates was somewhat more restricted. The Greek City-State Although the political ideas … Read more

Ancient Theory of International Relations. Certain principles of interstate relations may also be found in ancient literature or may be deduced from the external dealings of early peoples. Although the modern idea of international law among sovereign and independent states did not develop until the rise of national monarchies at the close of the Middle … Read more