Abstract
The rule of law is a normative principle that political power may not be exercised except according to procedures and constraints prescribed by laws which are publicly known. The rule of law requires all persons, including governmental officials, to obey the laws and be held accountable if they do not. Moreover, the laws can be changed only through constitutional procedures and may not be nullified or overridden by individual fiat. The concept of the rule of law can be found in ancient Greek theories of law (nomos), and it is implicit in many other Greek legal ideas. Greek legal practice encouraged the rule of law, and its theoretical underpinnings were examined in the writings of Plato and Aristotle.
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Notes
- 1.
See John Davies, “The Gortyn Laws,” in The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Law, ed. Michael Gagarin and David Cohen (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), pp. 305–27.
- 2.
See Mogens Herman Hansen, The Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes (Oxford: Blackwell, 1991), Ch. 7; and David Cohen, “Crime, Punishment, and the Rule of Law in Classical Athens,” in The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Law, pp. 211–35.
- 3.
See Glenn R. Morrow, “Plato and the Rule of Law,” Philosophical Review 50 (1941), 105–26; Fred D. Miller, Jr., “Plato on the Rule of Reason,” Southern Journal of Philosophy 43 (2005), 50–83; and Richard F. Stalley, “Platonic Philosophy of Law,” in A History of the Philosophy of Law from the Ancient Greeks to the Scholastics ed. Fred D. Miller, Jr. and Carrie-Ann Biondi (Dordrecht: Springer, 2007), pp. 57–77. Morrow’s essay is reprinted in Plato and Modern Law, ed. Richard O. Brooks (Aldershot Hants: Ashgate, 2007), 443–464, which includes other essays of interest. All translations of Plato are from John M. Cooper, ed., Plato Complete Works (Indianapolis: Hackett, 1997).
- 4.
See Fred D. Miller, Jr., “Aristotle’s Philosophy of Law,” in A History of the Philosophy of Law from the Ancient Greeks to the Scholastics, 79–110. See also Aristotle and Modern Law ed. Richard O. Brooks and James B. Murphy (Aldershot Hants: Ashgate, 2003). Translations of Aristotle are by the author.
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Miller, F.D. (2010). The Rule of Law in Ancient Greek Thought. In: Sellers, M., Tomaszewski, T. (eds) The Rule of Law in Comparative Perspective. Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice, vol 3. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3749-7_2
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