Existing comment:
Better. Every. Day.
500 BCE
500 BCE
In Antigone, the playwright Sophocles explains that a law made by a mere man, even a kind, can not override "the gods' unwritten and unfailing laws," which predated and were superior to manmade laws.
c. 800 BCE - 200 BCE
Where in other civilizations kinds were considered divine and therefore infallible, the Jews tell the Egyptian Pharoah (and their own kings) that a king is still just a man, and every man is beneath God's law.
300 BCE - 50 BCE
An ancient Greek group of thinkers known as the Stoics develop the argument that the fundamental moral principles that govern the laws of all nations are built upon rules laid down by nature. They maintain that even if the ruler is the people themselves, they still may do only what is just according to natural law. Stoicism would go on to have a profound influences on the Romans, particularly the emperor Marcus Aurelius and the statesman and writer Cicero.
30 BCE
When asked whether his followers should pay taxes, Jesus says,
"Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's."
In so doing, he divides the world into two realms and makes it clear that not everything is under the control of the state -- a radical notion that would have a profound influence on the development of Christianity and European thought.
200
Early Christians develop theories of toleration to counter Roman persecution. Among them was Tertullian, a Carthaginian known as the "father of Latin theology," who writes,
"It is a fundamental human right, a privilege of nature, that every man should worship according to his own convictions."
Early 13th Century
Across Europe, nobles, gentry, and city dwellers push back against the unlimited power of kings. In England, King John is forced to sign the [sic] Magna Carta in 1215, laying the foundations of constitutionally limited government in the English-speaking world. The nobles and gentry of Hungary likewise force King Andrew II to sign the Golden Bull, limiting the power to tax and creating checks on the king's power. In Germany, the town of Magdeburg develops a set of laws that emphasize freedom and self-government. Magdeburg law is so widely respected that it is adopted by hundreds of other towns and cities.
1250-1270
1517-1648 |