''Isonomia'' (ἰσονομία "equality of

political rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

,"Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English LexiconThe Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes", Mogens Herman Hansen, , p. 81-84 from the Greek ἴσος ''isos'', "equal," and νόμος ''nomos'', "usage, custom, law,") was a word used by

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

writers such as

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

Herodotus 3.80 and

Thucydides Thucydides ( ; ; BC) was an Classical Athens, Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts Peloponnesian War, the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been d ...

to refer to some kind of popular government. It was subsequently eclipsed until brought back into English as isonomy ( "equality of law"). Economist

Friedrich Hayek Friedrich August von Hayek (8 May 1899 – 23 March 1992) was an Austrian-born British academic and philosopher. He is known for his contributions to political economy, political philosophy and intellectual history. Hayek shared the 1974 Nobe ...

attempted to popularize the term in his book ''

The Constitution of Liberty ''The Constitution of Liberty'' is a book written by Friedrich Hayek, first published in 1960 by the University of Chicago Press. Many scholars have considered ''The Constitution of Liberty'' as the most important work by Hayek. Background In 195 ...

'' and argued that a better understanding of isonomy, as used by the Greeks, defines the term to mean "the equal application of the laws to all."

Ancient usage

Mogens Herman Hansen Mogens Herman Hansen FBA (20 August 1940 – 22 June 2024) was a Danish classical philologist and classical demographer who was one of the leading scholars in Athenian Democracy and the Polis. Life and career Hansen finished his masters at U ...

has argued that, although often translated as "equality of law," ''isonomia'' was in fact something else. Along with ''isonomia'', the Athenians used several terms for

equality Equality generally refers to the fact of being equal, of having the same value. In specific contexts, equality may refer to: Society * Egalitarianism, a trend of thought that favors equality for all people ** Political egalitarianism, in which ...

all compounds beginning with ''iso-'': ''isegoria'' (equal right to address the political assemblies), ''isopsephos polis'' (one man one vote) and ''isokratia'' (equality of power). When Herodotus invents a debate among the

Persians Persians ( ), or the Persian people (), are an Iranian ethnic group from West Asia that came from an earlier group called the Proto-Iranians, which likely split from the Indo-Iranians in 1800 BCE from either Afghanistan or Central Asia. They ...

over what sort of government they should have, he has Otanes speak in favor of ''isonomia'' when, based on his description of it, we might expect him to call the form of government he favors "democracy."

The rule of the people has the fairest name of all, equality (''isonomia''), and does none of the things that a monarch does. The lot determines offices, power is held accountable, and deliberation is conducted in public.

Thucydides used ''isonomia'' as an alternative to dynastic oligarchy and moderate aristocracy. In time the word ceased to refer to a particular political regime;

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

uses it to refer to simply equal rights and Aristotle does not use the word at all.

Ancient Greek philosophy Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC. Philosophy was used to make sense of the world using reason. It dealt with a wide variety of subjects, including astronomy, epistemology, mathematics, political philosophy, ethics, metaphysics ...

linked to ''isonomía'' with ''isegoria'' (prior equality in determining principles of law) and ''isocratía'' (equality in subsequent governance or application of law)

Medical usage

'Isonomia' was also used in Hellenic times by Pythagorean physicians, such as Alkmaeon, who used it to refer to the balance or equality of those opposite pairs of hot/cold, wet/dry and bitterness/sweetness that maintained the health of the body. Thus:

Alkmaeon said that the equality (''isonomia'') of the powers (wet, dry, cold, hot, bitter, sweet, etc.) maintains health, but that monarchy ne overrulingamong them produces disease.

Later use

According to economist and political theorist

, ''isonomia'' was championed by the Roman

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

Friedrich A. Hayek, Origins of the Rule of Law
/ref> and "rediscovered" in the eleventh century AD by the law students of

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

who he says are credited with founding much of the Western legal tradition. ''Isonomia'' was imported into England at the end of the sixteenth century as a word meaning "equality of laws to all manner of persons". Soon after, it was used by the translator of

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding i ...

in the form "Isonomy" (although not a direct translation of ''isonomia'') to describe a state of equal laws for all and responsibility of the magistrates. During the seventeenth century it was gradually replaced by the phrases "

equality before the law Equality before the law, also known as equality under the law, equality in the eyes of the law, legal equality, or legal egalitarianism, is the principle that all people must be equally protected by the law. The principle requires a systematic ru ...

", "

rule of law The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...

" and "government of law". Political theorist

Hannah Arendt Hannah Arendt (born Johanna Arendt; 14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975) was a German and American historian and philosopher. She was one of the most influential political theory, political theorists of the twentieth century. Her work ...

argued that isonomy was equated with political freedom at least from the time of Herodotus. The word essentially denoted a state of no-rule, in which there was no distinction between rulers and ruled. It was "the equality of those who form a body of peers." Isonomy was unique among the forms of government in the ancient lexicon in that it lacked the suffixes "-archy" and "-cracy" which denote a notion of rule in words like "monarchy" and "democracy." Arendt goes on to argue that the Greek ''

polis Polis (: poleis) means 'city' in Ancient Greek. The ancient word ''polis'' had socio-political connotations not possessed by modern usage. For example, Modern Greek πόλη (polē) is located within a (''khôra''), "country", which is a πατ ...

'' was therefore conceived not as a democracy but as an isonomy. "Democracy" was the term used by opponents of isonomy who claimed that "what you say is 'no-rule' is in fact only another kind of rulership...rule by the ''

demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * Plural for Demo (computer programming ...

''," or majority. The public administration theorist,

Alberto Guerreiro Ramos Alberto Guerreiro Ramos (13 September 1915—6 April 1982) was a Brazilian sociologist and politician. An influent Afro-Brazilian thinker, he was instrumental on the development of a native sociological framework, criticizing the use of European ...

, reserved for isonomy a central role in his model of human organization. He was particularly concerned with distinguishing the space of the isonomy from that of the economy. Following Arendt, Guerreiro Ramos argued that individuals should have the opportunity to engage with others in settings that are unaffected by economizing considerations. The isonomy constitutes such a setting; its function is to "enhance the good life of the whole."Guerreiro Ramos, A. (1981). ''The new science of organizations: A reconceptualization of the wealth of nations''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 131.

Ancient usage

Medical usage

Later use

See also

References

Further reading