ANCIENT PEACE FABLES – HISTORICAL AND LEGAL ANALYSIS

Abstract

The political and legal meanings of the lexeme “peace” in the imagined worldview of the ancient Greeks and Romans are investigated. The ancient lexeme “peace” is a sign of the Cosmos, a state of long-term equilibrium-measure of opposing elements. Peace is achieved by collective motivation, the art of the people. Community determines the meanings of peace, which receive multidimensionality, multivectority and dynamism. Therefore, the forms of peace always remain polemical. This feature is due to the mytho-polytheistic and contractual nature of this concept and is determined by the need to interpret the will of the gods, find a collective solution in a particular conflict situation. At the same time, the development of compatible ideas took place under two conditions: the need to ensure the stability and security of the ethos of the people and the second, to leave unchanged the established forms of community solidarity, which are based on the principle of nonviolence, freedom, the right of everyone to determine the criteria of the common Good and happiness. Ancient plots of peace were formed in three successive and interdependent circles – the cultural practices of the people. The first circle established the peace of the people with the gods – the fenced land of the people was consecrated, which was protected by a ring of warriors. Their inner life was based on the principle of “geometric equality”, on devotion to the sacred order established by the gods and people. The second circle of peace was achieved by a moderate contractual union of households, communities and peoples, by the approval of a complete community (πατρίς), where the public space for discussion and announcement of political and legal norms prevailed. This peace had signs of rationalization, collective definition of the boundaries of freedom, rights and obligations of citizens of the polis. The third circle of peace is a dynamic process of self-improvement of comrades – an alliance of friends who jointly resolved current issues of coexistence. The peace achieved by the three circles of harmony received a legal status – it is a legitimized reason for finally approving the political and legal order of a separate community, its key categories: right, justice, law, citizenship, etc. A large number of ancient concepts – ethos, orbis, polis, friendship, nomos, harmony, goodness, happiness, and even war (as a means of finding the most perfect ethos) include the concept of peace.