Isonomia

Isonomia (ἰσονομία "equality of political rights," from the Greek ἴσος isos, "equal," and νόμος nomos, "usage, custom, law,") was a word used by ancient Greek writers such as Herodotus and Thucydides to refer to some kind of popular government. It was subsequently eclipsed until brought back into English as isonomy ("equality of law").

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

According to economist and political theorist Friedrich Hayek, isonomia was championed by the Roman Cicero and "rediscovered" in the eleventh century AD by the law students of Bologna 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 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", "rule of law" & "government of law".

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