en
Studia Iuridica

Living with the Rules: Gender and the Rule of Law in Herodotus’ Histories

2019, 80, No. 1

Helen Tank

University of Birmingham

DOI

10.5604/01.3001.0013.4820

Publication date

17.09.2019

Publishing model

open access

License type

CC BY 4.0 Int.

Field

Law

Discipline

law

Language of publication

English

Downloads

PDF 323 KB

Article

Number of views:163

Number of downloads:42

Crossref citations:0

Altmetric score:0

Abstract

What does “the rule of law” mean to an ancient historian, Herodotus? This paper uses modern legal theories and a sociological model to consider how he presents the concept in his Histories. The author takes a novel approach in that she considers the rule of law from a gender perspective. She argues that law is as much about social and cultural rules, which involve women as much as men, as it is about institutional practices which exclude women and reinforce an ideology of female inferiority. She also shows that the rule of law is a powerful normative ideal which Herodotus uses to interrogate power. The author uses the theoretical model of law developed by the English legal scholar HLA Hart, who argues that rules have a social as well as a legal dimension (the “internal” view of law), that is, how rules are perceived by community members, and how normative behaviours are enforced by that community. She also uses the work of a legal anthropologist, Leopold Pospίčil, and feminist legal theory, to argue for a wider definition of the rule of law than that used by most contemporary scholars. She uses three case studies to show that the rule of law is a powerful force in the Histories precisely because it combines external coercive force, internal rule of conduct and normative ideal.

Keywords:

Bibliography

Asheri D., Lloyd A.B., Corcella A. (eds.) Herodotus. Histories, Book 1-1V, Oxford 2007

Assmann J., Religion and Cultural Memory, R. Livingstone (transl.), Stanford, CA, 2000

Bingham T., The Rule of Law, London 2010

Blok J., Women in Herodotus’ Histories, (in:) E.J. Bakker, I.J.F de Jong, H. van Wees (eds.), Brill’s Companion to Herodotus, Leiden 2002, pp. 225-242

Bowie A.M., Herodotus. Histories, Book VIII, Cambridge 2007

Cairns D.L., Hybris, Dishonour, and Thinking Big, ,,The Journal of Hellenic Studies” 1996, Vol. 116, pp. 1-32

Canevaro M., The Rule of Law as the Measure of Political Legitimacy in the Greek City States, ,,Hague Journal on the Rule of Law” 2017, issue 9, pp. 211-236

Cartledge P., Millet P., Todd S. (eds.) Nomos: essays in Athenian law, politics and society, Cambridge 1990

Cartledge P., Greenwood E., Herodotus as a Critic: Truth, Fiction, Polarity, (in:) E.J. Bakker, I.J.F. de Jong, H.van Wees (eds.) Brill’s Companion to Herodotus, Leiden, Boston 2002, pp. 351-371

Dewald C., Women and Culture in Herodotus’ Histories, (in:) R. Munson (ed), Herodotus and the World, Oxford 2013, pp. 151-179

Diduck A., O’Donovan K. (eds.) Feminist perspectives on Family Law. London, New york 2006

Ducat J., The Spartan “tremblers”, P.J. Shaw (transl.), (in:) S. Hodkinson, A. Powell (eds), Sparta and War, Wales 2006, pp. 1-55

Fineman M.A., The Autonomy Myth: A Theory of Dependency, New york, London 2004

Foxhall L., Lewis A., Greek Law in its Political Setting: Justification not Justice Oxford 1996

Harris E.M., Rubinstein L. (eds.) 2004 The Law and the Courts in Ancient Greece, London 2004

Harris E.M., The Rule of Law in Action in Democratic Athens, Oxford 2013

Hart H.L.A., The Concept of Law, Oxford 1961

Hall J., Ethnic Identity in Greek antiquity, Cambridge 1997

Humphreys S.C., Law, Custom and Culture, ,,Arethusa” 1987, issue 20, pp. 211-220

Hunter V.J., Policing Athens: Social Control in the Attic Lawsuits, 420-320 BC, Princeton 1994

Livingstone N., Athens: the City as University, London, New york 2016

Masson J., Bailey-Harris R., Probert R., Cretney: Principles of Family Law, 8th edition, London 2008

Munson R.V. Ananke in Herodotus, “Journal of Hellenic Studies” 2001, Vol. 121, pp. 30-50

Naffine N., In Praise of Legal Feminism, ,,Legal Studies” 2002, Vol. 71, pp. 71-101

Ostwald M., Language and History in Ancient Greek Culture, Philadelphia 2009

Otten C. With Ash on their Faces: Yezidi Women and the Islamic State, New York, London 2017

Quane H. Legal Pluralism and International Human Rights Law: Inherently Incompatible, Mutually Reinforcing or Something in Between?, ,,Oxford Journal of Legal Studies” 2013, Vol. 33, issue 4, pp. 675–702

Sibley S., Ewick P., The rule of law: sacred and profane, ,,Society” 2000, Vol. 37, issue 6, pp. 49-56

Tamanaha B., On the Rule of Law: History, Politics, Theory, Cambridge 2004

Tamanaha B., The Rule of Law and Legal Pluralism in Development, ,,Hague Journal on the Rule of Law” 2011, Vol. 3, pp. 1-17

Tank H., Powerful women and gender ideology in Herodotus’ Histories, (in:) T. Tsakiropolou-Summers, K. Kitsi-Mitakou (eds.), Women and the Ideology of Political Exclusion: From Classical Antiquity to the Modern Era, London, New york 2019

Thomas R., Herodotus in Context. Ethnography, Science and the Art of Persuasion, Cambridge 2000

Waterfield R., translation with introduction and notes by C. Dewald, Herodotus: The Histories Oxford 1998

Similar publications