Most people trace the historical origins of the human rights concept back to ancient Greece and Rome, where it was closely tied to the premodern natural law doctrines of Greek Stoicism (the school of philosophy founded by Zeno of Citium, which held that a universal working force pervades all creation and that human conduct therefore should be judged according to, and brought into harmony with, the law of nature) .

The marketplaces of city-states throughout Greece are ringing with the crises of protesting peasants who are demanding more civil rights. The greeks were primarly angry about being continually unsettled by endless feuding between landlords over boundaries. Indeed, it is the turmoil in the countryside that has given them the opportunity to challenge the city-state governments. Formely, only male property owners who worshiped the local patron god or goddess were allowed to attend political meetings and elect officials. Slaves, peasants, artisans, traders, and even aristocrats all had a chance to speak. The rulling assemblies were made up of aristocrats who had taken over the power of the king.

At the same time, one governments officer had to be called king in order to continue ancient religious rites with the gods. Others were made generals, civil heads, directors of the law and supervisors of state cults . [Back to History]