Marcello Bertoli

In Rome the war was considered juridically iustum if carried out in compliance with the alliances, and it was pium against those who committed a religious crime. The existence of a similar concept of dikaios polemos in Greece is here investigated. The present paper aims at showing if and how the religious aspects influenced the debate concerning the guilt of the war among the Greek States in the second half of the Vth Century b.C. Thucydides’ account is the main source. Cases where religious aspects seem to be determining factors are discussed: when a debate on responsibility of a war arises, each State tends to plead not guilty using both juridical and religious arguments. In some instances, the religious argument is conclusive and appears to be so probably also for its connection with the political propaganda and the popular religious feeling. According to Thucydides’ account, violation of a religious agreement (agreement usually entered with an oath) is a right cause of war and on this ground it is supposable that Vth-Century Greece knew the concept of dikaios polemos.