Political Philosophy Major Figures and Events with Dates and Significance

Cronus

Mythological titan. Represents earliest order and succession struggles. Overthrew his father and seized power.

Zeus

Chief Olympian God. Strongest of them all. Embodiment of divine authority and justice. Overthrew his father Cronus and seized power.

Apollo

Olympian god of prophecy, reason, and order. Model of harmony and law.

Achilles

Hero of the Trojan war, according to Homer’s Iliad, mythological figure. Symbol of a warrior's great courage, bravery, and determination in the face of danger, particularly in battle or warfare + tragic mortality.

Moses

Leader of the israelites, led them out of Egypt to freedom and received the ten commandments from God

Theseus

Founder of Athens; hero who entered the Labyrinth and killed the Minotaur, as well as famous bandits

Hesiod

750-650 BC. Poet of Works and Days and Theogony; shaped cosmology ( study of the universe’s origin) and morality

Homer

8th century BC. Author of the Illiad and the Odyssey; foundational epics of Greek identity

Lycugus

Legendary lawgiver of Sparta (9th-7th century BC). Credited with Sparta’s martial (military) constitution

Solon

640-560 BC. Athenian lawgiver; reforms laid groundwork for democracy

Romulus

founder and first king of Rome - 753 BC

Socrates

469-399 BC philosopher, pioneer of critical questioning/thinking, executed in Athens

Pericles

495-429 BC Athenian statesman; expanded democracy and empire

Thucydides

460-400 BC. Historian of Peloponnesian War; analysical history

Plato

427-384 BC Philosopher, author of Republic. Academy founder

Aristotle

384-322 BC Philosopher, systematic thinker, tutor to Alexander the Great, Lyceum founder

Alexander III (The Great)

356-323 BC Conqueror of Persia, spread Hellenism from Egypt to India

Julius Ceaser

100-44 BC. Roman general, dictator; end of Republic, laid the foundation for the Roman Empire

Cicero

106-43 BC Roman orator and philosopher, source of republicanism

Jesus

0-33 Central figure to Christianity

Constantine the Great

272-337 First Christian emperor of Rome; founded constantinople

St. Augustine

354-430 Christian theologian; City of God shaped Christian political thought

Magna Carta

1215: foundational document limiting monarchy, foundation for constitutional government

St Thomas Aquinas

1225-1274 Theologian: natural law theory synthesizing Aristotle and Christianity

1492

Columbus’s voyage to the Americas; beginning of European expansion

1517

Martin Luther’s 95 Theses; beginning of protestant reformation

Martin Luther

1483-1546 Leader of the Protestant Reformation

Niccolo Machiavelli

1469-1527 Author of the Prince, realist approach to politics

Henry VIII

1491-1547. English king, broke with Rome, created church of england

Elizabeth I

1533-1603. Queen of England; Protestant settlement and expansion

James VI/I

1566-1625 : King of Scotland and England; divine right of kings, commisioned translation of the Bible

Charles I

1600-1649. English King executed during English civil war

Thomas Hobbes

1588-1679. Philosopher; author of Leviathan; social contract and sovereignty

John Locke

1632-1702. Philosopher; natural rights, consent of the goverend

William and Mary

1689-1702. Monarch after the Glorious Revolution; Bill of rights established parliamentary supremacy

Jean Jaques Rousseau

1712-1778. Philosopher; general will and democracy; influenced french revolution

Louis XIV

1638-1715: Sun King of France; epitome of absolutism

French Revolution

1789-1799 Overthrew monarchy, introduced modern democracy and nationalism - “let them eat cake”

Alexis de Tocqueville

1805-1859. Political thinker; Democracy in America analyzed democracy’s strengths and weaknesses

John Stuart Mill

1806-1873. Philosopher and economist; champion of liberty, utilitarian ethics, and representative government