Just war in the classical world: Grece and Rome

‘War is hell’ is one of the mantras used to offer an explanation for the lack of ethical guidance in the radical antagonism involved in that human conflict known as war. Throughout the history of mankind, there has been an effort to introduce ethical considerations in war-waging. However, humanity has assisted, defenseless, to the greatest injustices and disasters once and again. This situation highlights the problematic issues and paradoxes of the concept of “just war”. Our purpose here is to analyze the origins of this concept in the Greek ethical reflection during the Peloponnesian War and in the justification of the Roman expansion during the founding of the Roman Empire.