Deuteronomy: Cicero's Theory Of Just War

It was not until the first century BCE, with the Roman orator Cicero, that Greco-Roman thought had its first advocate of a fully developed theory of just war. His De Officiis deals extensively with what constitutes a just reason for war as well as just conduct within war. Although Cicero's reasoning and examples derive entirely from Roman history, the passage bears a striking resemblance to the fullest biblical explication of just war, the 20th chapter of Deuteronomy. Perhaps the most outstanding difference is the difference in date of composition. While Cicero, writing in the first century BCE, reflects a long line of development of thinking on war in the Greek and Roman worlds, the Book of Deuteronomy was, according to most historians, written in about the seventh century BCE, only a century after The Iliad and approximately six centuries before Cicero's life. …show more content…
Instead, early Christian thought exhibits a markedly pacifist orientation. Hippolytus of Rome, an early third century bishop, states clearly in his writings, in phase with the line of thought that runs throughout Christian writings of this period; in discussing the occupations of those who wish to become Christians, he says: “A military man in authority must not execute men. If he is ordered, he must not carry it out. Nor must he take military oath. If he refuses, he shall be rejected. If someone is a military governor, or the ruler of a city who wears the purple, he shall cease or he shall be rejected. The catechumen or faithful who wants to become a soldier is to be rejected, for he has despised God