Nomos e kratos: scene (e aporie) di un connubio antico

The relationship between law and power, nomos and kratos, is at the root of all political models imagined by the ancients and it is represented in many memorable scenes, both literary and philosophical. An inextricable link connects since the beginning the strength of kratos and the order of nomos, but there is no way of dissolving the aporias which anyone looking for a legitimate use of a model of power comes across: every representation just makes the complexity of the problem clearer. Some references to the history and to the most ancient uses of the two terms will be the foreword to the illustration of some philosophical scenes, where troubling theoretical rebus appear, without providing solutions, but drawing a map of difficulties around the key dilemma of political power. On the side of the kratos, the analysis uses some references to the question of power in the Iliad of Homer, “the poem of force”, where the political authority of leaders is recognized by the assembly of warriors only through the efficacy of their leadership exercised in war: this is the test case that legitimates the reasons of sovereignty. On the side of the nomos, the reference to the figure of Solon allows to illustrate some of the problems concerning the law, real and symbolic depositary of the function establishing political order; among these problems, the need of stability, which is supported by the supposed antiquity of the rules and by the myth of the true legislator, in a context where the naturalness, conventionality and perfectibility of the laws are heavily discussed. The "scenes" examined, taken from Herodotus, Plato, Aristotle, Thucydides, show the terms of a debate in several voices, among real or imaginary characters, focusing on some issues of great importance in defining the justice and legitimacy of institutions: the violence, explicit or disguised, exercised by political power; the justifications and limits of obedience to the laws; the interest of political power to preserve itself and the problematic reference to the public good in the relationship between governors and governed; the Aristotelian principle of constitutional conservation; the mildness (real or imaginary, desirable or risible) of democracy. The conclusions highlight the significance of the ideas offered by these ancient reflections, suggesting in some ways a provocative topicality.