In the minds of many, all things political begin either with God or Aristotle. In the case of political violence, both originators are relevant. The complex dynamic between the forces of authority on the one hand, and the society over which it presides on the other, has been at work since time immemorial. Violence has always been a necessary part of the contestation over the legitimacy of that authority, and aspirations to power have perpetually suffered from the temptation to seek consequences beyond the realistic possibilities at hand. Rulers, whether religious or secular, who seek to enforce authority and insurgents who contest that power have been drawn to violence across the centuries.

This chapter examines a huge swath of chronological time, from Biblical and classical Greco-Roman cultures through the medieval and early modern eras of European history. Although my survey through these periods is of necessity far too brief, the intention is to present the emergence of some of the characteristics of terrorism that would much later coalesce into a functioning and integral part of the contentious relationship between the governments of the modern nation state and their challenging antagonists. The violence of these earlier centuries was presented in both religious and secular frameworks; indeed, often the two were merged so as to be almost indistinguishable. These frameworks include two formats. One focuses on the intellectual products written by the prominent and influential theorists of violence, who felt it necessary to justify their critique, whether of a threatening minority in society or an abusive ruler in government. The other is concerned with the acts of political violence that took place. These events on occasion developed from episodic moments of brutality to periods of widespread fear and repression, which more closely resemble aspects of the core ingredients of modern terrorism that developed later.