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Rule of law is a rebuke to rulers who argue that they are exempt from the law from due to divine right or other rationale. The concept was familiar to ancient philosophers such as [[Aristotle]], who wrote "Law should govern".<ref>Aristotle, Politics 3.16</ref> It was a principle followed during the Roman Republic. "We are all servants of the laws in order that we may be free," Cicero wrote. Magistrates were immune from prosecution as long as they held public office. But they could be legally held to account once their terms expired. (Senators were former magistrates who, at least in theory, merely advised their successors. The Senate had neither immunity nor legal responsibility for any policy.) In imperial times, the emperor was declared to be immune from law (''legibus solutus'').  

Rule of law is a rebuke to rulers who argue that they are exempt from the law from due to divine right or other rationale. The concept was familiar to ancient philosophers such as [[Aristotle]], who wrote "Law should govern".<ref>Aristotle, Politics 3.16</ref> It was a principle followed during the Roman Republic. "We are all servants of the laws in order that we may be free," Cicero wrote. Magistrates were immune from prosecution as long as they held public office. But they could be legally held to account once their terms expired. (Senators were former magistrates who, at least in theory, merely advised their successors. The Senate had neither immunity nor legal responsibility for any policy.) In imperial times, the emperor was declared to be immune from law (''legibus solutus'').  

The ''Magna Carta'' of 1215 established the principle that the king of England is subject to the law. This may not have been the originally intention of the document, but it has been consistently interpreted this way, most authoritatively by Sir Edward Coke. The phrase "rule of law" is found in a petition to King James I submitted by parliament in 1610.<ref>Hallam, Henry. ''The Constitutional History of England'', Voleume 1, page 441 (1827).</ref> In the English Civil War (1642–1651), the king asserted that his "divine right" took precedence over the law. Samuel Rutherford answered this argument in ''Lex, Rex: The Law is King'' (1644).

The ''Magna Carta'' of 1215 established the principle that the king of England is subject to the law. This may not have been the original intention of the document, but it has been consistently interpreted this way, most authoritatively by Sir Edward Coke. The phrase "rule of law" is found in a petition to King James I submitted by parliament in 1610.<ref>Hallam, Henry. ''The Constitutional History of England'', Voleume 1, page 441 (1827).</ref> In the English Civil War (1642–1651), the king asserted that his "divine right" took precedence over the law. Samuel Rutherford answered this argument in ''Lex, Rex: The Law is King'' (1644).

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