Editing Anarchism (section)

=== Pre-modern era ===
[[File:Paolo Monti - Servizio fotografico (Napoli, 1969) - BEIC 6353768.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|[[Zeno of Citium]] ({{Circa|334|262 BC}}), whose ''[[Republic (Zeno)|Republic]]'' inspired [[Peter Kropotkin]]{{Sfn|Marshall|1993|p=70}}]]
The most notable precursors to anarchism in the ancient world were in [[History of China#Ancient China|China]] and [[Ancient Greece|Greece]]. In China, [[philosophical anarchism]] (the discussion on the legitimacy of the state) was delineated by [[Taoism|Taoist]] philosophers [[Zhuang Zhou]] and [[Laozi]].{{Sfnm|1a1=Coutinho|1y=2016|2a1=Marshall|2y=1993|2p=54}} Alongside [[Stoicism]], Taoism has been said to have had "significant anticipations" of anarchism.{{Sfn|Sylvan|2007|p=257}}

Anarchic attitudes were also articulated by [[Tragedy|tragedians]] and [[Philosophy|philosophers]] in Greece. [[Aeschylus]] and [[Sophocles]] used the myth of [[Antigone]] to illustrate the conflict between laws imposed by the state and personal [[autonomy]]. [[Socrates]] questioned [[Athens|Athenian]] authorities constantly and insisted on the right of individual [[freedom of conscience]]. [[Cynicism (philosophy)|Cynics]] dismissed human law (''[[Nomos (sociology)|nomos]]'') and associated authorities while trying to live according to nature (''[[physis]]''). [[Stoics]] were supportive of a society based on unofficial and friendly relations among its citizens without the presence of a state.{{Sfn|Marshall|1993|pp=4, 66–73}}

In [[Middle Ages|medieval Europe]], there was no anarchistic activity except some ascetic religious movements. These, and other Muslim movements, later gave birth to [[Anarchism and religion|religious anarchism]]. In the [[Sasanian Empire]], [[Mazdak]] called for an [[egalitarian]] society and the [[abolition of monarchy]], only to be soon executed by Emperor [[Kavad I]].{{Sfn|Marshall|1993|p=86}} In [[Basra]], religious sects preached against the state.{{Sfn|Crone|2000|pp=3, 21–25}} In Europe, various religious sects developed anti-state and libertarian tendencies.{{Sfn|Nettlau|1996|p=8}} 

Renewed interest in antiquity during the [[Renaissance]] and in private judgment during the [[Reformation]] restored elements of anti-authoritarian [[secularism]] in Europe, particularly in France.{{Sfn|Marshall|1993|p=108}} [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] challenges to intellectual authority (secular and religious) and the [[List of revolutions and rebellions|revolutions of the 1790s and 1848]] all spurred the ideological development of what became the era of classical anarchism.{{Sfn|Levy|Adams|2018|p=307}}