| Is deterrence a recent or ancient phenomenon? Long-range analysis from political science, supported by key advances in archaeology and epigraphy, now permit social scientists to measure and compare systematically the ancient origins of deterrence as a strategy of defense. The data reported in this article, based directly on primary sources, demonstrate that deterrence is at least thousands of years old and was invented independently in the Old World (Eastern Hemisphere) and the New World (Western Hemisphere),by |