Contents
Acknowledgments page xi
List of abbreviations xiii
Maps xiv
1 A methodological introduction: this study and its
limitations 1
Times and places 2
Comparison and relativism 4
Sources, process, and doctrines 6
Texts and sources 8
The modern critique of ancient international law 11
2 State relations in ancient civilizations 16
The concepts of State and State system and their relevance to antiquity 16
The ancient Near East: Mesopotamia, Syria, and Egypt 21
Sumer and Mesopotamia 22
The great Near Eastern empires, 1400–1150 BCE 24
Syria and Palestine, 966–700 BCE 28
The Greek city-States, 500–338 BCE 31
Rome and its competitors, 358–168 BCE 41
3 Religion and the sources of a law of nations in antiquity 48
The metaphysics of ancient international law 51
Good faith and breaking faith 51
Four fragments 54
Religion 59
Nationalism and universalism 59
Making and breaking oaths 61
Ritual and custom 73
Reason and rhetoric 79
Conclusion 85
4 Making friends: diplomats and foreign visitors in ancient
times 88
The reception and protection of diplomats and embassies 88
Some general concepts 88
The formalities of diplomacy 95
Privileges and immunities of diplomats 106
The status and protection of alien visitors 120
Agreements: xenoi, asylia, isopoliteia, and symbola 124
The proxenia institution 130
Western Mediterranean analogues 134
Ritualized friendship in an ancient law of nations 135
5 Making faith: treaty practices amongst ancient peoples 137
Beginnings of the ancient treaty tradition in the Near East 137
General suppositions and the earliest texts 137
The Babylonians, Hittites, and Assyrians 141
The Egyptians and the treaty with the Hittites of 1280 BCE 146
Ancient Israelite practice 150
The Greek city-States 154
Terminology and types of treaties 154
The nature of Greek treaty-making 171
Western Mediterranean departures in treaty-making 183
Patterns of treaty-making by Western Mediterranean
cultures 183
Formalities and enforcement of Roman treaties 194
Ancient treaty-making: enforcement, sophistication,
tradition, and universality 202
6 Making war: the commencement and conduct of
hostilities in ancient times 207
Declarations of war 208
Justifications for commencing hostilities 208
The rituals for starting a war and the legal
consequences of an outbreak of hostilities 227
Laws of war 242
Restraint in warfare 242
Immunities in warfare 249
After the war 260
Managing conflict in antiquity 263
7 Civilization and community in the ancient mind 267
Topical bibliography 281
Index 303