The Cambridge History of International Law: Volume 4, International Law in the Middle East and the Mediterranean during Antiquity

A rich insight into the existence and scope of international law in Antiquity across the Middle East and Mediterranean.

This volume looks at the existence and scope of international law in Antiquity across the Middle East and Mediterranean. It considers forms of what we could now consider international law in Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman and Byzantine territories. It will interest classicists, historians, legal scholars and archaeologists.Volume IV of The Cambridge History of International Law explores the existence and scope of international law in Antiquity, spanning approximately 1800 BCE to 650 CE. During this period, the territories surrounding the Mediterranean engaged in various forms of cross-border interaction, from trade wars to diplomacy; this traffic was regulated through a patchwork of laws, regulations and treaties. However, the existence of international law as a coherent concept in Antiquity remains contested. We can speak only about 'territories', which include empires, tribal lands and cities, not about 'countries' or 'nations' in the modern sense. Rather than offering an overview of legal relations between territories surrounding the Mediterranean in Antiquity, this volume presents a set of case studies centred around various topics commonly associated with the modern idea of international law. Together, these studies result in a novel but accessible perspective on the (in)existence of international law in Antiquity.