'This work is a real gem. For any lawyer with an interest in history, particularly ancient history, it is a fascinating read. Professor Bederman has steeped himself in the legal aspects of significant sections of the ancient world, and constructed very respectable arguments for his thesis that an at least unconscious body of rules existed to govern relations between states and kingdoms in those times … This book deserves to become a classic in its own right.' New Law Journal

• Acknowledgments; List of abbreviations; Maps; 1. A methodological introduction: this study and its limitations; 2. State relations in ancient civilizations; 3. Religion and the sources of a law of nations in antiquity; 4. Making friends: diplomats and foreign visitors in ancient times; 5. Making faith: treaty practices amongst ancient peoples; 6. Making war: the commencement and conduct of hostilities in ancient times; 7. Civilization and community in the ancient mind; Topical bibliography; Index.

'This work is a real gem. For any lawyer with an interest in history, particularly ancient history, it is a fascinating read. Professor Bederman has steeped himself in the legal aspects of significant sections of the ancient world, and constructed very respectable arguments for his thesis that an at least unconscious body of rules existed to govern relations between states and kingdoms in those times … This book deserves to become a classic in its own right.' New Law Journal

• Acknowledgments; List of abbreviations; Maps; 1. A methodological introduction: this study and its limitations; 2. State relations in ancient civilizations; 3. Religion and the sources of a law of nations in antiquity; 4. Making friends: diplomats and foreign visitors in ancient times; 5. Making faith: treaty practices amongst ancient peoples; 6. Making war: the commencement and conduct of hostilities in ancient times; 7. Civilization and community in the ancient mind; Topical bibliography; Index.