Peace in the Ancient World
Concepts and Theories
Ancient World: Comparative Histories Series

Coordinator: Raaflaub Kurt A.

Language: English

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200 p. · 17.3x24.6 cm · Hardback
Peace in the Ancient World: Concepts and Theories conducts a comparative investigation of why certain ancient societies produced explicit concepts and theories of peace and others did not.
  • Explores the idea that concepts of peace in antiquity occurred only in periods that experienced exceptional rates of warfare
  • Utilizes case studies of civilizations in China, India, Egypt, and Greece
  • Complements the 2007 volume War and Peace in the Ancient World, drawing on ideas from that work and providing a more comprehensive examination

Notes on Contributors vii

Series Editor’s Preface ix

Introduction 1
Kurt A. Raaflaub

1 Abhorring War, Yearning for Peace: The Quest for Peace in the Ancient World 12
Kurt A. Raaflaub

2 Concepts of Peace in Ancient Egypt 43
Susanne Bickel

3 Thinking about Peace in Ancient India 67
Johannes Bronkhorst

4 Searching for Peace in the Warring States: Philosophical Debates and the Management of Violence in Early China 98
Robin D. S. Yates

5 Greek Concepts and Theories of Peace 122
Kurt A. Raaflaub

6 Broadening the Scope: Thinking about Peace in the Pre-Modern World 158
Hans Van Wees

Index 181

Advanced students and scholars of ancient Mediterranean history; the history of pre–modern China, Egypt, and India; and international relations.
Kurt A. Raaflaub is the David Herlihy University Professor and Professor of Classics at Brown University, Emeritus. His numerous publications include authorship or editorship of 20 scholarly books, in addition to more than 120 articles in journals and essay collections. Raaflaub is the editor of Wiley Blackwell's Ancient World: Comparative Histories series, and is the editor of War and Peace in the Ancient World (Blackwell, 2006).