A Hellenistic Ethical Lexicon

How might it be possible to frame rules of conduct in an international context that lacks a system of law capable of obliging states to fulfill their obligations and keep their promises? The ancient Hellenistic world, as Professor Doron Mendels masterfully illustrates in this original book, provides important elements for a response to this question. Drawing on three ancient historians and an ancient political thinker, the author retrieves the core doctrines of an ethical code elaborated over the course of a long historical period. This code, as he illustrates, prescribes rules of ethical conduct for political leaders necessary to insure the stability of states through the maintenance of orderly interstate relations. Far from abstract theoretical formulations, Professor Mendels convincingly demonstrates that the different precepts of this code were actively engaged in the political life of the Hellenistic period. Professor Mendels' analyses in this book vibrantly illustrate ways in which ancient political attitudes and concepts retain a vital importance for contemporary understanding in the fields of history and of political thought. * Jeffrey Andrew Barash, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the University of Amiens, France *
The book extracts from four Hellenistic sources on history and political theory a collection of strikingly civilized ethical precepts of good governance and interstate intercourse, based on ideas of reciprocity and enlightened self-interest. To a general reader, it is remarkable how such ancient ideas, that provided an intellectual foundation for international law, are still today honoured in their breach rather than in their observance. * Celia Fassberg, Judge Harry M. Fisher Professor of Private International and Inter-Religious Law, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel *