A Hellenistic Ethical Lexicon

<p><b>Building on his previous work on <i>Hellenistic Interstate Political Ethics </i>(T&T Clark, 2022) leading historian Doron Mendels presents three hundred interstate ethical rules of conduct which he has discovered within three reconstructed Hellenistic codes. </b>These codes appear in the work of three major Hellenistic historical writers, with Mendels also adding remarks that appear in <i>The Letter of Aristeas.</i><br><br>Mendels has formulated these – probably originally oral – rules embedded within the historical narratives using a mixture of statements by rulers and other actors concerning interstate relationships, historical events which point to ethical behaviour of states and/or their breach, as well as related thoughts of the historians themselves regarding interstate encounters. The result is a comprehensive catalogue of ethical rules referring to behaviour on the international scene, which include not only rules but also a lexicon of moral terms borrowed from the individual ethical scenarios. The volume constitutes a significant addition to knowledge of the Hellenistic era in the 3rd-1st centuries BC, the universe against which Judaism and early Christianity operated.</p>