Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction : Searching for peace in the ancient world / Kurt A. Raaflaub -- Making war and making peace in early China / Robin D.S. Yates -- Ancient India : peace within and war without / Richard Salomon -- Water under the straw : peace in Mesopotamia / Benjamin R. Foster -- Making, preserving, and breaking the peace with the Hittite state / Richard H. Beal -- Conflict and reconciliation in the ancient Middle East : the clash of Egyptian and Hittite chariots in Syria, and the world's first peace treaty between "Superpowers" / Lanny Bell -- From Achaemenid imperial order to Sasanian diplomacy : war, peace, and reconciliation in pre-Islamic Iran / Josef Wiesehèofer -- War and reconciliation in the traditions of ancient Israel : historical, literary, and ideological considerations / Susan Niditch -- "They shall beat their swords into plowshares" : a vision of peace through justice and its background in the Hebrew Bible / Thomas Krüger -- "Laughing for joy" : war and peace among the Greeks / Lawrence A. Tritle -- War and reconciliation in Greek literature / David Konstan -- War, peace, and international law in ancient Greece / Victor Alonso -- War and peace, fear and reconciliation at Rome / Nathan Rosenstein -- The price of peace in ancient Rome / Carlin A. Barton -- The gates of war (and peace) : Roman literary perspectives / Jeri DeBrohun -- Early Christian views on violence, war, and peace / Louis J. Swift -- Fight for God, but do so with kindness : reflections on war, peace, and communal identity in early Islam / Fred M. Donner -- Peace, reconciliation, and alliance in Aztec Mexico / Ross Hassig -- War and peace in the Inca heartland / Catherine Julien -- The long peace among Iroquois nations / Neta C. Crawford.