The instauration of a bond of good faith between the parties played a crucial role in ancient
diplomatic agreements. On the one hand ancient authors often highlight the multi-faceted
character of good faith and the ambiguities that marked many of the ritual practices used to
create it. Yet it is precisely this complexity of good faith that paves the road for modern
historians to enquire on aspects such as its legal implementation its effectiveness in
creating lasting bonds or its moral implications. Forms of ancient diplomacy were often
meaningful and so were breaches of the diplomatic etiquette. The code of diplomatic
communication was an extremely important channel for shaping policy (and good faith) and is
therefore a fruitful heuristic tool for analysing interstate encounters in antiquity. The
contributions collected in this volume offer a multifaceted if preliminary illustration of
ancient diplomatic good faith focusing primarily on Greek Persian-Achaemenid and Roman
cultures but also on the Hellenistic kingdoms and the Parthian Empire.
