Description: In Taming Ares Emiliano J. Buis studies the narrative foundations of the (il)legality of warfare in the classical Greek world in order to demonstrate its contribution to a better historical understanding of the international legal rules applicable to the use of force and the conduct of hostilities.
Brief description: Emiliano Jerónimo Buis, PhD in Classics and Postdoctoral Degree in Law (Universidad de Buenos Aires) is Professor of International Law and Ancient Greek at that university and at UNICEN, as well as researcher at the CONICET in Argentina. He has widely published on the theory and history of international law, ancient Greek literature (especially drama) and Athenian law.
Review Quotes: 'Emiliano Buis's book, Taming Ares: War, Interstate Law, and Humanitarian Discourse in Classical Greece, is one of the rare books to look at Classical Greece texts and norms from various religious, political, social, literary and artistic sources, through the prism of international humanitarian law (IHL), and offers a fascinating perspective on the historical roots of IHL.
This book allows readers to get an in-depth view into how norms, interpolity relations and laws common to the classical Greeks were conceived during the Peloponnesian War period (431-404 BCE), and provides an enlightening analysis of some of the precursory roots of what we know today as ius ad bellum and ius in bello. Not only is the book based on meticulous research, but each of its sections is also supported by numerous examples and quotations of the original texts used as reference sources, with their English translation, allowing readers to fully appreciate how the norms and ideas preceding modern-day IHL were expressed.' Marie-Louise Tougas, in: International Review of the Red Cross, p. 1-7. Published online 18 July 2019.
"The book's greatest strength is Buis' engagement both with the ancient evidence and with recent thinking in the field of International Law, a combination often allows for unexpected and stimulating insights. This monograph will be valuable both for students of international law seeking an introduction to Greek thinking and practices, and for classical Greek historians interested in the perspectives of the discipline of International Law". Peter Hunt, in H-Soz-Kult. Kommunikation und Fachinformation für die Geschichtswissenschaften (2019).