International law in archaic Rome

by Alan Watson

"As the most successful conquerors of the ancient world - and arguably the most legalistic people ever - Romans found it necessary to obtain a judicial verdict before they were willing to declare war. But this practice was also tied to the Romans' extreme religiosity. A special class of priests oversaw the process of declaring war, calling on the gods themselves to decide whether the military cause was just." "In International Law in Archaic Rome, Alan Watson focuses on the Roman priests known as fetiales, whose sole duties were declaring war, demanding reparations before war began, and making treaties. Before hostilities could begin, the fetiales conducted a process that resembled an early Roman civil trial to determine that the reasons for the war were justified. Scholars have long thought that the fetiales called on the gods as witnesses to defend the Roman cause, but Watson argues that the gods were called to act more impartially, as judges in trial. He observes that the proceeding