Oaths in Long Late Antiquity

Scholars increasingly see the Byzantine and Islamic Empires of the first millennium CE as part of a shared cultural sphere rooted in Greek, Roman, and Iranian traditions. This book examines how oath-taking functioned across this ‘long Late Antiquity’, revealing both common patterns and significant diversity, shaped by different languages and legal traditions. It brings together areas of study that often remain mutually alien, separated by barriers of disciplinary training and fields of interest; in doing so, it aims to contribute to the interdisciplinary study of legal cultures, bridging Christian and Islamic societal practices as well as their ancient Roman forebears.

Alasdair Grant and Daphne Penna (Eds .)

Expected publication date:  October 2026