Law and Rights in the Ancient World (CLS-0073)

Fall 2026 · CLS 0073 · Tufts University · 3 credits · Undergraduate

Introduction to the complex and intersecting practices of law and conceptions of personal rights in the ancient world from the organization of states in the Near East to the end of antiquity: c. 3,200 BCE to 800 CE; exploration of the role of social ideology and religion in recursively shaping how the Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Chinese and others negotiated the formulation and practice of law and concepts of social rights: status, morality, social duty, religion, gender, and civic/personal identity. Extensive and intensive examination of primary evidence and secondary scholarship involving the close reading of ancient texts and material culture to investigate the role of law and rights in the ancient world: civil law, customary law, contract law, statutory law and decrees, constitutions, criminal process, treaties, oratory, and legal training. No prerequisite.

Course codes: CLS-0073, CLS 0073, CLS0073, CLS-73, CLS 73, CLS73, HIST-0016, HIST 0016, HIST0016, HIST-16, HIST 16, HIST16, HIST-0119, HIST 0119, HIST0119, HIST-119, HIST 119, HIST119, ILVS-0033, ILVS 0033, ILVS0033, ILVS-33, ILVS 33, ILVS33, CLS-0173, CLS 0173, CLS0173, CLS-173, CLS 173, CLS173

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