Our study of antiquity is dominated by warfare. By contrast, ancient ideas of peace and approaches to peacebuilding have received relatively little attention. Compounding this, there has been a tendency in existing studies to follow the lead of a narrow range of elite, war-oriented sources and to focus on highly privileged, geopolitical and militarising ideas of peace and peacebuilding.

The Ancient Peace Studies Network (APSN) aims to address these shortcomings and to promote new ways of exploring how peace was envisioned, sought, lost and remade by ordinary people in many different contexts around the ancient world. Founded in 2025, it brings together researchers from a wide range of disciplines with expertise in different cultures and time periods. As well as shedding new light on ancient experiences and discourses, the APSN aims to build dialogue between ancient and modern peace studies.

The APSN is directed by Dr Alice König, and connects to the University of St Andrews’ Visualising War and Visualising Peace projects.

You can follow our work on social media, and you can email us directly at [email protected].