This study of diplomacy in the Hellenistic period, a subject long neglected, describes the major institutions, particularly in the practices of concluding peace at the end of the many wars of that time. These practices are traced to their origin among the personal relationships between the warriors who succeeded Alexander the Great and who carved up his empire. They are then examined in operation in various parts of the Hellenistic world - Syria, Greece, the West - and the progressive destruction of the system by Rome.