Quiz: On the Law of War and Peace

15 questions drawn at random. Score 80% for a silver medal.

1. How does Grotius resolve whether the clause protecting “allies” covered Saguntum, Rome’s later ally? It covered only allies at the time of the treaty, so Carthage broke no treaty It covered all future allies, so Carthage broke the treaty The clause was void because it was never sworn The Ebro convention with Hasdrubal decided the matter
2. How far, according to the rule Grotius reports from Holland, is a shipowner liable for his master’s acts? No further than the value of the ship and cargo Not at all, the master alone being liable Without any limit, as under Roman law Only for acts he expressly authorised in writing
3. How does Grotius treat goods that are of no use in war and serve only luxury, when they are carried to an enemy? It makes the carrier an enemy They may be seized only in a blockade They may always be seized as contraband of war No just complaint can be made against it
4. Which writer’s line does Grotius quote to show that peace needs armies, armies need pay and pay needs taxation? Seneca, in his letters to his friend Lucilius Livy, in a speech of Camillus to the Senate Cicero, in his speech for Milo on self-defence Tacitus, quoting Petilius Cerealis
5. How long does Grotius say “time immemorial” roughly amounts to? Thirty years Close to a hundred years, about three generations Fifty years, as Aratus held Three hundred years, as in Jephthah’s case
6. Under the Athenian androlepsia, what could the relatives of a man murdered abroad do? Demand a fixed money compensation from its rulers Confiscate the goods of all its merchants in Athens Declare war on that country in the name of Athens Seize up to three subjects of that country until the killers were punished or surrendered
7. What does Grotius say about the debts of a commonwealth that becomes a monarchy? The state still owes them, being the same people The new king may choose whether or not to honour them Only the citizens who voted for the loans must pay them They lapse together with the old republican constitution
8. Whom does Grotius appoint as the “pleader” for those who deny that there is any law between peoples? Carneades Thucydides Thrasymachus Machiavelli
9. What position of Cicero’s does Grotius reject in II.13? That oaths must be kept in the sense in which the imposer intended That an oath is a solemn appeal to God as witness and avenger That kings’ plain word binds them as strictly as an oath That an oath to pay robbers for one’s life need not be kept
10. What principle does Grotius state about the grounds of war? They are as numerous as those of judicial actions They are limited to defence of territory They are whatever the sovereign declares them to be They are fixed by the treaties between nations
11. What sign does Grotius say signals a request for a parley in his own day? A shield placed on the head A spear thrown into the ground Pikes raised upright A white flag
12. May a merchant sell grain at a high price without telling buyers that more grain ships are on the way? Yes; it is uncharitable but not unjust Only in time of war No; it is fraud under natural law Only if he swears to the price
13. In III.4, what does Grotius say the word “lawful” often means when applied to acts of war? That the act is required by the law of nature That a neutral court has approved the act That the act is commanded by divine law Only that the act goes unpunished, not that it is morally right
14. How does Grotius explain the purpose of the law of nations in making captives slaves? It satisfied a command of the Hebrew law It punished whole peoples who had started unjust wars of conquest It gave captors a motive to spare prisoners rather than kill them It supplied the labour needed to rebuild cities destroyed in the war
15. What does Grotius say about making war on nations that refuse to accept Christianity? It is just if missionaries have first preached to them in vain It is unjust: faith needs evidence and grace, not force It is just only when the Pope has authorised it by a bull It is just against nations that worship idols or the sun

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