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A selection of a leading Athenian historian's writings on Alexander the Great and the major monarchies emerging from his empire
"The most comprehensive account of the economy, society, and culture of Hellenistic Egypt available in English."--J.G. Manning, author of Land and Power in Ptolemaic Egypt: The Structure of Land Tenure
"The lively, serious, and informed discussions in this book provide impressive examples of the insights achieved when the Jewish evidence of the late Second Temple period is shown both to illuminate and to reflect the wider history of the Hellenistic world."—Martin Goodman, author of Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations "What sets this book apart is that it bears the fruits of a truly interdisciplinary investigation into the topic. The result sheds light not just on Hellenistic kings and how they were viewed by their Jewish subjects, but also on the early Greek Bible and, more generally, the meeting of, and cross-fertilization between, Jewish and Graeco-Roman culture that occurred in the centuries following Alexander's conquest."—Guido Schepens, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven "This wonderful collection of essays illuminates many facets of kingship in the Hellenistic world. The essays range over Hellenistic philosophy, Jewish fiction, the nuances of translation in the Greek Bible and archaeological evidence. Richly informative, and enjoyable reading besides!"—John J. Collins, author of Jewish Cult and Hellenistic Culture "This wide-ranging collection of essays brings together the too often separate perspectives of classical scholarship and Jewish studies. Jewish Perspectives on Hellenistic Rulers will be an indispensable reference work for anyone working on virtually any aspect of Hellenistic Jewish studies."—Sara Raup Johnson, author of Historical Fictions and Hellenistic Jewish Identity: Third Maccabees in its Cultural Context "This thought-provoking book presents a series of superb studies on Jewish-Greek views of hellenistic monarchy that together are suggestive of the rich interplay between Hellenistic Jewish intellectual traditions and their deep connections to the greater world of the Hellenistic monarchies. The volume will surely stimulate much more work on the subject, and will be required reading for all those whose interests touch on the subject of Hellenistic Judaism and Hellenistic history and culture more broadly."—J.G. Manning, author of Land and Power in Hellenistic Egypt: The Structure of Land Tenure
The Hellenistic period—the nearly three centuries between the death of Alexander the Great, in 323 B.C., and the suicide of the Egyptian queen Kleopatra VII (the famous "Cleopatra"), in 30 B.C.—is one of the most complex and exciting epochs of ancient Greek art. The unprecedented geographic sweep of Alexander's conquests changed the face of the ancient world forever, forging diverse cultural connections and exposing Greek artists to a host of new influences and artistic styles. This beautifully illustrated volume examines the rich diversity of art forms that arose through the patronage of the royal courts of the Hellenistic kingdoms, placing special emphasis on Pergamon, capital of the Attalid dynasty, which ruled over large parts of Asia Minor. With its long history of German-led excavations, Pergamon provides a superb paradigm of a Hellenistic capital, appointed with important civic institutions—a great library, theater, gymnasium, temples, and healing center—that we recognize today as central features of modern urban life. The military triumphs of Alexander and his successors led to the expansion of Greek culture out from the traditional Greek heartland to the Indus River Valley in the east and as far west as the Strait of Gibraltar. These newly established Hellenistic kingdoms concentrated wealth and power, resulting in an unparalleled burst of creativity in all the arts, from architecture and sculpture to seal engraving and glass production. Pergamon and the Hellenistic Kingdoms of the Ancient World brings together the insights of a team of internationally renowned scholars, who reveal how the art of Classical Greece was transformed during this period, melding with predominantly Eastern cultural traditions to yield new standards and conventions in taste and style.
The vast empire that Alexander the Great left at his death in 323 BC has few parallels. For the next three hundred years the Greeks controlled a complex of monarchies and city-states that stretched from the Adriatic Sea to India. F. W. Walbank's lucid and authoritative history of that Hellenistic world examines political events, describes the different social systems and mores of the people under Greek rule, traces important developments in literature and science, and discusses the new religious movements.
The author of 24 Hours in Ancient Athens“tells the powerful story of how Greek history survived the meteor of Alexander and his brief world empire” (Firetrench). When Alexander the Great died in 323 BC, he left an empire that stretched from the shores of the Adriatic to the mountains of Afghanistan. This empire did not survive Alexander’s death, and rapidly broke into several successor states. These states, substantial kingdoms in their own right, dominated Asia Minor, Greece, the Levant and Egypt for the next three hundred years. While Philip Matyszak’s narrative covers their remarkable contribution of the Eastern Greeks in fields such as philosophy, science and culture, the main focus is on the rivalry, politics and wars, both civil and foreign, which the Hellenistic rulers constantly fought among themselves. As in other fields, the Successor Kingdoms were innovators in the military and diplomatic field. Indeed, their wars and diplomatic skirmishes closely presage those of eighteenth-century Europe and the superpower rivalries of the twentieth century. The complex interaction of these different kingdoms, each with its own character and evolving military systems, combined geopolitics and grand strategy with diplomatic duplicity, and relentless warfare. The epic story of the successor states is full of flawed heroes, palace intrigue, murder, treachery, incest, rebellion and conquest.
Hellenistic courts were centres of monarchic power, social prestige and high culture in the kingdoms that emerged after the death of Alexander. They were places of refinement, learning and luxury, and also of corruption, rivalry and murder. Surrounded by courtiers of varying loyalty, Hellenistic royal families played roles in a theatre of spectacle and ceremony. Architecture, art, ritual and scholarship were deployed to defend the existence of their dynasties. The present volume, from a team of international experts, examines royal methods and ideologies. It treats the courts of the Ptolemies, Seleucids, Attalids, Antigonids and of lesser dynasties. It also explores the influence, on Greek-speaking courts, of non- Greek culture, of Achaemenid and other Near Eastern royal institutions. It studies the careers of courtesans, concubines and 'friends' of royalty, and the intellectual, ceremonial, and artistic world of the Greek monarchies. The work demonstrates the complexity and motivations of Hellenistic royal civilisation, of courts which governed the transmission of Greek culture to the wider Mediterranean world - and to later ages.
The acclaimed ancient world historian examines the centuries-long decline of Greek powers in the face of the growing Roman threat. Towards the middle of the third century BC, the Hellenistic kingdoms were near their peak. In terms of population, economy and military power, each was vastly superior to Rome, not to mention in fields such as medicine, architecture, science, philosophy and literature. But over the next two and a half centuries, Rome would eventually conquer these kingdoms while adopting so much of Hellenistic culture that the resultant hybrid is known as ‘Graeco-Roman’. In Greece Against Rome, Philip Matyszak relates this epic tale from the Hellenistic perspective. At first, the Romans appear to be little more than another small state in the barbarian west as the Hellenistic powers are consumed by war amongst themselves. It is a time of assassinations, double crosses, dynastic incest, and warfare. By the time they turn their attention to Rome, it is already too late .
The Hellenistic era witnessed the overlap of antiquity’s two great Western civilizations, the Greek and the Roman. This was the epoch of Alexander’s vast expansion of the Greco-Macedonian world, the rise and fall of his successors’ major dynasties in Egypt and Asia, and, ultimately, the establishment of Rome as the first Mediterranean superpower. The Hellenistic Age chronicles the years 336 to 30 BCE, from the days of Philip and Alexander of Macedon to the death of Cleopatra and the final triumph of Caesar’s heir, the young Augustus. Peter Green’s remarkably far-ranging study covers the prevalent themes and events of those centuries: the Hellenization of an immense swath of the known world–from Egypt to India–by Alexander’s conquests; the lengthy and chaotic partition of this empire by rival Macedonian marshals after Alexander’s death; the decline of the polis (city state) as the predominant political institution; and, finally, Rome’s moment of transition from republican to imperial rule. Predictably, this is a story of war and power-politics, and of the developing fortunes of art, science, and statecraft in the areas where Alexander’s coming disseminated Hellenic culture. It is a rich narrative tapestry of warlords, libertines, philosophers, courtesans and courtiers, dramatists, historians, scientists, merchants, mercenaries, and provocateurs of every stripe, spun by an accomplished classicist with an uncanny knack for infusing life into the distant past, and applying fresh insights that make ancient history seem alarmingly relevant to our own times. To consider the three centuries prior to the dawn of the common era in a single short volume demands a scholar with a great command of both subject and narrative line. The Hellenistic Age is that rare book that manages to coalesce a broad spectrum of events, persons, and themes into one brief, indispensable, and amazingly accessible survey.
When Rome defeated the forces of Antony and Cleopatra and annexed Egypt, the rule of the longest-lived of the Hellenistic dynasties and one of the most illustrious in Egyptian history came to an end. For nearly three hundred years, the Macedonian dynasty known as the Ptolemaic had controlled Egypt and its mixed population of Egyptians, Greeks, Macedonians, and Jews. The founder of this dynasty, Ptolemy I (367-283/2 BC), was a boyhood friend and eventually personal bodyguard of Alexander the Great, who fought alongside Alexander in the epic battles that toppled the Persian Empire, and brought about a Macedonian Empire stretching from Greece to India. After Alexander's death, his senior staff carved up his vast empire, with Ptolemy gaining control of Egypt. There he built up his power base in Egypt, introduced administrative and economic reforms that made his family fabulously wealthy, and by extending Egypt's possessions overseas founded an Egyptian Empire. In addition to his political and military prowess, Ptolemy was an intellectual, who patronized the mathematician Euclid, wrote an important account of Alexander's campaign in Asia, and established the famous Library and Museum at Alexandria, which were the cultural heart of the entire Hellenistic Age. Ptolemy ruled Egypt until he died of natural causes in his early eighties. Ian Worthington's Ptolemy I--the first full-length biography of its kind in English--traces the life of Ptolemy from his boyhood to his reign as king and pharaoh of Egypt. Throughout, he highlights the achievements that profoundly shaped both Egypt's history and that of the early Hellenistic world. He argues that Ptolemy was by far the greatest of Alexander's Successors, and that he was a conscious imperialist who even boldly attempted to seize Greece and Macedonia, and be a second Alexander.