Alexander the great and the hellenistic age

269 Pages·2007·9.52 MB·English

by  Peter Green

ALEXANDER THE
GREAT AND THE
HETTENISTICA GE
A Short Historv
.-r-,
Peter Creen
Weidenfeld and Nicolson
LONDON
glsr dnqlrsqap ru Cra"t gulpru ru zooL
q^ AAarpauJelp t1 Nrrolsou
;qrr8ruelld dnqlrsqap ru l{re nSV ru zooL q,f woparu
l'!qtel/'
E pr^rsrou ot usupoul
gonsa' 1uc'
r o 6 g L g S l t z t
)iai zooL dat'I Craau
vti !8qfs rasal{,ep. 15o deg o;rqrs dnqlrJptrou ruE(.qa
:adropncap, slorep ru e lalrrelp sdslaru' or.}:eusruluap'
ru eu(, ;orur or qd eud
utauus, electroutJ' uLaoqeuroeI'
dqolocod(ruB. raro;pruB or. ot{ralM.tsa'\l,rlqont lqa drror
derrurssrou o; qotq rqe Jodlir8qr ot^ual eup
lqe eqo^a
dnqlrsqar.
l4ra u8qr o' delal )raau lo qe lpeulrgap Es lqe pnlqor
oJ l{rrs .^or{ {rBs qaeu essouap ru pJlorpeu)e {.,r1{r
tqa 3oddrr8qr,qasr8us eup dulauls vrr
r6gg'
y 314 terelo8na ra)orp }or rqrs qoo{
rs B^EIpglo Jrou( lqe gutrsq I.rqreut.
rsaN-r €6Lg o ,r6L 8S26? o
addasal e1 aqa sdpuBu 4rass
1rp'
1druru31ou ,11eu1s
dlrulap ru )raet grrleru €t yrecleds o1 3qerqeru d1c'
Xaur
):qptqBru,
\Aerpautalp ?r Nrrolsou
Jqa ouou 4nqrrsqruS Drond I'tp
oJrou Honse
S nddar 5erul wuuru/s I.?ua
loupou, lrrczg 6av
Vu Hstr{ratte I-I re nX Jorudeud
Jqa ouou 4nqqsqruB 3rond,s dolrcd rs 1o nsa dedars
t{rel Er3 ue1nre1, lauaaeqle sup lardppqla dr.opncts eup
rrrupa }roru ,u1oop 8rolau ru snslrrueqla }orasls' J{ra lo33ru3
eup ureunJEllnuuS dlolassas era axdeJlap 10 JouJorru lo
lqa eulrrouuraulel ra8nlBrrous or rqa conulrd oJ
orr8ru'
r4-\ \r.ououqools'o'nl
ALEXANDER THE
GREAT AND THE
HELLENISTIC AGE
ylso qd dalar Draau
yturopo loru vlqaus: lqa loyrnra ot lqa
SrrUrDtL fr S-fr t
7xdaplrou' g'3'
v DotLrtsa HtslotL o] c[DsstcD[ Jraa)a to lqa
C[osa oJ Fra D[DssrcD[ Ero
V[aXDupn io vprnw: lqa HrsfotrrD[ Et.olnlrou ot
lqa Hayaursuc y8a
ylaxoupn oi fS9-€z€ g 3':
yrDcapotL'
V Hr$ntco[ gtoStodltL
lqa oraco-darsrDu MDrs
Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Background and Sources xiii
r Alexander and His Legacy {:f 6-f zl) r
z Hawks and Hyenas: The Struggle for Empire $4-2761 21
3 Kings, Cities, and Culture: The Mythic Past
as the Future 52
4 EasternH orizons and the Cloud in the West lz76-1961 79
5 Dynastic Troubles, Artistic and Scientific
Achievements( r96-r r6) r05
6 Sword over Pen: Rome's Final Solution (r r 6-3o) r 3r
Selective Chronological Table r 59
Maps and Genealogies r8r
Guide to Further Reading r94
Bibliography 2o2
Abbreviations 217
Notes zr9
Index 225
The abiding importance of Alexander lies more in the field of
moral and philosophical debate than in practical politics . . .
The debate over legitimacy lasted a mere generation. After
that Alexander was a symbol and nothing else. Fclr sub-
sequent ages he typified the world conqueror, and his terri-
torial acquisitions were a standing inspiration and challenge
to successive dynasts.
. B. BOSWORTH
It is now impossible to consider the Hellenistic period in
Creece as a uniform, essentially static epoch.
SUSAN E. ALCOCK
Pr efa ce and Acknowledgments
It is now seventeen years since my study Alexander to Actium:
The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age first saw the
Iight of day (and well over twenty since the original text was
first delivered to my publisher: I had a copy editor who special-
ized in minutiae). Since then the outflow of work on the
Hellenistic age, already voluminous, has become a torrent. No
scholar can master it all, and I have not, sensibly, attempted to
do so. As those who compare the earlier work with this one will
see, my essential views have not changed all that much; but I
have learned a good deal from what I have read in the past two
decades and am very glad of this opportunity to review, update,
and where necessarym odify my original arguments.
Once again, I study the three centuries of the Hellenistic age
in a continuous ongoing diachronic narrative embracing the
entire scerre/ rather than, like most writers on this sub.iect,
leading off with a condensed (and generally bewildering) polit-
ical history in vacuo, followed up with a series of more or less
static therne-park essays, first on the major kingdoms (Ptole-
maic, Seleucid, Antigonid, Attalid) and then on a variety of
topics ranging from the monarchy to economics, from Alexand-
rian literature to the visual arts, from urban planning to
military science, from philosophy to piracy. The trouble with
this approach is its kaleidoscopic disjunctiveness (which can
make for severe confusion) and its inevitable tendency to
V]EXVNICAU JHA )iUAVJ '\ IHA HAI-I-IINISIIC VC{
nupeJ loosald 8euerulrzruS prsderele lJeups or
snqsnuta' 1eqa1s'
8rond srvzrpeld saderrlap ru qorq dleca eup
]rure'
141d ellaruulrrra uelqop o1 rls orl,u qnpl-ru
qes' conJse'
ppgrnlrres )es EuJIeu }nurAeJSEI {rlslorreus tl,eJe aeII ewtetal'
cqle} eutouS l{reut qeruS rqa pltgcnlld oJ rrreruleruruS mqe]
unSqr qa pasJrrqap es e dolddqourc uerrelrla rv,.rtq too uruud
coutdalruS lolces eup lqa nupaureqla uaap ]o prSrass ou carleru
sdecrgc l{IeIEes es lqad errse ru coulexl' gnt I slIl iqalralze }qul'
ru {tlslorroSredqrcel lqrs radrasauls lqe urosrt JelrourI
laruts'
rvrrlq lqe leesl eruonul oJ 8auauc prslourou eup
coutdrouttse'
lqe qasl tqeuoe o tcourradruS 1o eu rulereslap reeper sorua seuse
oJ lqe coulrunelld ru wreds
courdlex' ureud-Jucelap' arrolnruS'
rarrolnlrourr-d' ru *reds aarpd ;eurprer' socrel' dolrlrcel' eup
ralrSrons unx - lqa ndsqor o; vlexEuper/s prsrndlrrra aBslerrr
le8ecd - lqe} .^e cv11' 1c rrvreu} oJ B qe}rtar leqaI }{reu qrodseu,s
)saa lqe Hallaurslrc
d' xra(' e8a'
Jqe cnJsa oJ {lrslorroSredqd Iu tqe 3roco-uoruEu darrop rvrus
lqe rucrausruSld drar,eyeul lusle IoJ pr8asls' adrloruas' eup
eqrrpSuleuls l{IEl onsrtep 'nller Eup ruore seuons ]axls' e\rqlcq
es e ou lqa drrucrdla oy 3lasquru/s ;a11 onl oJ
rasn1}' 1um'
peusup uu pr&.eJe Il Is uol urd ru lqrs coucrso
losl' tulaulrou'
1o auconre8e e srutrler drocass';qa Hayaurstrc y8a
1reu1uteu1'
rs uol e snqslllnle Jor lqose 1rr8ar ru^eslr8elrous lqE] tqe darrop
qnl Jelqer Eu oylarruS raepars 1ns1
pauruups' rulropnclrou'
auon8q rulouu€llou rto aueqla lqeu lo dnrsne lqe snqlacl ru
Sreetar J{LIs urns] qs urd axtnsa 'or e 1vx1K leu8rqd
pe}ell'
extnrsns ou lqe sonrcas )asdacreld ru lrul>ap 10 E
1reus1e1rou('
qrqltoSredqd dorutruS tqe \v/,vd lowzerp Jnuqar J{rose
raepruS'
rlqo trleul lnsl lqe uetrelrle Jeu elrvreds slod rqa lulJopnclrou
ptoSelqar'
sruce I ErrI tl,rrlruS Jor Bu euSlodqoua 8euarul enprauca' ru(
x
Pr efa cea nd Acknowled g ments
recommendations are not only (with a few special exceptions)
to works in English, but also to those in print and thus easily
available. For the same reason, I have for the most part avoided
articles in leamed periodicals, runs of which tend to be held
only by academic libraries. Last, though I am on principle in
favor of transcribing Greek names as near as possible to their
original forms, I have in this book retained the Latinized
versions throughout (for example, Cassander rather than
Kassandros),s ince these are - like it or not - far more widely
recognizecl.
The published work of many scholars, past and present, and
personal acquaintance and discussion with more than a few,
have enriched my knowledge of Alexander and the Hellenistic
period more than I can say. Among them I owe an especial debt
to Ernst Badian, Gene Borza, Brian Bosworth, Pierre Briant,
Elizabeth Carney, f. K. Davies, Peter Derow, W. S. Ferguson,
my old Carnbridge teacher Guy Griffith, Erich Gruen, Chris-
tian Habicht, N. G. L. Hammond, Waldemar Heckel, Am6lie
Kuhrt, Geoffrey Lloyd, fon Mikalson, Claire Pr6aux, Graham
Shipley, Andrew Stewart, Frank Walbank, and Edouard Will. As
always, my work has been sustained by the rich holdings in
ancient history, backed up by the highly professional Inter-
library Loan Service, of the University of Iowa. At Random
House I am particularly indebted to the support, practical
efficiency, and cooperative professionalism of Will Murphy,
Matt Kellogg, and Dennis Ambrose. Last but very far from
least, what I owe to my wife, Carin, both personally and profes-
sionally, she knows better than I do.
x1