Ghost on the Throne: The Death of Alexander the Great and the War for Crown and Empire PDF
Preview Ghost on the Throne: The Death of Alexander the Great and the War for Crown and Empire
Click here to view a larger image. Eumenes the Greek with Alexander’s widow and son (Illustration credit col.1) THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF Copyright © 2011 by James Romm All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. www.aaknopf.com Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Romm, James S. Ghost on the throne: the death of Alexander the Great and the war for crown and empire / by James Romm. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. eISBN: 978-0-307-70150-3 1. Greece—History—Macedonian Hegemony, 323–281 B.C. 2. Macedonia—History—Diadochi, 323–276 B.C. 3. Alexander, the Great, 356–323 B.C.—Death and burial. I. Title. DF235.4R66 2011 938’.08—dc22 2011008657 Front-of-jacket photograph by Tanya Marcuse | Jacket design by Jason Booher v3.1 For my mom and stepfather, Sydney and Victor Reed The death of Demosthenes on Calauria and of Hyperides near Cleonae made the Athenians feel almost a passion and a longing for the days of Alexander and Philip. Just so, when Antigonus had died, and those who followed in his place had begun to in(cid:36)ict outrages and pains on the people, a farmer was seen digging up the ground in Phrygia. Someone asked him what he was doing. With a groan, he replied: “I am looking for Antigonus.” —Plutarch Phocion 29.1 Contents Cover Title Page Map Copyright Epigraph List of Illustrations Preface Note on Pronunciations Acknowledgments INTRODUCTION: The Opening of the Tombs 1 Bodyguards and Companions 2 The Testing of Perdiccas 3 The Athenians’ Last Stand (I) 4 Resistance, Rebellion, Reconquest 5 The Athenians’ Last Stand (II) 6 A Death on the Nile 7 The Fortunes of Eumenes 8 The War Comes Home 9 Duels to the Death 10 The Closing of the Tombs Epilogue Notes Bibliography Index Other Books by This Author Illustrations Illustrations col.1 Rhoxane and Eumenes (oil painting by Varotari, early seventeenth century). Getty Images itr.1 Alexander’s Companions. Andronikos, Vergina: The Royal Tombs, Athens, 1984. 17th Ephorate of Antiquities © Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Archaeological Receipts Fund itr.2 The facade of Tomb 2. Andronikos, Vergina: The Royal Tombs, Athens, 1984. 17th Ephorate of Antiquities © Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Archaeological Receipts Fund 1.1 The ancient city of Babylon, digitally reconstructed. Curt- Engelhorn-Stiftung für die Reiss-Engelhorn- Museen/FaberCourtial 1.2 Babylon’s Ishtar Gate. Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art Resource, NY 1.3 Macedonian infantrymen. Tsibidou-Avloniti, The Macedonian Tombs at Phoinikas and Ayios Athanasios in the Area of Thessaloniki, Athens, 2005, Plate 31. 16th Ephorate of Antiquities © Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Archaeological Receipts Fund 1.4 A Babylonian clay tablet recording the death of Alexander, June 11, 323 B.C. © Trustees of the British Museum 2.1 A medallion struck by Alexander depicting an Indian archer. Courtesy Frank Holt 2.2 Positions assigned to the leading generals by the Babylon settlement. Beehive Mapping 3.1 The speaker’s platform of the Pnyx, Athens. Wikimedia Commons/A. D. White Architectural Photographs, Cornell University Library
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