Aspects of Hellenistic Kingship

About the book

Kingship was probably the most important institution in the Hellenistic world. The enormous territories conquered by Alexander the Great were not organized as democratic republics or a Greek type of "tyranny", but as monarchies inspired by the Macedonian kingdom and the Persian Empire.

In fact, the idea of kingship was, so to speak, contagious in the Hellenistic era, and the proclamation of a king was the simplest way of establishing sovereignty. This monarchical legacy was eventually taken over by the Roman Empire, from where it was transferred to mediaeval Europe. This volume focuses on the symbolic aspects of the Hellenistic monarchies: what were the values and ideals of these kingdoms? Were they identical, or were there regional differences?

Table of contents

Abbreviations

Introduction

Oswin Murray: Hellenistic Royal Symposia

Robert Fleischer: Hellenistic Royal Iconography on Coins

Amélie Kuhrt: The Seleucid Kings and Babylonia: New Perspectives on the Seleucid Realm in the East

Josef Wiesehöfer: "King of Kings" and "Philhellên:" Kingship in Arsacid Iran

Lise Hannestad: "This Contributes in no small way to one's Reputation:" The Bithynian Kings and Greek Culture

Tessa Rajak: Hasmonean Kingship and the Invention of Tradition

Erich S. Gruen: Hellenistic Kingship: Puzzles, Problems, and Possibilities

Bibliography

Index of Persons

Index of Modern Authors

Geographical Index

Index Locorum

Press reviews

Johan C. Thom, Religious Studies Review

 "The various essays highlight the complexities involved in studying Hellenistic kingship rather than offer simplistic solutions, and thus open up new avenues for research. The volume belongs in every serious research library."