Kings and Usurpers in the Seleukid Empire

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Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0198786921
Total Pages : 333 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (987 download)

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Book Synopsis Kings and Usurpers in the Seleukid Empire by : Boris Chrubasik

Download or read book Kings and Usurpers in the Seleukid Empire written by Boris Chrubasik and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kings and Usurpers in the Seleukid Empire: The Men who would be King focuses on ideas of kingship and power in the Seleukid empire, the largest of the successor states of Alexander the Great. Exploring the question of how a man becomes a king, it specifically examines the role of usurpers in this particular kingdom--those who attempted to become king, and who were labelled as rebels by ancient authors after their demise--by placing these individuals in their appropriate historical contexts through careful analysis of the literary, numismatic, and epigraphic material. By writing about kings and rebels, literary accounts make a clear statement about who had the right to rule and who did not, and the Seleukid kings actively fostered their own images of this right throughout the third and second centuries BCE. However, what emerges from the documentary evidence is a revelatory picture of a political landscape in which kings and those who would be kings were in constant competition to persuade whole cities and armies that they were the only plausible monarch, and of a right to rule that, advanced and refuted on so many sides, simply did not exist. Through careful analysis, this volume advances a new political history of the Seleukid empire that is predicated on social power, redefining the role of the king as only one of several players within the social world and offering new approaches to the interpretation of the relationship between these individuals themselves and with the empire they sought to rule. In doing so, it both questions the current consensus on the Seleukid state, arguing instead that despite its many strong rulers the empire was structurally weak, and offers a new approach to writing political history of the ancient world.

The Men who Would be King

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 610 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (824 download)

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Book Synopsis The Men who Would be King by : Boris Chrubasik

Download or read book The Men who Would be King written by Boris Chrubasik and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 610 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thesis examines usurpation in the Seleukid empire between the third and second centuries BCE. Since the title 'usurper' was attributed by ancient authors to defeated opponents of the Seleukid king, this study is essentially a study of constructed historical narratives. If usurpers are placed in their historical context, however, the histories of their claims to the diadem can be reconstructed. By analysing the literary and documentary evidence, chapters 2 and 3 assess the interaction between kings, usurpers and the groups within the kingdom (such as cities, dynasts and the army). More precisely, an investigation of usurpers' strategies and the royal images they employed in their interactions with the groups within the kingdom is undertaken, and, wherever possible, the groups' perception of and reaction to usurpers is examined. By focussing on usurpation, conclusions regarding the possibilities and limits of monarchic rule in the Seleukid kingdom, the kingship of the Seleukid rulers and the structure of the Seleukid empire can be drawn. This study argues that the Seleukid kings were in constant competition with other internal power holders, illustrating the precarious position of the Seleukid kings to sustain the monopoly of power in the empire. The dynamics between the Seleukid king and different power holders within the kingdom are demonstrated in chapter 4 in two case-studies on the Attalids of Pergamon and the Baktrian kings. Chapter 5 reviews the possibilities of usurping the diadem as well as Seleukid reaction to usurpers. The concluding section fundamentally challenges scholarship's reassessments of the 'strength' of Seleukid kingdom. It is argued that it was a kingThis thesis examines usurpation in the Seleukid empire between the third and second centuries BCE. Since the title 'usurper' was attributed by ancient authors to defeated opponents of the Seleukid king, this study is essentially a study of constructed historical narratives. If usurpers are placed in their historical context, however, the histories of their claims to the diadem can be reconstructed. By analysing the literary and documentary evidence, chapters 2 and 3 assess the interaction between kings, usurpers and the groups within the kingdom (such as cities, dynasts and the army). More precisely, an investigation of usurpers' strategies and the royal images they employed in their interactions with the groups within the kingdom is undertaken, and, wherever possible, the groups' perception of and reaction to usurpers is examined. By focussing on usurpation, conclusions regarding the possibilities and limits of monarchic rule in the Seleukid kingdom, the kingship of the Seleukid rulers and the structure of the Seleukid empire can be drawn. This study argues that the Seleukid kings were in constant competition with other internal power holders, illustrating the precarious position of the Seleukid kings to sustain the monopoly of power in the empire. The dynamics between the Seleukid king and different power holders within the kingdom are demonstrated in chapter 4 in two case-studies on the Attalids of Pergamon and the Baktrian kings. Chapter 5 reviews the possibilities of usurping the diadem as well as Seleukid reaction to usurpers. The concluding section fundamentally challenges scholarship's reassessments of the 'strength' of Seleukid kingdom. It is argued that it was a kingship without a strong dynasty and supporting aristocracy which formed the basis of a weak empire.ship without a strong dynasty and supporting aristocracy which formed the basis of a weak empire.

Kings and Usurpers in the Seleukid Empire

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Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0191090611
Total Pages : 257 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Kings and Usurpers in the Seleukid Empire by : Boris Chrubasik

Download or read book Kings and Usurpers in the Seleukid Empire written by Boris Chrubasik and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-10-20 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kings and Usurpers in the Seleukid Empire: The Men who would be King focuses on ideas of kingship and power in the Seleukid empire, the largest of the successor states of Alexander the Great. Exploring the question of how a man becomes a king, it specifically examines the role of usurpers in this particular kingdom - those who attempted to become king, and who were labelled as rebels by ancient authors after their demise - by placing these individuals in their appropriate historical contexts through careful analysis of the literary, numismatic, and epigraphic material. By writing about kings and rebels, literary accounts make a clear statement about who had the right to rule and who did not, and the Seleukid kings actively fostered their own images of this right throughout the third and second centuries BCE. However, what emerges from the documentary evidence is a revelatory picture of a political landscape in which kings and those who would be kings were in constant competition to persuade whole cities and armies that they were the only plausible monarch, and of a right to rule that, advanced and refuted on so many sides, simply did not exist. Through careful analysis, this volume advances a new political history of the Seleukid empire that is predicated on social power, redefining the role of the king as only one of several players within the social world and offering new approaches to the interpretation of the relationship between these individuals themselves and with the empire they sought to rule. In doing so, it both questions the current consensus on the Seleukid state, arguing instead that despite its many strong rulers the empire was structurally weak, and offers a new approach to writing political history of the ancient world.

The Rise of the Seleukid Empire (323-223 BC)

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Author :
Publisher : Pen and Sword
ISBN 13 : 1783030534
Total Pages : 258 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (83 download)

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Book Synopsis The Rise of the Seleukid Empire (323-223 BC) by : John D. Grainger

Download or read book The Rise of the Seleukid Empire (323-223 BC) written by John D. Grainger and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2014-08-06 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Seleukid kingdom was the largest state in the world for a century and more between Alexander's death and the rise of Rome. It was ruled for all that time by a succession of able kings, but broke down twice, before eventually succumbing to dynastic rivalries, and simultaneous external invasions and internal grasps for independence. The first king, Seleukos I, established a pattern of rule which was unusually friendly towards his subjects, and his policies promoted the steady growth of wealth and population in many areas which had been depopulated when he took them over. In particular the dynasty was active in founding cities from Asia Minor to Central Asia. Its work set the social and economic scene of the Middle East for many centuries to come. Yet these kings had to be warriors too as they defended their realm from jealous neighbours. John D Grainger's trilogy charts the rise and fall of this superpower of the ancient world. ??In the first volume, John D Grainger relates the remarkable twists of fortune and daring that saw Seleukos, an officer in an elite guard unit, emerge from the wars of the diadochi (Alexander's successors) in control of the largest and richest part of the empire of the late Alexander the Great. After his conquests and eventual murder, we then see how his successors continued his policies, including the repeated wars with the Ptolemaic rules of Egypt over control of Syria. The volume ends with the deep internal crisis and the wars of the brothers, which left only a single member of the dynasty alive in 223 BC.

The Seleukid Empire 281-222 BC

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Author :
Publisher : Classical Press of Wales
ISBN 13 : 1910589950
Total Pages : 337 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (15 download)

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Book Synopsis The Seleukid Empire 281-222 BC by : Kyle Erickson

Download or read book The Seleukid Empire 281-222 BC written by Kyle Erickson and published by Classical Press of Wales. This book was released on 2018-12-31 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Seleukids, the easternmost of the Greek-speaking dynasties which succeeded Alexander the Great, were long portrayed by historians as inherently weak and doomed to decline after the death of their remarkable first king, Seleukos (281 BC). And yet they succeeded in ruling much of the Near and Middle East for over two centuries, overcoming problems of a multi-ethnic empire. In this book an international team of young, established scholars argues that in the decades after Seleukos the empire developed flexible structures that successfully bound it together in the face of a series of catastrophes. The strength of the Seleukid realm lay not simply in its vast swathes of territory, but rather in knowing how to tie the new, frequently non-Greek, nobility to the king through mutual recognition of sovereignty.

Benefactors, Kings, Rulers

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9789042933279
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (332 download)

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Book Synopsis Benefactors, Kings, Rulers by : David Engels

Download or read book Benefactors, Kings, Rulers written by David Engels and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The present volume unites a series of critical studies devoted to the political, institutional and ideological construction of the Seleukid empire, with particular focus on the complex interplay between the Seleukids' Greco-Macedonian background and their Achaimenid heritage. In order to explore whether, and the extent to which, the Seleukids can be considered heirs to the Achaimenids and precursors of the Parthians, and to what extent they simply 'imported' cultural and political behavioural patterns developed in Greece and Macedonia, the studies united here adopt a decidedly interdisciplinary and diachronic approach. They investigate diverse fields, including the construction of the Seleukid royal court; the title of 'Great King'; the prosopography of early Seleukid Iran; the integration of the 'Upper Satrapies' into the new Seleukid empire; the continued importance of the Iranian religions under the early Seleukids; the reign of the Persian Frataraka; the 'feudalisation' of the Seleukid empire under Antiochos III; the construction of a Hellenistic gymnasion in Seleukid Jerusalem; the importance of the Seleukid kingdom as model for Eunous' Sicilian slave-state; the evolution of the Syrian civic elite; and the potential influence of Seleukos' royal propaganda on the religious self-legitimation of Augustus. Finally a general comparison is proposed between the Seleukid empire and 19th century European colonialism.

The Seleukid Empire of Antiochus III

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Author :
Publisher : Pen and Sword
ISBN 13 : 178303050X
Total Pages : 242 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (83 download)

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Book Synopsis The Seleukid Empire of Antiochus III by : John D Grainger

Download or read book The Seleukid Empire of Antiochus III written by John D Grainger and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2015-03-31 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The second volume in John Grainger's history of the Seleukid Empire is devoted to the reign of Antiochus III. Too often remembered only as the man who lost to the Romans at Magnesia, Antiochus is here revealed as one of the most powerful and capable rulers of the age. Having emerged from civil war in 223 as the sole survivor of the Seleukid dynasty, he shouldered the burdens of a weakened and divided realm. Though defeated by Egypt in the Fourth Syrian War, he gradually restored full control over the empire. His great Eastern campaign took Macedonian arms back to India for the first time since Alexander's day and, returning west, he went on to conquer Thrace and finally wrest Syria from Ptolemaic control. ?Then came intervention in Greece and the clash with Rome leading to the defeat at Magnesia and the restrictive Peace of Apamea. Despite this, Antiochus remained ambitious, campaigning in the East again; when he died in 187 BC the empire was still one of the most powerful states in the world.

The Fall of the Seleukid Empire, 187–75 BC

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Author :
Publisher : Pen and Sword
ISBN 13 : 147387419X
Total Pages : 219 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (738 download)

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Book Synopsis The Fall of the Seleukid Empire, 187–75 BC by : John D. Grainger

Download or read book The Fall of the Seleukid Empire, 187–75 BC written by John D. Grainger and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2015-11-30 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Third in the trilogy of the ancient Greek dynasty. “In Grainger’s account, the fall of the Seleukid is as enlightening as the rise.”—Minerva Magazine The concluding part of John D Grainger’s history of the Seleukids traces the tumultuous last century of their empire. In this period, it was riven by dynastic disputes, secessions and rebellions, the religiously inspired insurrection of the Jewish Maccabees, civil war and external invasion from Egypt in the West and the Parthians in the East. By the 80s BC, the empire was disintegrating, internally fractured and squeezed by the converging expansionist powers of Rome and Parthia. This is a fittingly, dramatic and colorful conclusion to John Grainger’s masterful account of this once-mighty empire. “To get the best from The Fall of the Seleukid it would be worthwhile making sure you’ve absorbed the first two volumes. Nonetheless you can enjoy and learn from this book alone. Like the fall of any other empire or the folly of human behavior—the story is compelling.”—UNRV “Grainger does a good job of producing a convincing narrative using the limited sources.”—HistoryOfWar

The Seleukid Royal Economy

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Author :
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 113945613X
Total Pages : 379 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (394 download)

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Book Synopsis The Seleukid Royal Economy by : G. G. Aperghis

Download or read book The Seleukid Royal Economy written by G. G. Aperghis and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2004-12-23 with total page 379 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Seleukid empire, the principal successor-state of the empire of Alexander the Great, endured for over 200 years and stretched, at its peak, from the Mediterranean to the borders of India. This book provides a wide-ranging study of the empire's economy and the methods used by the Seleukid kings to monetise and manage it so as to extract tribute, rent and taxes as efficiently as possible. It uses a variety of Greek literary sources and inscriptions, cuneiform texts, archaeological, numismatic and comparative evidence to explore in detail the manner of exploitation of their lands and subjects by the Seleukid kings, their city-building activity, the financing of their armies and administration, the use they made of coinage and their methods of financial management. The book adopts a highly original, numerical approach throughout, which leads to a quantified model of the economy of an ancient state.

Culture and Ideology under the Seleukids

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Author :
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN 13 : 3110755688
Total Pages : 423 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (17 download)

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Book Synopsis Culture and Ideology under the Seleukids by : Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides

Download or read book Culture and Ideology under the Seleukids written by Eva Anagnostou-Laoutides and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2022-01-19 with total page 423 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The volume offers a timely (re-)appraisal of Seleukid cultural dynamics. While the engagement of Seleukid kings with local populations and the issue of “Hellenization” are still debated, a movement away from the Greco-centric approach to the study of the sources has gained pace. Increasingly textual sources are read alongside archaeological and numismatic evidence, and relevant near-eastern records are consulted. Our study of Seleukid kingship adheres to two game-changing principles: 1. We are not interested in judging the Seleukids as “strong” or “weak” whether in their interactions with other Hellenistic kingdoms or with the populations they ruled. 2. While appreciating the value of the social imaginaries approach (Stavrianopoulou, 2013), we argue that the use of ethnic identity in antiquity remains problematic. Through a pluralistic approach, in line with the complex cultural considerations that informed Seleukid royal agendas, we examine the concept of kingship and its gender aspects; tensions between centre and periphery; the level of “acculturation” intended and achieved under the Seleukids; the Seleukid-Ptolemaic interrelations. As rulers of a multi-cultural empire, the Seleukids were deeply aware of cultural politics.

Creators, Conquerors, and Citizens

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 019023430X
Total Pages : 545 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (92 download)

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Book Synopsis Creators, Conquerors, and Citizens by : Robin Waterfield

Download or read book Creators, Conquerors, and Citizens written by Robin Waterfield and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 545 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A brilliant, up-to-date account of all of ancient Greek history (the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods), suitable for history buffs and university students, enlivened by a strong thesis about the disunity of the Greeks, their underlying cultural unity, and their eventual political unification"--

The Early Seleukids, their Gods and their Coins

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 135181107X
Total Pages : 221 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (518 download)

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Book Synopsis The Early Seleukids, their Gods and their Coins by : Kyle Erickson

Download or read book The Early Seleukids, their Gods and their Coins written by Kyle Erickson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-11-12 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Before Alexander, the Near East was ruled by dynasts who could draw on the significant resources and power base of their homeland, but this was not the case for the Seleukids who never controlled their original homeland of Macedon. The Early Seleukids, their Gods and their Coins argues that rather than projecting an imperialistic Greek image of rule, the Seleukid kings deliberately produced images that represented their personal power, and that were comprehensible to the majority of their subjects within their own cultural traditions. These images relied heavily on the syncretism between Greek and local gods, in particular their ancestor Apollo. The Early Seleukids, their Gods and their Coins examines how the Seleukids, from Seleukos I to Antiochos IV, used coinage to propagandise their governing ideology. It offers a valuable resource to students of the Seleukids and of Hellenistic kingship more broadly, numismatics, and the interplay of ancient Greek religion and politics.

Polygamy, Prostitutes and Death

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Publisher : Classical Press of Wales
ISBN 13 : 1914535405
Total Pages : 409 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (145 download)

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Book Synopsis Polygamy, Prostitutes and Death by : Daniel Ogden

Download or read book Polygamy, Prostitutes and Death written by Daniel Ogden and published by Classical Press of Wales. This book was released on 2023-05-22 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The hellenistic royal families, from Alexander the Great to the last Cleopatra, took part in dynastic in-fighting that was vicious, colourful and instructive. In this they anticipated by centuries the better known excesses under Roman potentates such as Claudius and Nero. This new enhanced and revised edition of a major study explores the intricate quarrels and violence within the ruling hellenistic families. A main theme is the role of 'amphimetric' disputes, competition between a ruler's offspring from different women, and especially between the women themselves. The book also includes a full exploration of the role of courtesans in the political and sexual intrigues of the hellenistic courts.

A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period, Volume 3

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Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 0567692957
Total Pages : 640 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (676 download)

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Book Synopsis A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period, Volume 3 by : Lester L. Grabbe

Download or read book A History of the Jews and Judaism in the Second Temple Period, Volume 3 written by Lester L. Grabbe and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-02-20 with total page 640 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the third volume of the projected four-volume history of the Second Temple period, collecting all that is known about the Jews from the period of the Maccabaean revolt to Hasmonean rule and Herod the Great. Based directly on primary sources, the study addresses aspects such as Jewish literary sources, economy, Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Diaspora, causes of the Maccabaen revolt, and the beginning and end of the Hasmonean kingdom and the reign of Herod the Great. Discussed in the context of the wider Hellenistic world and its history, and with an extensive up-to-date secondary bibliography, this volume is an invaluable addition to Lester Grabbe's in-depth study of the history of Judaism.

The Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek World

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Author :
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351610287
Total Pages : 688 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (516 download)

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Book Synopsis The Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek World by : Rachel Mairs

Download or read book The Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek World written by Rachel Mairs and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-11-29 with total page 688 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume provides a thorough conspectus of the field of Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek studies, mixing theoretical and historical surveys with critical and thought-provoking case studies in archaeology, history, literature and art. The chapters from this international group of experts showcase innovative methodologies, such as archaeological GIS, as well as providing accessible explanations of specialist techniques such as die studies of coins, and important theoretical perspectives, including postcolonial approaches to the Greeks in India. Chapters cover the region’s archaeology, written and numismatic sources, and a history of scholarship of the subject, as well as culture, identity and interactions with neighbouring empires, including India and China. The Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek World is the go-to reference work on the field, and fulfils a serious need for an accessible, but also thorough and critically-informed, volume on the Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms. It provides an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the Hellenistic East.

New Perspectives in Seleucid History, Archaeology and Numismatics

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Author :
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN 13 : 3110388553
Total Pages : 876 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (13 download)

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Book Synopsis New Perspectives in Seleucid History, Archaeology and Numismatics by : Roland Oetjen

Download or read book New Perspectives in Seleucid History, Archaeology and Numismatics written by Roland Oetjen and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2019-12-16 with total page 876 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dedicated to Getzel M. Cohen, a leading expert in Seleucid history, this volume gathers 45 contributions on Seleucid history, archaeology, numismatics, political relations, policy toward the Jews, Greek cities, non-Greek populations, peripheral and neighboring regions, imperial administration, economy and public finances, and ancient descriptions of the Seleucid Empire. The reader will gain an international perspective on current research.

The Land of the Elephant Kings

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Author :
Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674416171
Total Pages : 440 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (744 download)

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Book Synopsis The Land of the Elephant Kings by : Paul J. Kosmin

Download or read book The Land of the Elephant Kings written by Paul J. Kosmin and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2014-06-23 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year The Seleucid Empire (311–64 BCE) was unlike anything the ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern worlds had seen. Stretching from present-day Bulgaria to Tajikistan—the bulk of Alexander the Great’s Asian conquests—the kingdom encompassed a territory of remarkable ethnic, religious, and linguistic diversity; yet it did not include Macedonia, the ancestral homeland of the dynasty. The Land of the Elephant Kings investigates how the Seleucid kings, ruling over lands to which they had no historic claim, attempted to transform this territory into a coherent and meaningful space. “This engaging book appeals to the specialist and non-specialist alike. Kosmin has successfully brought together a number of disparate fields in a new and creative way that will cause a reevaluation of how the Seleucids have traditionally been studied.” —Jeffrey D. Lerner, American Historical Review “It is a useful and bright introduction to Seleucid ideology, history, and position in the ancient world.” —Jan P. Stronk, American Journal of Archaeology