The Legacy of Alexander

Download or read book The Legacy of Alexander written by A. B. Bosworth and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This set of thematic studies is dedicated to the thirty years after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, and forms the prelude to a general history of the period of the Successors (Diadochi). It begins with an investigation of the Babylon Settlement that sheds new light on the power groups which emerged after Alexander's death, and then examines the main social issue of the period - the dismemberment of what had been the Macedonian national army. A substantial central chapter presents the first detailed study ever attempted of the epic struggle between Antigonus the One-Eyed and Eumenes of Cardia (318-316), one of the most important and decisive campaigns of the ancient world. This is continued by a close analysis of Seleucus' rise to power in Babylonia, the foundation of arguably the greatest dynasty of the post-Alexander period, in which Babylonian documentary evidence is combined with the Greek literary tradition. There is a strong emphasis on source analysis, with a long essay dedicated to the most important literary figure of the period, the statesman and historian, Hieronymus of Cardia, focusing on his treatment of the ethnographic phenomena of widow-burning in ancient India and nomadism among the Nabataean Arabs. Finally, there is an investigation of the new monarchies which emerged during the period; it highlights the factors which brought success and failure in the new age, and compares and contrasts the very different experiences of Lysimachus and Demetrius the Besieger. The book as a whole reflects the colour and turbulence of this critical period of transition, and reveals something of the nature and character of the extraordinary men and women who created the Hellenistic world."--BOOK JACKET.