Courts and Elites in the Hellenistic Empires: The Near East After the Achaemenids, c. 330 to 30 BCE
Rolf Strootman
Abstract
During the Hellenistic Period (c. 330-30 BCE), Alexander the Great and his successors reshaped their Persian and Greco-Macedonian legacies to create a new kind of rulership that was neither ‘western’ nor ‘eastern’ and would profoundly influence the later development of court culture and monarchy in both the Roman West and Iranian East. Drawing on the socio-political models of Norbert Elias and Charles Tilly, and covering topics such as palace architecture, royal women and court ritual, Courts and Elites in the Hellenistic Empires shows how the Hellenistic dynastic courts were instrumental in t ... More
During the Hellenistic Period (c. 330-30 BCE), Alexander the Great and his successors reshaped their Persian and Greco-Macedonian legacies to create a new kind of rulership that was neither ‘western’ nor ‘eastern’ and would profoundly influence the later development of court culture and monarchy in both the Roman West and Iranian East. Drawing on the socio-political models of Norbert Elias and Charles Tilly, and covering topics such as palace architecture, royal women and court ritual, Courts and Elites in the Hellenistic Empires shows how the Hellenistic dynastic courts were instrumental in the integration of local elites in the empires, and the (re)distribution of power, wealth, and status. It analyses the competition among courtiers for royal favour and the, not always successful, attempts of the Hellenistic rulers to use these struggles to their own advantage.
Keywords:
Imperialism,
Monarchy,
Court Culture,
Seleucid Empire,
Ptolemaic Empire,
Hellenistic World,
Hellenistic Kingship,
Middle East,
Macedonia,
Alexander the Great
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2014 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780748691265 |
| Published to Edinburgh Scholarship Online: September 2015 |
DOI:10.3366/edinburgh/9780748691265.001.0001 |
