Author: Pat Wheatley Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA ISBN: 019883604X Category : History Languages : en Pages : 517
Book Description
Demetrius the Besieger offers the first historical and historiographical biography of Demetrius Poliorcetes (336-282 BC) to be published in English. Also known as 'The Besieger of Cities', Demetrius is the most fascinating and high profile of the Successors to Alexander the Great, an outstanding, yet enigmatic figure famous for his siege warfare and his legendary womanising: this volume charts the many triumphs and disasters during his career and hispivotal role in the formation of the so-called 'Hellenistic' age.
Author: Jeremy Armstrong Publisher: BRILL ISBN: 900441374X Category : History Languages : en Pages : 371
Book Description
Brill’s Companion to Sieges in the Ancient Mediterranean is a wide-ranging exploration of sieges and siege warfare as practiced and experienced by the cultures which lived around the ancient Mediterranean basin. From Pharaonic Egypt to Renaissance Italy, and from the Neo-Assyrian Empire to Hellenistic Greece and Roman Gaul, case studies by leading experts probe areas of both synergy and divergence within this distinctive form of warfare amongst the cultures in this broadly shared environment. Winner of the 2020 Choice Outstanding Academic Title Award
Author: Bob Bennett Publisher: Casemate Publishers ISBN: 1848849265 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 380
Book Description
This history of Ancient Greek warfare vividly chronicles the struggle for control of the Macedonian Empire, a fateful time of change in the Ancient World. As the story goes, Alexander the Great decreed from his deathbed that his vast Macedonian Empire should go “to the strongest". What followed was an epic struggle between generals and governors for control of the territories. Most of these successors—known as the Diadochi—were consummate tacticians who learned the art of war from Alexander himself, or from his father, Philip. Few died a peaceful death and the last survivors were still leading their armies against each other well into their seventies. These conflicts reshaped the ancient world from the Balkans to India. In two volumes, The Wars of Alexander’s Successors presents this critical period of ancient warfare with all its colorful characters, epic battles, treachery and subterfuge. This first volume introduces the key personalities, including Antigonos ”Monopthalmus" (the One-Eyed) and his son 'Demetrius 'Poliorcetes' (the Besieger), Seleucus 'Nicator' ('the Victorious') and Ptolemy ”Soter" ("the Saviour"). It also gives a narrative of the causes and course of these wars from the death of Alexander to the Battle of Corupedium in 281 BC, when the last two original Diadochi faced each other one final time.
Author: Matthew Loar Publisher: Cambridge University Press ISBN: 1108418422 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 339
Book Description
An interdisciplinary exploration of Roman cultural appropriation, offering new insights into the processes through which Rome made and remade itself.
Author: Robin Waterfield Publisher: University of Chicago Press ISBN: 022661137X Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 304
Book Description
"Our volume tells the story of Macedon's complex relations with Greece, Egypt, and the Near East in the "middle period" of the post-Alexander era. It opens about forty years after Alexander died, when the massive wars of the Successors were winding to a close and the next generation of kings continued the squabble over the Macedonian Empire and its relations with Greece. Waterfield has used his deep understanding of Greek history to construct the story of life and war and politics in a complicated, splintered empire. He highlights the singular accomplishments of the Macedonian king Antigonus Gonatas, who has never received his due until now. What Waterfield shows is that Antigonus was an exceptional politician and an artful strategist who protected Macedon and its Greek territories against aggressors coming from every direction: the Gauls storming the northern border, Ptolemy meddling in the Peloponnese, and Antiochus stirring mischief in the Near East. It was Antigonus who stabilized Macedonian fortunes after years of chaos fomented by the death of Alexander"--
Author: Jeff Champion Publisher: Pen and Sword ISBN: 1783030429 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 251
Book Description
Plutarch described Antigonus the One Eyed (382-301 BC) 'as 'the oldest and greatest of Alexander's successors,' Antigonus loyally served both Philip II and Alexander the Great as they converted his native Macedonia into an empire stretching from India to Greece. After Alexander's death, Antigonus, then governor of the obscure province of Phrygia, seemed one of the least likely of his commanders to seize the dead king's inheritance. Yet within eight years of the king's passing, through a combination of military skill and political shrewdness, he had conquered the Asian portion of the empire.?His success caused those who controlled the European and Egyptian parts of the empire to unite against him. For another fourteen years he would wage war against a coalition of the other Successors, Ptolemy, Lysimachus, Seleucus and Cassander. In 301 he would meet defeat and death in the Battle of Ipsus. The ancient writers saw Antigonus' life as a cautionary tale about the dangers of hubris and vaulting ambition. Despite his apparent defeat, his descendants would continue to rule as kings and create a dynasty that would rule Macedonia for over a century. Jeff Champion narrates the career of this titanic figure with the focus squarely on the military aspects.
Author: Alfred L. Duggan Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing ISBN: 178720846X Category : History Languages : en Pages : 433
Book Description
Demetrius, named “Besieger of Cities,” was the first man to be worshipped as a god during his lifetime by the people of Athens. He passed his life in fighting strenuously to restore the great empire of Alexander which his father had helped to found. In this brilliant panorama of political maneuverings and exciting warfare, Alfred Duggan reveals all sides of a fascinating man whose career was at the center of a turbulent period of world history. “Alfred Duggan’s great gift was his Dickensian ability to create characters who are both believable and likeable. Demetrius has the good humor of Mr. Pickwick and the unfounded hopefulness of Mr. Micawber; it seems only proper that the Besieger’s adventures end in comfortable house arrest rather than a violent death. Nice guys may finish last, but at least they don’t always end up as mincemeat.”—David Maclaine, Historical Fiction “It shines...A first-rate recreation.”—Kirkus Review
Author: Pat Wheatley Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0192573039 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 517
Book Description
Demetrius the Besieger offers the first historical and historiographical biography of Demetrius Poliorcetes (336-282 BC) to be published in English. Also known as 'The Besieger of Cities', Demetrius is an outstanding, yet enigmatic figure who presided over the disintegration of Alexander the Great's Empire after 323 BC, and the most fascinating and high profile of the Diadochoi, or Successors to Alexander the Great. His campaigns, initiatives, and personal life bestride the opening forty years of the so-called 'Hellenistic' age and are pivotal in its formation as he became the first of the Hellenistic Kings. As his name suggests, Demetrius was prodigious in his military adventures, and profligate in his private life, rendering him an icon for artists, writers, politicians, and soldiers for many centuries. He was especially famous for his spectacular siege operations against enemy cities, and gained his unique nickname from his innovation in building gigantic siege engines, which became legendary in the ancient world. However, much of Demetrius' life was enigmatic, oscillating wildly between successful and catastrophic ventures, and his intrinsic qualities remain debatable to this day. What is indisputable is that he presided over a formative period in history marked by great flux and enormous change. His endeavours resulted in the fusion of Asiatic and Greek cultures, producing the hybrid Hellenistic kingdoms which dominated the ancient world for some 200 years until the rise of the Roman Empire. The period is of crucial importance in ancient Greek history, and marks the point from which Hellenistic influence became fundamental in the development of modern Western culture.
Author: Peter Thonemann Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0191063150 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 156
Book Description
The three centuries which followed the conquests of Alexander are perhaps the most thrilling of all periods of ancient history. This was an age of cultural globalization: in the third century BC, a single language carried you from the Rhône to the Indus. A Celt from the lower Danube could serve in the mercenary army of a Macedonian king ruling in Egypt, and a Greek philosopher from Cyprus could compare the religions of the Brahmins and the Jews on the basis of first-hand knowledge of both. Kings from Sicily to Tajikistan struggled to meet the challenges of ruling multi-ethnic states, and Greek city-states came together under the earliest federal governments known to history. The scientists of Ptolemaic Alexandria measured the circumference of the earth, while pioneering Greek argonauts explored the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic coast of Africa. Drawing on inscriptions, papyri, coinage, poetry, art, and archaeology, in this Very Short Introduction Peter Thonemann opens up the history and culture of the vast Hellenistic world, from the death of Alexander the Great (323 BC) to the Roman conquest of the Ptolemaic kingdom (30 BC). ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Author: Vincent Azoulay Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0190663561 Category : Art Languages : en Pages : 305
Book Description
This investigation relies on a rash bet: to write the biography of two of the most famous statues in Antiquity, the Tyrannicides. By recreating the eventful life of these statues, from their birth to their disappearance, Vincent Azoulay reveals that they were much more than a simple reflection: an acting symbol that models and makes history.
Author: Pat Wheatley
Author: Jeremy Armstrong
Author: Bob Bennett
Author: Matthew Loar
Author: Robin Waterfield
Author: Jeff Champion
Author: Alfred L. Duggan
Author: Pat Wheatley
Author: Peter Thonemann
Author: Vincent Azoulay