Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- The Hellenistic Dynasties
- Series Editor's Preface
- Map
- Introduction: Court and Empire in the Hellenistic Near East
- PART I SETTING THE SCENE
- PART II THE COURT AS A SOCIO-POLITICAL SYSTEM
- PART III CEREMONIAL AND RITUAL
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Conclusion
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 September 2014
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- The Hellenistic Dynasties
- Series Editor's Preface
- Map
- Introduction: Court and Empire in the Hellenistic Near East
- PART I SETTING THE SCENE
- PART II THE COURT AS A SOCIO-POLITICAL SYSTEM
- PART III CEREMONIAL AND RITUAL
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
By approaching the Hellenistic kingdoms from the angle of the court I have attempted to shed a different light on the ideology and nature of Hellenistic monarchy and imperialism. Crucial to the approach has been the understanding of the monarchies of the Antigonids, Seleukids and Ptolemies as empires. Empire was defined as essentially both a supranational (military) organisation, characterised by a universalistic ideology and an expansionist policy, and a negotiated enterprise – although the enterprise was, of course, ultimately founded on the use of force. But like the European monarchs of the age of absolutism, the Hellenistic (and, for that matter, Achaemenid) emperors were in reality not as powerful as official propaganda claimed they were, and imperial control was constantly (re)negotiated or fought over.
As an analytical category, the paradigm of empire allows us to accommodate within the hegemonic spheres of the Macedonian monarchies not only multifarious cultures, languages and religions, but also a variety of sub-imperial polities, many of which were quite autonomous. It also allows us to distinguish between on the one hand the monarchies’ diversified adaptation to, and manipulation of, varying local cultures (e.g. Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek), and on the other hand an overarching imperial culture emanating from the imperial centre and connecting the various local elites affiliated with that centre.
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- Information
- Courts and Elites in the Hellenistic EmpiresThe Near East After the Achaemenids, c. 330 to 30 BCE, pp. 265 - 277Publisher: Edinburgh University PressPrint publication year: 2014