Alexander Histories and Iranian Reflections Studies in Persian Cultural History

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Alexander Histories and Iranian Reflections Studies in Persian Cultural History Alexander Histories and Iranian Reflections Studies in Persian Cultural History Editors Charles Melville Cambridge University Gabrielle van den Berg Leiden University Sunil Sharma Boston University VOLUME 3 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.nl/spch Alexander Histories and Iranian Reflections Remnants of Propaganda and Resistance By Parivash Jamzadeh LEIDEn • BOSTON 2012 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Jamzadeh, Parivash. Alexander histories and Iranian reflections : remnants of propaganda and resistance / by Parivash Jamzadeh. p. cm. — (Studies in Persian cultural history, ISSN 2210-3554 ; v. 3) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-90-04-21746-1 (hardback : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-90-04-21752-2 (e-book) 1. Iran— History—Macedonian Conquest, 334–325 B.C.—Propaganda. 2. Iran—History—Macedonian Conquest, 334–325 B.C.—Religious aspects. 3. Iran—History—Macedonian Conquest, 334–325 B.C.—Historiography. 4. Greece—History—Macedonian Expansion, 359–323 B.C.—Campaigns— Iran. 5. Alexander, the Great, 356–323 B.C.—Travel—Iran. 6. Darius I, King of Persia, 548–485 B.C. I. Title. DF234.37.J36 2012 935’.7062—dc23 2012014205 This publication has been typeset in the multilingual “Brill” typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.nl/brill-typeface. ISSN 2210-3554 ISBN 978 90 04 21746 1 (hardback) ISBN 978 90 04 21752 2 (e-book) Copyright 2012 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers and Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper. This book is dedicated to the memory of my parents: Dr. Shahjahan Jamzadeh & Homayun Khosravi-Jamzadeh CONTENTS Acknowledgments .......................................................................................... ix Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1 I The Plight of the Achaemenid Royal Women ........................... 7 1. According to Ancestral Custom ............................................... 7 2. Alexander and Darius’ Mother ................................................. 20 3. Alexander and Darius’ Wife ...................................................... 30 4. Alexander and the Granddaughter of Ochus ....................... 36 5. Episodes in Cyropaedia ............................................................... 38 II Darius’ Letters to Alexander and the Responses: Ideology of Conquest in Retrospect ..................................................................... 41 III The Campaign for Persia in Iranian & Zoroastrian Lights ..... 51 1. Alexander’s Advances and Tribulations ................................ 51 2. Mutilated Greek Captives’ Story .............................................. 61 3. Persepolis’ Final Fate and the Sources’ Arguments ........... 64 IV Darius’ Last Days & Counter-Propagandas ................................. 71 V Bessus’ Fate ........................................................................................... 91 VI Alexander’s Persian Attire ................................................................ 99 VII Reflections from Darius I’s Rhetoric ............................................. 105 1. Alexander as a Mock-Divinity .................................................. 105 2. The Incident of Cyrus’ Tomb .................................................... 110 3. The King and the Ideology of Truth ....................................... 114 4. Bessus’ Punishment ...................................................................... 117 5. Darius I’s World Order ................................................................ 118 VIII Zoroastrian Echoes in Alexander Histories ................................ 121 1. Zoroastrian References in the Story of Clitus ...................... 121 2. The Boar Motif and its Zoroastrian Relevance .................... 125 viii contents 3. The Sogdian Campaign and its Zoroastrian Features ........ 127 4. Iranian and Zoroastrian Features of Hephaestion’s Funeral .............................................................................................. 131 IX Iranian Echoes in Mutiny’s Accounts .......................................... 139 X Alexander’s Final Days and Iranian Reflections ....................... 147 XI Alexander’s Entombment and Iranian Echoes .......................... 151 XII The Plight of Alexander’s Family ................................................... 163 XIII Reverence for the Fravashī of Alexander ..................................... 169 XIV Testimony of Zoroastrian Sources ................................................. 173 XV Concluding Remarks .......................................................................... 177 Bibliography ..................................................................................................... 185 Index ............................................................................................................... 191 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study has been possible thanks to access to the rich collections at the library of Western Washington University, as an independent scholar. Other material was provided by the Bellingham Public Library’s inter- library loans and the efforts of its librarian, Fay Fenske. I am grateful to Prof. Phillip Harding of the University of British Colum- bia for kindly responding to my questions and clarifying difficulties speci- fied in the text. Although the responsibility for conclusions and mistakes is mine. I thank Prof. David Stronach for a copy of his paper, noted in the text. Gratitude is also due to Brill, its reviewers and editors for their atten- tion to my work. INTRODUCTION Alexander was a Macedonian who conquered the Achaemenid empire and sought legitimacy as its king. Although his campaigns had started under the slogan of punishing Xerxes’ descendants for his invasion of Greece, gradually the focus shifted to displays of sensitivity towards the Iranian cultural norms, even at the expense of alienating his close Greek and Macedonian allies at some point. This expedient policy may be due to the difficulties encountered, especially in facing other more legitimate contenders. Those contenders include not only Darius III himself, whose accounts are recorded in the same Alexander Histories and elsewhere and reveal him to be a worthy opponent, but also other Achaemenids, whom Plutarch refers to as “the constant succession of petty kings and their repeated treachery”.1 The consequence is the realization of the need for a propaganda endeavour. The traces of this effort—besides Alexander’s overt actions towards ‘Iranization’, clearly recorded in the sources—survive in the histories cer- tain instances revealing direct translations from Iranian originals, while at the same time the residues of a counter-propaganda effort are also seen in the histories, again manifesting Iranian hands. These two lines run through the accounts as echoes of stories or epi- sodes with distinct Iranian cultural and religious colourings intended for an Iranian audience.2 However, it is important to note that the mentioned counter-propaganda surviving in the midst of the Alexander Histories is independent of the later Zoroastrian literature, in which Alexander is clearly cast as a villain. Interestingly in certain instances a conflation of the accounts of the two kings, Darius and Alexander, is encountered, affecting even the Zoroastrian literature, in a case. Reaching out to Iranian cultural imports in order to estab- lish legitimate power is not limited to mere outward propaganda. Alexander is, in fact, seen to undergo transformations and adopt Iranian norms and 1 Plutarch, Moralia 327 c, 341 F, trans. F.C. Babbitt, Vol. IV, Cambridge, 1962, pp. 387, 469. 2 For mention of Alexander’s Iranian allies see The History of al-Tabari, Vol. IV, trans. M. Perlmann, New York, 1987, p. 88 (694). 2 introduction customs. While under the rule of his successors Iran gradually experienced Hellenism, for Alexander himself the process seems reversed. This study claims that even evidence of profound religious reverence can be gleaned from the histories. The histories mention participation of the Magi in certain ceremonies. At the same time there is record of their mistreatment by Alexander in relation to the desecration of Cyrus’ tomb. Alexander’s recourse to religious ceremonies, motifs and claim of Zoroastrian deities’ support would have required the Magi’s co-operation, albeit neither whole heartedly nor by all, hence perhaps the resentment seen in the later Zoroastrian literature, although the different political cli- mate of later periods would also have provided other factors for demon- izing Alexander as the historical founder of Hellenism in Iran. Alexander commenced his campaign in 334 BC at the age
Recommended publications
  • Iranian Coins & Mints: Achaemenid Dynasty
    IRANIAN COINS & MINTS: ACHAEMENID DYNASTY DARIC The Achaemenid Currency By: Michael Alram DARIC (Gk. dareiko‚s statê´r), Achaemenid gold coin of ca. 8.4 gr, which was introduced by Darius I the Great (q.v.; 522-486 B.C.E.) toward the end of the 6th century B.C.E. The daric and the similar silver coin, the siglos (Gk. síglos mediko‚s), represented the bimetallic monetary standard that the Achaemenids developed from that of the Lydians (Herodotus, 1.94). Although it was the only gold coin of its period that was struck continuously, the daric was eventually displaced from its central economic position first by the biga stater of Philip II of Macedonia (359-36 B.C.E.) and then, conclusively, by the Nike stater of Alexander II of Macedonia (336-23 B.C.E.). The ancient Greeks believed that the term dareiko‚s was derived from the name of Darius the Great (Pollux, Onomastikon 3.87, 7.98; cf. Caccamo Caltabiano and Radici Colace), who was believed to have introduced these coins. For example, Herodotus reported that Darius had struck coins of pure gold (4.166, 7.28: chrysíou statê´rôn Dareikôn). On the other hand, modern scholars have generally supposed that the Greek term dareiko‚s can be traced back to Old Persian *dari- "golden" and that it was first associated with the name of Darius only in later folk etymology (Herzfeld, p. 146; for the contrary view, see Bivar, p. 621; DARIUS iii). During the 5th century B.C.E. the term dareiko‚s was generally and exclusively used to designate Persian coins, which were circulating so widely among the Greeks that in popular speech they were dubbed toxo‚tai "archers" after the image of the figure with a bow that appeared on them (Plutarch, Artoxerxes 20.4; idem, Agesilaus 15.6).
    [Show full text]
  • Daniel 11 Part 2
    1 graceWORKS ! GOING DEEPER The Papou Study Bible is a daily study provided by me to help folks explore the depth and joy of the “conneXion” life of God. It’s my personal study, and is not intended as a doctrinal statement or statement of any church or denomination or congregation. It’s also my belief that “grace” works, and the servant of God should always want to go deeper. Multi- tasking as usual, I’m also calling this the “Papou Study Bible.” I’m writing it as if I were speaking to my girls who love me and any descendant they have that love their Papou too. And to anyone who wants to consider me a spiritual Dad or “Papou.” I want them to be able to study the Bible with Papou (grandpa in Greek) after I’m gone---and if they don’t, I’ll haunt them. The Scriptures say it’s noble to “search the Scriptures daily” to verify truth like the ancient Bereans did (Acts 17:11). My folks came from Berea. My incredible Dad (and your grandfather and great grandfather, guys), Vasil Charles Valekis taught me to do this like he did---every day until I die. He taught me and everyone I know to go to church no matter what and to put God first. While Mama (Maria Pagona Stratakis Valekis) never really did this, she made sure we listened to Daddy on this one. She would have hit us with a spatula or frying pan or worse if we didn’t. This is a simple sharing my “daily search.” And I’d like to think it is a continuation of God’s life through my Dad through me.
    [Show full text]
  • Remembering the Persian Empire (Book Review) Elizabeth P
    University of Richmond UR Scholarship Repository Classical Studies Faculty Publications Classical Studies 2008 Remembering the Persian Empire (Book Review) Elizabeth P. Baughan University of Richmond, ebaughan@richmond.edu Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.richmond.edu/classicalstudies-faculty- publications Part of the Classical Archaeology and Art History Commons Recommended Citation Baughan, Elizabeth P. "Remembering the Persian Empire (Book Review)." Reviews of Forgotten Empire. The World of Ancient Persia; The Persian Empire. A History; Birth of the Persian Empire. Ancient West & East 7 (2008): 345-353. This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Classical Studies at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Classical Studies Faculty Publications by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact scholarshiprepository@richmond.edu. 344 REVIEWS AWE 7 (2008) AWE 7 (2008) REVIEWS 345 and, more broadly, the archaeology of Turkey and adjacent countries. Above all I congratu­ REMEMBERING THE PERSIAN EMPIRE late the editors for so successfully compiling and steering this array of fine research and writing to a most satisfactory conclusion. J. Curtis and N. Tallis (eds.), Forgotten Empire. The World of Ancient Persia, The British The Neo-Hittite or Late Hittite states of south-east Anatolia and north Syria in the Museum Press, London 2005, published in America by The Universiry of California Early Iron Age are amongst the less studied cultural phenomena of the ancient Near East. Press, Berkeley, 272 pp., 32 black-and-white and 543 colour illustrations. Paperback. One reason may be sought in the fact that their physical remains today lie distributed along ISBN 10: 0-7141-1157-0/13: 978-0-7141-1157-5 (British Museum).
    [Show full text]
  • KOINON the International Journal of Classical Numismatic Studies
    OPEN ACCESS SAMPLER: VOLUME III 2020 _____________________ ISSN 2631-5874 Archaeopress Journals KOINON The International Journal of Classical Numismatic Studies Open Access Sampler: Volume III Nicholas J. Molinari, General Editor Shawn Caza, Associate Editor Lloyd W.H. Taylor, Associate Editor Produced by the Societas De Tauro Cum Facie Humana Archaeopress Publishing Oxford 2020 Editorial Advisory Board All the articles appearing in this journal have gone through a thorough process of blind peer-review. I am greatly indebted to the members of the editorial advisory board, all of whom graciously volunteered their expertise for the preparation of this journal. Alberto Campana, IT Tjaart de Beer, CH Gavin Richardson, US Shawn Caza, CA Mark Fox, US Martin Rowe, SE David M. Chico, ES József Géza Kiss, HU David Sear, US Victor Clark, US Bob Langnas, US Nicola Sisci, IT Curtis Clay, US Vincenzo La Notte, IT Lloyd W. H. Taylor, AU Phil Davis, US David MacDonald, US Joseph Uphoff, US Communications for the editors, manuscripts, and books for review should be addressed to the Editors. All enquiries to: Nicholas J. Molinari, General Editor 1784 Providence Road Northbridge, Massachusetts njmolinari@gmail.com https://koinonjournal.wordpress.com/ ISSN 2631-5874 ISSN 2631-5882 (e-pdf) ISBN 978-1-78969-811-4 ISBN 978-1-78969-812-1 (e-pdf) Published by Archaeopress Publishing Ltd, Oxford, UK © Archaeopress Publishing Ltd Subscriptions to KOINON should be sent to Archaeopress Publishing Ltd, Summertown Pavilion, 18-24 Middle Way, Oxford OX2 7LG, UK Tel +44-(0)1865-311914 Fax +44(0)1865-512231 e-mail info@archaeopress.com http://www.archaeopress.come-mail info@archaeopress.com http://www.archaeopress.com μηδὲ πολυξείνου δαιτὸς δυσπέμφελος εἶναι· ἐκ κοινοῦ πλείστη τε χάρις δαπάνη τ’ ὀλιγίστη.
    [Show full text]
  • Downloaded for Personal Non‐Commercial Research Or Study, Without Prior Permission Or Charge
    Magub, Alexandra (2018) Political and Religious Ideologies on Parthian Coins of the 2nd‐1st Centuries BC. PhD thesis. SOAS University of London. http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/30283 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. 1 Political and Religious Ideologies on Parthian Coins of the 2nd-1st Centuries BC ALEXANDRA MAGUB Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD 2018 Department of Religions and Philosophies, School of History, Religions and Philosophies SOAS, University of London 3 Brief Abstract This thesis examines a key period of change in Parthian coinage, as the rebellious Parthian satrapy transitioned first from a nomadic to sedentary kingdom in the second half of the 3rd century BC, and then into a great empire during the 2nd-early 1st century BC. The research will focus on the iconography and inscriptions that were employed on the coinage in order to demonstrate how Parthian authorities used these objects to convey political and religious ideologies to a diverse audience.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Thesis
    This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Surpassing All Other Kings Mesopotamian kingship ideology in the Gilgamesh tradition and the Alexander the Great narratives Ryan, James Richard Awarding institution: King's College London The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact librarypure@kcl.ac.uk providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 23. Sep. 2021 PhD Classics Research Dr James Ryan King’s College London Surpassing All Other Kings: Mesopotamian kingship ideology in the Gilgamesh tradition and the Alexander the Great narratives By Dr James Richard Ryan PhD Classics Research 2017 An AHRC funded project 1 PhD Classics Research Dr James Ryan King’s College London Dedication For Claire 2 PhD Classics Research Dr James Ryan King’s College London Acknowledgements I am extremely grateful to Dr Lindsay Allen and Prof Hugh Bowden, my doctoral supervisors, for their patience, counsel, and insight.
    [Show full text]
  • Darics: Reconsidering an Anachronism in 1 Chronicles 29
    David and darics: reconsidering an anachronism in 1 Chronicles 29 Abstract: This note examines the use of the term “daric” in 1 Chr 29:7 for its ideological purposes, concluding that the anachronism was deployed purposely to signal resistance to imperial rule. Keywords: Chronicles, Achaemenids, daric, imperialism First Chronicles 29:7 reads: “They gave for the service of the House of God 5000 gold talents, 10 000 darics, 10 000 silver talents, 18 000 bronze talents, and 100 000 commonly translated as equivalent to the ,אדרכון iron talents.”1 The use of the word Greek word δαρεικός or “daric,” is a clear anachronism in the verse. The daric was a gold coin of the Achaemenid period, and thus unknown in the time of David. There are two ways to deal with the anachronism. One is to assume that the scribe-author did not realize the anachronism. This is unlikely, due to the distinctiveness of the coin. The other is to assume that the scribe-author did realize the anachronism. This is the approach I will take. Further to this approach is discerning the reasons for the deployment of the anachronism. I will outline some possibilities before settling on one as the most likely. In this argument, the deployment of the anachronism is a comment on monarchy: the monarchy of David, and obliquely the imperial rule of the Achaemenids and their governors in Persian-period Yehud. The commentaries generally comment on the appearance of the term daric in 1 Chr 29:7 merely by pointing out the anachronism. They also often compare the 1 All translations the author’s own.
    [Show full text]
  • Exile from Exile: the Representation of Cultural Memory in Literary Texts by Exiled Iranian Jewish Women
    Langer, Jennifer (2013) Exile from exile: the representation of cultural memory in literary texts by exiled Iranian Jewish women. PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/17841 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. EXILE FROM EXILE: THE REPRESENTATION OF CULTURAL MEMORY IN LITERARY TEXTS BY EXILED IRANIAN JEWISH WOMEN JENNIFER LANGER Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD 2013 Shahin’s Ardashir-nameh, Iran, 17th century; Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary Centre for Gender Studies School of Oriental and African Studies University of London Declaration for PhD thesis I have read and understood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the School of Oriental and African Studies concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination.
    [Show full text]
  • King and Court in Ancient Persia 559 to 331 Bce
    DEBATES AND DOCUMENTS IN ANCIENT HISTORY DEBATES AND DOCUMENTS IN ANCIENT HISTORY Ancient Persia 559 to 331 Ancient Persia Series Editors: Emma Stafford and Shaun Tougher King and Court in ‘This is a very important contribution not only to Achaemenid studies but also to the wider King and Court in literature on royal courts in general. It is very well written and ably supported by source material which will render it invaluable for students and scholars alike.’ St John Simpson, Curator, The British Museum Ancient Persia An exploration of monarchy and elite society at the political and cultural hub of the vast Persian Empire 559 to 331 BCE The Persians established the biggest land empire the world had seen, and seated at the heart of its vast dominions, in the south of modern-day Iran, was the person of the Achaemenid Great King, immortalised in Greek literature as a despotic tyrant. However, a new vision of Persian kingship is now emerging from Iranian and other Near Eastern sources – literary, visual, and archaeological – which shows the monarchs BCE in a very different light. Inscriptions of Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes, and their heirs, present a propagandistic image of Persian rulers as liberators, peace-makers, valiant warriors, righteous god-fearing judges, and law-makers. Around about them, the kings established a lavish and sophisticated court, the centre of political decision-making and the hub of cultural achievements in which the image of monarchy was endorsed and advanced by an almost theatrical display of grandeur and power. Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones explores the representation of Persian monarchy and the court of the LLEWELLYN-JONES LLOYD Achaemenid Great Kings from the point of view of the ancient Iranians themselves (as well as other Near Eastern peoples) and through the sometimes distorted prism of Classical and Biblical sources.
    [Show full text]
  • The Pamphleteer Ephippus, King Alexander and the Persian Royal Hunt 
    Histos () – THE PAMPHLETEER EPHIPPUS, KING ALEXANDER AND THE PERSIAN ROYAL HUNT B. B. Shefton in memoriam Abstract: This paper argues that Jacoby’s fragment of Ephippus of Olynthus’ lost pam- phlet on the deaths of Hephaestion and Alexander conceals a malevolently distorted and hitherto unrecognised reference to Alexander’s adoption in / BC of the traditional hunting style of the Assyrian and Achaemenid kings, namely, the use of a chariot and archery in pursuit of lions. The paper puts this startling development into the larger con- text of, firstly, Alexander’s political and cultural Persianising, and, secondly, the rich symbolism of the royal lion hunter in the ancient near east. Finally the paper asks how far such ‘misreadings’ of the historical Alexander’s Asian monarchy by the first genera- tion of Greek Alexander-historians might have coloured the later ancient view of Alex- ander’s alleged quest for deification. Introduction ‘… to know the emperor’s image was in a very concrete sense to know the em- pire’. ‘From Paris to Peking, monarchs’ preoccupation with dress and appearances is one of the common threads linking them across time and space. Monarchy was a system relying on emotions and senses, as well as political and military might: the right dress was, for many monarchs, indispensable to the functioning of their monarchy.’ his paper re-evaluates a citation in the Deipnosophists of Athenaeus from the lost pamphlet by Ephippus of Olynthus titled On the Death T (or Funeral ) of Alexander and Hephaestion . Fifth and last in Jacoby’s col- I am grateful to my postgraduate class on the Newcastle MA Ancient History for an illuminating discussion of this Ephippan fragment in February and to the audience in London (Society for Court Studies) to whom I read a version of this paper.
    [Show full text]
  • Alexander the Great
    ALEXANDER THE GREAT Narrative BY W. W. TARN CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS CAMBRIDGE LONDON ' NEW YORK MELBOURNE Published by the Syndics of the Cambridge University Press The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 IRP Bentley House, 200 Euston Road, London NWI ~DB 32 East 57th Street, New York, NY 10022, USA 296 Beaconsfield Parade, Middle Park, Melbourne 3206, Australia Copyright Cambridge University Press 1948 First published 1948 Reissued and first paperback edition 1979 Printcd in Grcat Britain at the University Press, Cambridge ISBN o 521 22584 I hard covers ISBN o 521 29563 7 paperback PREFACE Volume I of this book gives a narrative in compendious form; Volume 11, which is the main part of the work, contains a number of special studies. It has been arranged that either volume can be purchased separately, as a straight- forward narrative may appeal to a class of readers who do not want anything further; the work is therefore in essence almost two books. The narrative in Volume I consists in the main of my chapters XIand xnr in volume VI of the Cambridge Ancient History, but the text has been carefully corrected and brought upto date, and a considerable amount has been rewritten, making the present narrative rather longer; my general view of Alexander remains unchanged. I desire to express my gratitude to the Syndics of the Press both for permitting me to use these chapters and for allowing me a completely- free hand over the rest of the work which they had undertaken to publish. In the circumstances, I have written a separate
    [Show full text]
  • Jaarboek Voor Munt
    JAARBOEK VOOR MUNT- EN PENNINGKUNDE 49 1962 KON. NED. GENOOTSCHAP VOOR MUNT- EN PENNINGKUNDE AMSTERDAM Commissie van redactie: Dr. H. Enno van Gelder, Voorburg; Drs. G. van der Meer, 's-Gravenhage; Drs. O. N. Keuzenkamp-Roovers, Groningen; Prof. Dr. A. N. Zadoks-Josephus Jitta, Amsterdam. Alle correspondentie betreffende redactie en administratie te richten aan het secretariaat: Zeestraat 71B, 's-Gravenhage. i GREEK COINAGE AND PERSIAN BIMETALLISM by J. P. Guepin In this article ancient coinage in the Eastern part of the Mediterranean, from the beginning till the time of Alexander, is treated as a profit-making business. And as the profit depends in the last resort on the prices of the raw material, gold and silver, it could be properly called a study in the prices of these metals, which were, as I hope to show, largely domina­ ted by the Lydian and Persian efforts towards bimetallism. As is well known, coins were struck for the first time in Lydia, after 640 \ But of course, coinage had its prehistory. In Ancient Mesopotamia, with its highly developed banking system, metal currency in the form of lead, silver and copper bars, bearing the seal of a particular city of temple; are known to have existed. This seal often gave an indication of the purity of the metal. In Greece, however; a more primitive kind had survived. From Minoan times on metal tool money had circulated" in the form of spits (obeloi), axes, ox-hides, tripods etc. This money was acceptable not because of its intrinsic value, but like other types of primitive money, because of its traditional shape and well-known general aspect.
    [Show full text]