Courts and Elites in the Hellenistic Empires : : The Near East After the Achaemenids, c. 330 to 30 BCE / / Rolf Strootman.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Edinburgh University Press Complete eBook-Package 2014-2015
• VerfasserIn: Strootman, Rolf,
• Place / Publishing House: Edinburgh : : Edinburgh University Press, , [2022]; ©2014
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Series: Edinburgh Studies in Ancient Persia : ESAP
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (344 p.) :; 31 B/W illustrations

The first complete study of royal courts in the post-Achaemenid Near EastRolf Strootman brings together various aspects of court culture in the Macedonian empires of the post-Achaemenid Near East. 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, After the Achaemenids 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.Key featuresDemonstrates the interrelationships of the three competing 'Hellenistic' empires of the Seleukids, Antigonids and PtolemiesCasts new light on the phenomenon of Hellenistic Kingship by approaching it from the angle of the courtCovers topics such as palace architecture, royal women, court ceremonial, and coronation ritual

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgements -- Abbreviations -- The Hellenistic Dynasties -- Series Editor's Preface -- Introduction: Court and Empire in the Hellenistic Near East -- PART I Setting the Scene -- 1 The Court as an Instrument of Power -- 2 The Theatre of Royalty -- 3 The Royal Palace: A Stage for Royal Rituals -- PART II The Court as a Socio-Political System -- 4 The Royal Household -- 5 Court Society -- 6 Royal Pages -- 7 Social Dynamics -- 8 Hierarchy and Conflict -- PART III Ceremonial and Ritual -- 9 Ceremonial and Protocol -- 10 Death and Resurrection: Inauguration Ritual -- 11 The Royal Entry -- 12 Royal Processions: Enacting the Myth of Empire -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index