This study examines the history of Hellenistic Bactrian kingship and the means by which kings acq... more This study examines the history of Hellenistic Bactrian kingship and the means by which kings acquired, legitimated, and maintained their authority. The history of this kingship covers the period from Alexander the Great's conquest of Bactria (330-327 BC) to the reign of the last Hellenistic king c. 140 BC during which a number of different dynasties had control. The acquisition of kingship largely followed Alexander's example and conformed to a pattern of imperialistic conquest. Legitimation was closely tied to conquest, as the possession of territory "spear-won " by a triumphant conqueror conferred the opportunity to claim kingship. The extent to which a ruler matched the heroic precendents set by legendary kings of Asia played a large part in identifying men worthy of kingship. The maintenance of kingship was achieved through propaganda, city foundations, and other identifiers of the king's ideological status and through careful control of the royal admin...
This study examines the history of Hellenistic Bactrian kingship and the means by which kings acq... more This study examines the history of Hellenistic Bactrian kingship and the means by which kings acquired, legitimated, and maintained their authority. The history of this kingship covers the period from Alexander the Great's conquest of Bactria (330-327 BC) to the reign of the last Hellenistic king c. 140 BC during which a number of different dynasties had control. The acquisition of kingship largely followed Alexander's example and conformed to a pattern of imperialistic conquest. Legitimation was closely tied to conquest, as the possession of territory "spear-won" by a triumphant conqueror conferred the opportunity to claim kingship. The extent to which a ruler matched the heroic precendents set by legendary kings of Asia played a large part in identifying men worthy of kingship. The maintenance of kingship was achieved through propaganda, city foundations, and other identifiers of the king's ideological status and through careful control of the royal administr...
At its height during the reign of Antiochos III (223–188 bce), the Seleucid empire spanned most o... more At its height during the reign of Antiochos III (223–188 bce), the Seleucid empire spanned most of the Near East from western Asia Minor to Afghanistan, and Armenia to Palestine, covering for the most part areas previously conquered by Alexander the Great. The Seleucid royal family was of Macedonian origin on its paternal side, Iranian on the maternal and exercised control of the empire by grafting Hellenistic forms of organization onto pre-existing Near Eastern systems. As such, the introduction of new settlements and Greek-style cities was an integral part of Seleucid imperial rule. Keywords: archaeology; Asia; cross-cultural; empire; cultural diversity; colonialism; antiquity
In 196 bce, Queen Laodike III issued a decree (I.Iasos 4, I) to Iasos in Caria, Asia Minor, annou... more In 196 bce, Queen Laodike III issued a decree (I.Iasos 4, I) to Iasos in Caria, Asia Minor, announcing that she was giving the Iasians a ten‐year supply of grain to alleviate their penury after her husband's conquest of their city, and she specified that the grain ought to be sold and the income used to provide dowries for the daughters of poor citizens. This and other donations were part of rebuilding efforts in the wake of military violence by Laodike's husband Antiochos III. For her beneficence, Laodike was honoured by cities with foundations of festivals, priestesses and sacred areas dedicated to preserving her cult. This reciprocity of goodwill was gendered, not only in the establishment of priestesses, but in the nature of the honours given; for example Iasos celebrated Laodike III's birthday with a procession of a maiden priestess and couples who were about to wed (I.Iasos 4, II), and the people of Teos dedicated a fountain in their city centre to Laodike and required that all brides should draw from it the water for their baths (SEG 41, 1003). Laodike's patronage and the cities’ responses to her bring to light the role of female citizens within the structures, perpetuation and ceremonial of the civic body. At the heart of honours given Laodike and her own self‐promotion was the identity of sister and mother, roles shaping her own queenship and the civic participation and power of the women she assisted.
This study examines the history of Hellenistic Bactrian kingship and the means by which kings acq... more This study examines the history of Hellenistic Bactrian kingship and the means by which kings acquired, legitimated, and maintained their authority. The history of this kingship covers the period from Alexander the Great's conquest of Bactria (330-327 BC) to the reign of the last Hellenistic king c. 140 BC during which a number of different dynasties had control. The acquisition of kingship largely followed Alexander's example and conformed to a pattern of imperialistic conquest. Legitimation was closely tied to conquest, as the possession of territory "spear-won " by a triumphant conqueror conferred the opportunity to claim kingship. The extent to which a ruler matched the heroic precendents set by legendary kings of Asia played a large part in identifying men worthy of kingship. The maintenance of kingship was achieved through propaganda, city foundations, and other identifiers of the king's ideological status and through careful control of the royal admin...
This study examines the history of Hellenistic Bactrian kingship and the means by which kings acq... more This study examines the history of Hellenistic Bactrian kingship and the means by which kings acquired, legitimated, and maintained their authority. The history of this kingship covers the period from Alexander the Great's conquest of Bactria (330-327 BC) to the reign of the last Hellenistic king c. 140 BC during which a number of different dynasties had control. The acquisition of kingship largely followed Alexander's example and conformed to a pattern of imperialistic conquest. Legitimation was closely tied to conquest, as the possession of territory "spear-won" by a triumphant conqueror conferred the opportunity to claim kingship. The extent to which a ruler matched the heroic precendents set by legendary kings of Asia played a large part in identifying men worthy of kingship. The maintenance of kingship was achieved through propaganda, city foundations, and other identifiers of the king's ideological status and through careful control of the royal administr...
At its height during the reign of Antiochos III (223–188 bce), the Seleucid empire spanned most o... more At its height during the reign of Antiochos III (223–188 bce), the Seleucid empire spanned most of the Near East from western Asia Minor to Afghanistan, and Armenia to Palestine, covering for the most part areas previously conquered by Alexander the Great. The Seleucid royal family was of Macedonian origin on its paternal side, Iranian on the maternal and exercised control of the empire by grafting Hellenistic forms of organization onto pre-existing Near Eastern systems. As such, the introduction of new settlements and Greek-style cities was an integral part of Seleucid imperial rule. Keywords: archaeology; Asia; cross-cultural; empire; cultural diversity; colonialism; antiquity
In 196 bce, Queen Laodike III issued a decree (I.Iasos 4, I) to Iasos in Caria, Asia Minor, annou... more In 196 bce, Queen Laodike III issued a decree (I.Iasos 4, I) to Iasos in Caria, Asia Minor, announcing that she was giving the Iasians a ten‐year supply of grain to alleviate their penury after her husband's conquest of their city, and she specified that the grain ought to be sold and the income used to provide dowries for the daughters of poor citizens. This and other donations were part of rebuilding efforts in the wake of military violence by Laodike's husband Antiochos III. For her beneficence, Laodike was honoured by cities with foundations of festivals, priestesses and sacred areas dedicated to preserving her cult. This reciprocity of goodwill was gendered, not only in the establishment of priestesses, but in the nature of the honours given; for example Iasos celebrated Laodike III's birthday with a procession of a maiden priestess and couples who were about to wed (I.Iasos 4, II), and the people of Teos dedicated a fountain in their city centre to Laodike and required that all brides should draw from it the water for their baths (SEG 41, 1003). Laodike's patronage and the cities’ responses to her bring to light the role of female citizens within the structures, perpetuation and ceremonial of the civic body. At the heart of honours given Laodike and her own self‐promotion was the identity of sister and mother, roles shaping her own queenship and the civic participation and power of the women she assisted.
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