This is the first complete study of royal courts in the post-Achaemenid Near East. Rolf 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. It demonstrates the interrelationships of the three competing 'Hellenistic' empires of the Seleukids, Antigonids and Ptolemies. It casts new light on the phenomenon of Hellenistic Kingship by approaching it from the angle of the court. It covers topics such as palace architecture, royal women, court ceremonial, and coronation ritual.

About the Author
Rolf Strootman is a lecturer in the History Department of the University of Utrecht. His research and teaching focus on empire, monarchical ritual and cultural encounters in the Near East, Iran and Central Asia, and on modern western perceptions of the Middle East.


Book Information
ISBN 9780748691265
Author Rolf Strootman
Format Hardback
Page Count 302
Imprint Edinburgh University Press
Publisher Edinburgh University Press
Weight(grams) 721g