The typical Hellenistic monarch had to be a military commander, his territories often referred to as ‘spear-won land’ Armies were large, up to 80,000 men, mostly mercenaries, a size that was not surpassed until modern times. The boundaries between each kingdom remained fluid and there were frequent disputes between rival monarchs over their extent. The Ptolemies and the Seleucids fought no less than five wars over Syria in the third century (despite having access to the wealth of Egypt, the Ptolemies desperately needed other resources such as timber from the Mediterranean and they clung doggedly to their possessions there). In addition to these inter-dynastic conflicts there were constant attacks by outsiders. Macedonia had to guard her northern frontiers against the tribes of central Europe. ‘Celtic’ war bands (see Interlude 5) raided down into Greece in the early third century, sacking
Delphi in 279, and it was only by successfully confronting them that Antigonus Gonatas secured the kingdom of Macedonia for himself in 277. Another Celtic people, the Galatians, settled in central Anatolia, and Attalus I’s defeat of them in 238 earned him the prestige that enabled him to set himself up as king of Pergamum in the north-west of Asia Minor. (See Stephen Mitchell, ‘The Galatians: Representation and Reality, in Erskine (ed.), Companion to the Hellenistic World.)
Attalus’ successors, the Attalids, were typical in developing a heroic history to support the triumph of their dynasty. They traced their past back to one Telephus, a son of Heracles who himself remained an iconic figure in this period. One of the great sculptural pieces of the period, the Altar of Zeus at their capital Pergamum, celebrated Attalus’ achievements. On its colossal frieze, 100 metres long, the Attalids, portrayed as gods, battle it out against giants, the Galatians, with the exploits of Telephus also shown among the reliefs. The celebrated statue of the Dying Gaul (the Romans knew the Celts as Gauls) was executed, originally in bronze, at Perga-mum at this time. (The surviving example in the Capitoline Museum in Rome is a Roman copy in marble.)
The most harassed of the kings were the Seleucids who faced the challenge of retaining vast tracts of eastern Asia. Their legitimacy as rulers was always flimsy. Apollo was their god, alien to the mass of their subjects. Their survival rested ultimately on their military prowess but the task was beyond them. The history of their kingdom is one of steady loss of the territories originally grabbed by Seleucus I from Alexander’s empire. Only two members of the dynasty died outside battle. Control of the far east of their kingdom was lost with the breakaway of Bactria in the mid-third century, a state whose history is still obscure. (See Frank Holt, Lost World of the Golden King: In Search of Ancient Afghanistan, Berkeley and London, 2012.) In the remote north of their kingdom a Parthian ruler, Arsaces, became prominent at the same time. His horsemen were versatile enough to fight either as cavalry or archers and they were soon raiding southwards with success. The campaigns of Antiochus III (ruled 223-187 Bc) in the east did something to restore Seleucid prestige in Asia and the dynasty did survive for a further hundred years. Yet, by the second century BC the Parthians had reached the Euphrates, and by the end of the century the Seleucids had been reduced by Roman expansionism and successful Jewish nationalism (see below) to a small area of Syria. The kingdom was finally extinguished by Pompey the Great in 64 BC (see below, pp. 412-13).
The Hellenistic monarchs ruled over such a variety of peoples that they had to take an active role in mobilizing support. One way this could be done was through patronage. The tradition of providing ‘bread and circuses’ for the masses began in this period, while at a more elevated level the kings offered hospitality in their courts to ‘Friends’ who might come from any part of the Greek world. Normally they would have skills, as philosophers, poets, doctors, or administrators, and gradually they became assimilated as courtiers in courts that themselves became centres of culture and display. The Ptolemies in Alexandria, by far the most successful of Alexander’s foundations, knew exactly how to exploit their surplus of resources for propaganda purposes. One festival thrown in honour of Dionysus by Ptolemy II in
Map 7 Alexandria, from Hellenistic capital to major bishopric. Alexandria was the capital of the Ptolemies and as such a major centre of patronage as shown in the royal palaces, which were along the sea front, and in the neighbouring Library. It was a major centre for Greek mathematics and science. It also became the major port of the eastern Mediterranean, notably through the export of Egypt’s grain surpluses. Note the famous lighthouse (Pharos). The evangelist Mark was, by tradition, buried here and this made the city an important Christian city. St Athanasius (note his church) had a turbulent career as the city’s bishop in the fourth century but is honoured for his championship of the Nicene creed. The Jewish community was also important and in Philo (early first century ad) produced a major philosopher.
Alexandria in 275 was the height of flamboyance. The glint of gold was everywhere, in the plates on which 120 young boys bore offerings, in great mixing-bowls for wine, and in gilded statues carried in procession. Exotic animals, including a giraffe, a rhinoceros, and elephants, mingled with an enormous phallus, the symbol of the Dionysiac orgy, which was carried through the streets decorated with gold ribbons and bows. A vast pavilion was erected for special guests at which all the fittings, even the couches, were made of gold.
So the courts were opulent places, not least in their architectural settings. The accent was on the exotic and monumental. Alexandria, whose extravagance was
Sustained by the vast wealth of Egypt and a bustling port, was the most cosmopolitan and luxury-loving, but it was also the intellectual capital of the Hellenistic world and home to the greatest library of the ancient world (see further below, pp. 344-5). At Pergamum the Attalids built their own complex of great public buildings, terrace and temple succeeding each other as one ascended the heights towards the palace that provided a magnificent if rather overwhelming backdrop to the dynasty. The city’s theatre offered, and still offers, superb views over the surrounding countryside.
World History
