1.
Lysimachus
–
Lysimachus was a Macedonian officer and diadochus of Alexander the Great, who became a basileus in 306 BC, ruling Thrace, Asia Minor and Macedon. Lysimachus was born in 361 BC, to a family of Thessalian Greek stock and his father was a nobleman of high rank who was an intimate friend of Philip II of Macedon, who shared in Philip II’s councils and became a favourite in the Argead court. He was probably appointed Somatophylax during the reign of Philip II, during Alexanders Persian campaigns, in 328 BC he was one of his immediate bodyguards. In 324 BC, in Susa, he was crowned in recognition for his actions in India, after Alexander’s death in 323 BC, he was appointed to the government of Thrace as strategos although he faced some difficulties from the Thracian Dynasty Seuthes. However, he managed to consolidate his power in the east of his territories, in 309 BC, he founded Lysimachia in a commanding situation on the neck connecting the Chersonese with the mainland which formed a bulwark against the Odrysians. In 306/305 BC, Lysimachus followed the example of Antigonus I and assumed the royal title, which he held until his death at Corupedium in 281 BC. In 302 BC, when the alliance between Cassander, Ptolemy I and Seleucus I was made, Lysimachus, reinforced by troops from Cassander, entered Asia Minor. On the approach of Antigonus I he retired into winter quarters near Heraclea, marrying its widowed queen Amastris, Seleucus I joined him in 301 BC, and at the Battle of Ipsus Antigonus I was defeated and slain. Antigonus dominions were divided among the victors, Lysimachus share was Lydia, Ionia, Phrygia and the north coast of Asia Minor. Feeling that Seleucus I was becoming dangerously powerful, Lysimachus now allied himself with Ptolemy I, Amastris, who had divorced herself from him, returned to Heraclea. Demetrius I subsequently threatened Thrace, but had to due to a sudden uprising in Boeotia. In 287 BC, Lysimachus and Pyrrhus in turn invaded Macedonia, Lysimachus left Pyrrhus in possession of Macedonia with the title of king for around seven months before Lysimachus invaded. For a short while the two ruled jointly but in 285 BC Lysimachus expelled Pyrrhus, seizing complete control for himself, domestic troubles embittered the last years of Lysimachus’ life. Amastris had been murdered by her two sons, Lysimachus treacherously put them to death, on his return, Arsinoe II asked the gift of Heraclea, and he granted her request, though he had promised to free the city. This atrocious deed by Lysimachus aroused great indignation, many of the cities of Asia Minor revolted, and his most trusted friends deserted him. The widow of Agathocles and their children fled to Seleucus I, in 281 BC, Lysimachus crossed the Hellespont into Lydia and at the decisive Battle of Corupedium was killed. After some days his body was found on the field, protected birds of prey by his faithful dog. Lysimachus body was given over to another son Alexander, by whom it was interred at Lysimachia, Lysimachus was married three times and his wives were, First marriage, Nicaea a Greek noblewoman and daughter of the powerful Regent Antipater
Lysimachus
–
Marble bust of Lysimachus. Naples,
Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli (Archaeological Museum),
Italy
Lysimachus
–
Obverse of coin of Lysimachus: The horned Alexander appears as the king's divine patron.
Lysimachus
–
Tetradrachm of Lysimachus. The
Greek inscription reads: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΛΥΣΙΜΑΧΟΥ "[coin] of King Lysimachus".
2.
Pyrrhus of Epirus
–
Pyrrhus was a Greek general and statesman of the Hellenistic period. He was king of the Greek tribe of Molossians, of the royal Aeacid house and he was one of the strongest opponents of early Rome. Some of his battles, though successful, caused him heavy losses and he is the subject of one of Plutarchs Parallel Lives. Pyrrhus was the son of Aeacides and Phthia, a Thessalian woman, and he had two sisters, Deidamia and Troias. In 317 BC, when Pyrrhus was only two, his father was dethroned, Pyrrhus family took refuge with Glaukias of the Taulantians, one of the largest Illyrian tribes. Pyrrhus was raised by Beroea, Glaukiass wife and a Molossian of the Aeacidae dynasty, Glaukias restored Pyrrhus to the throne in 306 BC until the latter was banished again, four years later, by his enemy, Cassander. Thus, he went on to serve as an officer, in the wars of the Diadochi, in 298 BC, Pyrrhus was taken hostage to Alexandria, under the terms of a peace treaty made between Demetrius and Ptolemy I Soter. There, he married Ptolemy Is stepdaughter Antigone and restored his kingdom in Epirus in 297 BC with financial, Pyrrhus had his co-ruler Neoptolemus II of Epirus murdered. In 295 BC, Pyrrhus transferred the capital of his kingdom to Ambrakia, next, he went to war against his former ally and brother-in-law Demetrius and in 292 BC he invaded Thessaly while Demetrius was besieging Thebes but was repulsed. By 286 BC, Pyrrhus had taken control over the kingdom of Macedon, the Greek city of Tarentum, in southern Italy, fell out with Rome due to a violation of an old treaty that specified Rome was not to send warships into the Tarentine Gulf. In 282 BC, the Romans installed garrisons in the Greek cities of Thurii, Locri, and Rhegium, Tarentum was now faced with a Roman attack and certain defeat, unless they could enlist the aid of greater powers. Rome had already made itself into a power, and was poised to subdue all the Greek cities in Magna Graecia. The Tarentines asked Pyrrhus to lead their war against the Romans, Pyrrhus was encouraged to aid the Tarentines by the Oracle of Delphi. His goals were not, however, selfless and he recognized the possibility of carving out an empire for himself in Italy. He made an alliance with Ptolemy Ceraunus, King of Macedon and his most powerful neighbor, and arrived in Italy in 280 BC. Pyrrhus entered Italy with an army consisting of 20,000 infantry,3,000 cavalry,2,000 archers,500 slingers, and 20 war elephants in a bid to subdue the Romans. The elephants had been loaned to him by Ptolemy II, who had also promised 9,000 soldiers, there are conflicting sources about casualties. Hieronymus of Cardia reports the Romans lost about 7,000 while Pyrrhus lost 3,000 soldiers, dionysius gives a bloodier view of 15,000 Roman dead and 13,000 Epirot
Pyrrhus of Epirus
–
Bust of Pyrrhus at the
National Archaeological Museum of Naples
Pyrrhus of Epirus
–
Coin of Pyrrhus minted at
Syracuse, 278 BC. Obverse: Veiled head of
Phtia with oak wreath, ΦΘIAΣ (of Phtia). Reverse:
Thunderbolt, BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΠΥΡΡOΥ (of King Pyrrhus).
Pyrrhus of Epirus
–
The
Siege of Sparta, by
François Topino-Lebrun
Pyrrhus of Epirus
–
Coin of Pyrrhus,
Kingdom of Epirus (inscription in
Greek: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΠΥΡΡΟΥ - Basileōs Pyrrhou, i.e. "(of) King Pyrrhus").
3.
Deidamia I of Epirus
–
Deidamia was a Princess of Epirus. Deidamia was a daughter of Aeacides, king of Epirus and his wife, Queen Phthia, and sister of King Pyrrhus. She soon after repaired to Cilicia to join Demetrius, who had just given his daughter Stratonice in marriage to Seleucus and she left one son by Demetrius, named Alexander, who is said by Plutarch to have spent his life in Egypt, probably in an honourable captivity. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology
Deidamia I of Epirus
–
Deidamia's husband,
Demetrius
4.
Stratonice of Syria
–
Stratonice of Syria was Queen of the Seleucid Empire from 300 BC until 294 BC. Stratonice of Syria was the daughter of king Demetrius Poliorcetes and Phila and it is believed that the union was a prosperous one. The city of Stratonikeia in Caria was named after her by Antiochus, by Seleucus I Nicator, Phila, who later married her uncle Antigonus II Gonatas. By Antiochus I Soter, Seleucus, who was executed for rebellion, laodice Apama II, who married Magas of Cyrene and was mother of Berenice II of Egypt. Stratonice, who married her nephew/cousin Demetrius II Aetolicus, Antiochus II Theos, who succeeded his father as king. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, media related to Stratonice of Syria at Wikimedia Commons
Stratonice of Syria
–
"Antiochus I and Stratonice", a painting by Jacques-Louis David (1774).
5.
Antigonus II Gonatas
–
Antigonus Gonatas was born around 319 BC, probably in Gonnoi in Thessaly unless Gonatas is derived from an iron plate protecting the knee. He was related to the most powerful of the Diadochi, Antigonuss father was Demetrius Poliorcetes, who was the son of Antigonus I Monophthalmus, who then controlled much of Asia. His mother was Phila, the daughter of Antipater, the latter controlled Macedonia and the rest of Greece and was recognized as regent of the empire, which in theory remained united. In this year, however, Antipater died, leading to further struggles for territory, the careers of Antigonuss grandfather and father showed great swings in fortune. The fate of Antigonus Gonatas, now 18, was tied with that of his father Demetrius. Jealousy among the victors eventually allowed Demetrius to regain part of the power his father had lost and he conquered Athens and in 294 BC he seized the throne of Macedonia from Alexander, the son of Cassander. Hoping to seize Lysimachuss territories in Thrace and Asia, Demetrius delegated command of his forces in Boeotia to Antigonus, while he was away, the Boeotians rose in rebellion, but were defeated by Antigonus, who bottled them up in Thebes. After the failure of his expedition to Thrace, Demetrius rejoined his son at the siege of Thebes, as the Thebans defended their city stubbornly, Demetrius often forced his men to attack the city at great cost, even though there was little hope of capturing it. It is said that, distressed by the losses, Antigonus asked his father, Why, father. Demetrius appears to have showed his contempt for the lives of his soldiers by replying, but he also showed a similar disregard for his own life and was badly wounded at the siege by a bolt through the neck. In 291 BC, Demetrius finally took the city after using siege engines to demolish its walls, but control of Macedonia and most of Greece was merely a stepping stone to his plans for further conquest. He aimed at nothing less than the revival of Alexanders empire and started making preparations on a scale, ordering the construction of a fleet of 500 ships. Such preparations and the intent behind them, naturally alarmed the other kings, Seleucus, Ptolemy, Lysimachus, and Pyrrhus. In the spring of 288 BC Ptolemys fleet appeared off Greece, at the same time, Lysimachus attacked Macedonia from the east while Pyrrhus did so from the west. Demetrius left Antigonus in control of Greece, while he hurried to Macedonia, by now the Macedonians had come to resent the extravagance and arrogance of Demetrius, and were not prepared to fight a difficult campaign for him. In 287 BC, Pyrrhus took the Macedonian city of Verroia and Demetriuss army promptly deserted, at this change of fortune, Phila, the mother of Antigonus, killed herself with poison. Demetrius therefore returned and besieged the city, but he grew impatient. Leaving Antigonus in charge of the war in Greece, he assembled all his ships and embarked with 11,000 infantry and all his cavalry to attack Caria and Lydia, provinces of Lysimachus
Antigonus II Gonatas
–
Coin of Antigonus Gonatas
Antigonus II Gonatas
–
Coin of Antigonus II Gonatas. The
Greek inscription reads " ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΝΤΙΓΟΝΟΥ " meaning "of king Antigonus".
Antigonus II Gonatas
–
northern border at 240 bc
6.
Antigonus I Monophthalmus
–
Antigonus I Monophthalmus, son of Philip from Elimeia, was a Macedonian nobleman, general, and satrap under Alexander the Great. During his early life he served under Philip II, and he was a figure in the Wars of the Diadochi after Alexanders death, declaring himself king in 306 BC. Antigonus was appointed governor of Greater Phrygia in 333 BC and he was primarily responsible for defending Alexanders lines of supply and communication during the latters extended campaign against the Achaemenid Persian Empire. As part of the division of the provinces after Alexanders death in 323 BC, Antigonus also received Pamphylia and Lycia from Perdiccas, regent of the empire, at the Partition of Babylon. He incurred the enmity of Perdiccas, the regent, by refusing to assist Eumenes to obtain possession of the allotted to him. Leonnatus had left with his army for Greece, leaving Antigonus alone to deal with Cappadocia, Perdiccas seems to have viewed this as a direct affront to his authority and went up with the royal army himself to conquer the area. Eumenes was defeated and forced to retire to the fortress of Nora in Cappadocia, when Antipater died in 319 BC, he gave the regentship to Polyperchon, excluding Cassander, his son. Antigonus and the other refused to recognize Polyperchon, since it would undermine their own ambitions. He entered into negotiations with Eumenes, but Eumenes had already been swayed by Polyperchon, effecting his escape from Nora, he raised an army and built a fleet in Cilicia and Phoenicia, and soon after formed a coalition with the satraps of the eastern provinces. Antigonus fought against Eumenes in two battles at Paraitacene in 317 BC and Gabiene in 316 BC. After some deliberation, Antigonus had Eumenes executed, as a result, Antigonus now was in possession of the empires Asian territories, his authority stretching from the eastern satrapies to Syria and Asia Minor in the west. He seized the treasures at Susa and entered Babylon, the governor of the city, Seleucus, fled to Ptolemy and entered into a league with him, Lysimachus and Cassander against Antigonus. In 314 BC Antigonus invaded Phoenicia, under Ptolemys control, and his son Demetrius was defeated at the Battle of Gaza by Ptolemy in 312 BC, and after the battle, Seleucus made his way back to Babylonia. Seleucus returned to Babylon in order to build up a base of his own, the Babylonian War began between Antigonus and Seleucus, where Seleucus defeated both Demetrius and Antigonus, and secured Babylonia. After the war had been carried on with varying success from 315 to 311, peace was concluded, by which the government of Asia Minor and Syria was provisionally secured to Antigonus. This agreement was violated on the pretext that garrisons had been placed in some of the free Greek cities by Antigonus. Demetrius Poliorcetes, the son of Antigonus, wrested part of Greece from Cassander, after defeating Ptolemy at the naval Battle of Salamis in 306 BC, Demetrius conquered Cyprus. Following the victory Antigonus assumed the title king and bestowed the same upon his son, the other dynasts, Cassander, Ptolemy, Lysimachus and Seleucus, soon followed
Antigonus I Monophthalmus
–
Coin of Antigonus I Monophthalmus, the
Greek inscription reads " ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΝΤΙΓΟΝΟΥ " meaning [coin] of king Antigonus
7.
Ancient Greek
–
Ancient Greek includes the forms of Greek used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around the 9th century BC to the 6th century AD. It is often divided into the Archaic period, Classical period. It is antedated in the second millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Hellenistic phase is known as Koine. Koine is regarded as a historical stage of its own, although in its earliest form it closely resembled Attic Greek. Prior to the Koine period, Greek of the classic and earlier periods included several regional dialects, Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of fifth-century Athenian historians, playwrights, and philosophers. It has contributed many words to English vocabulary and has been a subject of study in educational institutions of the Western world since the Renaissance. This article primarily contains information about the Epic and Classical phases of the language, Ancient Greek was a pluricentric language, divided into many dialects. The main dialect groups are Attic and Ionic, Aeolic, Arcadocypriot, some dialects are found in standardized literary forms used in literature, while others are attested only in inscriptions. There are also several historical forms, homeric Greek is a literary form of Archaic Greek used in the epic poems, the Iliad and Odyssey, and in later poems by other authors. Homeric Greek had significant differences in grammar and pronunciation from Classical Attic, the origins, early form and development of the Hellenic language family are not well understood because of a lack of contemporaneous evidence. Several theories exist about what Hellenic dialect groups may have existed between the divergence of early Greek-like speech from the common Proto-Indo-European language and the Classical period and they have the same general outline, but differ in some of the detail. The invasion would not be Dorian unless the invaders had some relationship to the historical Dorians. The invasion is known to have displaced population to the later Attic-Ionic regions, the Greeks of this period believed there were three major divisions of all Greek people—Dorians, Aeolians, and Ionians, each with their own defining and distinctive dialects. Often non-west is called East Greek, Arcadocypriot apparently descended more closely from the Mycenaean Greek of the Bronze Age. Boeotian had come under a strong Northwest Greek influence, and can in some respects be considered a transitional dialect, thessalian likewise had come under Northwest Greek influence, though to a lesser degree. Most of the dialect sub-groups listed above had further subdivisions, generally equivalent to a city-state and its surrounding territory, Doric notably had several intermediate divisions as well, into Island Doric, Southern Peloponnesus Doric, and Northern Peloponnesus Doric. The Lesbian dialect was Aeolic Greek and this dialect slowly replaced most of the older dialects, although Doric dialect has survived in the Tsakonian language, which is spoken in the region of modern Sparta. Doric has also passed down its aorist terminations into most verbs of Demotic Greek, by about the 6th century AD, the Koine had slowly metamorphosized into Medieval Greek
Ancient Greek
–
Inscription about the construction of the statue of
Athena Parthenos in the
Parthenon, 440/439 BC
Ancient Greek
–
Ostracon bearing the name of
Cimon,
Stoa of Attalos
Ancient Greek
–
The words ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ as they are inscribed on the marble of the 1955
Leonidas Monument at
Thermopylae
8.
Greek language
–
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
Greek language
–
Idealized portrayal of
Homer
Greek language
–
regions where Greek is the official language
Greek language
–
Greek language road sign, A27 Motorway, Greece
9.
Macedon
–
Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and at first ruled by the royal Argead dynasty, the reign of Philip II saw the rise of Macedonia, during which the kingdom rose to control the entire Greek world. With a reformed army containing phalanxes wielding the sarissa pike, Philip II defeated the old powers of Athens and Thebes in the decisive Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC, Sparta was kept isolated and was occupied a century later by Antigonus III Doson. Alexander then led a roughly decade-long campaign of conquest against the Achaemenid Empire, in the ensuing wars of Alexander the Great, he overthrew the Achaemenid Empire and conquered a territory that stretched as far as the Indus River. For a brief period, his Macedonian empire was the most powerful in the world – the definitive Hellenistic state, Greek arts and literature flourished in the new conquered lands and advances in philosophy, engineering, and science were spread throughout much of the ancient world. Of particular importance were the contributions of Aristotle, who had been imported as tutor to Alexander, important cities such as Pella, Pydna, and Amphipolis were involved in power struggles for control of the territory. New cities were founded, such as Thessalonica by the usurper Cassander, Macedonias decline began with the Macedonian Wars and the rise of Rome as the leading Mediterranean power. At the end of the Second Macedonian War in 168 BC, a short-lived revival of the monarchy during the Third Macedonian War in 150–148 BC ended with the establishment of the Roman province of Macedonia. The name Macedonia comes from the ethnonym Μακεδόνες, which itself is derived from the ancient Greek adjective μακεδνός, meaning tall and it also shares the same root as the noun μάκρος, meaning length in both ancient and modern Greek. The name is believed to have meant either highlanders, the tall ones. Robert S. P. Beekes supports that both terms are of Pre-Greek substrate origin and cannot be explained in terms of Indo-European morphology. Contradictory legends state that either Perdiccas I of Macedon or Caranus of Macedon were the founders of the Argead dynasty, the kingdom of Macedonia was situated along the Haliacmon and Axius rivers in Lower Macedonia, north of Mount Olympus. Historian Malcolm Errington posits the theory one of the earliest Argead kings must have established Aigai as their capital in the mid-7th century BC. Prior to the 4th century BC, the kingdom covered a region corresponding to the western. Achaemenid Persian hegemony over Macedonia was briefly interrupted by the Ionian Revolt, although Macedonia enjoyed a large degree of autonomy and was never made a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire, it was expected to provide troops for the Achaemenid army. Following the Greek victory at Salamis in 480 BC, Alexander I was employed as an Achaemenid diplomat to strike a treaty and alliance with Athens. Soon afterwards the Achaemenid forces were forced to withdraw from mainland Europe, although initially a Persian vassal, Alexander I of Macedon fostered friendly diplomatic relations with his former Greek enemies, the Athenian and Spartan-led coalition of Greek city-states. Two separate wars were fought against Athens between 433 and 431 BC, spurred by an Athenian alliance with a brother and cousin of Perdiccas II who had rebelled against him
Macedon
–
The entrance to one of the royal tombs at Vergina, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Macedon
–
Vergina Sun
Macedon
–
Philip II, king of Macedon
Macedon
–
The expansion of ancient Macedon up to the death of Philip II (r. 359–336 BC).
10.
Antigonid dynasty
–
The Antigonid dynasty was a dynasty of Hellenistic kings descended from Alexander the Greats general Antigonus I Monophthalmus. Succeeding the Antipatrid dynasty in much of Macedonia, Antigonus ruled mostly over Asia Minor and his attempts to take control of the whole of Alexanders empire led to his defeat and death at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC. After a period of confusion, Demetriuss son Antigonus II Gonatas was able to establish the control over the old Kingdom of Macedon, as well as over most of the Greek city-states. It was one of four established by Alexanders successors, the others being the Seleucid dynasty, Ptolemaic dynasty. The ruling members of the Antigonid dynasty were, The Greek rebel against Rome and last King of Macedonia, Andriscus, claimed to be the son of Perseus
Antigonid dynasty
–
Coin of
Antigonus I Monophthalmus ("the One-eyed") (382 BC - 301 BC).
Antigonid dynasty
–
Coin of
Demetrius I of Macedon ("The Besieger"), (337 BC – 283 BC), son of Antigonus I Monophthalmus
Antigonid dynasty
–
Coin of
Antigonus II Gonatas
11.
Syria
–
Syrias capital and largest city is Damascus. Religious groups include Sunnis, Christians, Alawites, Druze, Mandeans, Shiites, Salafis, Sunni Arabs make up the largest religious group in Syria. Its capital Damascus and largest city Aleppo are among the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, in the Islamic era, Damascus was the seat of the Umayyad Caliphate and a provincial capital of the Mamluk Sultanate in Egypt. The post-independence period was tumultuous, and a number of military coups. In 1958, Syria entered a union with Egypt called the United Arab Republic. Syria was under Emergency Law from 1963 to 2011, effectively suspending most constitutional protections for citizens, Bashar al-Assad has been president since 2000 and was preceded by his father Hafez al-Assad, who was in office from 1970 to 2000. Mainstream modern academic opinion strongly favours the argument that the Greek word is related to the cognate Ἀσσυρία, Assyria, in the past, others believed that it was derived from Siryon, the name that the Sidonians gave to Mount Hermon. However, the discovery of the inscription in 2000 seems to support the theory that the term Syria derives from Assyria. The area designated by the word has changed over time, since approximately 10,000 BC, Syria was one of centers of Neolithic culture where agriculture and cattle breeding appeared for the first time in the world. The following Neolithic period is represented by houses of Mureybet culture. At the time of the pre-pottery Neolithic, people used vessels made of stone, gyps, finds of obsidian tools from Anatolia are evidences of early trade relations. Cities of Hamoukar and Emar played an important role during the late Neolithic, archaeologists have demonstrated that civilization in Syria was one of the most ancient on earth, perhaps preceded by only those of Mesopotamia. The earliest recorded indigenous civilisation in the region was the Kingdom of Ebla near present-day Idlib, gifts from Pharaohs, found during excavations, confirm Eblas contact with Egypt. One of the earliest written texts from Syria is an agreement between Vizier Ibrium of Ebla and an ambiguous kingdom called Abarsal c.2300 BC. The Northwest Semitic language of the Amorites is the earliest attested of the Canaanite languages, Mari reemerged during this period, and saw renewed prosperity until conquered by Hammurabi of Babylon. Ugarit also arose during this time, circa 1800 BC, close to modern Latakia, Ugaritic was a Semitic language loosely related to the Canaanite languages, and developed the Ugaritic alphabet. The Ugarites kingdom survived until its destruction at the hands of the marauding Indo-European Sea Peoples in the 12th century BC, Yamhad was described in the tablets of Mari as the mightiest state in the near east and as having more vassals than Hammurabi of Babylon. Yamhad imposed its authority over Alalakh, Qatna, the Hurrians states, the army of Yamhad campaigned as far away as Dēr on the border of Elam
Syria
–
Female figurine, 5000 BC.
Ancient Orient Museum.
Syria
–
Flag
Syria
–
God head, the kingdom of
Yamhad (c. 1600 BC)
Syria
–
Ebla royal palace c. 2400 BC
12.
Ptolemy I Soter
–
Ptolemy I Soter I, also known as Ptolemy Lagides, was a Macedonian Greek general under Alexander the Great, one of the three Diadochi who succeeded to his empire. Ptolemy became ruler of Egypt and founded a dynasty which ruled it for the three centuries, turning Egypt into a Hellenistic kingdom and Alexandria into a center of Greek culture. He assimilated some aspects of Egyptian culture, however, assuming the title pharaoh in 305/4 BC. The use of the title of pharaoh was often situational, pharaoh was used for an Egyptian audience, like all Macedonian nobles, Ptolemy I Soter claimed descent from Heracles, the mythical founder of the Argead dynasty that ruled Macedon. Ptolemy was one of Alexanders most trusted generals, and was among the seven somatophylakes attached to his person and he was a few years older than Alexander and had been his intimate friend since childhood. He was succeeded by his son Ptolemy II Philadelphus, Ptolemy served with Alexander from his first campaigns, and played a principal part in the later campaigns in Afghanistan and India. Ptolemy had his first independent command during the campaign against the rebel Bessus whom Ptolemy captured and handed over to Alexander for execution. During Alexanders campaign in the Indian subcontinent Ptolemy was in command of the guard at the siege of Aornos. When Alexander died in 323 BC, Ptolemy is said to have instigated the resettlement of the made at Babylon. Ptolemy quickly moved, without authorization, to subjugate Cyrenaica, by custom, kings in Macedonia asserted their right to the throne by burying their predecessor. Ptolemy then openly joined the coalition against Perdiccas, Perdiccas appears to have suspected Ptolemy of aiming for the throne himself, and may have decided that Ptolemy was his most dangerous rival. Ptolemy executed Cleomenes for spying on behalf of Perdiccas — this removed the check on his authority. In 321 BC, Perdiccas attempted to invade Egypt only to fall at the hands of his own men, Ptolemys decision to defend the Nile against Perdiccass attempt to force it ended in fiasco for Perdiccas, with the loss of 2000 men. This failure was a blow to Perdiccas reputation, and he was murdered in his tent by two of his subordinates. Ptolemy immediately crossed the Nile, to provide supplies to what had the day before been an enemy army, Ptolemy was offered the regency in place of Perdiccas, but he declined. Ptolemy was consistent in his policy of securing a power base and his first occupation of Syria was in 318, and he established at the same time a protectorate over the petty kings of Cyprus. When Antigonus One-Eye, master of Asia in 315, showed dangerous ambitions, Ptolemy joined the coalition against him, in Cyprus, he fought the partisans of Antigonus, and re-conquered the island. A revolt in Cyrene was crushed the same year, in 312, Ptolemy and Seleucus, the fugitive satrap of Babylonia, both invaded Syria, and defeated Demetrius Poliorcetes, the son of Antigonus, in the Battle of Gaza
Ptolemy I Soter
–
Bust of Ptolemy I in the
Louvre Museum
Ptolemy I Soter
–
Ptolemy as Pharaoh of Egypt, British Museum,
London.
Ptolemy I Soter
–
The taking of Jerusalem by Ptolemy Soter ca. 320 BC, by
Jean Fouquet.
Ptolemy I Soter
–
A rare coin of Ptolemy I, a reminder of his successful campaigns with Alexander in India. Obv: Ptolemy in profile at the beginning of his reign. Rev: Alexander triumphantly riding a chariot drawn by elephants.
13.
Myus
–
Myus, sometimes Myous or Myos, was an ancient Greek city in Caria. It was one of major settlements of the Ionian League. The city was said to have founded by Cyaretus, a son of Codrus. Myus was located on a peninsula at the coast of the Aegean Sea. The site of the city north of the modern village Avşar in the Söke district of Aydın Province. Myus had both a temple of Athena and a temple of Herodotus and sources tell us that it was secondary to Miletos. Instigated by Aristagoras of Miletus, the Ionian Revolt broke out here and it was the beginning of the Greco-Persian Wars
Myus
–
Bafa Lake near Myus
Myus
–
Ancient Greek votive offering to
Apollo with dedicatory inscription in
boustrophedon text, Myus, mid 6th century BC,
Altes Museum, Berlin.
14.
Seleucus I Nicator
–
Seleucus I Nicator /səˈljuːkəs naɪˈkeɪtər/ was one of the Diadochi. However, after the outbreak of the Wars of the Diadochi in 322, Perdiccas was betrayed and assassinated in a conspiracy by Seleucus, Peithon and Antigenes in Pelusium sometime in either 321 or 320 BC. At the Partition of Triparadisus in 321 BC, Seleucus was appointed Satrap of Babylon under the new regent Antipater, but almost immediately, the wars between the Diadochi resumed and Antigonus forced Seleucus to flee Babylon. Seleucus was only able to return to Babylon in 312 BC with the support of Ptolemy, from 312 BC, Seleucus ruthlessly expanded his dominions and eventually conquered the Persian and Median lands. Seleucus ruled not only Babylonia, but the entire eastern part of Alexanders empire. Seleucus victories against Antigonus and Lysimachus left the Seleucid dynasty virtually unopposed in Asia, however, Seleucus also hoped to take control of Lysimachus European territories, primarily Thrace and Macedon itself. But upon arriving in Thrace in 281 BC, Seleucus was assassinated by Ptolemy Ceraunus, the assassination of Seleucus destroyed Seleucid prospects in Thrace and Macedon, and paved the way for Ptolemy Ceraunus to absorb much of Lysimachus former power in Macedon. Seleucus was succeeded by his son Antiochus I as ruler of the Seleucid empire, Seleucus was the son of Antiochus. It is possible that Antiochus was a member of an upper Macedonian noble family, Seleucus mother was supposedly called Laodice, but nothing else is known of her. Later, Seleucus named a number of cities after his parents, Seleucus was born in Europos, located in the northern part of Macedonia. Just a year before his birth, the Paeonians invaded the region, Philip defeated the invaders and only a few years later utterly subdued them under Macedonian rule. Seleucus year of birth is unclear, justin claims he was 77 years old during the battle of Corupedium, which would place his year of birth at 358 BC. Appianus tells us Seleucus was 73 years old during the battle, eusebius of Caesarea, however, mentions the age of 75, and thus the year 356 BC, making Seleucus the same age as Alexander the Great. This is most likely propaganda on Seleucus part to him seem comparable to Alexander. As a teenager, Seleucus was chosen to serve as the kings page and it was customary for all male offspring of noble families to first serve in this position and later as officers in the kings army. A number of legends, similar to those told of Alexander the Great, were told of Seleucus and it was said Antiochus told his son before he left to battle the Persians with Alexander that his real father was actually the god Apollo. The god had left a ring with a picture of an anchor as a gift to Laodice, Seleucus had a birthmark shaped like an anchor. It was told that Seleucus sons and grandsons also had similar birthmarks, the story is similar to the one told about Alexander
Seleucus I Nicator
–
A Roman copy of a Greek statue of Seleucus I found in
Herculaneum. Now located at the
Naples National Archaeological Museum.
Seleucus I Nicator
–
Seleucus led the Royal Hypaspistai during Alexander's Persian campaign.
Seleucus I Nicator
–
Ptolemy, an officer under Alexander the Great, was nominated as the satrap of Egypt. Ptolemy made Egypt independent and proclaimed himself King and
Pharaoh.
Seleucus I Nicator
–
Damaged Roman copy of a bust of Seleucus I,
Louvre
15.
Babylon
–
Babylon was a major city of ancient Mesopotamia in the fertile plain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The city was built upon the Euphrates and divided in parts along its left and right banks. Babylon was originally a small Semitic Akkadian city dating from the period of the Akkadian Empire c.2300 BC, the town attained independence as part of a small city-state with the rise of the First Amorite Babylonian Dynasty in 1894 BC. Babylon grew and South Mesopotamia came to be known as Babylonia, the empire quickly dissolved after Hammurabis death and Babylon spent long periods under Assyrian, Kassite and Elamite domination. After being destroyed and then rebuilt by the Assyrians, Babylon became the capital of the Neo-Babylonian Empire from 609 to 539 BC, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. After the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, the city came under the rule of the Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian, Roman, and Sassanid empires. It has been estimated that Babylon was the largest city in the world from c.1770 to 1670 BC and it was perhaps the first city to reach a population above 200,000. Estimates for the extent of its area range from 890 to 900 hectares. The remains of the city are in present-day Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometres south of Baghdad, comprising a large tell of broken mud-brick buildings, the English Babylon comes from Greek Babylṓn, a transliteration of the Akkadian Babili. The Babylonian name in the early 2nd millennium BC had been Babilli or Babilla, by the 1st millennium BC, it had changed to Babili under the influence of the folk etymology which traced it to bāb-ili. The Gate of God or Gate of El being from the Aramaic Hebrew Bab for Gate and El for God and this being similar to the Hebrew word for confusion Balal. In the Bible, the name appears as Babel, interpreted in the Hebrew Scriptures Book of Genesis to mean confusion, the modern English verb, to babble, or to speak meaningless words, is popularly thought to derive from this name, but there is no direct connection. The remains of the city are in present-day Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad, comprising a large tell of broken mud-brick buildings and debris. The site at Babylon consists of a number of mounds covering an area of about 2 by 1 kilometer, oriented north to south, along the Euphrates to the west. Originally, the river roughly bisected the city, but the course of the river has since shifted so that most of the remains of the western part of the city are now inundated. Some portions of the city wall to the west of the river also remain, remains of the city include, Kasr—also called Palace or Castle, it is the location of the Neo-Babylonian ziggurat Etemenanki and lies in the center of the site. Amran Ibn Ali—the highest of the mounds at 25 meters, to the south and it is the site of Esagila, a temple of Marduk which also contained shrines to Ea and Nabu. Homera—a reddish colored mound on the west side, most of the Hellenistic remains are here
Babylon
–
A partial view of the ruins of Babylon from
Saddam Hussein 's Summer Palace
Babylon
–
Plan of Ruins of Babylon, 1905
Babylon
–
Babylon in 1932
Babylon
–
The
Queen of the Night relief. The figure could be an aspect of the goddess
Ishtar, Babylonian goddess of sex and love.
16.
Cilicia
–
In antiquity, Cilicia was the south coastal region of Asia Minor and existed as a political entity from Hittite times into the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia during the late Byzantine Empire. Extending inland from the southeastern coast of modern Turkey, Cilicia is due north and northeast of the island of Cyprus, Cilicia extended along the Mediterranean coast east from Pamphylia, to the Nur Mountains, which separated it from Syria. North and east of Cilicia lie the rugged Taurus Mountains that separate it from the central plateau of Anatolia. Ancient Cilicia was naturally divided into Cilicia Trachaea and Cilicia Pedias by the Limonlu River, salamis, the city on the east coast of Cyprus, was included in its administrative jurisdiction. Homer mentions the people of Mopsus, identified as Cilices, as from the Troad in the northernwesternmost part of Anatolia, the English spelling Cilicia is the same as the Latin, as it was transliterated directly from the Greek form Κιλικία. The palatalization of c occurring in the west in later Vulgar Latin accounts for its pronunciation in English. The district is watered by the Calycadnus and was covered in ancient times by forests that supplied timber to Phoenicia, many of its high places were fortified. The plain is watered by the three rivers, the Cydnus, the Sarus and the Pyramus, each of which brings down much silt from the deforested interior. The Sarus now enters the sea almost due south of Tarsus, but there are indications that at one period it joined the Pyramus. Through the rich plain of Issus ran the great highway that linked east and west, on which stood the cities of Tarsus on the Cydnus, Adana on the Sarus, Cilicia was settled from the Neolithic period onwards. Dating of the ancient settlements of the region from Neolithic to Bronze Age is as follows, Aceramic/Neolithic, 8th and 7th millennia BC, Early Chalcolithic,5800 BC, Middle Chalcolithic, c. 3400 BC, and Early Bronze Age IA, 3400–3000 BC, EBA IB, 3000–2700 BC, EBA II, 2700–2400 BC, EBA III A-B, the area had been known as Kizzuwatna in the earlier Hittite era. The region was divided into two parts, Uru Adaniya, a plain, and rough Cilicia, in the mountainous west. The Cilicians appear as Hilikku in Assyrian inscriptions, and in the part of the first millennium BC were one of the four chief powers of Western Asia. Homer mentions the plain as the Aleian plain in which Bellerophon wandered, the Cilician cities unknown to Homer already bore their pre-Greek names, Tarzu, Ingira, Danuna-Adana, which retains its ancient name, Pahri, Kundu and Karatepe. After the death of Murshili around 1595 BC, Hurrians wrested control from the Hitties, the first king of free Cilicia, Išputahšu, son of Pariyawatri, was recorded as a great king in both cuneiform and Hittite hieroglyphs. Another record of Hittite origins, a treaty between Išputahšu and Telipinu, king of the Hittites, is recorded in both Hittite and Akkadian. Niqmepa, who succeeded Idrimi as king of Alalakh, went so far as to ask for help from a Hurrian rival, Shaushtatar of Mitanni, to try and reduce Cilicias power in the region
Cilicia
–
Fugitive slave treaty between Idrimi of
Alalakh (now
Tell Atchana) and Pillia of
Kizzuwatna (now Cilicia), (c. 1480 BC) Ref: 131447.
Cilicia
–
Cilicia
Cilicia
–
The Persian
Pharnabazus, pictured, as Satrap of Cilicia (379-374 BC).
British Museum.
Cilicia
–
A Roman-period triumphal arch at
Anazarbus, later converted into the city's south gate
17.
Cyprus
–
Cyprus, officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean and the third largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean. It is located south of Turkey, west of Syria and Lebanon, northwest of Israel and Palestine, north of Egypt, the earliest known human activity on the island dates to around the 10th millennium BC. Archaeological remains from this include the well-preserved Neolithic village of Khirokitia. Cyprus was settled by Mycenaean Greeks in two waves in the 2nd millennium BC, Cyprus was placed under British administration based on Cyprus Convention in 1878 and formally annexed by Britain in 1914. While Turkish Cypriots made up 18% of the population, the partition of Cyprus and creation of a Turkish state in the north became a policy of Turkish Cypriot leaders, following nationalist violence in the 1950s, Cyprus was granted independence in 1960. On 15 July 1974, a coup détat was staged by Greek Cypriot nationalists and elements of the Greek military junta in an attempt at enosis and these events and the resulting political situation are matters of a continuing dispute. The Cyprus Republic has de jure sovereignty over the island of Cyprus, as well as its territorial sea and exclusive economic area, another nearly 4% of the islands area is covered by the UN buffer zone. The international community considers the part of the island as territory of the Republic of Cyprus occupied by Turkish forces. The occupation is viewed as illegal under law, amounting to illegal occupation of EU territory since Cyprus became a member of the European Union. Cyprus is a major tourist destination in the Mediterranean, on 1 January 2008, the Republic of Cyprus joined the eurozone. The earliest attested reference to Cyprus is the 15th century BC Mycenaean Greek
Cyprus
–
A copper mine on Cyprus. In antiquity, Cyprus was a major source of copper.
Cyprus
–
Flag
Cyprus
–
Archeologic site of Choirokoitia with early remains of human habitation during Aceramic Neolithic period (reconstruction)
Cyprus
–
Sanctuary of Apollo Hylates,
Kourion
18.
Athens
–
Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. In modern times, Athens is a cosmopolitan metropolis and central to economic, financial, industrial, maritime. In 2015, Athens was ranked the worlds 29th richest city by purchasing power, Athens is recognised as a global city because of its location and its importance in shipping, finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, culture, education and tourism. It is one of the biggest economic centres in southeastern Europe, with a financial sector. The municipality of Athens had a population of 664,046 within its limits. The urban area of Athens extends beyond its administrative city limits. According to Eurostat in 2011, the Functional urban areas of Athens was the 9th most populous FUA in the European Union, Athens is also the southernmost capital on the European mainland. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a number of Ottoman monuments. Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery, Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics. In Ancient Greek, the name of the city was Ἀθῆναι a plural, in earlier Greek, such as Homeric Greek, the name had been current in the singular form though, as Ἀθήνη. It was possibly rendered in the later on, like those of Θῆβαι and Μυκῆναι. During the medieval period the name of the city was rendered once again in the singular as Ἀθήνα, an etiological myth explaining how Athens has acquired its name was well known among ancient Athenians and even became the theme of the sculpture on the West pediment of the Parthenon. The goddess of wisdom, Athena, and the god of the seas, Poseidon had many disagreements, in an attempt to compel the people, Poseidon created a salt water spring by striking the ground with his trident, symbolizing naval power. However, when Athena created the tree, symbolizing peace and prosperity. Different etymologies, now rejected, were proposed during the 19th century. Christian Lobeck proposed as the root of the name the word ἄθος or ἄνθος meaning flower, ludwig von Döderlein proposed the stem of the verb θάω, stem θη- to denote Athens as having fertile soil. In classical literature, the city was referred to as the City of the Violet Crown, first documented in Pindars ἰοστέφανοι Ἀθᾶναι. In medieval texts, variant names include Setines, Satine, and Astines, today the caption η πρωτεύουσα, the capital, has become somewhat common
Athens
–
From upper left: the
Acropolis, the
Hellenic Parliament, the
Zappeion, the
Acropolis Museum,
Monastiraki Square, Athens view towards the sea
Athens
–
Athena, patron goddess of Athens;
National Archaeological Museum
Athens
–
Acropolis of Athens, with
Odeon of Herodes Atticus seen on bottom left
19.
Cassander
–
Cassander, was king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon from 305 BC until 297 BC, and de facto ruler of much of Greece from 317 BC until his death. Eldest son of Antipater and a contemporary of Alexander the Great, in his youth, Cassander was taught by the philosopher Aristotle at the Lyceum in Macedonia. He was educated alongside Alexander the Great in a group that included Hephaestion, Ptolemy and his family were distant collateral relatives to the Argead dynasty. Whatever the truth of this suggestion, Cassander stood out amongst the Diadochi in his hostility to Alexanders memory, cassanders decision to restore Thebes, which had been destroyed under Alexander, was perceived at the time to be a snub to the deceased King. It was later said that he could not pass a statue of Alexander without feeling faint. Cassander has been perceived to be ambitious and unscrupulous, and even members of his own family were estranged from him, Cassander rejected his father’s decision, and immediately went to seek the support of Antigonus, Ptolemy and Lysimachus as his allies. Waging war on Polyperchon, Cassander destroyed his fleet, put Athens under the control of Demetrius of Phaleron, after Olympias’ successful move against Philip III later in the year, Cassander besieged her in Pydna. When the city two years later, Olympias was killed, and Cassander had Alexander IV and Roxanne confined at Amphipolis. Cassander associated himself with the Argead dynasty by marrying Alexander’s half-sister, Thessalonica, by 309 BC, Polyperchon began to claim that Heracles was the true heir to the Macedonian inheritance, at which point Cassander bribed him to have the boy killed. After this, Cassander’s position in Greece and Macedonia was reasonably secure, and he proclaimed himself king in 305 BC. After the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC, in which Antigonus was killed, he was undisputed in his control of Macedonia, however, he had time to savour the fact. When Alexander was ousted as joint king by his brother, Demetrius I took up Alexanders appeal for aid and ousted Antipater II, killed Alexander V, the remaining Antipatrids, such as Antipater Etesias, were unable to re-establish the Antipatrids on the throne. Of more lasting significance was Cassander’s refoundation of Therma into Thessalonica, Cassander also founded Cassandreia upon the ruins of Potidaea. In the Oliver Stone film Alexander, he is portrayed by Jonathan Rhys Meyers, diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca chapters xviii, xix, xx Green, Peter, Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age, Weidenfeld & Nicolson,2007. ISBN9780297852940 Plutarch, Parallel Lives, Demetrius,18,31, Phocion,31 Franca Landucci Gattinoni, vita e opere di Cassandro di Macedonia. ISBN 3-515-08381-2 A genealogical tree of Cassander
Cassander
–
stater of Cassander. The reverse depicts a lion and an inscription in Ancient Greek reading "ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΚΑΣΣΑΝΔΡΟΥ", King Cassander.
20.
Demetrius of Phalerum
–
Demetrius of Phalerum was an Athenian orator originally from Phalerum, a student of Theophrastus, and perhaps of Aristotle, himself, and one of the first Peripatetics. He was exiled by his enemies in 307 BC, and he went first to Thebes and he wrote extensively on the subjects of history, rhetoric, and literary criticism. Demetrius was born in Phalerum, c.350 BC and he was the son of Phanostratus, a man without rank or property. He was educated, together with the poet Menander, in the school of Theophrastus and he began his public career about 325 BC, at the time of the disputes concerning Harpalus, and soon acquired a great reputation by the talent he displayed in public speaking. He belonged to the party of Phocion, and he acted in the spirit of that statesman. When Xenocrates was unable to pay the new tax on metics c.322 BC, after the death of Phocion in 317 BC, Cassander placed Demetrius at the head of the administration of Athens. He filled this office for ten years, instituting extensive legal reforms, the Athenians conferred upon him the most extraordinary distinctions, and no fewer than 360 statues were erected to him. According to Stephen V. Tracy, the story about the statues was not historical and he remained in power until 307 BC when Cassanders enemy, Demetrius Poliorcetes captured Athens, and Demetrius was obliged to take to flight. Carystius of Pergamum mentions that he had a lover by the name of Diognis, after his exile, his enemies contrived to induce the people of Athens to pass the death sentence upon him, in consequence of which his friend Menander nearly fell a victim. All his statues, with the exception of one, were demolished, during his stay at Alexandria, he devoted himself mainly to literary pursuits, ever cherishing the recollection of his own country. On the accession of Ptolemy Philadelphus, Demetrius fell into disfavour, and was sent into exile to Upper Egypt and his death appears to have taken place soon after the year 283 BC. Demetrius was the last among the Attic orators worthy of the name and his orations were characterised as being soft, graceful, and elegant, rather than sublime like those of Demosthenes. These works, which were historical, partly political, partly philosophical. The work On Style which has come down under his name, is the work of a later writer, the performance of tragedy had fallen into disuse in Athens, on account of the great expense involved. In order to afford the people less costly and yet intellectual amusement, he caused the Homeric, according to Strabo, Demetrius inspired the creation of the Mouseion, the location of the Library of Alexandria, which was modeled after the arrangement of Aristotles school. The Mouseion contained a peripatos, a syssition and an organization of scrolls. Other sources claim it was created under the reign of his son Ptolemy II. Diogenes Laërtius devotes a section of his The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers to Demetrius Phalereus, what the exact source was for Hegels claim is unclear
Demetrius of Phalerum
–
Statue of Demetrius at the entrance of the
Bibliotheca Alexandrina
21.
Munychia
–
Munichia or Munychia is the ancient Greek name for a steep hill in Piraeus, Greece, known today as Kastella. This is a neighborhood in central Piraeus. On the top of the hill is a Greek Orthodox church named after the Prophet Elijah, the narrow streets around the church are surrounded by picturesque houses. The Veakeio Theater, known for its summer performances is located here, in 403 BCE, Athenian democrats defeated forces of the Thirty Tyrants at the Battle of Munychia. In Antiquity there was also a festival to Artemis. Media related to Munichia at Wikimedia Commons
Munychia
–
View of Kastella.
Munychia
–
Mikrolimano
22.
Tutelary deity
–
A tutelary is a deity or spirit who is a guardian, patron or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture or occupation. One type of deity is the genius, the personal deity or daimon of an individual from birth to death. Another form of personal tutelary spirit is the spirit of European folklore. Socrates spoke of hearing the voice of his spirit or daimonion. This sign I have had ever since I was a child, the Greeks also thought deities guarded specific places, for instance, Athena was the patron goddess of the city of Athens. Tutelary deities who guard and preserve a place or a person are fundamental to ancient Roman religion, the tutelary deity of a man was his Genius, or that of a woman her Juno. In the Imperial era, the Genius of the Emperor was a focus of Imperial cult, an emperor might also adopt a major deity as his personal patron or tutelary, as Augustus did Apollo. Each town or city had one or more deities, whose protection was considered particularly vital in time of war. Rome itself was protected by a goddess whose name was to be kept secret on pain of death. The Capitoline Triad of Juno, Jupiter, and Minerva were also tutelaries of Rome, the Italic towns had their own tutelary deities. Juno often had this function, as at the Latin town of Lanuvium and the Etruscan city of Veii, the tutelary deity of Praeneste was Fortuna, whose oracle was renowned. The depiction of some such as the Magna Mater as tower-crowned represents their capacity to preserve the city. Tutelary deities were also attached to sites of a smaller scale, such as storerooms, crossroads. The poet Martial lists the tutelary deities who watch over various aspects of his farm, the Lares Compitales were the tutelary gods of a neighborhood, each of which had a compitum devoted to these. During the Republic, the cult of local or neighborhood tutelaries sometimes became rallying points for political and social unrest, chinese folk religion, both past and present, includes a myriad of tutelary deities. Exceptional individuals may become deified after death, guan Yu is a well-known tutelary. In Korean shamanism, jangseung and sotdae were placed at the edge of villages to frighten off demons and they were also worshiped as deities. In Shinto, the spirits, or kami, which life to human bodies come from nature
Tutelary deity
–
The
mural crown of
Cybele represents the walls of the city she protects
Tutelary deity
–
Lararium depicting tutelary deities of the house: the ancestral Genius (center) flanked by two Lares, with a guardian serpent below
Tutelary deity
–
Ready-made
spirit houses for the Chao Thi in
Thailand
23.
Ptolemaic Egypt
–
The Ptolemaic Kingdom was a Hellenistic kingdom based in Egypt. Alexandria became the city and a major center of Greek culture. To gain recognition by the native Egyptian populace, they named themselves the successors to the Pharaohs, the later Ptolemies took on Egyptian traditions by marrying their siblings, had themselves portrayed on public monuments in Egyptian style and dress, and participated in Egyptian religious life. The Ptolemies had to fight native rebellions and were involved in foreign and civil wars led to the decline of the kingdom. Hellenistic culture continued to thrive in Egypt throughout the Roman and Byzantine periods until the Muslim conquest. The era of Ptolemaic reign in Egypt is one of the most well documented periods of the Hellenistic Era. In 332 BC, Alexander the Great, King of Macedon invaded the Achaemenid satrapy of Egypt and he visited Memphis, and traveled to the oracle of Amun at the Oasis of Siwa. The oracle declared him to be the son of Amun, the wealth of Egypt could now be harnessed for Alexanders conquest of the rest of the Persian Empire. Early in 331 BC he was ready to depart, and led his forces away to Phoenicia and he left Cleomenes as the ruling nomarch to control Egypt in his absence. Following Alexanders death in Babylon in 323 BC, a crisis erupted among his generals. Perdiccas appointed Ptolemy, one of Alexanders closest companions, to be satrap of Egypt, Ptolemy ruled Egypt from 323 BC, nominally in the name of the joint kings Philip III and Alexander IV. However, as Alexander the Greats empire disintegrated, Ptolemy soon established himself as ruler in his own right, Ptolemy successfully defended Egypt against an invasion by Perdiccas in 321 BC, and consolidated his position in Egypt and the surrounding areas during the Wars of the Diadochi. In 305 BC, Ptolemy took the title of King, as Ptolemy I Soter, he founded the Ptolemaic dynasty that was to rule Egypt for nearly 300 years. All the male rulers of the dynasty took the name Ptolemy, while princesses and queens preferred the names Cleopatra, Arsinoe and Berenice. Because the Ptolemaic kings adopted the Egyptian custom of marrying their sisters, many of the kings ruled jointly with their spouses and this custom made Ptolemaic politics confusingly incestuous, and the later Ptolemies were increasingly feeble. The only Ptolemaic Queens to officially rule on their own were Berenice III, Cleopatra V did co-rule, but it was with another female, Berenice IV. Cleopatra VII officially co-ruled with Ptolemy XIII Theos Philopator, Ptolemy XIV, and Ptolemy XV, upper Egypt, farthest from the centre of government, was less immediately affected, even though Ptolemy I established the Greek colony of Ptolemais Hermiou to be its capital. But within a century Greek influence had spread through the country, nevertheless, the Greeks always remained a privileged minority in Ptolemaic Egypt
Ptolemaic Egypt
–
Eagle of Zeus
Ptolemaic Egypt
–
Bust of
Ptolemy I Soter, king of Egypt (305 BC–282 BC) and founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty
Ptolemaic Egypt
–
A bust depicting King
Ptolemy II Philadelphus 309–246 BCE
24.
Rhodes
–
Rhodes is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of land area and also the island groups historical capital. Administratively the island forms a municipality within the Rhodes regional unit. The principal town of the island and seat of the municipality is Rhodes, the city of Rhodes had 50,636 inhabitants in 2011. It is located northeast of Crete, southeast of Athens and just off the Anatolian coast of Turkey, Rhodes nickname is The island of the Knights, named after the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, who once conquered the land. Historically, Rhodes was famous worldwide for the Colossus of Rhodes, the Medieval Old Town of the City of Rhodes has been declared a World Heritage Site. Today, it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe, the island has been known as Ρόδος in Greek throughout its history. In addition, the island has been called Rodi in Italian, Rodos in Turkish, and Rodi or Rodes in Ladino. The island of Rhodes is shaped like a spearhead,79.7 km long and 38 km wide, with an area of approximately 1,400 square kilometres. The city of Rhodes is located at the tip of the island, as well as the site of the ancient. The main air gateway is located 14 km to the southwest of the city in Paradisi, the road network radiates from the city along the east and west coasts. There are mineral-rich spring water used to give medicinal baths and the spa resorts offer various health treatments, Rhodes is situated 363 km east-south-east from the Greek mainland, and 18 km from the southern shore of Turkey. The interior of the island is mountainous, sparsely inhabited and covered with forests of pine, while the shores are rocky, the island has arable strips of land where citrus fruit, wine grapes, vegetables, olives and other crops are grown. The Rhodian population of deer was found to be genetically distinct in 2005. In Petaloudes Valley, large numbers of tiger moths gather during the summer months, mount Attavyros, at 1,216 metres, is the islands highest point of elevation. Earthquakes include the 226 BC earthquake that destroyed the Colossus of Rhodes, one on 3 May 1481 which destroyed much of the city of Rhodes, and one on 26 June 1926. On 15 July 2008, Rhodes was struck by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake causing minor damage to a few old buildings, Rhodes has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate. The island was inhabited in the Neolithic period, although remains of this culture. In the 16th century BC, the Minoans came to Rhodes, later Greek mythology recalled a Rhodian race called the Telchines and associated the island of Rhodes with Danaus, it was sometimes nicknamed Telchinis
Rhodes
–
Palace of the Grand Master in the city of Rhodes
Rhodes
–
Akramitis mountain
Rhodes
–
Ixia beach
25.
Siege engines
–
A siege engine is a device that is designed to break or circumvent city walls and other fortifications in siege warfare. Some have been operated close to the fortifications, while others have used to attack from a distance. From antiquity, siege engines were constructed largely of wood and tended to use mechanical advantage to fling stones, with the development of gunpowder and improved metallurgical techniques, siege engines became artillery. Collectively, siege engines or artillery together with the necessary troops, the earliest engine was the battering ram, developed by the Assyrians, followed by the catapult in ancient Greece. The first Mediterranean people to use advanced siege machinery were the Carthaginians and these engines influenced the ruler of Syracuse, Dionysius I, who developed a catapult in 399 BC. The first two rulers to use of siege engines to a large extent were Philip II of Macedonia. The most utilized engines were simple battering rams, or tortoises, for sea sieges or battles, seesaw-like machines were used. These were giant ladders, hinged and mounted on a base mechanism and they were normally mounted on two or more ships tied together and some sambykē included shields at the top to protect the climbers from arrows. Other hinged engines were used to catch enemy equipment or even opposing soldiers with opposable appendices which are probably ancestors to the Roman corvus, other weapons dropped heavy weights on opposing soldiers. The Romans preferred to assault enemy walls by building earthen ramps or simply scaling the walls, soldiers working at the ramps were protected by shelters called vineae, that were arranged to form a long corridor. Wicker shields were used to protect the front of the corridor during its construction, another Roman siege engine sometimes used resembled the Greek ditch-filling tortoise, called a musculus. The Roman Legions first used siege towers around 200 BC, the first documented occurrence of ancient siege artillery pieces in Europe was the gastraphetes, a kind of large crossbow. These were mounted on wooden frames, greater machines forced the introduction of pulley system for loading the projectiles, which had extended to include stones also. Later torsion systems appeared, based on sinew springs, the onager was the main Roman invention in the field. Much of what we now know of the technology of the time came to us from Books 14 and 15 on Siege Warfare from the Mo Jing. Recorded and preserved on bamboo strips, much of the text is now unfortunately extremely corrupted, medieval designs include a large number of catapults such as the Mangonel, Onager, the ballista, the traction trebuchet, and the counterweight trebuchet. These machines used mechanical energy to fling large projectiles to batter down stone walls, also used were the battering ram and the siege tower, a wooden tower on wheels that allowed attackers to climb up and over castle walls, while protected somewhat from enemy arrows. Another weapon was the petard, a device designed specifically for breaching gates
Siege engines
–
Replica
battering ram at
Château des Baux,
France.
Siege engines
–
A stone-throwing machine set to defend a gate, in the fresco of Guidoriccio da Fogliano by
Simone Martini (14th century).
Siege engines
–
The medieval
Mons Meg with its 20" (50 cm)
cannonballs
Siege engines
–
One of super-heavy
Karl-Gerät siege mortars used by the German army in
World War II
26.
Battering ram
–
A battering ram is a siege engine that originated in ancient times and designed to break open the masonry walls of fortifications or splinter their wooden gates. Later rams encased the log in an arrow-proof, fire-resistant canopy mounted on wheels, inside the canopy, the log was swung from suspensory chains or ropes. Rams proved effective weapons of war because old fashioned wall-building materials such as stone and brick were weak in tension, with repeated blows, the cracks would grow steadily until a hole was created. Eventually, a breach would appear in the fabric of the armed attackers to force their way through the gap. Smaller, hand-held versions of battering rams are used today by law enforcement officers. Frequently, the point would be reinforced with a metal head or cap while vulnerable parts of the shaft were bound with strengthening metal bands. Vitruvius details in his text On Architecture that Ceras the Carthaginian was the first to make a ram with a base with wheels. Within this the ram was hung so that it could be used against the wall and this structure moved so slowly, however, that he called it the testudo. Another type of ram was one that maintained the shape and structure. The frame was covered in hides as normal to defend from fire. The only solid beam present was the ram that was hung from the frame. The frame itself was so light that it could be carried on the shoulders of the men transporting the ram, many battering rams possessed curved or slanted wooden roofs and side-screens covered in protective materials, usually fresh wet hides, presumably skinned from animals eaten by the besiegers. These hide canopies stopped the ram from being set on fire and they also safeguarded the operators of the ram against arrow and spear volleys launched from above. A well-known image of an Assyrian battering ram depicts how sophisticated attacking, the defenders of a town wall are trying to set the ram alight with torches and have also put a chain under it. The attackers are trying to pull on the chain to free the ram, alternatively, the ram could be set ablaze, doused in fire-heated sand, pounded by boulders dropped from battlements or invested by a rapid sally of troops. Some battering rams were not slung from ropes or chains, but were supported by rollers. This allowed the ram to achieve a greater speed before striking its target, such a ram, as used by Alexander the Great, is described by the writer Vitruvius. Alternatives to the battering ram included the drill, the mouse, the pick, the siege hook
Battering ram
–
Medieval battering ram
Battering ram
–
Replica battering ram at
Baba Vida,
Vidin,
Bulgaria
Battering ram
–
An Assyrian battering ram attacking an enemy city.
Battering ram
–
Replica battering ram at
Château des Baux, France.
27.
Siege tower
–
A siege tower or breaching tower is a specialized siege engine, constructed to protect assailants and ladders while approaching the defensive walls of a fortification. Because the towers were wooden and thus flammable, they had to have some non-flammable covering of iron. Taking considerable time to construct, siege towers were mainly built if the defense of the fortification could not be overcome by ladder assault. The siege tower sometimes housed spearmen, pikemen, swordsmen, archers or crossbowmen who shot arrows, because of the size of the tower it would often be the first target of large stone catapults but it had its own projectiles with which to retaliate. Siege towers were used to get troops over an enemy curtain wall, when a siege tower was near a wall, it would drop a gangplank between it and the wall. Troops could then rush onto the walls and into the castle or city, the oldest known siege towers were used by the armies of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in the 9th century BC, under Ashurnasirpal II. Reliefs from his reign, and subsequent reigns, depict siege towers in use with a number of siege works, including ramps. Centuries after they were employed in Assyria, the use of the siege spread throughout the Mediterranean. The biggest siege towers of antiquity, such as the Helepolis of the siege of Rhodes in 305 BC, could be as high as 135 feet, such large engines would require a rack and pinion to be moved effectively. It was manned by 200 soldiers and was divided into nine stories, subsequent siege towers down through the centuries often had similar engines. But this huge tower was defeated by the defenders by flooding the ground in front of the wall, the siege of Rhodes illustrates the important point that the larger siege towers needed level ground. Many castles and hill-top towns and forts were virtually invulnerable to siege tower attack simply due to topography, smaller siege towers might be used on top of siege-mounds, made of earth, rubble and timber mounds in order to overtop a defensive wall. The remains of such a siege-ramp at Masada, for example, has survived almost 2,000 years and can still be seen today. On the other hand, almost all the largest cities were on large rivers, or the coast, furthermore, the tower for such a target might be prefabricated elsewhere and brought dismantled to the target city by water. One of the oldest references to the siege tower in Ancient China was a written dialogue primarily discussing naval warfare. Before labeling the types of warships used, Zixu said, Nowadays in training naval forces we use the tactics of land forces for the best effect. With the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West into independent states, and the Eastern Roman Empire on the defensive, the use of siege towers reached its height during the medieval period. At this siege the attackers also made use of sows - mobile armoured shelters which were used throughout the medieval period, however, the construction of a sloping talus at the base of a castle wall could have reduced the effectiveness of this tactic to an extent
Siege tower
–
Assyrian attack on a town with archers and a wheeled battering ram; Assyrian Relief, North-West Palace of
Nimrud (room B, panel 18); 865–860 BC.
Siege tower
–
19th century
French drawing of a
medieval belfry.
Siege tower
–
The remains of the
Roman siege-ramp at
Masada.
Siege tower
–
Medieval English siege tower.
28.
Helepolis
–
Helepolis is the Greek name for a movable siege tower. The most famous was that invented by Polyidus of Thessaly, and improved by Demetrius I of Macedon and Epimachus of Athens, descriptions of it were written by Diodorus Siculus, Vitruvius, Plutarch, and in the Athenaeus Mechanicus. The Helepolis was essentially a large tapered tower, with each side about 130 feet high and it rested on eight wheels, each 15 feet high and also had casters, to allow lateral movement as well as direct. The three exposed sides were rendered fireproof with iron plates, and stories divided the interior, connected by two flights of stairs, one for ascent and one for descent. The machine weighed 160 tons, and required 3,400 men working in relays to move it,200 turning a large capstan driving the wheels via a belt, and the rest pushing from behind. On each of the top two floors, soldiers could use two light dart throwers to easily clear the walls of defenders. As the Helepolis was pushed towards the city, the Rhodians managed to some of the metal plates. Vitruvius offers a version, in which the Rhodians begged Diognetus, once the town architect of Rhodes. By cover of night he had the Rhodians knock a hole through the wall and channel large amounts of water, mud, Diognetus was successful, the tower was brought forth to the anticipated attack position and became irretrievably stuck in the mire. Once the siege was lifted, the Rhodians sold Demetrius abandoned engines, Demetrius used his machine again in 292 BC against the Thebans in the siege of Thebes and captured the city the next year. Greek and Roman Siege Machinery 399 BC-AD363, ISBN 1-84176-605-4 Dennis, George T. Byzantine Heavy Artillery, The Helepolis. Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies v.39, Helepolis at LacusCurtius Ancient Greek war machines, The Helepolis, a fortified wheeled tower
Helepolis
–
A Helepolis-like Siege Engine showing catapults, stairs and movement capstan.
29.
Tetradrachm
–
The tetradrachm was an Ancient Greek silver coin equivalent to four drachmae. In Athens it replaced the earlier type of didrachms and it was in wide circulation from c.510 to c.38 BC. The transition from didrachms to tetradrachms occurred during c, 525–510 BC, the abandonment of the heraldic-type didrachms and the Archaic tetradrachms of the polis of Athens apparently took place shortly after the Battle of Salamis,480 BC. This transition is supported by the discovery of contemporary coin hoards, the Athenian tetradrachm was widely used in transactions throughout the ancient Greek world, including in cities politically unfriendly to Athens. Athens had silver mines in state ownership, which provided the bullion, most well known were the silver mines of Laurium at a close distance from Athens. According to Philochorus, it was known as glaux throughout the ancient world, the design was kept essentially unchanged for over two centuries, by which time it had become stylistically archaic. To differentiate their currency from the coinage of Aegina using the Aeginetic stater of about 12.3 grams. The tetradrachms use as a currency was adopted by many other city-states of the ancient Greece, Asia Minor, Magna Grecia. With the armies of Alexander the Great it spread to the Greek-influenced areas of present-day Iran, Coin Coin in the fishs mouth Greek drachma List of historical currencies Stater Pictures of Athenian tetradrachms
Tetradrachm
–
An Athenian tetradrachm from after 499 BCE.
Tetradrachm
–
Tetradrachm of
Olympia
Tetradrachm
–
Tetradrachm of
Sparta
Tetradrachm
–
Tetradrachm of
Abdera
30.
Corinthian League
–
The name League of Corinth was invented by modern historians due to the first council of the League being in Corinth. It was the first time in history that most of the Greek states managed to become part of a political entity. The League was governed by the Hegemon, the Synedrion and the Dikastai, decrees of the league were issued in Corinth, Athens, Delphi, Olympia and Pydna. The League maintained an army levied from member states in proportion to their size, while Philip established garrisons in Corinth, Thebes. The decision for the Destruction of Thebes as transgressor of the oath was taken by the council of the League of Corinth by a large majority. The League is mentioned by Arrian, after the Battle of Granicus, alexander sent 300 panoplies to the temple of Pallas Athena in Athens, with the following inscription. During 331 BC after the Battle of Megalopolis, Sparta was forced to join the League of Corinth, during the Asiatic campaign, Antipater was appointed deputy hegemon of the League. The League was dissolved after the Lamian War, during 302 BC King Antigonus of Macedon and his son Demetrius Poliorcetes tried to revive the federation against Cassander. Antigonus III Doson also revived the League against Sparta during 224 BC
Corinthian League
–
Kingdom of Macedon immediately after Philip's II death. The Corinthian League is shown in yellow.
31.
Alexander the Great
–
Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon and a member of the Argead dynasty. He was born in Pella in 356 BC and succeeded his father Philip II to the throne at the age of twenty and he was undefeated in battle and is widely considered one of historys most successful military commanders. During his youth, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle until the age of 16, after Philips assassination in 336 BC, he succeeded his father to the throne and inherited a strong kingdom and an experienced army. Alexander was awarded the generalship of Greece and used this authority to launch his fathers Panhellenic project to lead the Greeks in the conquest of Persia, in 334 BC, he invaded the Achaemenid Empire and began a series of campaigns that lasted ten years. Following the conquest of Anatolia, Alexander broke the power of Persia in a series of battles, most notably the battles of Issus. He subsequently overthrew Persian King Darius III and conquered the Achaemenid Empire in its entirety, at that point, his empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River. He sought to reach the ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea and invaded India in 326 BC and he eventually turned back at the demand of his homesick troops. Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BC, the city that he planned to establish as his capital, without executing a series of planned campaigns that would have begun with an invasion of Arabia. In the years following his death, a series of civil wars tore his empire apart, resulting in the establishment of several states ruled by the Diadochi, Alexanders surviving generals, Alexanders legacy includes the cultural diffusion which his conquests engendered, such as Greco-Buddhism. He founded some twenty cities that bore his name, most notably Alexandria in Egypt, Alexander became legendary as a classical hero in the mold of Achilles, and he features prominently in the history and mythic traditions of both Greek and non-Greek cultures. He became the measure against which military leaders compared themselves, and he is often ranked among the most influential people in human history. He was the son of the king of Macedon, Philip II, and his wife, Olympias. Although Philip had seven or eight wives, Olympias was his wife for some time. Several legends surround Alexanders birth and childhood, sometime after the wedding, Philip is said to have seen himself, in a dream, securing his wifes womb with a seal engraved with a lions image. Plutarch offered a variety of interpretations of dreams, that Olympias was pregnant before her marriage, indicated by the sealing of her womb. On the day Alexander was born, Philip was preparing a siege on the city of Potidea on the peninsula of Chalcidice. That same day, Philip received news that his general Parmenion had defeated the combined Illyrian and Paeonian armies, and it was also said that on this day, the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, burnt down. This led Hegesias of Magnesia to say that it had burnt down because Artemis was away, such legends may have emerged when Alexander was king, and possibly at his own instigation, to show that he was superhuman and destined for greatness from conception
Alexander the Great
–
"Alexander fighting king
Darius III of Persia ",
Alexander Mosaic,
Naples National Archaeological Museum.
Alexander the Great
–
Bust of a young Alexander the Great from the Hellenistic era,
British Museum
Alexander the Great
–
Aristotle tutoring Alexander, by
Jean Leon Gerome Ferris
Alexander the Great
–
Philip II of Macedon, Alexander's father.
32.
Diadochi
–
The Diadochi were the rival generals, families and friends of Alexander the Great who fought for control over his empire after his death in 323 BC. The Wars of the Diadochi mark the beginning of the Hellenistic period, an army on campaign changes its leadership at any level frequently for replacement of casualties and distribution of talent to the current operations. The institution of the Hetairoi gave the Macedonian army a flexible capability in this regard, there were no fixed ranks of Hetairoi, except as the term meant a special unit of cavalry. The Hetairoi were simply a pool of de facto general officers, without any or with changing de jure rank. They were typically from the nobility, many related to Alexander, a parallel flexible structure in the Persian army facilitated combined units. Staff meetings to adjust command structure were nearly a daily event in Alexanders army and they created an ongoing expectation among the Hetairoi of receiving an important and powerful command, if only for a short term. At the moment of Alexanders death, all possibilities were suddenly suspended, the Hetairoi vanished with Alexander, to be replaced instantaneously by the Diadochi, men who knew where they had stood, but not where they would stand now. As there had no definite ranks or positions of Hetairoi. They expected appointments, but without Alexander they would have to make their own, for purposes of this presentation, the Diadochi are grouped by their rank and social standing at the time of Alexanders death. These were their initial positions as Diadochi and they are not necessarily significant or determinative of what happened next. In Hellenistic times the title Diadoch was actually the lowest in a system of official rank titles and it was first used in the 19th century to denote the immediate successors of Alexander. Craterus was an infantry and naval commander under Alexander during his conquest of Persia, after the revolt of his army at Opis on the Tigris River in 324, Alexander ordered Craterus to command the veterans as they returned home to Macedonia. When Craeterus arrived at Cilicia in 323 BC, news reached him of Alexanders death, though his distance from Babylon prevented him from participating in the distribution of power, Craterus hastened to Macedonia to assume the protection of Alexanders family. The news of Alexanders death caused the Greeks to rebel in the Lamian War, Craeterus and Antipater defeated the rebellion in 322 BC. Despite his absence, the gathered at Babylon confirmed Craterus as Guardian of the Royal Family. However, with the family in Babylon, the Regent Perdiccas assumed this responsibility until the royal household could return to Macedonia. Antipater was an adviser to King Philip II, Alexanders father, when Alexander left Macedon to conquer Persia in 334 BC, Antipater was named Regent of Macedon and General of Greece in Alexanders absence. In 323 BC, Craterus was ordered by Alexander to march his veterans back to Macedon, Alexanders death that year, however, prevented the order from being carried out
Diadochi
–
Bust of
Seleucus Nicator ("Victor";
c. 358 – 281 BC), the last of the original Diadochi.
33.
Battle of Ipsus
–
The Battle of Ipsus was fought between some of the Diadochi in 301 BC near the village of that name in Phrygia. Diodorus Siculus is the source for the history of the Diadochi. Diodorus is often derided by modern historians for his style and inaccuracies, unfortunately, from book XXI onwards, including the actual Battle of Ipsus, the Bibliotheca only exists in fragments. Nevertheless, Diodorus provides extensive details of the Fourth War of the Diadochi leading up to Ipsus and it is generally thought that Diodoruss source for much of this period was the now-lost history of the Diadochi written by Hieronymus of Cardia. The only full description of the battle available is in Plutarchs Life of Demetrius, Plutarch was writing some 400 years after the events in question, and is therefore a secondary source, but he often names his sources, which allows some degree of verification of his statements. Plutarch was also interested in moral lessons from history, rather than actually detailing history in depth. In the aftermath of the Second War of the Diadochi, the aging satrap Antigonus Monophthalmus had been left in undisputed control of the Asian territories of the Macedonian empire and this left Antigonus in prime position to claim overall rule over the Macedonian empire. This war ended in a peace in 311 BC, after which Antigonus attacked Seleucus. The resulting Babylonian War lasted from 311-309 BC, and resulted in defeat for Antigonus, allowing Seleucus to re-claim the satrapy of Babylonia, while Antigonus was distracted elsewhere, Ptolemy had been expanding his power into the Aegean Sea and to Cyprus. Antigonus thus resumed the war with Ptolemy in 308 BC, beginning the Fourth War of the Diadochi. Antigonus sent his son Demetrius to regain control of Greece, and in 307 BC he took Athens, expelling Demetrius of Phaleron, Cassanders governor, Demetrius then turned his attention to Ptolemy, invading Cyprus and defeating Ptolemys fleet at the Battle of Salamis-in-Cyprus. In the aftermath of victory, Antigonus and Demetrius both assumed the crown of Macedon, in which they were shortly followed by Ptolemy, Seleucus, Lysimachus. In 306, Antigonus attempted to invade Egypt, but storms prevented Demetriuss fleet from supplying him, the island was reinforced by troops from Ptolemy, Lysimachus, and Cassander. Ultimately, the Rhodians reached a compromise with Demetrius – they would support Antigonus and Demetrius against all enemies, save their ally Ptolemy. Ptolemy took the title of Soter for his role in preventing the fall of Rhodes, Demetrius thus returned to Greece and set about liberating the cities of Greece, expelling Cassanders garrisons, and the pro-Antipatrid oligarchies. This occupied much of Demetriuss efforts in 303 and 302 BC, seeing that Demetriuss war effort was aimed at destroying his power in Greece, and ultimately in Macedonia, Cassander tried to come to terms with Antigonus. However, Antigonus rejected these advances, intent on forcing Cassanders complete surrender, Cassander therefore held counsel with Lysimachus, and they agreed on a joint strategy that included sending envoys to Ptolemy and Seleucus, asking them to join in combatting the Antigonid threat. Seeking to take the initiative, Cassander sent a significant portion of the Macedonian army under Prepelaus to Lysimachus, meanwhile, Cassander took the rest of the Macedonian army into Thessaly to confront Demetrius
Battle of Ipsus
–
Lysimachus, one of the victors of Ipsus
Battle of Ipsus
–
Demetrius, son of Antigonus
Battle of Ipsus
–
Bust of Seleucus, whose elephants decided the battle
34.
Phrygia
–
In antiquity, Phrygia was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Turkey, centered on the Sakarya River. This later Midas was, however, also the last independent king of Phrygia before Cimmerians sacked the Phrygian capital, Gordium, Phrygia then became subject to Lydia, and then successively to Persia, Alexander and his Hellenistic successors, Pergamon, Rome and Byzantium. Phrygians gradually became assimilated into other cultures by the medieval era, after the Turkish conquest of Anatolia. Phrygia describes an area on the end of the high Anatolian plateau. The climate is harsh with hot summers and cold winters, olives will not easily grow here and the land is used for livestock grazing. South of Dorylaeum, there is another important Phrygian settlement, Midas City, situated in an area of hills, to the south again, central Phrygia includes the cities of Afyonkarahisar with its marble quarries at nearby Docimium, and the town of Synnada. At the western end of Phrygia stood the towns of Aizanoi, from here to the southwest lies the hilly area of Phrygia that contrasts to the bare plains of the regions heartland. Southwestern Phrygia is watered by the Maeander and its tributary the Lycus, one of the so-called Homeric Hymns describes the Phrygian language as not mutually intelligible with that of Troy. According to ancient tradition among Greek historians, the Phrygians anciently migrated to Anatolia from the Balkans, Herodotus says that the Phrygians were called Bryges when they lived in Europe. Some classical writers also connected the Phrygians with the Mygdones, the name of two groups of people, one of which lived in northern Macedonia and another in Mysia. The classical historian Strabo groups Phrygians, Mygdones, Mysians, Bebryces, Phrygian continued to be spoken until the 6th century AD, though its distinctive alphabet was lost earlier than those of most Anatolian cultures. The so-called Handmade Knobbed Ware found in Western Anatolia during this period has been identified as an import connected to this invasion. These scholars seek instead to trace the Phrygians origins among the nations of western Anatolia who were subject to the Hittites. Some scholars dismiss the claim of a Phrygian migration as a mere legend, no one has conclusively identified which of the many subjects of the Hittites might have represented early Phrygians. Josephus called Togarmah the Thrugrammeans, who, as the Greeks resolved, were named Phrygians, however, the Greek source cited by Josephus is unknown, and it is unclear if there was any basis for the identification other than name similarity. Scholars of the Hittites believe Tegarama was in eastern Anatolia - some locate it at Gurun - far to the east of Phrygia, some scholars have identified Phrygia with the Assuwa league, and noted that the Iliad mentions a Phrygian named Asios. Another possible early name of Phrygia could be Hapalla, the name of the easternmost province that emerged from the splintering of the Bronze Age western Anatolian empire Arzawa, however, scholars are unsure if Hapalla corresponds to Phrygia or to Pisidia, further south. Herodotus also claims that Phrygian colonists founded the Armenian nation, however, little is known about these eastern Mygdones, and no evidence of Phrygian language in that region has been found
Phrygia
–
Detail from a reconstruction of a Phrygian building at Pararli, Turkey, 7th–6th Centuries BC; Museum of Anatolian Civilizations,
Ankara. A griffin, sphinx and two centaurs are shown.
Phrygia
–
This article is about the Anatolian kingdom. For the lost play by Aeschylus titled Phrygians, see
Achilleis (trilogy). For the character in the Khachaturian ballet, see
Spartacus (ballet)#Synopsis.
Phrygia
–
Tomb at
Midas City (6th century BC), near
Eskişehir
Phrygia
–
Man in Phrygian costume,
Hellenistic period (3rd–1st century BC),
Cyprus
35.
Ephesus
–
Ephesus was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, three kilometres southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of the former Arzawan capital by Attic, during the Classical Greek era it was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League. The city flourished after it came under the control of the Roman Republic in 129 BC, the city was famed for the nearby Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Among many other buildings are the Library of Celsus. Ephesus was one of the seven churches of Asia that are cited in the Book of Revelation, the Gospel of John may have been written here. The city was the site of several 5th century Christian Councils, the city was destroyed by the Goths in 263, and although rebuilt, the citys importance as a commercial centre declined as the harbour was slowly silted up by the Küçükmenderes River. It was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 614 AD, the area surrounding Ephesus was already inhabited during the Neolithic Age, as was revealed by excavations at the nearby höyük of Arvalya and Cukurici. Excavations in recent years have unearthed settlements from the early Bronze Age at Ayasuluk Hill, according to Hittite sources, the capital of the Kingdom of Arzawa was Apasa. Some scholars suggest that this is the later Greek Ephesus, in 1954, a burial ground from the Mycenaean era with ceramic pots was discovered close to the ruins of the basilica of St. John. This was the period of the Mycenaean Expansion when the Achaioi settled in Asia Minor during the 14th and 13th centuries BC, Ephesus was founded as an Attic-Ionian colony in the 10th century BC on the Ayasuluk Hill, three kilometers from the centre of ancient Ephesus. The mythical founder of the city was a prince of Athens named Androklos, according to the legend, he founded Ephesus on the place where the oracle of Delphi became reality. Androklos drove away most of the native Carian and Lelegian inhabitants of the city and he was a successful warrior, and as a king he was able to join the twelve cities of Ionia together into the Ionian League. During his reign the city began to prosper and he died in a battle against the Carians when he came to the aid of Priene, another city of the Ionian League. Androklos and his dog are depicted on the Hadrian temple frieze, later, Greek historians such as Pausanias, Strabo and Herodotos and the poet Kallinos reassigned the citys mythological foundation to Ephos, queen of the Amazons. The Greek goddess Artemis and the great Anatolian goddess Kybele were identified together as Artemis of Ephesus, Pausanias mentions that the temple was built by Ephesus, son of the river god Caystrus, before the arrival of the Ionians. Of this structure, scarcely a trace remains, about 650 BC, Ephesus was attacked by the Cimmerians who razed the city, including the temple of Artemis. After the Cimmerians had been away, the city was ruled by a series of tyrants. Following a revolt by the people, Ephesus was ruled by a council and his signature has been found on the base of one of the columns of the temple
Ephesus
–
The
Library of Celsus in Ephesus
Ephesus
–
Site of the
Temple of Artemis in the town of
Selçuk, near Ephesus.
Ephesus
–
Street scene at the archeological excavations at Ephesus.
Ephesus
–
Electrum coin from Ephesus, 620-600 BC. Obverse: Forepart of stag. Reverse: Square incuse punch.
36.
Plutarch
–
Plutarch was a Greek biographer and essayist, known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia. He is classified as a Middle Platonist, Plutarchs surviving works were written in Greek, but intended for both Greek and Roman readers. Plutarch was born to a prominent family in the town of Chaeronea, about 80 km east of Delphi. The name of Plutarchs father has not been preserved, but based on the common Greek custom of repeating a name in alternate generations, the name of Plutarchs grandfather was Lamprias, as he attested in Moralia and in his Life of Antony. His brothers, Timon and Lamprias, are mentioned in his essays and dialogues. Rualdus, in his 1624 work Life of Plutarchus, recovered the name of Plutarchs wife, Timoxena, from internal evidence afforded by his writings. A letter is still extant, addressed by Plutarch to his wife, bidding her not to grieve too much at the death of their two-year-old daughter, interestingly, he hinted at a belief in reincarnation in that letter of consolation. The exact number of his sons is not certain, although two of them, Autobulus and the second Plutarch, are often mentioned. Plutarchs treatise De animae procreatione in Timaeo is dedicated to them, another person, Soklarus, is spoken of in terms which seem to imply that he was Plutarchs son, but this is nowhere definitely stated. Plutarch studied mathematics and philosophy at the Academy of Athens under Ammonius from 66 to 67, at some point, Plutarch took Roman citizenship. He lived most of his life at Chaeronea, and was initiated into the mysteries of the Greek god Apollo. For many years Plutarch served as one of the two priests at the temple of Apollo at Delphi, the site of the famous Delphic Oracle, twenty miles from his home. By his writings and lectures Plutarch became a celebrity in the Roman Empire, yet he continued to reside where he was born, at his country estate, guests from all over the empire congregated for serious conversation, presided over by Plutarch in his marble chair. Many of these dialogues were recorded and published, and the 78 essays, Plutarch held the office of archon in his native municipality, probably only an annual one which he likely served more than once. He busied himself with all the matters of the town. The Suda, a medieval Greek encyclopedia, states that Emperor Trajan made Plutarch procurator of Illyria, however, most historians consider this unlikely, since Illyria was not a procuratorial province, and Plutarch probably did not speak Illyrian. Plutarch spent the last thirty years of his serving as a priest in Delphi. He thus connected part of his work with the sanctuary of Apollo, the processes of oracle-giving
Plutarch
–
Ruins of the Temple of
Apollo at
Delphi, where Plutarch served as one of the priests responsible for interpreting the predictions of the
oracle.
Plutarch
–
Parallel Lives,
Amyot translation, 1565
Plutarch
–
Plutarch's bust at
Chaeronea, his home town.
Plutarch
–
A page from the 1470 Ulrich Han printing of Plutarch's
Parallel Lives.
37.
Museo del Prado
–
The Prado Museum is the main Spanish national art museum, located in central Madrid. Founded as a museum of paintings and sculpture in 1819, it contains important collections of other types of works. El Prado is one of the most visited sites in the world, and it is considered one of the greatest art museums in the world. The collection currently comprises around 8,200 drawings,7,600 paintings,4,800 prints, and 1,000 sculptures, in addition to a large number of other works of art and historic documents. As of 2012, the museum displayed about 1,300 works in the buildings, while around 3,100 works were on temporary loan to various museums. The museum received 2.8 million visitors in 2012 and it is one of the largest museums in Spain. The best-known work on display at the museum is Las Meninas by Velázquez, Velázquez and his keen eye and sensibility were also responsible for bringing much of the museums fine collection of Italian masters to Spain, now the largest outside of Italy. The museum is planning a 16% extension in the nearby Salón de Reinos and their efforts and determination led to the Royal Collection being enriched by some of the masterpieces now to be seen in the Prado. In addition to works from the Spanish royal collection, other holdings increased and enriched the Museum with further masterpieces, such as the two Majas by Goya. Among the now closed museums whose collections have been added to that of the Prado were the Museo del la Trinidad in 1872, in addition, numerous legacies, donations and purchases have been of crucial importance for the growth of the collection. Upon the deposition of Isabella II in 1868, the museum was nationalized and acquired the new name of Museo del Prado, the building housed the royal collection of arts, and it rapidly proved too small. The first enlargement to the museum took place in 1918, particularly important donations include Barón Emile dErlangers gift of Goyas Black Paintings in 1881. Between 1873 and 1900, the Prado helped decorate city halls, new universities, during the Second Spanish Republic from 1931 to 1936, the focus was on building up provincial museums. The art had to be returned across French territory in night trains to the museum upon the commencement of World War II, during the early years of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, many paintings were sent to embassies. The main building was enlarged with short pavilions in the rear between 1900 and 1960, in 1993, an extension proposed by the Prados director at the time, Felipe Garin, was quickly abandoned after a wave of criticism. In the late 1990s, a $14 million roof work forced the Velázquez masterpiece Las Meninas to change galleries twice, in 1998, the Prado annex in the nearby Casón del Buen Retiro closed for a $10 million two-year overhaul that included three new underground levels. In 2007, the finally executed Rafael Moneos project to expand its exposition room to 16,000 square meters. A glass-roofed and wedge-shaped foyer now contains the shops and cafeteria
Museo del Prado
–
Museo del Prado (Main wing)
Museo del Prado
–
Museo Nacional del Prado
Museo del Prado
–
In the main exhibition hall, first floor
Museo del Prado
–
Francisco de Goya,
La maja desnuda, oil on canvas, (circa 1797–1800)
38.
Hephaestion
–
Hephaestion, son of Amyntor, was a Macedonian nobleman and a general in the army of Alexander the Great. By far the dearest of all the friends, he had been brought up with Alexander. This friendship lasted throughout their lives, and was compared, by others as well as themselves, to that of Achilles and Patroclus. Besides being a soldier, engineer and diplomat he corresponded with the philosophers Aristotle and Xenocrates and actively supported Alexander in his attempts to integrate the Greeks, Alexander formally made him his second-in-command when he appointed him Chiliarch of the empire. Alexander also made him part of the family when he gave him as his bride Drypetis, sister to his own second wife Stateira. When he died suddenly at Ecbatana around age thirty-two, Alexander was overwhelmed with grief and he petitioned the oracle at Siwa to grant Hephaestion divine status and thus Hephaestion was honoured as a Divine Hero. Hephaestion was cremated in Babylon in the presence of the entire army, at the time of his own death a mere eight months later, Alexander was still planning lasting monuments to Hephaestions memory. Hephaestion’s exact age is not known, Many scholars cite Hephaestion’s age as being similar to Alexander’s so it is fair to assume that he was born about 356 BC. He is said to have become a page in 343 BC, as a member of the court, he may have met Alexander around this time. The only surviving anecdote from Hephaestion’s youth comes courtesy of the Alexander Romance. One day when Alexander was 15 years old sailing with Hephaestion, his friend, he easily reached Pisa and he went off to stroll with Hephaestion. ”That Alexander’s exact age is given provides another clue to Hephaestion’s upbringing because at fifteen Alexander and his companions were at Mieza studying under Aristotle. Hephaestion has never been named among those who attended the lectures at Mieza, more telling is Hephaestion’s name being found in a catalogue of Aristotle’s correspondences. The letters themselves no longer exist, but for them to have found their way into an official catalogue and it implies that Hephaestion received a good education and shows that Aristotle was impressed enough by his pupil to send letters throughout Alexanders expanding empire to converse with him. A few years after the lectures at Mieza, Hephaestion’s presence was absent when several of Alexander’s close friends were exiled as a result of the Pixodarus affair. Among those exiled by Philip II after Alexander’s failed attempt to himself as groom to the Carian princess were Ptolemy, Nearchus, Harpalus, Erigyius. The reason for Hephaestion’s absence from this list could be due to the fact all of the exiled men were older friends of Alexander. Hephaestion was a contemporary of Alexander and it is likely that his influence might have seen as less of a threat than these more mature companions. Whatever Hephaestion’s opinion had been on the affair, like many of Alexander’s other childhood companions he was not exiled in its aftermath
Hephaestion
–
Hephaestion marble head, as of September 2015 housed in the
Getty Museum
Hephaestion
–
The Battle of Issus by
Albrecht Altdorfer, 1529
Hephaestion
–
A painting by
Charles Le Brun depicting Alexander and Hephaestion (in red cloak), facing
Porus, during the
Battle of the Hydaspes.
Hephaestion
–
Alexander, left, and Hephaestion, right. The Getty Villa Museum.
39.
Corinth, Greece
–
Corinth is a city and former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality of Corinth, of which it is the seat and it is the capital of Corinthia. It was founded as Nea Korinthos or New Corinth in 1858 after an earthquake destroyed the settlement of Corinth. Corinth derives its name from Ancient Corinth, a city-state of antiquity, in 1858, the old city, now known as Archaia Korinthos, located 3 kilometres SW of the modern city, was totally destroyed by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake. Nea Korinthos or New Corinth was then built a few kilometers away on the coast of the Gulf of Corinth, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake in 1928 devastated the new city, which was then rebuilt on the same site. It was rebuilt again after a fire in 1933. The Municipality of Corinth had a population of 58,192 according to the 2011 census, the second most populous municipality in the Peloponnese Region after Kalamata. The municipal unit of Corinth had 38,132 inhabitants, of which Corinth itself had 30,176 inhabitants, placing it in place behind Kalamata. The municipal unit of Corinth includes apart from Corinth proper the town of Archaia Korinthos, the town of Examilia, the municipal unit has an area of 102.187 km2. Corinth is an industrial hub at a national level. Corinth Refineries are one of the largest oil refining Industrial complex in Europe, copper cables, petroleum products, leather, medical equipment, marble, gypsum, ceramic tiles, salt, mineral water and beverages, meat products, and gums are produced nearby. As of 2005, a period of deindustrialization has commenced as a large complex, a textile factory. Corinth is a road hub. The A7 toll motorway for Tripoli and Kalamata, branches off the A8/European route E94 toll motorway from Athens at Corinth, Corinth is the main entry point to the Peloponnesian peninsula, the southernmost area of continental Greece. KTEL Korinthias provides intercity bus service in the peninsula and to Athens via the Isthmos station southeast of the city center, local bus service is also available. The city has connected to the Proastiakos, the Athens suburban rail network, since 2005. The port of Corinth, located north of the city centre and close to the northwest entrance of the Corinth Canal, at 3756. 0’ N /2256. 0’ E, serves the needs of industry. It is mainly a cargo exporting facility and it is an artificial harbour (depth approximately 9 metres, protected by a concrete mole
Corinth, Greece
–
Corinth Κόρινθος
Corinth, Greece
–
Pegasus Square in New Corinth.
Corinth, Greece
–
Pegasus - the symbol of New Corinth.
Corinth, Greece
–
A street in Corinth
40.
Perseus of Macedon
–
Perseus was the last king of the Antigonid dynasty, who ruled the successor state in Macedon created upon the death of Alexander the Great. He also has the distinction of being the last of the line, after losing the Battle of Pydna on 22 June 168 BC, Perseus was the son of king Philip V of Macedon and a concubine, probably Polycratia of Argos. He therefore feared that the throne pass on his legitimate younger brother Demetrius, not least due to interference from the Romans. Perseus thus staged a plot to make their father believe that his brother was a traitor, in 179 BC Philip V of Macedon died and Perseus took the throne. Although his role in killing Demetrius had not endeared him to the Romans, yet, Perseus other actions troubled the Senate. Soon Rome and Perseus went to war in the Third Macedonian War, blaise Pascal mentions in his Pensées that Perseus was blamed for not committing suicide, supposedly after his defeat at Pydna. The Antigonid kingdom was dissolved, and replaced with four republics, Andriscus of Macedon broke off the Roman rule for about a year, but was defeated in 148 BC by the Romans. In 146 BC, following the quashing of a rebellion led by the last Macedonian king Andriscus, the four republics were dissolved, in 178 BC, he had married Laodice V, the daughter of Seleucus IV from Syria. He became a metalworker, learned the Latin language. History of Macedonia Macedonian Wars Media related to Perseus of Macedon at Wikimedia Commons
Perseus of Macedon
–
Tetradrachm of Perseus of Macedon.
British Museum.
Perseus of Macedon
–
Coin of Perseus of Macedon.
Greek inscription reads " ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΠΕΡΣΕΩΣ " (King Perseus).
41.
Roman Republic
–
It was during this period that Romes control expanded from the citys immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world. During the first two centuries of its existence, the Roman Republic expanded through a combination of conquest and alliance, by the following century, it included North Africa, most of the Iberian Peninsula, and what is now southern France. Two centuries after that, towards the end of the 1st century BC, it included the rest of modern France, Greece, and much of the eastern Mediterranean. By this time, internal tensions led to a series of wars, culminating with the assassination of Julius Caesar. The exact date of transition can be a matter of interpretation, Roman government was headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and advised by a senate composed of appointed magistrates. Over time, the laws that gave exclusive rights to Romes highest offices were repealed or weakened. The leaders of the Republic developed a tradition and morality requiring public service and patronage in peace and war, making military. Many of Romes legal and legislative structures can still be observed throughout Europe and much of the world in modern nation states, the exact causes and motivations for Romes military conflicts and expansions during the republic are subject to wide debate. While they can be seen as motivated by outright aggression and imperialism and they argue that Romes expansion was driven by short-term defensive and inter-state factors, and the new contingencies that these decisions created. In its early history, as Rome successfully defended itself against foreign threats in central and then northern Italy, with some important exceptions, successful wars in early republican Rome generally led not to annexation or military occupation, but to the restoration of the way things were. But the defeated city would be weakened and thus able to resist Romanizing influences. It was also able to defend itself against its non-Roman enemies. It was, therefore, more likely to seek an alliance of protection with Rome and this growing coalition expanded the potential enemies that Rome might face, and moved Rome closer to confrontation with major powers. The result was more alliance-seeking, on the part of both the Roman confederacy and city-states seeking membership within that confederacy. While there were exceptions to this, it was not until after the Second Punic War that these alliances started to harden into something more like an empire and this shift mainly took place in parts of the west, such as the southern Italian towns that sided with Hannibal. In contrast, Roman expansion into Spain and Gaul occurred as a mix of alliance-seeking, in the 2nd century BC, Roman involvement in the Greek east remained a matter of alliance-seeking, but this time in the face of major powers that could rival Rome. This had some important similarities to the events in Italy centuries earlier, with some major exceptions of outright military rule, the Roman Republic remained an alliance of independent city-states and kingdoms until it transitioned into the Roman Empire. It was not until the time of the Roman Empire that the entire Roman world was organized into provinces under explicit Roman control
Roman Republic
–
Route of Pyrrhus of Epirus
Roman Republic
–
Roman consul accompanied by two
lictors
Roman Republic
–
Gaius Gracchus, tribune of the people, presiding over the
Plebeian Council
Roman Republic
–
A Roman
denarius struck in 56 BC showing on one side the bust of the
Goddess Diana, and on the reverse the Roman general
Lucius Cornelius Sulla is offered an olive branch by his ally
Bocchus I as the captive
Jugurtha kneels beside Sulla with his hands bound.
42.
Hegel
–
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a German philosopher and an important figure of German idealism. He achieved wide renown in his day and, while primarily influential within the tradition of philosophy, has become increasingly influential in the analytic tradition as well. Although he remains a figure, his canonical stature within Western philosophy is universally recognized. His philosophy of spirit conceptually integrates psychology, the state, history, art, religion and his account of the master–slave dialectic has been highly influential, especially in 20th-century France. Hegel has been seen in the 20th century as the originator of the thesis, antithesis, synthesis triad, however, as an explicit phrase, Hegel has influenced many thinkers and writers whose own positions vary widely. Hegel was born on August 27,1770 in Stuttgart, in the Duchy of Württemberg in southwestern Germany, christened Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, he was known as Wilhelm to his close family. His father, Georg Ludwig, was Rentkammersekretär at the court of Karl Eugen, Hegels mother, Maria Magdalena Louisa, was the daughter of a lawyer at the High Court of Justice at the Württemberg court. She died of a fever when Hegel was thirteen. Hegel and his father caught the disease but narrowly survived. Hegel had a sister, Christiane Luise, and a brother, Georg Ludwig, at the age of three Hegel went to the German School. When he entered the Latin School two years later, he knew the first declension, having been taught it by his mother. In 1776, Hegel entered Stuttgarts gymnasium illustre, during his adolescence Hegel read voraciously, copying lengthy extracts in his diary. Authors he read include the poet Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock and writers associated with the Enlightenment, such as Christian Garve, Hegels studies at the Gymnasium were concluded with his Abiturrede entitled The abortive state of art and scholarship in Turkey. At the age of eighteen Hegel entered the Tübinger Stift, where he had as roommates the poet Friedrich Hölderlin, sharing a dislike for what they regarded as the restrictive environment of the Seminary, the three became close friends and mutually influenced each others ideas. All greatly admired Hellenic civilization, and Hegel additionally steeped himself in Jean-Jacques Rousseau and they watched the unfolding of the French Revolution with shared enthusiasm. Schelling and Hölderlin immersed themselves in theoretical debates on Kantian philosophy, Hegel at this time envisaged his future as that of a Popularphilosoph, i. e. Having received his certificate from the Tübingen Seminary, Hegel became Hofmeister to an aristocratic family in Bern. During this period he composed the text which has known as the Life of Jesus
Hegel
–
Portrait by
Jakob Schlesinger dated 1831, the year of Hegel's death.
Hegel
–
The birthplace of Hegel in
Stuttgart, which now houses the Hegel Museum
Hegel
–
Hegel sees the "world soul on horseback," Napoleon.
Hegel
–
Hegel with his Berlin students Sketch by Franz Kugler
43.
Demetrius Phalereus
–
Demetrius of Phalerum was an Athenian orator originally from Phalerum, a student of Theophrastus, and perhaps of Aristotle, himself, and one of the first Peripatetics. He was exiled by his enemies in 307 BC, and he went first to Thebes and he wrote extensively on the subjects of history, rhetoric, and literary criticism. Demetrius was born in Phalerum, c.350 BC and he was the son of Phanostratus, a man without rank or property. He was educated, together with the poet Menander, in the school of Theophrastus and he began his public career about 325 BC, at the time of the disputes concerning Harpalus, and soon acquired a great reputation by the talent he displayed in public speaking. He belonged to the party of Phocion, and he acted in the spirit of that statesman. When Xenocrates was unable to pay the new tax on metics c.322 BC, after the death of Phocion in 317 BC, Cassander placed Demetrius at the head of the administration of Athens. He filled this office for ten years, instituting extensive legal reforms, the Athenians conferred upon him the most extraordinary distinctions, and no fewer than 360 statues were erected to him. According to Stephen V. Tracy, the story about the statues was not historical and he remained in power until 307 BC when Cassanders enemy, Demetrius Poliorcetes captured Athens, and Demetrius was obliged to take to flight. Carystius of Pergamum mentions that he had a lover by the name of Diognis, after his exile, his enemies contrived to induce the people of Athens to pass the death sentence upon him, in consequence of which his friend Menander nearly fell a victim. All his statues, with the exception of one, were demolished, during his stay at Alexandria, he devoted himself mainly to literary pursuits, ever cherishing the recollection of his own country. On the accession of Ptolemy Philadelphus, Demetrius fell into disfavour, and was sent into exile to Upper Egypt and his death appears to have taken place soon after the year 283 BC. Demetrius was the last among the Attic orators worthy of the name and his orations were characterised as being soft, graceful, and elegant, rather than sublime like those of Demosthenes. These works, which were historical, partly political, partly philosophical. The work On Style which has come down under his name, is the work of a later writer, the performance of tragedy had fallen into disuse in Athens, on account of the great expense involved. In order to afford the people less costly and yet intellectual amusement, he caused the Homeric, according to Strabo, Demetrius inspired the creation of the Mouseion, the location of the Library of Alexandria, which was modeled after the arrangement of Aristotles school. The Mouseion contained a peripatos, a syssition and an organization of scrolls. Other sources claim it was created under the reign of his son Ptolemy II. Diogenes Laërtius devotes a section of his The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers to Demetrius Phalereus, what the exact source was for Hegels claim is unclear
Demetrius Phalereus
–
Statue of Demetrius at the entrance of the
Bibliotheca Alexandrina
44.
Dionysus
–
Dionysus is the god of the grape harvest, winemaking and wine, of ritual madness, fertility, theatre and religious ecstasy in ancient Greek religion and myth. Wine played an important role in Greek culture, and the cult of Dionysus was the religious focus for its unrestrained consumption. He may have been worshipped as early as c, 1500–1100 BC by Mycenean Greeks, traces of Dionysian-type cult have also been found in ancient Minoan Crete. His origins are uncertain, and his cults took many forms, some are described by ancient sources as Thracian, in some cults, he arrives from the east, as an Asiatic foreigner, in others, from Ethiopia in the South. He is a god of epiphany, the god that comes and his festivals were the driving force behind the development of Greek theatre. The earliest cult images of Dionysus show a male, bearded and robed. He holds a staff, tipped with a pine-cone and known as a thyrsus. Later images show him as a beardless, sensuous, naked or half-naked androgynous youth, in its fully developed form, his central cult imagery shows his triumphant, disorderly arrival or return, as if from some place beyond the borders of the known and civilized. His procession is made up of female followers and bearded satyrs with erect penises, some are armed with the thyrsus. The god himself is drawn in a chariot, usually by exotic beasts such as lions or tigers and this procession is presumed to be the cult model for the followers of his Dionysian Mysteries. He is also known as Bacchus, the adopted by the Romans. His thyrsus, sometimes wound with ivy and dripping with honey, is both a beneficent wand and a used to destroy those who oppose his cult and the freedoms he represents. As Eleutherios, his wine, music and ecstatic dance free his followers from self-conscious fear and care and those who partake of his mysteries are possessed and empowered by the god himself. The cult of Dionysus is also a cult of the souls, his maenads feed the dead through blood-offerings and he is sometimes categorised as a dying-and-rising god. Some scholars believe that Dionysus is a syncretism of a local Greek nature deity, Dionysus had a strange birth that evokes the difficulty in fitting him into the Olympian pantheon. His mother was a woman, Semele, the daughter of king Cadmus of Thebes, and his father was Zeus. Zeus wife, Hera, discovered the affair while Semele was pregnant, appearing as an old crone, Hera befriended Semele, who confided in her that Zeus was the actual father of the baby in her womb. Hera pretended not to believe her, and planted seeds of doubt in Semeles mind, curious, Semele demanded of Zeus that he reveal himself in all his glory as proof of his godhood
Dionysus
–
2nd-century Roman statue of Dionysus, after a
Hellenistic model (ex-coll.
Cardinal Richelieu,
Louvre)
Dionysus
–
Marble sarcophagus with the Triumph of Dionysos and the Seasons. Roman ca. AD 260–270
Dionysus
–
Birth of Dionysus, on a small sarcophagus that may have been made for a child (
Walters Art Museum)
Dionysus
–
Hermes and the Infant Dionysus by
Praxiteles, (
Archaeological Museum of Olympia).
45.
Constantine Cavafy
–
Constantine P. Cavafy was an Egyptian Greek poet, journalist and civil servant. His consciously individual style earned him a place among the most important figures not only in Greek poetry, Cavafy wrote 154 poems, while dozens more remained incomplete or in sketch form. His most important poems were written after his birthday. Cavafy was born in 1863 in Alexandria, Egypt, to Greek parents and his fathers name was Πέτρος Ἰωάννης, Petros Ioannēs —hence the Petrou patronymic in his name— and his mothers Charicleia. His father was a prosperous importer-exporter who had lived in England in earlier years, after his father died in 1870, Cavafy and his family settled for a while in Liverpool in England. In 1876, his family faced financial problems due to the Long Depression of 1873, so, by 1877, in 1882, disturbances in Alexandria caused the family to move again, though temporarily, to Constantinople. This was the year when a revolt broke out in Alexandria against the Anglo-French control of Egypt, Alexandria was bombarded by a British fleet, and the family apartment at Ramleh was burned. In 1885, Cavafy returned to Alexandria, where he lived for the rest of his life and his first work was as a journalist, then he took a position with the British-run Egyptian Ministry of Public Works for thirty years. He published his poetry from 1891 to 1904 in the form of broadsheets, any acclaim he was to receive came mainly from within the Greek community of Alexandria. Eventually, in 1903, he was introduced to mainland-Greek literary circles through a review by Xenopoulos. He received little recognition because his style differed markedly from the then-mainstream Greek poetry and it was only twenty years later, after the Greek defeat in the Greco-Turkish War, that a new generation of almost nihilist poets would find inspiration in Cavafys work. Subsequently I visited this country as an adult, but for a period of time. I have also lived in France, during my adolescence I lived over two years in Constantinople. It has been years since I last visited Greece. My last employment was as a clerk at a government office under the Ministry of Public Works of Egypt, I know English, French, and a little Italian. He died of cancer of the larynx on April 29,1933, since his death, Cavafys reputation has grown. His poetry is taught in school in Greece and Cyprus, E. M. Forster knew him personally and wrote a memoir of him, contained in his book Alexandria. Forster, Arnold J. Toynbee, and T. S. Eliot were among the earliest promoters of Cavafy in the English-speaking world before the Second World War
Constantine Cavafy
–
Constantine Cavafy c. 1900
Constantine Cavafy
–
Constantine P. Cavafy street sign in his city Alexandria, 24 January 2014. Photo By: Ahmed Hamed
Constantine Cavafy
–
Manuscript of his poem "Thermopylae".
Constantine Cavafy
–
Cavafy's poem Κρυμμένα ("Krimmena", Hidden Things) painted on a building in
Leiden,
Netherlands.
46.
Gaetano Pugnani
–
Gaetano Pugnani was an Italian composer and violinist. Gaetano Pugnani was born in 1731 in Turin, the city where he spent most of his life, son of Giovanni Battista Pugnani, the Pugnani originate from the comune of Cumiana, where they held a common farm and where the musician returned often. He trained on the violin under Giovanni Battista Somis, founder of the Piedmontese school of violin playing. In 1752, Pugnani became the first violinist of the Royal Chapel of Turin, and then went on a large tour that granted him great fame for his extraordinary skill on the violin. In 1754, he was well received at the Concert Spirituel in Paris. During these years Pugnani worked closely with Johann Christian Bach and Carl Friedrich Abel, in 1770, Pugnani returned home to Turin and became the director of the Royal Chapel. His fame as a composer began to grow, but it would never equal his fame as a violinist, during this time, he also taught the violin. His most famous pupil was Giovanni Battista Viotti, from 1780 to 1782 they performed in Switzerland, Dresden, Warsaw, Pugnani died in Turin in 1798. His funeral was modest as was his will and he was buried in the cemetery of St. Peter in Vincoli, fritz Kreisler borrowed Pugnanis name in order to publish some of his pieces, but in 1935 Kreisler revealed that these works were actually his own. Moore, D. Johnson, J. ed. Antonio Brioschi 1725-50/Fortunato Chelleri 1690-1757/Antonio Sacchini 1730-86/Gaetano Pugnani 1731-1798, from Vivaldi to Viotti, A History of the Early Classical Violin Concerto. Operas with music by Gaetano Pugnani, Nanetta e Lubino, opera buffa, libretto by Carlo Francesco Badini,1769. The first performance took place on 8 April 1769 at the King’s Theatre, libretto by Vittorio Amadeo Cigna-Santi,1771 Tamas Kouli-Kan nellIndie. Libretto by Vittorio Amadeo Cigna-Santi,1772 Aurora, libretto by Giandomenico Boggio,1775 Achille in Sciro. Libretto by Pietro Metastasio, revised by Vittorio Amedeo Cigna-Santi,1785 and this opera, divided into 3 acts, was premiered at the Teatro Regio in Turin on January 15. Opera in three acts premiered at the Teatro Regio in Turin on 26 December, libretto by Giandomenico Boggio and Giuseppe Banti,1789 La Betulia Liberata. Oratoria sacra, libretto by Pietro Metastasio, dedicated to the Queen of Portugal. This opera was put into play in 2012 by the Portuguese Symphonic Orquestra directed by Donato Renzetti, in collaboration with the musicologist Pietro Dossena
Gaetano Pugnani
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Gaetano Pugnani
47.
L. Sprague de Camp
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Lyon Sprague de Camp, better known as L. Sprague de Camp, was an American writer of science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction and biography. In a career spanning 60 years, he wrote over 100 books, including novels and works of non-fiction and he was a major figure in science fiction during the genres heyday in the 1930s and 1940s. De Camp was born in New York City, one of three sons of Lyon de Camp, a businessman in real estate and lumber, and Emma Beatrice Sprague and his maternal grandfather was the accountant, banker, pioneering Volapükist and Civil War veteran Charles Ezra Sprague. De Camp once noted that he rarely used pen-names, partly because my own true name sounds more like a pseudonym than most pseudonyms do. De Camp began his education at the Trinity School in New York, then spent ten years attending the Snyder School in North Carolina, a military-style institution. His stay at the Snyder School was an attempt by his parents and he was awkward and thin, an ineffective fighter, and suffered from bullying by his classmates. He would later recall these challenging childhood experiences in the semi-autobiographical story and he earned his Master of Science degree in Engineering from the Stevens Institute of Technology in 1933. De Camp was also a surveyor and an expert in patents and his first job was with the Inventors Foundation, Inc. in Hoboken, N. J. which was taken over by The International Correspondence Schools. De Camp transferred to the Scranton, PA division and he was Principal of the School of Inventing and Patenting when he resigned in 1937. His first book Inventions and Their Management resulted and was published in July 1937, on August 12,1939, de Camp married Catherine Crook, with whom he collaborated on science fiction and nonfiction beginning in the 1960s. During World War II, de Camp served as a researcher at the Philadelphia Naval Yard along with his fellow writers Isaac Asimov, de Camp eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant commander in the U. S. Navy as a reserve officer. De Camp was a member of the literary and dining club the Trap Door Spiders in New York City. De Camp himself was the model for the character named Geoffrey Avalon and his ashes were inurned, together with hers, in the Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. De Camps personal library of about 1,200 books was acquired for auction by Half Price Books in 2005, the collection included books inscribed by fellow writers, such as Isaac Asimov and Carl Sagan, as well as de Camp himself. De Camp was a materialist who wrote works examining society, history, technology and he published numerous short stories, novels, non-fiction works and poems during his long career. De Camp had the mind of an educator, and a theme in many of his works is a corrective impulse regarding similar previous works by other authors. A highly rational and logical thinker, he was disturbed by what he regarded as logical lapses and absurdities in others writings. Some, like Asimov, felt de Camps conscientiousness about facts limited the scope of his stories, when he was not debunking literary conventions he was often explaining them
L. Sprague de Camp
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De Camp (center) with
Robert A. Heinlein and
Isaac Asimov in 1944.
L. Sprague de Camp
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L. Sprague and
Catherine Crook de Camp at
Nolacon II in 1988
L. Sprague de Camp
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A de Camp-Pratt "Gavagan's Bar" story was cover-featured on the January 1959 issue of
Fantastic Universe
L. Sprague de Camp
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In 1952,
Richard M. Powers provided a
Galaxy Science Fiction cover highlighting essays by de Camp and by
Robert A. Heinlein
48.
The Bronze God of Rhodes
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The Bronze God of Rhodes is an historical novel by L. Sprague de Camp. It was first published in hardcover by Doubleday in 1960, a trade paperback edition was projected by The Donning Company for 1983, but never published. The book was reissued with a new introduction by Harry Turtledove as a trade paperback and it is the second of de Camps historical novels in order of writing, and fourth chronologically. The novel is written in first person, purporting to be the memoirs of Chares of Lindos, the atmosphere of the novel is lightened by Kavaros entertaining, pointed and improbable tales of his supposedly superhuman ancestor Gargantuos. The planning and building of the Colossus in commemoration of the successful defense occupies the closing portion of the book. Henry Cavendish, writing for the Chicago Daily Tribune, called the something of a modern masterpiece. One of the most pleasantly informative sheerly entertaining books in too long a while, a sympathetic character the charm of a character in a good picaresque novel. He finds de Camp in his element in the Rhodian scenes, noting that henver he writes of Greeks and purely Greek affairs, he writes masterfully, winship in The Boston Globe calls the book a slow starter but picks up tremendously, with the battles. Many and lively and the engines of war highly ingenious and she feels the long trips to Syria and Egypt. Extend this rich picture of life around the Mediterranean over 2000 years ago but thinks the speech, a bit stilted, sprinkled with forsooths and impudent rogues. His dedication is to the age of Alexander the Great, which is becoming his private literary preserve. For the discriminating minority of readers who are inclined to care too, The Bronze God will be an unusual treat
The Bronze God of Rhodes
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Dust-jacket illustration of The Bronze God of Rhodes
The Bronze God of Rhodes
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The Bronze God of Rhodes by
L. Sprague de Camp,
Bantam Books, 1963
49.
Winged Victory of Samothrace
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The Winged Victory of Samothrace, also called the Nike of Samothrace, is a marble Hellenistic sculpture of Nike, that was created about the 2nd century BC. Since 1884, it has been displayed at the Louvre and is one of the most celebrated sculptures in the world. H. W. Janson described it as the greatest masterpiece of Hellenistic sculpture, datings based on stylistic evaluation have been equally variable, ranging across the same three centuries, but perhaps tending to an earlier date. The statue is 8 feet high and it was created not only to honor the goddess, Nike, but also to honor a sea battle. It conveys a sense of action and triumph as well as portraying artful flowing drapery, Modern excavations suggest that the Victory occupied a niche above a theater and also suggest it accompanied an altar that was within view of the ship monument of Demetrius I Poliorcetes. Rendered in grey and white Thasian and Parian marble, the figure originally formed part of the Samothrace temple complex dedicated to the Great gods, Megaloi Theoi. It stood on a pedestal of gray marble from Lartos representing the prow of a ship. Before she lost her arms, which have never been recovered, the statue’s outstretched right wing is a symmetric plaster version of the original left one. The different degree of finishing of the sides has led scholars to think that it was intended to be seen from three-quarters on the left, the sculptor is unknown, although Paul MacKendrick suggests that Pythokritos of Lindos is responsible. The Archaeological Museum of Samothrace continues to follow these originally established provenance, ceramic evidence discovered in recent excavations has revealed that the pedestal was set up about 200 BC, though some scholars still date it as early as 250 BC or as late as 180. Certainly, the parallels with figures and drapery from the Pergamon Altar seem strong, the evidence for a Rhodian commission of the statue has been questioned, however, and the closest artistic parallel to the Nike of Samothrace are figures depicted on Macedonian coins. Samothrace was an important sanctuary for the Hellenistic Macedonian kings, the most likely battle commemorated by this monument is, perhaps, the Battle of Cos in 255 BC, in which Antigonus II Gonatas of Macedonia won over the fleet of Ptolemy II of Egypt. In April 1863, the Victory was discovered by the French consul and amateur archaeologist Charles Champoiseau, the statue has been reassembled in stages since its discovery. The prow was reconstructed from marble debris at the site by Champoiseau in 1879, after 1884, the statue was positioned where it would visually dominate the Daru staircase. Since 1883, the figure has been displayed in the Louvre. In the autumn of 1939, the Winged Victory was removed from her perch in anticipation of the outbreak of World War II, all the museums of Paris were closed on August 25. Artwork and objects were packed for removal to locations deemed more safe outside Paris for safekeeping, on the night of September 3, the statue descended the staircase on a wooden ramp which was constructed across the steps. During the years of World War II, the statue sheltered in safety in the Château de Valençay along with the Venus de Milo and Michelangelos Slaves
Winged Victory of Samothrace
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The Winged Victory of Samothrace
Winged Victory of Samothrace
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The great statue was carefully lowered down a ramp in 1939 when it was removed from the Louvre and Paris for safekeeping.
Winged Victory of Samothrace
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The Winged Victory of Samothrace, side view.
Winged Victory of Samothrace
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The Winged Victory of Samothrace, before restoration.
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Demetrius s.v. Demetrius I". Encyclopædia Britannica. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 982.
