Courts and Elites in the Hellenistic Empires

'Rolf Strootman tells the fascinating story of the Hellenistic Near East as seen through the eyes of those in power. Theoretically informed and brilliantly written, this is a masterly biography of a political institution. ' Michael Sommer, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg The first complete study of royal courts in the Hellenistic Near East Rolf Strootman brings together various aspects of court culture in the Macedonian empires of the post-Achaemenid Near East. During the Hellenistic Period (c. 330 to 30 BCE), Alexander the Great and his successors reshaped their Persian and Greco-Macedonian legacies to create a new kind of rulership that was neither 'western' nor 'eastern' and would profoundly influence the development of court culture and monarchy in both the Roman West and Iranian East. Drawing on the socio-political models of Norbert Elias and Charles Tilly, this book shows how the Macedonian dynastic courts were instrumental in the integration of local elites in the Hellenistic empires, and the (re)distribution of power, wealth and status. It analyses the competition among courtiers for royal favour and the, not always successful, attempts of the Hellenistic rulers to use these struggles to their own advantage. Rolf Strootman is Associate Professor of Ancient History at the University of Utrecht. Cover image: Antiochos I of Kommagene shaking hands with Herakles (detail). First-century BCE relief from Arsameia (c) Klaus-Peter Simon/Wikimedia Commons. Cover design: [EUP logo] www. euppublishing. com