The Splendors and Miseries of Ruling Alone: Encounters with Monarchy from Archaic Greece to the Hellenistic Mediterranean (Studies in Ancient Monarchies)

Monarchy, that is, a political order characterized by a single ruler, is an understudied aspect of Greek politics and culture. The contributors to this book provide a unified scholarly framework in which to interpret the sociological as well as the ideological side of monarchic regimes from archaic Greek tyranny to Hellenistic monarchy in Greece and the Eastern Mediterranean. Taking their cue from Hans-Joachim Gehrke's essay on the victorious king, published here in an updated English translation, the contributors bring to the surface common trends and features that make it possible to sketch an integrated history of monarchic rule in ancient Greece from the Archaic to the Hellenistic age. Topics of contributions include the image of the archaic tyrant as legitimate and illegitimate ruler, the rhetoric of Hellenistic monarchy outlined in philosophical treatises on monarchy, the impact of the rise of Hellenistic monarchy on pre-existing political orders such as tyranny in Sicily and dual monarchy in Sparta, and the influence of this ideological model on political traditions in Anatolia and Palestine in the Late Hellenistic period. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 8 CONTENTS 10 1 RULING ALONE: MONARCHY IN GREEK POLITICS AND THOUGHT 12 2 THE VICTORIOUS TYRANT: HIERON OF SYRACUSE IN THE EPINICIA OF PINDARAND BACCHYLIDES 26 3 TO DIE LIKE A TYRANT 50 4 THE VICTORIOUS KING: REFLECTIONS ON THE HELLENISTIC MONARCHY 74 5 AGATHOCLES AND HIERO II: TWO SOLE RULERS IN THE HELLENISTIC AGE AND THE QUESTION OF SUCCESSION 100 6 BECOMING KINGS: SPARTAN BASILEIA IN THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD 130 7 WRITING DOWN THE KING: THE COMMUNICATIVE FUNCTION OF TREATISES ON KINGSHIP IN THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD 166 8 THE CASTRATED KING, OR: THE EVERYDAY MONSTROSITY OF LATE HELLENISTIC KINGSHIP 208 9 BETWEEN HELLENISTIC MONARCHY AND JEWISH THEOCRACY: THE CONTESTED LEGITIMACY OF HASMONEAN RULE 232 NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS 262 INDEX NOMINUM 264 INDEX LOCORUM 274