A challenge to the concept of decline for understanding Hellenistic Egypt. From Polybius to the twenty-first century

Fischer-Bovet Christelle. A challenge to the concept of decline for understanding Hellenistic Egypt. From Polybius to the twenty-first century. In: Topoi, volume 20/1, 2015. pp. 209-237

Greek papyri of the Classics Department at Stanford (P. Stan. Class.) – Part II

Among the sixteen Ptolemaic texts (33–44) from the collection of the Greek papyri of the Department of Classics at Stanford are petitions, official correspondence, letters, a declaration of surety with royal oath – one the earliest dated texts in the collection (227 bc) – and an account. Most notable is the discovery of the upper part of P. K öln VI 261, a petition to the oikonomos Apollonios (33 + 18) about oil-contraband and prisoners of war. Another petition is addressed to the oikonomos Poseidonios (Prosopographia Ptolemaica I/VIII 1079) about the wool tax (34), while 35, a draft written with an Egyptian rush, reports an effraction at night with arson. The official correspondence deals with tax-farming and oil-bearing products

A military reform before the battle of Raphia?

Polybius (V 63-65) describes the reorganisation of the Ptolemaic army by genos, by age and breaking up the old regiments before the battle of Raphia in 217 BC. By comparing his words with the papyrological sources, it appears that the translation of genos as "nationality" is problematic here and that the eponymous officers, who were military commanders, were replaced by new ones at that time.status: publishe

Imperial metropoleis and foundation myths: Ptolemaic and Seleucid capitals compared

In the two parts of this chapter, we investigate the ways in which major royal cities of the Ptolemaic and Seleucid realms were constructed as capitals of imperial states. In particular, we discuss how the foundation stories of these cities reflect conflicts and integration politics, which the creation of imperial metropoleis involved and which these stories aimed to control. Against the common assumption that the capitals of the Ptolemaic and Seleucid empires were culturally and politically uncontested, we will suggest that both Ptolemaic and Seleucid royal cities were constantly positioned and re-positioned vis-à-vis other royal or imperial cities that expressed, or had expressed in the past, similar claims. In the foundation myths of royal cities, we observe both competition and accommodation: competition and acommodation, that is, across the imperial zones of the Seleucid and Ptolemaic kings, between Memphis and Alexandria, as well as between Alexandria and Rome

Imperial metropoleis and foundation myths: Ptolemaic and Seleucid capitals compared

In the two parts of this chapter, we investigate the ways in which major royal cities of the Ptolemaic and Seleucid realms were constructed as capitals of imperial states. In particular, we discuss how the foundation stories of these cities reflect conflicts and integration politics, which the creation of imperial metropoleis involved and which these stories aimed to control. Against the common assumption that the capitals of the Ptolemaic and Seleucid empires were culturally and politically uncontested, we will suggest that both Ptolemaic and Seleucid royal cities were constantly positioned and re-positioned vis-à-vis other royal or imperial cities that expressed, or had expressed in the past, similar claims. In the foundation myths of royal cities, we observe both competition and accommodation: competition and acommodation, that is, across the imperial zones of the Seleucid and Ptolemaic kings, between Memphis and Alexandria, as well as between Alexandria and Rome

Les papyrus de Genève, vol. IV

Publication d'un lot de papyrus grecs conservés à la Bibliothèque de Genève