Amyntas, son of Andromenes

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The «boyhood friends» of Alexander the Great

The «boyhood friends» of Alexander the Great, who were banished by Philippos for their part in the «Pixodaros affair», were not Alexander's contemporaries, but his elder advisors. Philippos banished them because they gave advice against his own interests.No disponible

Nicanor Son of Balacrus

This Nicanor, mentioned by the lexicographers, was mostly likely the subordinate of Antigonus who eventually was appointed governor of the Upper Satrapies.</span

Lysimachos, Thrace and Macedon

The history of the final years of Lysimachos and his relationship with his Ptolemaic wife, Arsinoe, have failed to take into account the claims of Lysimachos' daughter (Eurydike) and his daughter-in-law (Lysandra) to Macedonia. Adding these women to the picture changes the dynamics of the political power struggle in the mid-to-late 280s.La historia de los últimos años de Lisímaco y su relación con su esposa ptolemaica, Arsinoe, no ha tenido en cuenta las reivindicaciones de la hija de Lisímaco (Eurídice) y de su nuera (Lisandra) sobre Macedonia. La incorporación de estas mujeres cambia la dinámica de la lucha por el poder político a mediados y finales del año 280

Marshals of the Alexanderreich : a study of the careers of Hephaistion, Leonnatos, Krateros and Perdikka

It scarcely needs saying that few men, if any, have so dominated the history of their own times as has Alexander the Great; his is a curious hybrid of history and biography. In 1925/26 Helmut Berve took the first step in "decentralising" the history of Alexander by publishing his all-embracing study, Das Alexanderreieh auf prosopographisoher Grundlage, in two volumes, perhaps the most workable and thorough such study in the field of ancient Greek history. But we have not advanced far beyond that first step in the intervening fifty-one years; rather than a stimulus for further study, Berve's work - possibly on account of its thoroughness - has become a crutch for Alexander-scholars, a convenient catalogue of names and facts, too often a substitute for the testimony of the original sources. When we consider minor individuals, about whom little is known and less has been written, we shall not go far wrong by consulting Berve's reference work; though, it should be noted, even here his interpretations are often marred by poor judgment (see footnotes passim). But for the most important figures, the most powerful men in Alexander's empire, we must ask if their careers and characters can be adequately summarised in a mere three to five pages. Clearly they cannot be. In the cases of the four individuals with whom this study is concerned, Berve's vitae are particularly unsatisfactory. Only Hephaistion, who died in 324 B.C., is treated from beginning to end; Leonnatos, Krateros and Perdikkas, who outlived the King, leave much to be commented on. This is especially true of Perdikkas, whose role in the events of 323-321 B.C. was far more brilliant and controversial than his career up to Alexander's death. There are of course the articles of G. Plaumann (RE VIII.1 [1912] 291-296, s.v. "Hephaistion [3]") and Fr. Geyer (RE XII.2 [1925] 2035-2038, s.v. "Leonnatos [1]"; XIX.1 [1937] 604-614, s.v. "Perdikkas [4]"; and Supplbd IV [1924] 1038-1048, s.v. Krateros [la]"), but these are more compressed and, consequently, less inclined toward interpretation; they are also more prone to error than Berve's incomplete entries. Other modern scholars shed more light on the "marshals of the Alexonderreich" - most notably E. Badian, F. Schachermeyr, A.B. Bosworth, R.M. Errington and G. Wirth -, but their works often rely heavily on the material adduced by Berve. Many others are content with mere generalisations: hence Hephaistion is at one time Alexander's foremost commander, at another his incompetent minion; Perdikkas is both middle-aged and in the bloom of youth; Krateros high in Alexander's esteem or a man neglected by Alexander, the generals, even the troops. Only a fresh study of the primary evidence will help to unravel the mysteries of these men who laboured in the shadow of Alexander and continue to do so in the pages of his historians. I focus attention on the marshals of Alexander's empire: Hephaistion, Leonnatos, Krateros and Perdikkas. The evidence, subjected to careful scrutiny, yields many new interpretations; often it is baffling. Not all new interpretations are significant, nor every re-interpretation original. But, if I have produced four biographical studies that are internally consistent and - what is more important - based on the evidence rather than on misleading preconceptions, then I have shed new light on Alexander himself.Arts, Faculty ofClassical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies, Department ofGraduat

Anonymi in the History of Alexander the Great

Das Alexanderreich de H. Berve ne tient pas compte des individus anonymes. Cet article, qui catalogue 124 anonymi, est complémentaire à un autre catalogue, d'anonymae, déjà paru dans la revue Historia (1987).Heckel Waldemar. Anonymi in the History of Alexander the Great. In: L'antiquité classique, Tome 56, 1987. pp. 130-147