Alexander’s Successors and the Creation of Hellenistic Kingship

What happened to Alexander the Great’s empire when he died? How did his generals and companions, who had once conquered that empire with him, shape the political landscape after his death? John Holton reconstructs how the development of royal ideologies by Alexander’s Successors led to the emergence of five powerful new kingships across the former Macedonian empire. He demonstrates the creation of Hellenistic kingship as a unified phenomenon and shows how ideas of superior status were articulated in the earliest post-Alexander years, including through monumental display and heroic imagery. He also explores the power of symbolism in the form of the royal diadem and the drama of staged royal accessions, plus the value of concepts like ''spear-won land'' in the shared ideological environment of this period.

Ranging from the early regencies and civil wars after Alexander’s death to the formation of multiple independent kingdoms and beyond, Holton reveals how the competitive and performative development of royal ideology in the generation of Alexander’s Successors (323–276 BC) created the reality of the long-lasting institution of Hellenistic kingship, which would stand for centuries, as the model for autocratic power in the ancient world. With a comparative perspective and detailed studies of diverse evidence, this is the first dedicated study of the beginnings of Hellenistic kingship at the hands of Alexander’s Successors that puts these beginnings into an international context and draws the main actors into a joint analysis.