Email RIS file
Bookmark
Report an Issue

The treasures of Alexander the Great : how one man's wealth shaped the world / Frank L. Holt

Author
Holt, Frank Lee
Published
New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2016.
Physical Description
1 online resource : illustrations (black and white).
Access Online

Availability

I Want It
I Want It

Finding items...

Series
Contents
Machine generated contents note: 1.Introduction -- Imagining the Unimaginable -- Sources and Methods -- Exploring a Neglected Past -- 2.Poor Alexander? -- Humbled Origins -- The Making of a Hero -- War and Wealth -- 3.Conquest, Up Close and Costly -- Balkan Treasures -- Asia Minor -- The Middle East and Beyond -- 4.Reciting the Sword's Prayer -- The Lord of All Your Former Possessions -- Booty beyond Imagining -- The Sack of Persepolis -- A Historic Haul -- Rajas, Riches, Resentments -- 5.A King's Priorities -- Personal Gifts and Patronage -- Religion and Ceremony -- Cities and Other Infrastructure -- Armies and Navies -- 6.(Mis)management -- Lucky Thessalian, Weary Macedonian -- Debt and Despair -- Harpalus the Treasurer -- Scams and Schemers -- With Harpalus or the King? -- The Successors -- 7.Conclusion -- The Story of the Moral -- A Change of Hearts and Minds -- Monetization -- Counting Coins -- What We Can Say about What We Can See -- Appendices -- 1.Ancient Measures and Modern Conversions -- 2.Summary of Reported Assets -- 3.Summary of Reported Debits -- 4.Where Is It Now?.
Summary
War, the most profitable economic activity in the ancient world, transferred wealth violently through the sacking of cities and the selling of survivors into slavery. One of the most notable examples occurred in the late fourth century BC, when Alexander the Great of Macedonia conquered the Persian Empire. For all of its savagery, this invasion has often been heralded as a positive economic event for all concerned. Even those harshly critical of the king tend to praise his plundering of Persia as a means of liberating the moribund resources of the East. To test that popular interpretation, this book investigates the kinds and quantities of treasure seized by the Macedonian king, from gold and silver to land and slaves. It reveals what became of the king's spoils of war, and what Alexander's redistribution of these vast resources can tell us about his much-disputed policies and priorities.
Subject(s)
ISBN
9780190469702 (ebook)
Bibliography Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
View MARC record | catkey: 28928075