ALPHA FORMS

#Alpha Forms  #epigraphy 

An example of Alpha and other Greek Letters used in a dedication 

Basileue Alexandros anetheeke ton naon Atheenai? proliadi ? 

You can see why letter spacing and lower cases were a blessed improvement when punctation developed a bit later.

King Alexander dedicates the temple / naos to Athena ...

Alexander and Geography

When you're studying Alexander's conquests do consider the physical barriers he had to over come and not just of distance.

Take a look at this map.

Alexander's armies and navies had to cross the Mediterranean and the Mountains  of Asia Minor then move across the highlands of Persia and deserts to reach India.

Terrain this diverse also partly explains why his empire broke up into the lesser realms of the Diadochii. Ptolemy wisely claimed Egypt protected by deserts. The Seleucids tried to control Asia Minor and Mesopotomia and further east but lost the east to the Parthians.

One of the most successor Hellenistic era generals were not a Seleucid or Antigonid or Ptolemy. Our next post discusses Pyrrhus of Epirus.

Alexander's Heirs

Alexander's Heirs

The Other Cleopatras.

 I've mentioned a couple of the Ptolemies but did you know Alexander the Great had a sister called Cleopatra who was Queen of Epirus?

That meant she was ruling over a large chunk of Northern Greece !

If you're teaching or studying the last Cleopatra please think about the other women who bore this name.

Alexander's Heirs ONE PTOLEMY

Amongst the Hellenistic rulers referred to as Alexander's heirs only one seems to have been related to him -Ptolemy called  Ptolemaios in Greek whose name derives from an archaic version of the spelling of polemos - war. 

Rumor had it that he may have been Alexander's half brother and he was his cousin.

Just as many of the other generals adopted Persian and Asian costumes  and customs alongside of their Hellenic heritage likewise in Egypt Ptolemy and his descendants depicted themselves as being as much Egyptian as Greek although none of the Ptolemaic dynasty is known to have intermarried with Egyptians.

Hence these two images of the first Ptolemy.

The dynasty seems to have had a genuine policy of supporting "multiculturalism" in Egypt with Alexandria attracting dozens of ethnic groups. 

Perhaps this is why Egypt survived as an independent realm up to the time of the Caesars unlike other Hellenistic realms and empires?

More about Ptolemy in following blogs and others of Alexander's heirs.

Alexander in Sydney

If you're in Sydney this summer don't forget to visit the wonderful Alexander exhibition currently on at the Australian Museum. Truly I've been and it's excellent! A Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to all my readers whoever you are!