Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions (Hellenistic Culture and Society) (Paperback)
$29.52 - Free delivery worldwide (to United States and
all these other countries) Usually dispatched within 48 hours | |Short Description for Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions "Frank Holt probably knows more than anyone alive about the mysterious Greek kingdoms in Bactria and on the frontiers of India that were one of the odder legacies of Alexander's Eastern conquests. The literary evidence is sparse, the coins remain ambiguous, the topography defeats all but the toughest. Holt's forays into this world are those of a clever and persistent detective: he loves cracking p
Full description- Publisher: University of California Press
- Published: 01 February 2005
- Format: Paperback 217 pages
- See: Full bibliographic data
- Categories: Art History: Ancient & Classical BCE to c 500 CE | General & World History | European History | Ancient History: To C 500 CE | Classical History / Classical Civilisation | Military History | Coins, Banknotes, Medals, Seals (numismatics)
- ISBN 13: 9780520244832 ISBN 10: 0520244834
- Sales rank: 695,934
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Full description for Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions
To all those who witnessed his extraordinary conquests, from Albania to India, Alexander the Great appeared invincible. How Alexander himself promoted this appearance - how he abetted the belief that he enjoyed divine favor and commanded even the forces of nature against his enemies - is the subject of Frank L. Holt's absorbing book. Solid evidence for the "supernaturalized" Alexander lies in a rare series of medallions that depict the triumphant young king at war against the elephants, archers, and chariots of Rajah Porus of India at the Battle of the Hydaspes River. Recovered from Afghanistan and Iraq in sensational and sometimes perilous circumstances, these ancient artifacts have long animated the modern historical debate about Alexander. Holt's book, the first devoted to the mystery of these ancient medallions, takes us into the history of their discovery and interpretation, into the knowable facts of their manufacture and meaning, and, ultimately, into the king's own psyche and his frightening theology of war. The result is a valuable analysis of Alexander history and myth, a vivid account of numismatics, and a spellbinding look into the age-old mechanics of megalomania.
