Overview

The hellenistic royal families, from Alexander the Great to the last Cleopatra, took part in dynastic in-fighting that was vicious, colourful and instructive. In this they anticipated by centuries the better-known excesses under Roman potentates such as Claudius and Nero. This new enhanced and revised edition of a major study explores the intricate quarrels and violence within the ruling hellenistic families. A main theme is the role of 'amphimetric' disputes, competition between a ruler's offspring from different women, and especially between the women themselves. The book also includes a full exploration of the role of courtesans in the political and sexual intrigues of the hellenistic courts.

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9781905125401

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Reviews

Ogden handles his sources with skill and manoeuvres carefully through this historical mine-field.... Ogden s book is a prosopographer s delight, and goldmine of information for every student of Hellenistic history. --Waldemar Heckel Bryn Mawr Classical Review

virtually irresistible. The story told... is concerned with... vicious rivalry on the part of polygamously held wives... a complicated tale made much easier to follow. --Peter Walcot ""Greece and Rome "" Ogden handles his sources with skill and manoeuvres carefully through this historical mine-field.... Ogden s book is a prosopographer s delight, and goldmine of information for every student of Hellenistic history. --Waldemar Heckel ""Bryn Mawr Classical Review ""

virtually irresistible. The story told... is concerned with... vicious rivalry on the part of polygamously held wives... a complicated tale made much easier to follow. --Peter Walcot Greece and Rome

Author Information

Daniel Ogden is Professor of Ancient History in the University of Exeter, after teaching in Swansea between 1991 and 2003. With the Classical Press of Wales he has also published Aristomenes of Messene (2003); In Search of the Sorcerer’s Apprentice: The Traditional Tales of Lucian’s Lover of Lies (2007); and, as editor, The Hellenistic World: New Perspectives (2002).

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