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Marshals of the Alexanderreich : a study of the careers of Hephaistion, Leonnatos, Krateros and Perdikka

University of British Columbia

It scarcely needs saying that few men, if any, have so dominated the history of their own times as has Alexander the Great; his is a curious hybrid of history and biography. In 1925/26 Helmut Berve took the first step in "decentralising" the history of Alexander by publishing his all-embracing study, Das Alexanderreieh auf prosopographisoher Grundlage, in two volumes, perhaps the most workable and thorough such study in the field of ancient Greek history. But we have not advanced far beyond that first step in the intervening fifty-one years; rather than a stimulus for further study, Berve's work - possibly on account of its thoroughness - has become a crutch for Alexander-scholars, a convenient catalogue of names and facts, too often a substitute for the testimony of the original sources. When we consider minor individuals, about whom little is known and less has been written, we shall not go far wrong by consulting Berve's reference work; though, it should be noted, even here his interpretations are often marred by poor judgment (see footnotes passim). But for the most important figures, the most powerful men in Alexander's empire, we must ask if their careers and characters can be adequately summarised in a mere three to five pages. Clearly they cannot be. In the cases of the four individuals with whom this study is concerned, Berve's vitae are particularly unsatisfactory. Only Hephaistion, who died in 324 B.C., is treated from beginning to end; Leonnatos, Krateros and Perdikkas, who outlived the King, leave much to be commented on. This is especially true of Perdikkas, whose role in the events of 323-321 B.C. was far more brilliant and controversial than his career up to Alexander's death. There are of course the articles of G. Plaumann (RE VIII.1 [1912] 291-296, s.v. "Hephaistion [3]") and Fr. Geyer (RE XII.2 [1925] 2035-2038, s.v. "Leonnatos [1]"; XIX.1 [1937] 604-614, s.v. "Perdikkas [4]"; and Supplbd IV [1924] 1038-1048, s.v. Krateros [la]"), but these are more compressed and, consequently, less inclined toward interpretation; they are also more prone to error than Berve's incomplete entries. Other modern scholars shed more light on the "marshals of the Alexonderreich" - most notably E. Badian, F. Schachermeyr, A.B. Bosworth, R.M. Errington and G. Wirth -, but their works often rely heavily on the material adduced by Berve. Many others are content with mere generalisations: hence Hephaistion is at one time Alexander's foremost commander, at another his incompetent minion; Perdikkas is both middle-aged and in the bloom of youth; Krateros high in Alexander's esteem or a man neglected by Alexander, the generals, even the troops. Only a fresh study of the primary evidence will help to unravel the mysteries of these men who laboured in the shadow of Alexander and continue to do so in the pages of his historians. I focus attention on the marshals of Alexander's empire: Hephaistion, Leonnatos, Krateros and Perdikkas. The evidence, subjected to careful scrutiny, yields many new interpretations; often it is baffling. Not all new interpretations are significant, nor every re-interpretation original. But, if I have produced four biographical studies that are internally consistent and - what is more important - based on the evidence rather than on misleading preconceptions, then I have shed new light on Alexander himself.

Text

2010-03-02

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/21325

Classics

University of British Columbia

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