The Hellenistic period—the nearly three centuries between the death of Alexander the Great, in 323 B.C., and the suicide of the Egyptian queen Kleopatra VII (the famous "Cleopatra"), in 30 B.C.—is one of the most complex and exciting epochs of ancient Greek art. The unprecedented geographic sweep of Alexander's conquests changed the face of the ancient world forever, forging diverse cultural connections and exposing Greek artists to a host of new influences and artistic styles. This beautifully illustrated volume examines the rich diversity of art forms that arose through the patronage of the royal courts of the Hellenistic kingdoms, placing special emphasis on Pergamon, capital of the Attalid dynasty, which ruled over large parts of Asia Minor. With its long history of German-led excavations, Pergamon provides a superb paradigm of a Hellenistic capital, appointed with important civic institutions—a great library, theater, gymnasium, temples, and healing center—that we recognize today as central features of modern urban life. The military triumphs of Alexander and his successors led to the expansion of Greek culture out from the traditional Greek heartland to the Indus River Valley in the east and as far west as the Strait of Gibraltar. These newly established Hellenistic kingdoms concentrated wealth and power, resulting in an unparalleled burst of creativity in all the arts, from architecture and sculpture to seal engraving and glass production. Pergamon and the Hellenistic Kingdoms of the Ancient World brings together the insights of a team of internationally renowned scholars, who reveal how the art of Classical Greece was transformed during this period, melding with predominantly Eastern cultural traditions to yield new standards and conventions in taste and style.

Historians have long wondered at the improbable rise of the Attalids of Pergamon after 188 BCE. The Roman-brokered Settlement of Apameia offered a new map – a brittle framework for sovereignty in Anatolia and the eastern Aegean. What allowed the Attalids to make this map a reality? This uniquely comprehensive study of the political economy of the kingdom rethinks the impact of Attalid imperialism on the Greek polis and the multicultural character of the dynasty's notorious propaganda. By synthesizing new findings in epigraphy, archaeology, and numismatics, it shows the kingdom for the first time from the inside. The Pergamene way of ruling was a distinctively non-coercive and efficient means of taxing and winning loyalty. Royal tax collectors collaborated with city and village officials on budgets and minting, while the kings utterly transformed the civic space of the gymnasium. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

This volume brings together the work of leading scholars on two of the most important, yet puzzling, extant ensembles of Hellenistic Age sculpture: the Great Altar at Pergamon, with its Gigantomachy and scenes from the life of Telephos, and the Cave at Sperlonga in Italy, with its epic themes connected especially with the adventures of Odysseus. From Pergamon to Sperlonga has three aims: to update the scholarship on two important monuments of ancient art and architecture; to debate questions of iconography, authorship, and date; and to broaden the scope of discussion on these monuments beyond the boundaries of studies done in the past. In addition, the volume brings forward new ideas about how these two monuments are connected and discusses possible means by which stylistic influences were transmitted between them.

Table of contents

The purpose of this book is to bring together current scientific understanding of wetting behaviour that has been gained from theoretical models and quantitative experimental observations. The materials considered are liquid metals or inorganic glasses in contact with solid metals or ceramics at temperatures of 200-2000oC. Wetting has been a significant scientific concern for the last two centuries and reference will be made to classical work by nineteenth century scientists such as Dupré, Laplace and Young that was validated by observations of the behaviour of chemically inert ambient temperature systems.In attempting to achieve the aims of the book, the text has been divided into ten Chapters that can be grouped into four stages of presentation. The first stage comprises two Chapters that review established and newly developed models for their relevance to wetting behaviour at high temperatures, including recent models that encompass the role of chemical reactions at the solid/liquid interfaces. Attention is paid both to equilibrium wetting behaviour (Chapter 1) and to the factors that control the approach to equilibrium (Chapter 2). Then follow Chapters concerned with experimental techniques for scientific measurement of the extent of wetting (Chapter 3) and with the surface energy data for both metals and non-metals that are essential for quantitative interpretation of wetting behaviour (Chapter 4). Descriptions of experimentally determined and quantified wetting behaviour are presented and interpreted in the third part comprising five Chapters dealing with the characteristics of metal/metal, metal/oxide, metal/non-oxide, metal/carbon and molten glass/solid systems. The book concludes with a Chapter commenting on the role of wetting behaviour in joining similar and dissimilar materials by liquid route techniques.