Demetrius the Besieger offers the first historical and historiographical biography of Demetrius Poliorcetes (336-282 BC) to be published in English. Also known as 'The Besieger of Cities', Demetrius is the most fascinating and high profile of the Successors to Alexander the Great, an outstanding, yet enigmatic figure famous for his siege warfare and his legendary womanising: this volume charts the many triumphs and disasters during his career and hispivotal role in the formation of the so-called 'Hellenistic' age.

This volume offers an overview of current directions in the study of siege warfare from around the ancient Mediterranean world.

Demetrius the Besieger offers the first historical and historiographical biography of Demetrius Poliorcetes (336-282 BC) to be published in English. Also known as 'The Besieger of Cities', Demetrius is an outstanding, yet enigmatic figure who presided over the disintegration of Alexander the Great's Empire after 323 BC, and the most fascinating and high profile of the Diadochoi, or Successors to Alexander the Great. His campaigns, initiatives, and personal life bestride the opening forty years of the so-called 'Hellenistic' age and are pivotal in its formation as he became the first of the Hellenistic Kings. As his name suggests, Demetrius was prodigious in his military adventures, and profligate in his private life, rendering him an icon for artists, writers, politicians, and soldiers for many centuries. He was especially famous for his spectacular siege operations against enemy cities, and gained his unique nickname from his innovation in building gigantic siege engines, which became legendary in the ancient world. However, much of Demetrius' life was enigmatic, oscillating wildly between successful and catastrophic ventures, and his intrinsic qualities remain debatable to this day. What is indisputable is that he presided over a formative period in history marked by great flux and enormous change. His endeavours resulted in the fusion of Asiatic and Greek cultures, producing the hybrid Hellenistic kingdoms which dominated the ancient world for some 200 years until the rise of the Roman Empire. The period is of crucial importance in ancient Greek history, and marks the point from which Hellenistic influence became fundamental in the development of modern Western culture.

Demetrius the Besieger offers the first historical and historiographical biography of Demetrius Poliorcetes (336-282 BC) to be published in English. Also known as 'The Besieger of Cities', Demetrius is an outstanding, yet enigmatic figure who presided over the disintegration of Alexander the Great's Empire after 323 BC, and the most fascinating and high profile of the Diadochoi, or Successors to Alexander the Great. His campaigns, initiatives, and personal life bestride the opening forty years of the so-called 'Hellenistic' age and are pivotal in its formation as he became the first of the Hellenistic Kings. As his name suggests, Demetrius was prodigious in his military adventures, and profligate in his private life, rendering him an icon for artists, writers, politicians, and soldiers for many centuries. He was especially famous for his spectacular siege operations against enemy cities, and gained his unique nickname from his innovation in building gigantic siege engines, which became legendary in the ancient world. However, much of Demetrius' life was enigmatic, oscillating wildly between successful and catastrophic ventures, and his intrinsic qualities remain debatable to this day. What is indisputable is that he presided over a formative period in history marked by great flux and enormous change. His endeavours resulted in the fusion of Asiatic and Greek cultures, producing the hybrid Hellenistic kingdoms which dominated the ancient world for some 200 years until the rise of the Roman Empire. The period is of crucial importance in ancient Greek history, and marks the point from which Hellenistic influence became fundamental in the development of modern Western culture.

"Our volume tells the story of Macedon's complex relations with Greece, Egypt, and the Near East in the "middle period" of the post-Alexander era. It opens about forty years after Alexander died, when the massive wars of the Successors were winding to a close and the next generation of kings continued the squabble over the Macedonian Empire and its relations with Greece. Waterfield has used his deep understanding of Greek history to construct the story of life and war and politics in a complicated, splintered empire. He highlights the singular accomplishments of the Macedonian king Antigonus Gonatas, who has never received his due until now. What Waterfield shows is that Antigonus was an exceptional politician and an artful strategist who protected Macedon and its Greek territories against aggressors coming from every direction: the Gauls storming the northern border, Ptolemy meddling in the Peloponnese, and Antiochus stirring mischief in the Near East. It was Antigonus who stabilized Macedonian fortunes after years of chaos fomented by the death of Alexander"--

Plutarch described Antigonus the One Eyed (382-301 BC) 'as 'the oldest and greatest of Alexander's successors,' Antigonus loyally served both Philip II and Alexander the Great as they converted his native Macedonia into an empire stretching from India to Greece. After Alexander's death, Antigonus, then governor of the obscure province of Phrygia, seemed one of the least likely of his commanders to seize the dead king's inheritance. Yet within eight years of the king's passing, through a combination of military skill and political shrewdness, he had conquered the Asian portion of the empire.?His success caused those who controlled the European and Egyptian parts of the empire to unite against him. For another fourteen years he would wage war against a coalition of the other Successors, Ptolemy, Lysimachus, Seleucus and Cassander. In 301 he would meet defeat and death in the Battle of Ipsus. The ancient writers saw Antigonus' life as a cautionary tale about the dangers of hubris and vaulting ambition. Despite his apparent defeat, his descendants would continue to rule as kings and create a dynasty that would rule Macedonia for over a century. Jeff Champion narrates the career of this titanic figure with the focus squarely on the military aspects.

This history of Ancient Greek warfare vividly chronicles the struggle for control of the Macedonian Empire, a fateful time of change in the Ancient World. As the story goes, Alexander the Great decreed from his deathbed that his vast Macedonian Empire should go “to the strongest". What followed was an epic struggle between generals and governors for control of the territories. Most of these successors—known as the Diadochi—were consummate tacticians who learned the art of war from Alexander himself, or from his father, Philip. Few died a peaceful death and the last survivors were still leading their armies against each other well into their seventies. These conflicts reshaped the ancient world from the Balkans to India. In two volumes, The Wars of Alexander’s Successors presents this critical period of ancient warfare with all its colorful characters, epic battles, treachery and subterfuge. This first volume introduces the key personalities, including Antigonos ”Monopthalmus" (the One-Eyed) and his son 'Demetrius 'Poliorcetes' (the Besieger), Seleucus 'Nicator' ('the Victorious') and Ptolemy ”Soter" ("the Saviour"). It also gives a narrative of the causes and course of these wars from the death of Alexander to the Battle of Corupedium in 281 BC, when the last two original Diadochi faced each other one final time.

An interdisciplinary exploration of Roman cultural appropriation, offering new insights into the processes through which Rome made and remade itself.

This investigation relies on a rash bet: to write the biography of two of the most famous statues in Antiquity, the Tyrannicides. By recreating the eventful life of these statues, from their birth to their disappearance, Vincent Azoulay reveals that they were much more than a simple reflection: an acting symbol that models and makes history.

The cult of St Demetrius is of considerable age but it peaked with the emergence of his city, Thessalonica, as a prominent political and cultural centre in late Byzantium. This book examines the intensification of his popularity and veneration in the late Middle Ages and his impact on contemporary thought and ritual. The encomia written in the saint's honour are significant historical and literary monuments and in their suggestiveness and beauty they are on a level with many better-known works in medieval Greek. Indeed, the encomia have added historical interest because of the prominence of those who wrote them. The likes of Nicholas Kavasilas, Gregory Palamas, Constantine Harmenopoulos and Symeon of Thessalonica were the elite of late Byzantium in intellect and personal influence, while Nikephoros Gregoras was perhaps the finest of Byzantine minds. With their clear links to individual authors, the encomia on St Demetrius present opportunities to the historian and the literary critic, which are fully explored in this book, the first to give them sustained scholarly attention.