Alexander's Image in the Age of the Successors

Few people would deny that Philip and Alexander dominated their own ages, establishing Macedonian rule first over mainland Greece and then over the entire eastern part of the known world. Less clear is to what extent their image as empire builders remained significant during the age of the Successors. The question is of fundamental importance for any understanding of the latter’s policies and, thus, of the formation of the Hellenistic kingdoms. Several scholars have tried to show that after 323 Philip was more popular than Alexander, and that the Macedonians made a distinction between Philip’s and Alexander’s branch of the Argead family. Thus, Cassander is assumed to have promoted the memory of Philip while denigrating Alexander’s. A reassessment of the sources does not seem to allow for such an interpretation, and one might well wonder whether any such distinction actually made sense, Alexander being the son of Philip. Moreover, a policy of denigrating propaganda against Alexander would have been counterproductive for anyone wanting to gain legitimacy as his true Successor in the conquered areas. It should also be investigated whether it would have been the right way to make oneself popular with the Macedonian troops, as the popularity of the Argeads, including Alexander, is usually underestimated. I argue in this chapter that all the Successors exploited the memory of both Philip and Alexander, using either of them according to the political opportunities and necessities of the moment. They had to find an almost impossible equilibrium between their claims to support the royal house and the pursuit of their own ambitions. It involved an always difficult balancing of the obligations of reality with the requirements of propaganda.

ISBN:978-1-4051-3081-3

Jaar van publicatie:2009