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Lädt ... Demetrius the Besiegervon Pat Wheatley, Charlotte Dunn
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Demetrius, son of Antigonus the One-Eyed (Monophthalmus), the second ruler in the Antigonid line of Macedonian kings, was an enigmatic, complex and dramatic figure. Nicknamed ‘The Besieger’ (Poliorcetes) for his frequent, although not always successful, assaults on cities and his use of siege engines of ever-increasing size (note the helepolis), Demetrius was an individual of extraordinary vigour, charisma, stature, beauty, energy and attitude, an outstanding general who consistently turned failures into successes, and a would-be imitator of Alexander the Great. While he was not always successful in his campaigns (his withdrawal from the siege of Rhodes is often held against him), notorious for his profligate personal life, lost his kingdom twice in his lifetime, and died ignominiously in captivity, Demetrius left a large impression on the Hellenistic world and was a significant player in the development of kingship in the Mediterranean after the death of Alexander the Great. It might seem strange, therefore, that no scholarly biography on Demetrius has ever been attempted in English until now, and other than a small Italian volume by Eugenio Manni in 1951 no complete biography has been produced on the Besieger since Plutarch’s Life of Demetrius in the early second century AD. The difficulties posed by the fragmentary, unreliable and muddled historiographical record, however, are the primary culprits for this deficiency, as they have long posed problems for scholars in determining chronological and geographical details. The huge effort required to decipher this material and collate it into a coherent and plausible narrative has now been successfully made, however.
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. Keine Bibliotheksbeschreibungen gefunden. |
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