Kings and Kingship in the Hellenistic World 350--30 BC by John D Grainger

Author:John D Grainger
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Military / Ancient
ISBN: 9781473863774
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2017-08-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

Kings and War

The ancient sources imply that the main business of kings was warfare, though this is more the result of their omission of other activities than from any full consideration of the range of royal actions and responsibilities. In this the sources were not, of course, entirely wrong, but since we do not have an accurate breakdown of how the kings spent their time, we must take leave to doubt such a sweeping impression. Once again, it is necessary to return to the examples set by Philip II and Alexander the Great. Their Macedonian kingdom was clearly threatened by all their neighbours, Greeks from the south and the Aegean coast, and barbarians from over the landward borders – Thracians from the northeast, Illyrians and others from the north, Epeirotes from the northwest. This constant and continuing problem compelled every Macedonian king to wage war on a more or less regular basis, particularly at the commencements of their reigns. Philip II had to fight hard for several years to establish his control over the borders of his kingdom, and Alexander had to do the same twenty years later, though the memory of his father’s recent successes and his own speed and decisiveness meant he was free from such problems fairly quickly. But under his successors the difficulties revived.

Alexander’s death in Babylon was followed, notoriously, by fifty years of warfare of gradually diminishing intensity, in which numerous kings, wouldbe kings, and commanders died, not to mention their soldiers and their would-be subjects, until just half a dozen contestants were left. But by that time it had become clear that the new rulers and kings were being compelled to spend rather more time on administration than on war, though war still remained one of their major activities.

Kings relied on their armies for their basic authority to rule, a factor which has been repeatedly emphasised in this book (notably in Chapter 8). As such every Hellenistic kingdom was a military monarchy, and such coronation ceremonies as existed at first involved an acclamation by soldiers, or at least an early expedition with the king in command, even if only theoretically. Over time, this military emphasis varied and in some cases it sensibly declined. The first generation of the successors – Antigonos Monophthalamos, Seleukos I, Ptolemy I, Lysimachos, Kassandros – lived in such an unstable and violent world that they had little option but to fight each other, at least until the destruction of Antigonos’ kingdom in 301 BC. From then on the intensity, or perhaps frequency, of warfare was replaced by equally intense diplomatic contests and intrigues, interrupted by occasional wars. For example, Seleukos I can be seen to have been fighting virtually constantly from 312, when he regained control of Babylonia, until 301, when he participated decisively in the destruction of Antigonos – wars in Syria, in Babylonia, in Iran and Central Asia, in India, and finally in Asia Minor. But from 301 until his death in 281, he appears to have

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