Royal Traditions and the Consolidation of Power by Alexander’s Successors

This book examines how Alexander’s successors (323-276 BC) laid longer-term ideological foundations for their royal power bases, ultimately giving rise to the institution of Hellenistic kingship.

Examining the period of political consolidation after Alexander the Great’s death, John Holton reconstructs how the successors used new frameworks of royal ideology to create long-term kingships. There is a particular focus on the deeper manoeuvres within the inter-generational impact raging from the influence of religion and family relations, to succession-planning and royal funerals.

In this innovative book, Holton expertly reveals how powerful elites either succeeded or failed in creating lasting dynastic power. From the chaos of a collapsing empire to the solidification of a new model for autocratic power, the consolidation of the institution of Hellenistic kingship across the generation of Alexander’s successors (323-276 BC) is comprehensively investigated. With a comparative perspective and detailed studies of diverse evidence, this is the first dedicated study of the consolidation of Hellenistic kingship and the first to put these beginnings in an international context.