Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions

Frank L. Holt

Published by University of California Press 2003

Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions

Frank L. Holt

Volume 44 in the series Hellenistic Culture and Society

https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520938786

Overview
Contents

About this book

To all those who witnessed his extraordinary conquests, from Albania to India, Alexander the Great appeared invincible. How Alexander himself promoted this appearance—how he abetted the belief that he enjoyed divine favor and commanded even the forces of nature against his enemies—is the subject of Frank L. Holt's absorbing book.

Solid evidence for the "supernaturalized" Alexander lies in a rare series of medallions that depict the triumphant young king at war against the elephants, archers, and chariots of Rajah Porus of India at the Battle of the Hydaspes River. Recovered from Afghanistan and Iraq in sensational and sometimes perilous circumstances, these ancient artifacts have long animated the modern historical debate about Alexander. Holt's book, the first devoted to the mystery of these ancient medallions, takes us into the history of their discovery and interpretation, into the knowable facts of their manufacture and meaning, and, ultimately, into the king's own psyche and his frightening theology of war. The result is a valuable analysis of Alexander history and myth, a vivid account of numismatics, and a spellbinding look into the age-old mechanics of megalomania.

Author / Editor information

Holt Frank L. :

Frank L. Holt is Professor of History at the University of Houston. He is the author of Thundering Zeus: The Making of Hellenistic Bactria (California, 1999) and Alexander the Great and Bactria: The Formation of a Greek Frontier in Central Asia (1988) and editor of The Greeks in Bactria and India (1985).

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
PREFACE Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
ONE. Man of Mystery Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
TWO. A Treasure Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
THREE. Picking a Fight Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
FOUR. Whose Pachyderm, Whole or Halved? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	68
FIVE. Another Treasure Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	92
SIX. A Closer Look Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	117
SEVEN. A Dark and Stormy Night Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	139
APPENDIX A. THE PUBLISHED ELEPHANT MEDALLIONS Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	167
APPENDIX B. SOME POSSIBLE FORGERIES OF THE LARGE MEDALLION Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	171
APPENDIX C. THE 1973 IRAQ HOARD Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	173
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191

Language: English
Publisher: University of California Press
Pages
- Main content: 217

eBook

Published: November 24, 2003
ISBN: 9780520938786