Very few people know that approximately 40 years after the death of the famous Cleopatra, a date generally considered to be the end of the Hellenistic period, a Greek king named Strato III still reigned over a small territory in eastern Punjab. He was the last of dozens of rajahs in ancient India descended from …
When I visit one of the great archaeological museums of Europe, I always look for two things: how many busts of Alexander the Great are there, and which Greek coins are on display? So when I was at the Altes Museum in Berlin last week, I noticed that whenever Alexander the Great is represented in …
To conclude our weeklong celebration of the women from Greek Antiquity, we are looking at another important queen from the Hellenistic period: Berenice I of Egypt. She was the fourth wife of the founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty but also the most important one as she was the mother of his successor Ptolemy II Philadelphus …
To writers like Herodotus and Ctesias, India was on the periphery of the Greek understanding of the inhabited world, drifting the between outright fantasy and the faintest tidbits of reality. Though the invasion of Alexander the Great and the Macedonian army into the Punjab in 327 BC was something of a bloody introduction, it marked …
In her last post, Michelle simon introduced us to Alexander’s horse bukephalos. One of the most famous horses of the ancient world. Despite his famed beauty and nobility, he had a rather common name, since boukephalous in greek means ‘ox-headed’. According to tradition, there were several explanations for his name, the most interesting of which …
When you mention the Hellenistic period, people immediately think of Alexander the Great. This is no surprise as his military conquests and travels shaped the Hellenistic era in a way which no other individual has done. Yet far fewer people know the name of one of his most trusty companions, his horse Bukephalus. In a …
How many Ptolemies were there? Why was Cleopatra number seven? Where did the custom of brother‑sister marriage come from? This guides delves into the Ptolemaic dynasty who ruled over Egypt from the early years after Alexander’s death in 323 BC until the fall of Cleopatra in 31 BC. Distinct aspects of Ptolemaic rule will be …
Today’s coins are actually two coins posing as one. These silver hemidrachms were minted in two cities that were members of the Achaean League: Megara and Aegira. Read below to find out more about the coins of this Greek federal state! Silver coins of the Achaean Koinon Aside from the civic coinage used by member …
This week’s coin of the week is a rather special one as it shows a portrait of Alexander the Great on the obverse. However, he himself did not order the coins to be made. It was in fact one of his successors who had these coins struck: Lysimachos. Read on to discover who he was …
It’s time again for another post in our series on numismatics. This coin won the numismatic face-off we did on our Instagram account last week, so let us have a closer look at this coin from Hellenistic Athens. Athenian Coins Coins from Athens are among the most easily recognizable of the coins that were made …
