Overview

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.

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9780198836049

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Reviews

Wheatley and Dunn have achieved an enormous feat in producing this volume, the first comprehensive biography of Demetrius the Besieger, and in overcoming the vast problems thrown up by the sources. It stands as a substantial contribution to the study of the Hellenistic world and will remain, for a good while, a must read for anyone interested in Demetrius the Besieger, the Antigonid dynasty, the Successor Wars, and Hellenistic history and monarchy. * Emma Nicholson, University of Exeter, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *

This collaborative work by Pat Wheatley and Charlotte Dunn is an excellent attempt to piece together the highly fragmentary sources on Demetrius into a convincing biography, as well as an attempt to partially liberate Demetrius from the image of the fickle individual drawn by Plutarch ... What comes out very clearly from reading this fascinating narrative is the sheer extent to which events play a major role in historical outcomes and how periods like the age of the Successors are open to the intersection between different and divergent causal chains. * Kostas Vlassopoulos, Greece & Rome * Wheatley and Dunn have achieved an enormous feat in producing this volume, the first comprehensive biography of Demetrius the Besieger, and in overcoming the vast problems thrown up by the sources. It stands as a substantial contribution to the study of the Hellenistic world and will remain, for a good while, a must read for anyone interested in Demetrius the Besieger, the Antigonid dynasty, the Successor Wars, and Hellenistic history and monarchy. * Emma Nicholson, University of Exeter, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *

Author Information

Pat Wheatley is Associate Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Otago, New Zealand. His research specialty is the history and historiography of the Successors to Alexander the Great, and he has published extensively on the chronology, coinage, and social aspects of this period. Charlotte Dunn is Lecturer in Classics at the University of Tasmania, Australia. Her research interests include the life of Alexander the Great and his Successors, especially the propaganda and political manipulations that these men used to secure power.

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