Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant MedallionsUniversity of California Press, 24 nov. 2003 - 198 sidor "Frank Holt probably knows more than anyone alive about the mysterious Greek kingdoms in Bactria and on the frontiers of India that were one of the odder legacies of Alexander's Eastern conquests. The literary evidence is sparse, the coins remain ambiguous, the topography defeats all but the toughest. Holt's forays into this world are those of a clever and persistent detective: he loves cracking problems, and the tougher they are, the better. This time—very properly beginning by invoking the name of Sherlock Holmes—he has given us what Conan Doyle would probably have called 'The Adventure of the Elephant Medallions.’ Debate has raged over the scene these portray ever since the first was discovered. A cavalryman with a lance confronts an opponent on an elephant. Who are they? What is the occasion? Guesses have ranged from Alexander to the Greco-Bactrian monarch Eucratides, from Porus at the Jhelum to Darius at Gaugamela. Using his numismatic and historical skills like a Holmesian magnifying-glass, Holt takes us through the theories, deftly explodes the fallacies, and comes up with a (for me) entirely cogent and satisfying solution. He has also, somewhere along the way, acquired a really marvelous prose style. Not only is the problem in itself a page-turner; Holt also throws in, by way of introduction, the best short impressionistic account of Alexander's career I have ever read. This is high scholarship at its most exciting."—Peter Green, author of Alexander of Macedon, 356-323 B. C.: A Historical Biography "[This book] brings to a wider audience one of the few contemporary pieces of evidence for the image and ideology of Alexander the Great. While relatively well known to experts in the field, the 'elephant medallions' of the title are far less well understood, and have thus played a smaller part, in popular accounts of Alexander than they probably should. Holt's book offers a well thought out introduction first to Alexander and the Alexander story, second to the entrance of the 'medallions' into modern scholarship, and third to the medallions themselves."—Andrew Meadows, Curator of Greek Coins, British Museum |
Innehåll
Man of Mystery | 1 |
A Treasure | 23 |
Picking a Fight | 64 |
Whose Pachyderm Whole or Halved? | 68 |
Another Treasure | 92 |
A Closer Look | 117 |
175 | |
191 | |
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Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions Frank L. Holt Begränsad förhandsgranskning - 2003 |
Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions Frank L. Holt Begränsad förhandsgranskning - 2003 |
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1973 Iraq hoard A. B. Bosworth Abulites Afghanistan Alexander Mosaic Alexander Romance Alexander’s American Numismatic Society Ancient World Appendix archaeology archers Arrian artifacts Babylon Bactria Bank Leu battle British Museum Bucephalus Cambridge campaign cavalry century chariots Coin Hoards coin or medal Coinage of Alexander commemorate Curtius Darius Darwin decadrachms defeat depicted der’s Diodorus Duerr elephant medallions enemy engraved Ernst Badian Eucratides evidence example forgery Franks medallion Gaugamela Greece Greek Coins Hellenistic helmet horse horseman Hydaspes Hydaspes River Ibid Indian Kabul king king’s large medallion later London Macedonian Macedonian army Martin Price medallic coins military mintage minted mystery N. G. L. Hammond Numismatic Chronicle numismatists obverse Oxford Oxus Treasure Pandey Percy Gardner Persian phant Philip Plate Plutarch Plutarch Alex Porus Porus’s rajah reverse rider Roman sarissa satrap Schliemann scholars sources spear specimen Tarn’s Taxiles tetradrachm troops types University Press victory warrior worms Xenophilos York Zeus