The Macedonian State: Origins, Institutions, and History

by N.G.L. Hammond

In 338 B.C. Philip II of Macedon established Macedonian rule over Greece. He was succeeded in 336 B.C. by his son Alexander the Great, whose conquests during the next twelve years reached as far as the Russian steppes, Afghanistan, and the Punjab, thus creating the Hellenistic world. Based on his earlier work, a first-ever comprehensive history of ancient Macedonia, this abridgement now provides, in one volume, a history of the Macedonian State from early times to 167 B.C. Using recent epigraphic and archaeological discoveries, he offers new insight into the nature of the Macedonian State and its institutions both in Europe and in the Hellenistic kingdoms of Asia and Egypt.

Genres: History

434 pages, Paperback

First published March 8, 1990

Reviews

[Comes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a history of the Macedonian state from to start of the Temenid dynasty to their final defeat by Rome. I really enjoyed the pre-Philip period. How the kingdom is portrayed in that period was that of a politically and militarily weak state bound to failure, unable to control most of what they claimed to such as Upper Macedonia. This in turn makes the achievements and ideas of Philip and Alexander all that more impressive.

Alexander is given a fair treatment, and the focus on him was more how he attempted to rule rather than his military exploits, which have been done to death elsewhere. Alexander here is a man with a consistent plan which his successors continued after him.

After Alexander goes over Cassander and the Antigonids, where the state underwent another serious decline until Philip V, who managed to restore much of their previous power, only for it all to be methodically destroyed by the Romans over the next few decades, ending in Perseus' defeat and the dissolution of the kingdom.

[Alexis Pollux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este libro es un joya oculta, seria imprescindible que los libros de este autor especialista en macedonia fueran traducidos al español.