Alexander imitation

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As Alexander Imitations ( Latin imitatio Alexandri ) is in the old historical research attempt ancient Roman personalities designated, the person or deeds of Alexander the Great to imitate. The role model function of Alexander, which already emerged in Hellenism and was of no small importance for the Diadochi there (see the explanations on the ruler's cult in the article Hellenism ), should also survive the end of antiquity .

Examples

In Greek history, Pyrrhus I tried to establish a similar empire in the west, but failed in Sicily . Several examples of an imitation of Alexander can be found in Roman history, some of which will be mentioned below. The Roman general Pompey was named after his return from the east, where he had established the province of Syria , following Alexander Pompeius Magnus ; but he also liked to compare himself to the Macedonian king. Also Marcus Licinius Crassus , Pompey's "colleague" in the First Triumvirate , should have had Alexander in mind when he 54/53 BC. Went out to a war of conquest against the Parthians , which brought him only defeat and death. And for the third triumvir, Gaius Iulius Caesar , Alexander was a role model. Like Crassus, Caesar planned a campaign against the Parthians, but was murdered immediately before it began. Marcus Antonius , who carried out a costly Parthian campaign, and Germanicus also admired Alexander.

During the imperial era , several emperors were taken over by Alexander. Augustus is said to have visited his grave in Alexandria and otherwise very much appreciated him. Some emperors even endeavored to repeat Alexander's successes in the east and therefore planned campaigns against the Parthians and later the Sassanids , all of which were more or less serious failures. Caligula is said to have worn a breastplate from Alexander's armor, Nero in turn planned an expedition to the east and set up a “Macedonian phalanx” for this purpose. Even Trajan , one of the most militarily successful emperors - if his conquests in the east should not last - is said to have regretted his advanced age; otherwise he would supposedly have marched to India like Alexander .

In the time of Severus , the admiration for Alexander increased: Caracalla only ever talked about Alexander's deeds, at least that's what the Historia Augusta, which is often very unreliable , reports. But Cassius Dio also reports something similar: Caracalla had demanded the hand of his daughter from the Parthian king Artabanos IV , just as Alexander had married into the Achaemenid house. When this demand was rejected, Caracalla prepared for war against the Parthians. Before that he had set up a phalanx based on the Macedonian model of 16,000 men. Severus Alexander also admired his namesake, and even during the so-called imperial crisis of the 3rd century , enthusiasm hardly waned, so that Gallienus, for example, could be depicted Alexander-like on a medallion and coins.

In late antiquity , Alexander was one of the models for Emperor Julian , who perhaps for this reason dared his risky Persia campaign against the Sassanids, but fell at the end of June 363 - and left the Roman army in the enemy territory without leadership, which almost led to its destruction.

literature

  • Claudia Bohm: Imitatio Alexandri in Hellenism: Investigations into the political aftermath of Alexander the great in high and late Hellenistic monarchies . Tuduv, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-88073-294-9 (sources and research on the ancient world 3).
  • Alfred Heuss : Alexander the great and the political ideology in antiquity . In: Antike und Abendland 4 (1954), pp. 65-104.
  • Angela Kühnen: The imitatio Alexandri in Roman politics (1st century BC to 3rd century AD) . Rhema, Münster 2008, ISBN 978-3-930454-73-0 .
  • Dorothea Michel: Alexander as a role model for Pompey, Caesar and Marcus Antonius . Brussels 1967 (Collection Latomus 94).
  • Andrew F. Stewart: Faces of power: Alexander's image and Hellenistic politics . University of California Press, Berkeley 1993, ISBN 0-520-06851-3 .
  • Joseph Vogt : To Pausanias and Caracalla . In: Historia 18 (1969), pp. 299-308.
  • Otto Weippert: Alexander imitatio and Roman politics in republican times . Diss. Würzburg, Augsburg 1972.
  • Wolfgang Will (Ed.): To Alexander d. Size Festschrift Gerhard Wirth for his 60th birthday . (Several contributions in) Vol. 2. Hakkert, Amsterdam 1988, ISBN 90-256-0933-3

Remarks

  1. Cf. Plutarch , Pompeius , 2.2 ff. And 46.1 f.
  2. Plutarch, Caesar , 11.5 f.
  3. ^ Suetonius , Augustus , 18.1.
  4. ^ Suetonius, Gaius 52; Suetonius, Nero 19.2.
  5. Cassius Dio , 68,29,1.
  6. Historia Augusta, Caracalla , 2.2.
  7. Cassius Dio, 78.7.1 ff.
  8. Cf. among others Ammianus Marcellinus , 24,4,27.