Marco Ferrario, Uno, nessuno, centomila. L’Asia centrale achemenide e le sue fonti: alcune note di merito e di metodo. Parte 2

Keywords: Achaemenids, Bactria, Ethnography, Graeco-Roman Sources, Uzbekistan

Abstract: The present article completes a previous work dedicated to the study of literary sources for the historical reconstruction of the dynamics within the «imperial space» (sensu Lauren Morris) of Achaemenid Bactria. It is divided into two main sections. The first starts by a brief but – hopefully – exhaustive review of the main advances in archaeological research and, above all, of the most recent studies on the Upper Satrapies as they were seen, and administered, through the «spectacles» of the Persepolis Fortification Archive. While recognizing and pointing out the fundamental progress that such a – significant – expansion of the available documentary dossier has meant not only for the scholarship on Bactria, but for a better understanding of Central Asia as a whole, this section also lists its most conspicuous limitations, in order to focus the attention of scholars (and especially of those less familiar with the evidence scrutinized here) on what 1. archaeology does not reveal and 2. archival material tends to overshadow. Against this background, the second section of the paper addresses a category of evidence (ethnography) that has so far been relatively neglected in studies on Achaemenid Bactria but, as it is attempted to demonstrate, is however capable not only of enriching the currently available documentary corpus, but even of casting a revealing light on precisely those blind spots that the first part of this contribution has tried to sort out. As it will become clear in the final pages of the present paper, this last remark is particularly valid with regard to what, in a recent collection of essays, Richard Payne and Rhyne King have called The Limits of the Empire in Ancient Afghanistan: i.e. the complex dialectic between the Persian administration and a wide spectrum of local actors (remarkably, not only members of the elite) in order to control the abundant resources of this strategic region of Eurasia.

Sheila Ager, Dynastic Images in the Early Hellenistic Age: Queen’s Power or King’s Will?

Keywords: Antigonids, Ptolemies, Seleukids; Representation of royal women; Ruler cult; Evolutionary psychology; Competitive mate display; Precarious manhood

Abstract: Evidence from the Hellenistic kingdoms, particularly Ptolemaic Egypt, suggests that in the early years of the Hellenistic age, queens (specifically, the wife of the king) were associated with a set of common characteristics, such as beauty, love, and fertility. This queenly representation – evident in art, literature, and royal cult – has been interpreted as a sign of the importance, even the power, of the royal female; this is especially the case with Arsinoë II, whose public image during her brief marriage to her brother and after her death was so tremendously dominant. This paper argues, not that these queens were unimportant or insignificant, but rather that the emphasis on the queen as an avatar of love and beauty may have been rooted in the king’s psychology rather than the queen’s influence. It is possible that the assimilation of the king’s mate to a goddess of beauty and sexual love, while intended to honour the queen, was intended even more to enhance the king’s masculine status in a form of competitive mate display.

Waldemar Heckel, Notes on Alexander in Central Asia

Keywords: Areia, Arsames, Arsakes, Artabazos, Baktria, Barsine, Boxos, Chorienes, Drangiana, Oxyartes, Rhoxane, Rock of Sogdiana, Sisimithres, Sogdiana. Mercenary revolt

Abstract: This paper examines the satrapal arrangements made by Alexander in Central Asia (particularly Baktria, Sogdiana, Areia and Drangiana) in the years leading up to his departure in 327 for India. In the process it examines the relationship of Artabazos’ family and adherents to both Alexander and the other nobles of the area. Of particular interest is the position of Artabazos and his daughter Barsine in relation to Oxyartes and Alexander’s wife Rhoxane, the discussion of which touches on chronological problems of the years 328 and 327. As a postscript, an attempt is made to make sense of the uprising in Baktria, which occurred after the false news of Alexander’s death in India.

Thomas E. Strunk, History by Analogy: Cato the Younger and Caesar in Livy’s Account of the Second Punic War

Keywords: Cato the Younger, Caesar, Livy, Hanno, Hannibal, Punic Wars

Abstract: Although Livy’s account of the late Republic has been lost to modern readers and with it Livy’s interpretation of events surrounding the lives of Cato the Younger and Julius Caesar, whom the Periochae confirm figured prominently in the books covering the late Republic. Yet Cato and Caesar are not wholly absent from Livy’s surviving works. The outlines of Cato’s character can be seen in Hanno, the Carthaginian senator who plays a prominent role in opposing Hannibal during the Second Punic War. There are also a number of interesting parallels between Hannibal and Caesar. When placed alongside one another the similarities between each pair of senator and general reveals an analogous paradigm. Livy’s construction of the relationship between Hanno and Hannibal closely resembles the contentious relationship between Cato and Caesar, suggesting that Livy used the analogous historical framework of Cato and Caesar to build his narrative of the discord between Hanno and Hannibal. Livy’s history by analogy reveals the policies and behaviors that put to ruin the power of Carthage and destroyed the Roman Republic.