Hi I’m Elena from Italy and thanks to be here on Alessandro III di Macedonia -your source on Alexander the Great and Hellenism! Today I’m announcing the final two books which will be released in June and they concern Alexander the Great’s Successors by Bloomsbury! These releases aren’t to be missed and they are:

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Royal Traditions and the Consolidation of Power by Alexander’s Successors

by John Holton

Bloomsbury, June 12, 2025

In the wake of Alexander the Great’s death, his ambitious Successors sought to solidify their positions as kings and establish a framework of new royal traditions. John Holton delves into the interconnected strategies employed by Antigonus, Demetrius, Ptolemy, Seleucus, Lysimachus and Cassander, as well as their heirs, as they consolidated their royal power between 323 and 276 BC. Through a wide-ranging examination of royal ideology and its formative impact, a set of studies explores the significance of discursive power in the new kings’ toolkits, the wide spectrum of god–king relations that were developed to project royal status, the innovative development of father–son joint kingship as a successional mechanism, and the symbolic means for supporting the translation of power to a second generation of kings.

Set against the backdrop of a rapidly evolving political landscape in the early Hellenistic world, this volume offers invaluable insights into the transition from Alexander’s single empire to a multipolar world of competing royal dynasties. This period was in turn foundational for the longer-term institution of Hellenistic kingship, which played a pivotal role in in the history of ancient Greece and the near east. By bringing the Successors into a single discussion, with a comparative perspective and detailed studies of diverse evidence, Holton provides a fuller picture of the origins of Hellenistic royal practice.

John Holton is Senior Lecturer in Ancient History at Newcastle University, UK. His primary research expertise and publication record is in Hellenistic history and intellectual history, including the study of Alexander the Great and his successors (the diadochoi), ancient monarchies, and universal historiography.

Table of Contents:

List of Figures
List of Maps
List of Tables
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Chronology

1. New Royal Traditions and the Consolidation of Power
2. Gods and Mortals: Structures of Divine Kingship
3. Institutional Symmetry: Joint Kingship and Indivisible basileia
4. Royal Death and Ideological Legacy
   Conclusions

Notes
Bibliography
Index

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Alexander’s Successors and the Creation of Hellenistic Kingship

by John Holton

Bloomsbury, June 12, 2025

What happened to Alexander the Great’s empire when he died, and to the generals and companions that had conquered that empire with him? How did they begin to develop their own power and positions after his death?

Alexander’s Successors and the Creation of Hellenistic Kingship reconstructs how the development of royal ideologies led to five powerful new kingships after Alexander’s death. It reveals how ideological performances and ongoing competition among the post-Alexander elite created the reality of the long-lasting institution of Hellenistic kingship, which would last for generations and even centuries as the model for autocratic power in the ancient world. A parallel study, Royal Traditions and the Consolidation of Power by Alexander’s Successors, then examines the innovative new traditions of royal ideology that were developed in the consolidation of the new Hellenistic kingships.

Ranging from the early regencies and civil wars after Alexander’s death to the formation of multiple independent kingdoms and beyond, the generation of Alexander’s successors (323-276 BC) is comprehensively investigated. With a comparative perspective and detailed studies of diverse evidence, this is the first dedicated study of the beginnings of Hellenistic kingship and the first to put these beginnings in an international context.

John Holton is Senior Lecturer in Ancient History at Newcastle University, UK. His primary research expertise and publication record is in Hellenistic history and intellectual history, including the study of Alexander the Great and his successors (the diadochoi), ancient monarchies, and universal historiography.

Table of Contents:

List of Figures
List of Maps
Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
Chronology

Chapter 1. Approaching the World of Early Hellenistic Kingship, 323-276 BC
Chapter 2. The Performance of Status in the Early Hellenistic World: Craterus at Delphi
Chapter 3. Heroic Paradigms of Rulership and the Politics of imitatio
Chapter 4. Diadem and basileia: A Zelotypic Model
Chapter 5. Spear-won Land in Hellenistic Imperial Discourse
Conclusions

Notes
Bibliography
Index

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What I like about the books published by Bloomsbury is that they come out immediately even in a paperback edition and that allows me to buy them as soon as they come out. These two books are dedicated to the Successors of Alexander the Great and I think they will interest many of us.

Thank you all, keep following me for other news. Happy Saturday,

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