Alexander the Great Exhibition

[John Conyard]

As some of you know I’m selling brass and bronze pilos and boeotian helmets.

I’ve just supplied a bronze pilos helmet for an exhibition on Alexander, running from October to next February, in Mannheim.

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Perhaps our Germany friends could tell us some more about the exhibition in due course.

[John Conyard]

Here is a picture of the helmet made by Suhel and his chums at Al Hamdd Trading Post.

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[Ghostmojo]

Wasn't it the Romans who dubbed Alexandros III of Makedon - The Great? A lot of the other Greeks outside of Makedon (and some within) thought of him in much the same way many of us would view Hitler. I've always had mixed opinions about him. He certainly strode the world stage like an ancient Greek Napoleon, and like Boney dabbled in matters besides his obvious genius for military affairs. Was he indeed the greatest of Hellenes and deserving of the epithet Alexander The Great?

[hoplite14gr]

All great men have dubious stories told about them and different opinions are held about them, by their contemporararies and posterity.
Probably "Avlokolakes" and "Parasitoi" had called him "great" flattering his ego to earn their daily bread.
Probably Ionian Greeks finaly freed from persophile tyrrants called "great" in gratitute.
Probably spoil laden mercenaries called him "great" for similar reasons.
He was considered "Great" though long before the Latium peasants ever though of making an empire.
The real reason is that he was the first European to put put the East under the military Dominance of the West.
Something unparralled until the time of Eugene of Savoie and Petter the Great.

He conquered Afganistan too! (mighty Empires failed to repeat that feat)

Kind regards

[Giannis K. Hoplite]

As a general he was great! As a tactician,as a soldier,as a man beyond his time, he was one of the greatest in all these things. But how can one know about the man himself? Many loved him, many hated him. This alone is a sighn of greatness.
One has to chose either to love or hate him. I belong to the first team,but this in no way does it mean i believe him for an angel!!!
Plus he was lucky enough to die young enough not to risk failing in any of his future plans.
Khaire
Giannis

[Kallimachos]

I know John, because i have given them your address for the helmet. We will be there at the exhibition.
[url:6ltcp4ok]http://www.alexander-der-grosse-2009.de/index.php?id=241[/url]
[url:6ltcp4ok]http://www.alexander-der-grosse-2009.de/fileadmin/user_upload/homer/ALEXANDER/ALEXANDER72_BeglprogrammErw.pdf[/url]

[Ghostmojo]

All great men have dubious stories told about them and different opinions are held about them, by their contemporararies and posterity.
Probably "Avlokolakes" and "Parasitoi" had called him "great" flattering his ego to earn their daily bread.
Probably Ionian Greeks finaly freed from persophile tyrrants called "great" in gratitute.
Probably spoil laden mercenaries called him "great" for similar reasons.
He was considered "Great" though long before the Latium peasants ever though of making an empire.
The real reason is that he was the first European to put put the East under the military Dominance of the West.
Something unparralled until the time of Eugene of Savoie and Petter the Great.

He conquered Afganistan too! (mighty Empires failed to repeat that feat)

Kind regards

A good assessment Stefanos, although I'm not exactly sure anybody has ever truely conquered Afghanistan - right up to the present day. I think he temporarily subjugated and pacified parts of it - but conquered? Also I'm not really sure that the current notion of East v West applies to those times. I would have thought Greece being in the eastern Mediterranean was generally considered part of the near east - certainly not the west. Obviously that is not the case now. If you consider origins and their own cultural influences, the ancient Hellenes drew more from the near east than from the west - which is perhaps not surprising since civilisation had migrated that way.

As a general he was great! As a tactician,as a soldier,as a man beyond his time, he was one of the greatest in all these things. But how can one know about the man himself? Many loved him, many hated him. This alone is a sighn of greatness.
One has to chose either to love or hate him. I belong to the first team,but this in no way does it mean i believe him for an angel!!!
Plus he was lucky enough to die young enough not to risk failing in any of his future plans.
Khaire
Giannis

Indeed Giannis you are right in much of what you say, and yet many of the other Greeks had an inveterate loathing of him. This was clearly partly because of their natural inner divisiveness, but Athens, Sparta and others remained stubborn and hostile opponents of his regime, empire, and successors. Personally, I admire much of what he achieved. He was also a scholar, an architectural/urban planner, an adventurer and a believer in uniting the known world in some kind of Hellenised harmony. However, as you say he was no angel and I think had a deeply flawed character with serious delusions of godhood, no doubt instilled by his crazy Epeirote mother. He was also vain, cruel and occasionally childish. However, he instilled in his armies something that made them follow him (almost) to the ends of the earth. Until they had had enough ...

[hoplite14gr]

Perception of EAST-WEST is up to the individual.

In Asia large tracts of arable land gave rise to large kingdoms with large populations and large armies
The Achemenide empire was a serious problem and continied to caus issues even afte its repaulse in 479 B.C.
Its size kept causing awe until its overthrow by Alex. (1st time that West Was military and culturaly dominant)
The notion was challenged by the Parthians and late Sassanides. Then Islam brought the West almost to its knees.
The the dread of Mongols and Ottomans until the Portugese naval victories of the 16th centuries and Austrian - Russian military might in the 17th century
It was Alex who fisrt stablished the Dominance of the West.

The proof tha Alex conquered Afganistan is the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom that dominated the area until Sakas an Kushans overthrew it largely because if the typical Hellenistic fractinal division of the aristokracy.
Most famous of this rulers Menadros (Milinda) who used the hillmen of his domains to conquer large parts of India

Kind regards

[Giannis K. Hoplite]

The notion that Alexander believed himself a god is famous. However i think it is too shallow by modern people. Alexander conquered Egypt and Persia,two empires that were ruled for centuries(if not millenia) by God-Kings.It was only wise for Alexander to claim the same title to keep stability in those enormous areas. It was another characteristic of his genious as i suspect few other Greeks would be caredulo anough to keep that title from the beginnig so as not to ruin his image to the eastern populations. In Egypt he did a whole dangerous jurney to reach the place that would declare him son of Amon Ra. It is possible that few of the Greeks in his armie understood the signifficance of this action and in the way it happened.
Similarly,in Persia he now had to cooperate with thousands of men in the court,and probably most of them would be Persians. I wouldn't believe Alexander would stand being treated like a simple man in front of any eastern. Greeks were punished when talking to him irrespectfully,and certainly this to the Easterns meant that their new Kings was nothing less than their old Persian one.
This of course was unthinkable for the other greeks and the historians that wrote his biography.
In the end,again we don't know much of his character, but brutality is a common characteristic of every great warriour in history,from Attila to Cesar. I think Alexander was much less brutal than both of them.
Khaire
Giannis

[John Conyard]

Thank you Kallimachos. It's a nice reproduction and I hope it enhances the exhibition.

Our views on Alexander change with our times. Debate seems futile.

But surely one of the most amazing stories in history.

[Kallimachos]

It does look really good John, they have also a rebuilded Sarissa there and a Böotian Helmet on the other side. The exhibition i s really good.

[John Conyard]

I would love to see pictures. It sounds brilliant. I sent them pictures of my boeotian, but they didn't want it I was born to be part of this exhibition. Get me sent over quick. :lol: :lol: :lol: