Ghost on the Throne: The Death of Alexander the Great and the War for Crown and Empire

422 Pages·2011·4.67 MB·English

by  James Romm

Click here to view a larger image.
Eumenes the Greek with Alexander’s widow and son (Illustration credit col.1)
THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK
PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF
Copyright © 2011 by James Romm
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and in
Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
www.aaknopf.com
Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Romm, James S.
Ghost on the throne: the death of Alexander the Great and the war for crown and empire / by James
Romm.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
eISBN: 978-0-307-70150-3
1. Greece—History—Macedonian Hegemony, 323–281 B.C.
2. Macedonia—History—Diadochi, 323–276 B.C.
3. Alexander, the Great, 356–323 B.C.—Death and burial. I. Title.
DF235.4R66 2011
938’.08—dc22
2011008657
Front-of-jacket photograph by Tanya Marcuse | Jacket design by Jason Booher
v3.1
For my mom and stepfather,
Sydney and Victor Reed
The death of Demosthenes on Calauria and of Hyperides near Cleonae made
the Athenians feel almost a passion and a longing for the days of Alexander
and Philip. Just so, when Antigonus had died, and those who followed in his
place had begun to in(cid:36)ict outrages and pains on the people, a farmer was seen
digging up the ground in Phrygia. Someone asked him what he was doing. With
a groan, he replied: “I am looking for Antigonus.”
—Plutarch Phocion 29.1
Contents
Cover
Title Page
Map
Copyright
Epigraph
List of Illustrations
Preface
Note on Pronunciations
Acknowledgments
INTRODUCTION: The Opening of the Tombs
1 Bodyguards and Companions
2 The Testing of Perdiccas
3 The Athenians’ Last Stand (I)
4 Resistance, Rebellion, Reconquest
5 The Athenians’ Last Stand (II)
6 A Death on the Nile
7 The Fortunes of Eumenes
8 The War Comes Home
9 Duels to the Death
10 The Closing of the Tombs
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Other Books by This Author
Illustrations
Illustrations
col.1 Rhoxane and Eumenes (oil painting by Varotari, early
seventeenth century). Getty Images
itr.1 Alexander’s Companions. Andronikos, Vergina: The Royal
Tombs, Athens, 1984. 17th Ephorate of Antiquities © Hellenic
Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Archaeological Receipts
Fund
itr.2 The facade of Tomb 2. Andronikos, Vergina: The Royal
Tombs, Athens, 1984. 17th Ephorate of Antiquities © Hellenic
Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Archaeological Receipts
Fund
1.1 The ancient city of Babylon, digitally reconstructed. Curt-
Engelhorn-Stiftung für die Reiss-Engelhorn-
Museen/FaberCourtial
1.2 Babylon’s Ishtar Gate. Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz/Art
Resource, NY
1.3 Macedonian infantrymen. Tsibidou-Avloniti, The Macedonian
Tombs at Phoinikas and Ayios Athanasios in the Area of
Thessaloniki, Athens, 2005, Plate 31. 16th Ephorate of
Antiquities © Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism,
Archaeological Receipts Fund
1.4 A Babylonian clay tablet recording the death of Alexander,
June 11, 323 B.C. © Trustees of the British Museum
2.1 A medallion struck by Alexander depicting an Indian archer.
Courtesy Frank Holt
2.2 Positions assigned to the leading generals by the Babylon
settlement. Beehive Mapping
3.1 The speaker’s platform of the Pnyx, Athens. Wikimedia
Commons/A. D. White Architectural Photographs, Cornell
University Library