Alexander The Great And The Royal Pages: Four Perspectives on a Conspiracy
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5944/etfii.36.2023.37229Keywords:
Ancient Macedonia; Achaemenid Empire; basilikoi paides; proskynesis; CalisthenesAbstract
Few episodes in the reign of Alexander the Great provide an appreciation of the complexity of the period as clear as the pages’ conspiracy. As if the Macedonian reality were the only one involved in the process, interpretations have generally tended towards the eternal dispute between the pro-Macedonian and anti-Macedonian labels that have traditionally dominated the historiography of Alexander. Against this outdated view, this article analyses the pages’ conspiracy from four different perspectives, each focusing on one of the four realities present in this event: Macedonian, Achaemenid, Greek and Roman. It is thus concluded that the pages’ conspiracy can only be fully understood if all its components are analyzed relationally, i.e., Macedonian institutions within the context of Alexander’s orientalization, and within the framework of a campaign that was legitimized by Greek values and whose legacy was received and altered by Rome.
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