The first European : a history of Alexander in the age of empire / Pierre Briant ; translated by Nicholas Elliott.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Briant, Pierre, author.

Standardized Title:

Alexandre des lumières. English

Language:

English

French

Subjects (All):

Alexander, the Great, 356 B.C.-323 B.C.

Alexander.

Hellenism--Influence.

Hellenism.

Hellenism--Historiography.

History, Ancient--Historiography.

History, Ancient.

History.

Historiography.

Europe--Intellectual life--18th century.

Europe.

Intellectual life.

Greece--History--Macedonian Expansion, 359-323 B.C--Historiography.

Greece.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

viii, 482 pages : illustrations (some color), maps (some color) ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, 2017.

Summary:

In The First European: A History of Alexander in the Age of Empire, Pierre Briant examines the revival and rewriting of the history of Alexander the Great in 18th-century Europe. To Enlightenment thinkers Alexander exemplified the West and Europe, especially in his role as the conqueror of Asia. Classical texts, ancient history, and the new science of archaeology were all deployed in the service of European empire-building. Alexander was of interest to a variety of scholars from different parts of Europe - moralists, philosophers, economists, geographers, historians, and cartographers. In the course of the long 18th century, an entirely new image of the Macedonian conqueror emerged, as the precedent of European political and commercial expansion overseas.-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: Fragments of European history

I. A critical history

History, morals, and philosophy

Alexander in Europe: erudition and history

II. The conqueror-philosopher

War, reason, and civilization

A successful conquest

Affirming and contesting the model

III. Empires and nations

Lessons of empire, from the Thames to the Indus

Alexander in France from the Revolution to the Restoration

German Alexanders

IV. The sense of history

After Alexander?

Alexander, Europe, and the immobile Orient

Conclusion.

Notes:

"First published as Alexandre des lumieres: fragments d'histoire européenne by Pierre Briant © Editions Gallimard, Paris, 2012."--Title page verso.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780674659667

067465966X

OCLC:

943710213