The First European : A History of Alexander in the Age of Empire / Pierre Briant.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Briant, Pierre, author.

Contributor:

Elliott, Nicholas.

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.

Europe--Intellectual life--18th century.

Europe.

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

Greece.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (501 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, [2017]

Language Note:

In English.

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:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface to the English- Language Edition

Introduction: Fragments of European History

I. A Critical History

1. History, Morals, and Philosophy

2. Alexander in Europe Erudition and History

II. The Conqueror- Philosopher

3. War, Reason, and Civilization

4. A Successful Conquest

5. Affirming and Contesting the Model

III. Empires and Nations

6. Lessons of Empire, from the Thames to the Indus

7. Alexander in France from the Revolution to the Restoration

8. German Alexanders

IV. The Sense of History

9. After Alexander?

10. Alexander, Europe, and the Immobile Orient

Conclusion

Bibliography

Notes

Acknowledgments

Index

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.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Sep 2018)

ISBN:

9780674972865

0674972864

9780674972841

0674972848

OCLC:

966446252