Alexander the Great and Democracy in the Hellenistic World

This chapter looks at how Alexander the Great was remembered by democratic regimes in both Athens and Asia Minor in the early Hellenistic period. It argues that while Alexander’s reputation as a patron of democracy remained remarkably consistent in Asia Minor—his example was invoked as late as the first century BCE—he could be remembered in Athens as both a threat to, and a guarantor of, democracy. The reasons are twofold. First, Alexander supported tyrannies/oligarchies in Greece and democracies in Asia Minor. Second, his memory was employed in different ways by both kings and cities depending on their own political needs. Ultimately, this chapter argues that the memory of Alexander acted as a formative influence on the development of the relationship between city and king in the Hellenistic period by offering both positive and negative models for interaction between democratic states and authoritarian monarchs.