Angelos Chaniotis, a member of Komvos-Node and Vice President of the Board, presents his new book titled “The Age of Conquests” and, through it, the Greek world from Alexander the Great to Hadrian, covering the period from 336 BC to 138 AD. 

The book is written both for students as well as non-specialist readers, interested in historical developments in fields such as society, politics, culture, and, of course, religion, during two significant historical periods, which are explored together for the first time as the “long Hellenistic era.” 

The book not only addresses military conquests but also discusses intellectual and cultural achievements, the expansion of knowledge, technical skills, and the intellectual horizons of Greek and Greek-speaking regions from the time of Alexander onward. Through this work, we understand how this period of history made the Greeks and their history an inseparable part of world history. 

We quote from the book’s preface: “The study of the Greek world under Roman rule had not been particularly developed, except for literature and art”. 

Things changed during the 20th century with the progress made in archaeological research, particularly in Macedonia, Asia Minor, and Central Asia (e.g., in Alexandria of Oxus, present-day Ai Khanoum), the publication of inscriptions, and the study of papyri and coins. New written sources—inscriptions and papyri—are continually added to the known source material, sometimes providing answers to old questions, and some other times confronting us with new ones and adding new details to already established knowledge. 

Book Cover Image: The Lighthouse of Alexandria. An edited engraving by Philip Galle (1537–1612), based on a design by Maarten van Heemskerck (1498–1574), 1572. National Gallery of Art, Washington (Wikimedia Commons). 

It should be noted that the English edition of the book has been internationally recognized as a key textbook on ancient history. It has also been translated into German, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, and Russian. The Greek edition is published by the University Press of Crete. The book was presented in Athens at a discussion event at the Amphitheater of the War Museum on May 25, 2022. 

The discussion included, besides the author, Dr. Sophia Aneziri – Associate Professor of Ancient History, University of Athens; Theodoros Giannopoulos – Ph.D. in Prehistoric Archaeology, Lecturer at the Open University of Cyprus and European University of Cyprus; Kostas Bourazelis – Emeritus Professor of Ancient History, former Vice-Rector, University of Athens; and Giannis Mylonopoulos – Associate Professor of Art History and Archaeology, Columbia University. 

Angelos Chaniotis is a Professor of Ancient History and Classical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. His research focuses on society, historical memory, religion, theatricality in public life, and emotion in the Hellenistic world and Roman East. Mr. Chaniotis has also been an associate member of the Academy of Athens since 2013. 

Other recent books by Angelos Chaniotis include “War of Hellenistic World: A Social and Cultural History” (2005) and “Theatricality and Public Life in the Hellenistic World” (2009).