The Court and Court Society in Ancient Monarchies - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0521874483 ISBN 13: 9780521874489

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2007

Synopsis

Monarchy was widespread as a political system in the ancient world. This volume offers a substantial discussion of ancient monarchies from the viewpoint of the ruler's court. The monarchies treated are Achaemenid and Sassanian Persia, the empire of Alexander, Rome under both the early and later Caesars, the Han rulers of China and Egypt's Eighteenth Dynasty. A comparative approach is adopted to major aspects of ancient courts, including their organisation and physical setting, their role as a vehicle for display, and their place in monarchial structures of power and control. This approach is broadly inspired by work on courts in later periods of history, especially early-modern France. The case studies confirm that ancient monarchies created the conditions for the emergence of a court and court society. The culturally specific conditions in which these monarchies functioned meant variety in the character of the ruler's court from one society to another.

About this title

Book Description:

Monarchy was widespread as a political system in the ancient world. This volume offers a substantial discussion of ancient monarchies from the viewpoint of the ruler's court. The approach is broadly inspired by work on courts in later periods of history, especially early-modern France.

About the Author:

A. J. S. Spawforth is Professor of Ancient History at the University of Newcastle.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0521874483
• ISBN 13: 9780521874489
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 374
• Editor: Spawforth A. J. S.