Stranger-Kingship in Antiquity

This volume introduces the notion of “stranger-kingship” to the field of ancient history and evaluates its use as a new way of thinking about kingship as a political, social, and cultural phenomenon.

The chapters highlight the clear and widespread value of the “stranger-king” as a new approach for understanding patterns of political life across time and space in antiquity. The volume begins with theoretical discussions of the “stranger king” and explores how the theory can be mapped onto current thinking about kingship in both Greece and Rome. The chapters then show the multifaceted ways in which this theory can be applied, testing some of its core ideas through case studies that cover Hellenistic monarchy, Greek and Roman kings, the Ptolemies of Egypt, Late Antique Roman emperors, and Ostrogothic Italy and Visigothic Iberia. The volume demonstrates that stranger-kingship has much to offer studies of ancient kingship as a heuristic tool, providing avenues for future research.

Stranger-Kingship in Antiquity provides a fascinating cross-cultural study of "stranger kings", of interest to students and scholars in classical studies and the history of the ancient Mediterranean world.

Julius Guthrie is an Honorary-Research Fellow at the University of Exeter, where he completed his PhD on sole rule in Greek Sicily in 2023, and where he has taught undergraduate courses on Archaic Greek politics and Persian Kingship.

Henry Anderson is a Teacher in Late Antiquity at Cardiff University. He previously completed his PhD on the fifth-century East Roman court and emperor at the University of Exeter in 2024.

Emma Nicholson is a Senior Lecturer in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Exeter. She has published various articles on Hellenistic history and historiography, as well as a monograph entitled, Philip V of Macedon in Polybius’ Histories: Politics, History & Fiction (OUP, 2023).