Agathokles of Syracuse : Sicilian tyrant and Hellenistic king
This thesis discusses Agathokles of Syracuse (r. 317-289), arguing that he should be understood in both the context of local Greek Sicilian traditions and contemporary Hellenistic developments, whereas previous studies have represented him as remaining apart from the Hellenistic world as a Sicilian dead end or embracing the Hellenistic world so enthusiastically that he abandoned his Sicilian context altogether. Thus this is a thesis about chronological continuity at the beginning of the Hellenistic period and geographical continuity between Sicily and the wider Mediterranean region. The thesis is tripartite. The first part deals with literary and numismatic source material, arguing for a shift away from source criticism in order to emphasise the coherence and agency of the surviving literary texts and the relationship of characterisations of Agathokles to broader Greek representations of autocracy. I discuss the chronology, iconography, and circulation of Agathokles' coinage, as evidence for the combination of Sicilian and Hellenistic elements. The second part discusses Agathokles' rulership style, arguing that the assumption of the royal title did not transform his rule and identifying substantial parallels
de Lisle, Christopher
Agathokles of Syracuse : Sicilian tyrant and Hellenistic king. This thesis discusses Agathokles of Syracuse (r. 317-289), arguing that he should be understood in both the context of local Greek Sicilian traditions and contemporary Hellenistic developments, whereas previous studies have represented him as remaining apart from the Hellenistic world as a Sicilian dead end or embracing the Hellenistic world so enthusiastically that he abandoned his Sicilian context altogether. Thus this is a thesis about chronological continuity at the beginning of the Hellenistic period and geographical continuity between Sicily and the wider Mediterranean region. The thesis is tripartite. The first part deals with literary and numismatic source material, arguing for a shift away from source criticism in order to emphasise the coherence and agency of the surviving literary texts and the relationship of characterisations of Agathokles to broader Greek representations of autocracy. I discuss the chronology, iconography, and circulation of Agathokles' coinage, as evidence for the combination of Sicilian and Hellenistic elements. The second part discusses Agathokles' rulership style, arguing that the assumption of the royal title did not transform his rule and identifying substantial parallels
sicilian tyrant hellenistic king discus argue understood context local greek sicilian tradition_contemporary hellenistic development whereas_previous study represent remain apart hellenistic_world sicilian dead end embrace hellenistic_world enthusiastically abandon sicilian context altogether thus chronological continuity begin hellenistic_period geographical continuity sicily wider_mediterranean region tripartite first_part deal literary numismatic_source material argue shift_away source criticism order emphasise coherence agency survive literary_text relationship characterisation broad greek representation autocracy discus chronology iconography circulation coinage evidence combination sicilian hellenistic element second_part discuss rulership style argue assumption royal title transform rule identify substantial parallel