|Recent scholars have analysed ways in which authors
of the Roman era appropriated the figure of Alexander the Great.
The essays in this collection, by an international team of scholars,
cast a wider net. They show how classical Greek, hellenistic and
Roman authors reinterpreted, sometimes misinterpreted, information
on ancient Macedonians to serve their own literary and political
aims. Although Roman ideas pervade the historiographical tradition,
this volume shows that the manipulation of ancient Macedonian history
largely occurred much earlier. It reflected the complicated dynastic
politics of the Argead royal house, the efforts of Alexander himself
to redefine Macedonian kingship, and the competing strategies of
the Successors to claim his legacy. Facing the complexity of the
source tradition about the ancient Macedonians yields a richer and
more balanced reflection of both the history and the historiography
of this important and controversial people.