The Hellenistic Period

This book presents in translation 175 of the most revealing documents that have survived on stone and papyrus from the Hellenistic period.

Presents over 150 sources in translation.

Captures the political, social, economic and religious dynamism of the Hellenistic kingdoms and cities.

Thousands of documents surviving on stone and papyrus help us to understand the complex society that took shape after the death of Alexander the Great. This book presents some of the most revealing of these documents in translation, allowing readers to form a direct impression of life in the Hellenistic world.
The book contains 175 documents capturing the political, social, economic, and religious dynamism of the Hellenistic kingdoms and cities. It covers the entire Hellenistic world and draws extensively on the papyrus remains of the Ptolemaic kingdom in Egypt, which allow an unequalled depth of insight into daily life at every level of society.

Table of Documents ix
List of Illustrations xv
Preface xvii
Note on Editorial Practice xxi
Abbreviations xxii
Note on Reading Documents xxiv
The Texts 1
I Political History 1
II The Foreign Possessions of the Ptolemies 111
III Life in Greek Cities 119
IV The Bureaucracy of Ptolemaic Egypt 144
V The Royal Economy of Egypt 163
VI The Military and Police of Ptolemaic Egypt 199
VII The Ptolemaic Legal and Judicial System 206
VIII Social Relations and Private Life 229
IX Religion 247
Appendix: Ptolemaic Administration 285
Tables and Charts 289
I Ptolemaic Kings 289
II Seleucid Kings to 96 BC 290
III Antigonid Kings 290
IV Attalid Rulers 291
V Months 291
VI Currency 292
Glossary and Index of Greek Terms 293
Concordance: Papyri 301
Concordance: Inscriptions 305
Concordance between Editions 309
Index of Persons, Places and Subjects 311