Luxury and power. Persia to Greece
Par : , ,Formats :
- Nombre de pages240
- PrésentationRelié
- FormatGrand Format
- Poids1.1 kg
- Dimensions19,5 cm × 25,5 cm × 2,5 cm
- ISBN978-0-7141-1196-4
- EAN9780714111964
- Date de parution20/04/2023
- ÉditeurBritish museum press
- PréfacierHartwig Fischer
Résumé
When Greek soldiers captured the royal command tent of the Persian king during the Greek-Persian Wars (499-449 BCE), they were confronted suddenly and spectacularly by luxury on an unimaginable scale. To some ancient writers, the victories of the small Greek forces against the mighty Persians were a triumph of discipline and restraint over an empire weakened by decadence and excess. Drawing on dazzling objects from Afghanistan to Cyprus, this beautifully illustrated book explores a complex story about luxury as a political tool in the Middle East and south-east Europe from 550 to 30 BCE.
At the royal Achaemenid court in ancient Iran, precious objects were markers of authority, defining a style of luxury that resonated across the empire from Egypt to India. In early democratic Athens, luxuries were adapted in innovative ways to make them socially and politically acceptable. Alexander Ill of Macedon (Alexander the Great) would later sweep aside the Persian empire to usher in a new Hellenistic age in which eastem and western styles of luxury were fused as part of an increasingly interconnected world.
Whether coveted as objects of prestige or disparaged as signs of decadence, the beauty of these exquisitely crafted Persian, Greek and Hellenistic luxuries shaped the political landscape of Europe and Asia in the first millennium BCE - and their legacy persists in our attitudes towards luxury today.
At the royal Achaemenid court in ancient Iran, precious objects were markers of authority, defining a style of luxury that resonated across the empire from Egypt to India. In early democratic Athens, luxuries were adapted in innovative ways to make them socially and politically acceptable. Alexander Ill of Macedon (Alexander the Great) would later sweep aside the Persian empire to usher in a new Hellenistic age in which eastem and western styles of luxury were fused as part of an increasingly interconnected world.
Whether coveted as objects of prestige or disparaged as signs of decadence, the beauty of these exquisitely crafted Persian, Greek and Hellenistic luxuries shaped the political landscape of Europe and Asia in the first millennium BCE - and their legacy persists in our attitudes towards luxury today.
When Greek soldiers captured the royal command tent of the Persian king during the Greek-Persian Wars (499-449 BCE), they were confronted suddenly and spectacularly by luxury on an unimaginable scale. To some ancient writers, the victories of the small Greek forces against the mighty Persians were a triumph of discipline and restraint over an empire weakened by decadence and excess. Drawing on dazzling objects from Afghanistan to Cyprus, this beautifully illustrated book explores a complex story about luxury as a political tool in the Middle East and south-east Europe from 550 to 30 BCE.
At the royal Achaemenid court in ancient Iran, precious objects were markers of authority, defining a style of luxury that resonated across the empire from Egypt to India. In early democratic Athens, luxuries were adapted in innovative ways to make them socially and politically acceptable. Alexander Ill of Macedon (Alexander the Great) would later sweep aside the Persian empire to usher in a new Hellenistic age in which eastem and western styles of luxury were fused as part of an increasingly interconnected world.
Whether coveted as objects of prestige or disparaged as signs of decadence, the beauty of these exquisitely crafted Persian, Greek and Hellenistic luxuries shaped the political landscape of Europe and Asia in the first millennium BCE - and their legacy persists in our attitudes towards luxury today.
At the royal Achaemenid court in ancient Iran, precious objects were markers of authority, defining a style of luxury that resonated across the empire from Egypt to India. In early democratic Athens, luxuries were adapted in innovative ways to make them socially and politically acceptable. Alexander Ill of Macedon (Alexander the Great) would later sweep aside the Persian empire to usher in a new Hellenistic age in which eastem and western styles of luxury were fused as part of an increasingly interconnected world.
Whether coveted as objects of prestige or disparaged as signs of decadence, the beauty of these exquisitely crafted Persian, Greek and Hellenistic luxuries shaped the political landscape of Europe and Asia in the first millennium BCE - and their legacy persists in our attitudes towards luxury today.