Diadochi
Diadochi
!Bust of [Seleucus I Nicator ("Victor"; c. 358 – 281 BC), the last of the original Diadochi.](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/SeleucoINicatore.JPG/250px-SeleucoINicatore.JPG)
Ancient role
In ancient Greek, diadochos is a noun (substantive or adjective) formed from the verb, diadechesthai, "succeed to," a compound of dia- and dechesthai, "receive." The word-set descends straightforwardly from Indo-European dek-, "receive", the substantive forms being from the o-grade, dok-. Some important English reflexes are dogma, "a received teaching," decent, "fit to be received," paradox, "against that which is received." The prefix dia- changes the meaning slightly to add a social expectation to the received. The diadochos, being a successor in command or any other office, expects to receive that office.
Basileus
It was exactly this expectation that contributed to strife in the Alexandrine and Hellenistic Ages, beginning with Alexander. Philip II had married a woman who changed her name to Olympias to honor the coincidence of Philip's victory in the Olympic Games and Alexander's birth, an act that suggests love may have been a motive as well. Macedon's chief office was the basileia, or monarchy, the chief officer being the basileus, now the signatory title of Philip. Their son and heir, Alexander, was raised with care, being educated by select prominent philosophers. Philip is said to have wept for joy when Alexander performed a feat of which no one else was capable, taming the wild horse, Bucephalus, at his first attempt in front of a skeptical audience including the king. Amidst the cheering onlookers Philip swore that Macedonia was not large enough for Alexander.
Reading List
Report Issue