'Antigonos Gonatas: Coinage, Money and the Economy' is a presentation and systematic analysis of the precious metal coinages in the name of `king Antigonos'. Most of these issues, including (a) gold staters and silver tetradrachms with the types of Alexander III and (b) silver with individual Antigonid types (tetradrachms, `Pans' and 'Poseidons'; a few drachmae, `Pans' and 'Zeus'; pentobols, `Zeus'), are traditionally assigned to the Makedonian king Antigonos Gonatas (r. 283/277-239 BC). However, their relative chronology and their respective presence in hoards allow for their wider distribution from Gonatas to his later homonym, Antigonos Doson, and for their production at a single mint, demonstrating thus a strong sense of dynastic continuity among Gonatas' successors(chapter 2). It is argued that the numismatic iconography aligns itself with the main threads of the Antigonid international policy established by Gonatas: the Antigonids, following the example of the Temenids, deliberately emphasised their Hellenic identity and piety, in order to become assimilated to the military and political `debates' both in mainland Greece and on an international level. The introduction, in particular, of the second Antigonid tetradrachm type, the Poseidon-head, meant the resumption of the naval claims of Monophthalmos and Poliorketes in the Aegean concomitantly to Gonatas' victorious naval battle against the Ptolemaic fleet at Andros (chapters 2.1,2.4). The analysis of the numismatic material (chapters 3-6) is a prerequisite for a tentative estimation of its approximate quantity and for a better assessment of its distribution pattern. The disproportion between the low annual production rate of these issues and the Antigonid financial requirements may be explained by the use of other precious metal coinages following the Attic weight standard (chapter 7). It is therefore argued that the exercise by the Antigonids of pro-active economic and administrative control was limited and that the introduction of the Antigonid individual issues was inspired by political alongside economic forces.

This thesis investigates the morphology and the purpose of palaces in major and minor kingdoms of the Hellenistic World. Elements of architecture, spatial organisation and decoration are analysed in the attempt to clarify issues of chronology and in order to identify function. The analysis places the material into its social and ideological context by taking into consideration the role of kingship ideologies in the formation of space used by royal courts. Comparison with residences of the elite demonstrates the reception of palaces not only as architectural models, but also as mechanisms of power manifestation. Macedonia is the starting point of the discussion as the homeland of the first Hellenistic kings. In the light of evidence recovered in the last twenty years and not comparatively studied before, the chapter brings together various chronological phases of the buildings. Questions of definition and on sources of inspiration are clarified further in the following chapters. The third chapter uses textual evidence and finds from the royal district of Alexandria to understand the meaning of palace architecture for the Ptolemies, while the seat of a local official in Transjordania reveals mechanisms of emulation. In chapter four the case of Pergamene palaces and their relationship with residences in the city demonstrates that formation of these royal seats corresponded to ideals of Attalid kingship. Seats of officials in the Seleukid Empire and palaces in Bactria and Kommagene, the subject of the fifth chapter, provide an insight into the position of palace architecture in processes of hybridisation in material culture. The last chapter is a synthesis of patterns of form and function and unifies the conclusions for each separate region. It emerges that shifts in power relations and the structure of the royal court, especially towards the end of the third century BC, were a crucial factor in shaping palace forms. The concluding chapter also provides a view from the West: examples from the late Roman Republic indicate that the role of Hellenistic palaces as models for power display went beyond the limits of royal courts.

On démontre trois choses dans ce travail : 1) L’histoire politique de la Macédoine, sous les Antigonides, est à comprendre à partir du problème du charisme et de ce que Weber appelle sa « quotidiennisation ». 2) Ce processus dépend d’une forme de sociologie, qui fait s’alterner pente à la construction d’une bureaucratie et nécessité d’une remotivation périodique de l’institution monarchique. 3) Cette sociologie s’enracine enfin dans la nature même du social, tantôt pratique démotivée, tantôt réenchantée, comme on le vérifiera ici à partir du problème du culte aux dirigeants et de la croyance. / This Phd studies the relationship between kings and subjects in Macedonia. It has three goals. 1) To give a comprehensive history of the Antigonids, by using Weber’s concepts (charisma and routinization) on three topics (King’s body, kings and queen, the constitution of a bureaucracy). 2) To study the hesitation of this regime between pomp and simplicity (kolakeia, parrêsia, hellenistic palace). 3) To ling this structural feature with a reflection on the nature of the Kingdom (by studying the ruler’s cult : did the Greek believec in their divinity ? What is belief ?)