War, the most profitable economic activity in the ancient world, transferred wealth violently from the vanquished to the victor. Invasions, massacres, confiscations, deportations, the sacking of cities, and the selling of survivors into slavery all redistributed property with epic consequences for kings and commoners alike. The most notable example occurred in the late fourth century BC, when Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire. For all of its savagery, this invasion has generally been heralded as a positive economic event for all concerned. Even those harshly critical of the king today tend to praise his plundering of Persia as a means of liberating the moribund resources of the East. To test that popular interpretation, this book investigates the kinds and quantities of treasure seized by the Macedonian king, from gold and silver to land and slaves. It reveals what became of the king's wealth, and what Alexander's redistribution of these vast resources can tell us about his much-disputed policies and personality. Although war made Alexander unbelievably wealthy, it distracted him from managing his spoils competently. Much was wasted, embezzled, deliberately destroyed, or idled again unprofitably. These facts force us to reassess the notion, prevalent since the nineteenth century, that Alexander the Great used the profits of war to improve the ancient economies in the lands that he conquered.

Coinage - it is one of the most successful and consistent technologies ever invented. Nothing else we still use in everyday life has a history quite like it. Look around at all the things that would bewilder a Greek, Roman, or Renaissance ancestor; then, dig into your purse or pocket for that one artifact that they would immediately recognize as part of their world. Historian Frank L. Holt takes us on a lively journey through the history of numismatics, the study of coins - one of the oldest and most important contributions to the arts and humanities. For 2600 years, poets, economists, philosophers, historians, and theologians have pondered the mysteries of money. Who invented coins, and why? Does coinage function beyond our control as if it had a mind of its own? How has it changed world history and culture? What does numismatics reveal about our past that could never be discovered from any other source? How has numismatics advanced using modern science? Does it still suffer from racist ideas about physiognomy and phrenology? What does its future hold? The approach taken in this richly illustrated book is as multi-faceted as coined money itself. Coins are integral to our economic, social, political, religious, and cultural history. When Money Talks: The History of Coins explores each aspect of coinage, and takes a special interest in how coins have appeared in literature and pop culture, ranging in its analysis from Greek drama and the New Testament to T.V. sitcoms and meme theory.

Drawing on ancient historical writings, the vast array of information gleaned in recent years from the study of Hellenistic coins, and startling archaeological evidence newly unearthed in Afghanistan, Frank L. Holt sets out to rediscover the ancient civilization of Bactria. In a gripping narrative informed by the author's deep knowledge of his subject, this book covers two centuries of Bactria's history, from its colonization by remnants of Alexander the Great's army to the kingdom's collapse at the time of a devastating series of nomadic invasions. Beginning with the few tantalizing traces left behind when the 'empire of a thousand cities' vanished, Holt takes up that trail and follows the remarkable and sometimes perilous journey of rediscovery.
"Lost World of the Ancient King" describes how a single bit of evidence--a Greek coin--launched a search that drew explorers to the region occupied by the tumultuous warring tribes of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Afghanistan. Coin by coin, king by king, the history of Bactria was reconstructed using the emerging methodologies of numismatics. In the twentieth century, extraordinary ancient texts added to the evidence. Finally, one of the 'thousand cities' was discovered and excavated, revealing an opulent palace, treasury, temple, and other buildings. Though these great discoveries soon fell victim to the Afghan political crisis that continues today, this book provides a thrilling chronicle of the search for one of the world's most enigmatic empires.

The so-called first war of the twenty-first century actually began more than 2,300 years ago when Alexander the Great led his army into what is now a sprawling ruin in northern Afghanistan. Frank L. Holt vividly recounts Alexander's invasion of ancient Bactria, situating in a broader historical perspective America's war in Afghanistan.

This is a black & white version of a color book available as ISBN: 1453732349 (EAN/ISBN-13: 9781453732342). This book contains material taken from the Website http: //macedonia-evidence.org/ which includes the letter to President of the United States Barack Obama, supportedby by well-known scholars of Graeco-Roman Antiquity from universities, research centers and academic institutions around the world. The impetus for this task arose from the dispute between Greece and the FYROM for the name "Macedonia" which produced and disseminated misinformation and inaccuracies concerning ancient Macedonia and its king Alexander the Great. Scholars well-known for their expertise in Graeco-Roman antiquity have formed an ad hoc group to present, examine, and discuss the historical evidence concerning ancient Macedonia and Alexander the Great. The Letter to Pesident Obama, translated in three other languages (German, FYROM-Slavic & Greek) from its original English, is accompanied by historical documentation, also in four languages, that supports and verifies historical facts included in the letter. Articles by reputable and credible scholars regarding ancient Macedonia and the language of its people - taken from the webpage - are also included in the book. The sole concern and motivation of the scholars who have co-signed the letter to President Obama is that history is not revised to fit political expediencies. The scholarly community has a duty to preserve historic truth. The aim of this book is exactly that: TO PRESERVE HISTORIC TRUTH.

"Frank Holt probably knows more than anyone alive about the mysterious Greek kingdoms in Bactria and on the frontiers of India that were one of the odder legacies of Alexander's Eastern conquests. The literary evidence is sparse, the coins remain ambiguous, the topography defeats all but the toughest. Holt's forays into this world are those of a clever and persistent detective: he loves cracking problems, and the tougher they are, the better. This time--very properly beginning by invoking the name of Sherlock Holmes--he has given us what Conan Doyle would probably have called 'The Adventure of the Elephant Medallions.' Debate has raged over the scene these portray ever since the first was discovered. A cavalryman with a lance confronts an opponent on an elephant. Who are they? What is the occasion? Guesses have ranged from Alexander to the Greco-Bactrian monarch Eucratides, from Porus at the Jhelum to Darius at Gaugamela. Using his numismatic and historical skills like a Holmesian magnifying-glass, Holt takes us through the theories, deftly explodes the fallacies, and comes up with a (for me) entirely cogent and satisfying solution. He has also, somewhere along the way, acquired a really marvelous prose style. Not only is the problem in itself a page-turner; Holt also throws in, by way of introduction, the best short impressionistic account of Alexander's career I have ever read. This is high scholarship at its most exciting."--Peter Green, author of "Alexander of Macedon, 356-323 B. C.: A Historical Biography"[This book] brings to a wider audience one of the few contemporary pieces of evidence for the image and ideology of Alexander the Great. While relatively well known to experts inthe field, the 'elephant medallions' of the title are far less well understood, and have thus played a smaller part, in popular accounts of Alexander than they probably should. Holt's book offers a well thought out introduction first to Alexander and the Alexander story, second to the entrance of the 'medallions' into modern scholarship, and third to the medallions themselves."--Andrew Meadows, Curator of Greek Coins, British Museum

"Thundering Zeus" uses an innovative, interdisciplinary approach to resolve one of the greatest puzzles in all of Hellenistic history. This book explores the remarkable rise of a Greek-ruled kingdom in ancient Bactria (modern Afghanistan) during the third century B.C. Diodotus I and II, whose dynasty emblazoned its coins with the dynamic image of Thundering Zeus, led this historic movement by breaking free of the Seleucid Empire and building a strong independent state in Central Asia. The chronology and crises that defined their reigns have been established here for the first time, and Frank Holt sets this new history into the larger context of Hellenistic studies.
The best sources for understanding Hellenistic Bactria are archaeological, and they include a magnificent trove of coins. In addition to giving a history of Bactria, "Thundering Zeus" provides a catalog of these coins, as well as an introduction to the study of numismatics itself. Holt presents this fascinating material with the precision and acuity of a specialist and with the delight of an admirer, providing an up-to-date full catalog of known Diodotid coinage, and illustrating twenty-three coins.
This succinct, energetic narrative thunders across the history of Hellenistic Bactria, exhuming coins, kingdoms, and customs as it goes. The result is a book that is both a history and a history of discovery, with much to offer those interested in ancient texts, archaeology, and coins.

What George W. Bush called the 'first war of the twenty-first century' actually began more than 2,300 years ago when Alexander the Great led his army into what is now a sprawling ruin in northern Afghanistan. Accounts of Alexander's invasion of ancient Bactria read eerily like news from our own day. In this vivid, meticulously researched, and elegantly narrated book, Frank L. Holt follows Alexander's historical, archaeological, and numismatic legacy back and forth between ancient Bactria and modern Afghanistan. Recounting the plight of the most powerful leader of the time as he led the most sophisticated army of its day into the treacherous world of tribal warlords, Holt describes those grueling campaigns and the impact they had on Alexander, his generals, their troops, and the world. "Into the Land of Bones" also examines the conflict from the point of view of the local warlords who pushed the invading Greeks to the limits of their endurance - and sometimes beyond, into mania and mutiny. The lively narrative situates the current war in Afghanistan in a broader historical perspective. Holt explains how the three modern superpowers that have invaded Afghanistan - Britain in the nineteenth century, the Soviets in the twentieth, and the United States in the twenty-first - are continuing the struggle that Alexander began centuries ago. That this legacy continues to play itself out today is a testament to the timeliness of Holt's fascinating and original account.