Filed under: Arts and Culture, History, Learning, Europe, Greece, Macedonia, United Kingdom
Today's royals have nothing on the ancients.
Alexander the Great and his predecessors enjoyed a sumptuous lifestyle that beats anything William and Kate will ever enjoy, not to mention real power as opposed to lots of TV time. Now an amazing new exhibition at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, gives an insight into the life of the royal family of Macedon.
Alexander the Great conquered much of the known world before his death in 323 BC, but he didn't come out of nowhere. He was the second-to-last king of a proud royal lineage that traced its roots to the legendary Herakles. Heracles to Alexander the Great: Treasures of the Royal Capital of Macedon, a Hellenic Kingdom in the Age of Democracy looks at the development of one of the ancient world's greatest royal families. Their palace was almost as big as Buckingham Palace and what remains shows it was much more luxurious. There was gold, silver, ivory, and jewels everywhere, and plenty has made it into this exhibition. There's everything from ornate golden wreaths to tiny ivory figurines like this one, which graced a couch on which a king once quaffed wine and consorted with maidens. It's good to be the king.
The displays focus on more than 500 treasures from the royal tombs at the ancient capital of Aegae (modern Vergina in northern Greece). Three rooms show the role of the king, the role of the queen, and the famous banquets that took place in the palace.
Continue reading From myth to Empire: Heracles to Alexander the Great
From myth to Empire: Heracles to Alexander the Great originally appeared on Gadling on Fri, 29 Apr 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Comments
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/weblogsinc/gadling/~3/CvztQliOIUY/
rv camping national parks jobs national parks camping airstream campgrounds
No comments:
Post a Comment