alexander's cities

[Franx]

During his march Alexander built many cities in Egypt, Asia, on the sea and in the midland...but...what kind of town were these? What was their meaning? A normal greek town was born by "sinecismo" or fundation, but were always the inhabitants of the future cities who built it! Because those were town needed by the people to live in! Alexander funded town all around the "empire" even if nobody needed to live there, were they just place to keep ideologically or pratically the domination of the territory? Were symbols of his glory, because of the common name Alexandria? Did they have other functions? And who lived there after the fundation? Macedons? Greeks? Barbarians? Thank you!

[agesilaos]

Synoecikismos is the joining of previously established cities to create a new foundation, it is generally a post-Alexander phenomenon. His cities are new foundations to provide a focal point of political control and bases for his garrisons. The populations would be totally mixed, not through any policy of fusion but because the barbarians were there and he needed Hellenes to run his State

[lena]

HI FRANCESCO:DAL MOMENTO CHE STAI FACENDO DELLE RICERCHE SULLE CITTA' DI ALESSANDRO MAGNO, PERCHE' LA NOSTRA CITTA' PIEMONTESE SI CHIAMA ALESSANDRIA? PUOI RISPONDERMI IN ITALIANO O INGLESE, GRAZIE, LENA

[lena]

HI FRANCESCO:DAL MOMENTO CHE STAI FACENDO DELLE RICERCHE SULLE CITTA' DI ALESSANDRO MAGNO, PERCHE' LA NOSTRA CITTA' PIEMONTESE SI CHIAMA ALESSANDRIA? PUOI RISPONDERMI IN ITALIANO O INGLESE, GRAZIE, LENA

[Franx]

Thanks for your informations, but i have to correct you because the synoecikismos is not a post-Alexander phenomenon. If you are talking about the asian colonization by greeks in the territories conquered by Alexander, maybe you are right, i don't know, but synoecikismos exists in the arcaic period during alla the greek history...groups of inhabitants of villages or cities come join together a same place principally for economical motivations (Athens was born from 12 cities of Atthica maybe in X sec a.C.), but also for other people to have a political center (Arcades founded Megalopolis by synoecikismos to have a capital of their ethne in 368 a.C.). I don't know if you are talking about the synoecikismos, or the specific synoecikismos in the Alexander's territories.

[Franx]

Thanks for your informations, but i have to correct you because the synoecikismos is not a post-Alexander phenomenon. If you are talking about the asian colonization by greeks in the territories conquered by Alexander, maybe you are right, i don't know, but synoecikismos exists in the arcaic period during alla the greek history...groups of inhabitants of villages or cities come join together a same place principally for economical motivations (Athens was born from 12 cities of Atthica maybe in X sec a.C.), but also for other people to have a political center (Arcades founded Megalopolis by synoecikismos to have a capital of their ethne in 368 a.C.). I don't know if you are talking about the synoecikismos, or the specific synoecikismos in the Alexander's territories.

[agesilaos]

Thanks for putting me straight I was over stating the case: but there is a fundamental difference between the earlier synoikismus, when communities coalesce into a city for organic reasons of economics and security and the later, Hellenistic models of forced unions of existing cities rather than smaller communities. I was thinking of Lysimachos' foundations of Lysimachaia (from Kardia and another Ican't remember) Arsinoe (from Kleophon and Ephesos) and Antigonos' foundation of Antigonea. These were centrally imposed and not organic as far as I remember most of Alexander's foundations were on the earlier model of an entirely new foundation populated by the sick from his army and the generally citiless natives, possibly with a hint of coercion. In India I believe he occaisionally razed a city only to refound it and re-populate it with the former occupants.