ePrints

Alexander, Aristotle and Menaechmus: Reconsidering the Foundation of Alexandria

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Ivan MatijasicORCiD

Downloads

Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.

Abstract

This article has two interrelated aims: 1) to reconsider and refute the hypothesis that Aristotle’s instructions on town-planning in Politics Book 7 influenced Alexander’s foundation of Alexandria in Egypt; 2) to propose an alternative path for the interpretation of Alexander’s attested interests for town-planning, engineering endeavours and geometry, namely his association with the geometer Menaechmus attested in Stobaeus and in the earliest Greek version of the Alexander Romance. Geometry provided the overall theoretical as well as practical frame for founding a settlement: considering Alexander’s role in the foundation of Alexandria and his interest in geometrical and mathematical issues, my conclusion is that the ancient tradition on the personal relationship between Alexander and the geometer Menaechmus might preserve a core of historical truth.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Matijasic I

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Ricerche Ellenistiche

Year: 2020

Volume: 1

Online publication date: 01/01/2020

Acceptance date: 13/06/2019

ISSN (electronic): 2704-8292

Publisher: Fabrizio Serra Editore

URL: https://doi.org/10.19272/202014801003

DOI: 10.19272/202014801003

Altmetrics

Share