Racing ahead to a globalized world: the Ptolemaic commonwealth and Posidippus’ Hippika

Abstract

Abstract

When A.E. Zimmern wrote of the Greek commonwealth, he meant the fifth century Athenian empire; but the expansion of the Greek-speaking world under Alexander the Great makes it better to associate the idea of a Greek commonwealth with the global Greek civilization of the post-Alexander world. The impulse, in the Hellenistic kingdoms to look for validation and legitimacy to long-established Greek institutions and values, is illustrated in this article with reference to Posidippus’ Hippika. In the text examined here, a horse-racing victory at Delphi by one of Ptolemy II’s most trusted friends is celebrated.