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New publication on the topic of propaganda and ruler cults:Federicomaria Muccioli, Gli epiteti ufficiali dei re ellenistici, 2013 (Historia Einzelschriften, 224).The author explores one of the most important (and so far neglected) topics of Hellenism: the official epithets of kings and relatives (with reference even to the whole royal titulature and to unofficial epithets and nicknames), in the wider context of political and religious changes during the Hellenistic times. The book is divided mainly in three parts, with an introduction which explains various methodological issues and provides the reader with some parallel examples in Greek archaic and classical periods. The first part offers a historical overview of the development of the use of the epithets for Alexander the Great and his successors. The second part sheds some light on each title used in every single dynasty (in some cases, down into Roman imperial times). The third part examines the interconnection between epithets and royal multicultural propaganda under the Hellenistic kingdoms, and the construction of an ideal figure of the king in ancient authors. The book includes conclusions, two appendices, chronological tables, an extended bibliography and two indexes.Source: Steiner Verlag