The First European

Pierre Briant (Collège de France) on Alexander the Great in the 'age of empire'. This event is co-hosted with UCL Greek and Latin.

Wednesday 1 March, 5pm

The exploits of Alexander the Great were so remarkable that for centuries after his death the Macedonian ruler seemed a figure more of legend than of history.  Thinkers of the European Enlightenment, searching for ancient models to understand contemporary affairs, were the first to critically interpret Alexander's achievements.  As Pierre Briant shows, in the minds of eighteenth-century intellectuals and philosophes, Alexander was the first European: a successful creator of empire who opened the door to new sources of trade and scientific knowledge, and an enlightened leader who brought the fruits of Western civilization to an oppressed and backward "Orient."

The occasion of this event is the publication in English of Pierre Briant's book, Alexandre des Lumières: Fragments d'histoire européene (Paris, 2012). Richard Bourke (Queen Mary, University of London) and Sanja Perovic (King's College London) will both offer responses to the talk.

Speakers

• Pierre Briant holds the Chair in World History and Civilization at the Collège de France
• Richard Bourke is Professor of History at Queen Mary, University of London
• Sanja Perovic is Senior Lecturer in French at King's College London

Image (C) 'The Art of Nature' (Creative Commons Licence)