Luxury and power

Persia to Greece

James Fraser, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, Henry Bishop-Wright

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English

British Museum Press
20 July 2023

Exhibition catalogues & specific collections; History; Ancient history: to c 500 CE; Social & cultural history

Luxurious objects are celebrated for their exoticism, rarity and style, but also disparaged as indulgent, extravagant and corrupt. The ancient origins of these attitudes emerged at the boundary between the imperial Persian and democratic Athenian Greek worlds. Luxury was at the centre of the royal Persian court and behaviours of ostentatious display rippled through the imperial provinces, whose elite classes emulated luxury objects in lesser materials. But luxury is contrastingly depicted through Athenian eyes - within the philosophical context of early democratic codes and the historical context of the Greco-Persian Wars, which suddenly and spectacularly brought eastern luxuries into the imagination of the Athenian populace for the first time. While Greek writers rejected luxury as eastern, despotic and corrupt, the Athenian elite adopted Persian luxuries in imaginative ways to signal status, distinction and prestige. Under the Macedonian empire of Alexander the Great and its subsequent kingdoms, royal Achaemenid luxury culture would later be adopted and displayed by the Macedonian and local elite across the Greek and Middle Eastern worlds: behaviours of ostentatious display were a means to seek advantage in the new Hellenistic world order. Ultimately, this publication demonstrates how competing political spins woven around 2,500 years ago still continue to shape modern perceptions of luxury today.

By: James Fraser
Text by: Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, Henry Bishop-Wright
Imprint: British Museum Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 246mm, Width: 189mm,
Weight: 1.070kg
ISBN: 9780714111964
ISBN 10: 0714111961
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 20 July 2023
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

James Fraser is Curator: Ancient Levant and Anatolia, Department of the Middle East, British Museum and Curator of the exhibition Power and prestige: Cyrus to Alexander at the British Museum in 2023. Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones is Professor in Ancient History at Cardiff University and Director of the Ancient Iran Program for the British Institute of Persian Studies. He is the author of numerous books, most recently Persians: The Age of the Great Kings (2022). Henry Bishop-Wright is Project Curator of the exhibition Power and prestige: Cyrus to Alexander at the British Museum in 2023.

Reviews for Luxury and power: Persia to Greece

"""A beautiful hardback book... A sense of flexibility and fluidity runs through much of the material in the exhibition.""-- ""Minerva, May/June 2023"" ""Drawing on dazzling objects from Afghanistan to Greece, this exhibition moves beyond the ancient Greek spin to explore a more complex story about luxury as a political tool in the Middle East and southeast Europe from 550-30 BC.""-- ""Art Discount"" ""The exhibition moves beyond ancient Greek spin to delve into a more complex story of luxury and power in ancient Iran, Athens, and the world of Alexander. Drawing on exquisite objects from Afghanistan to Italy, it explores how the royal Persian court used objects of exquisite luxury as markers of authority, defining a distinct style that was copied by different social classes throughout the empire. Early democratic Athens rejected Persian culture as decadent yet adopted luxury in intriguing ways. Alexander then swept aside the Persian empire and ushered in a new age in which eastern and western styles of luxury were fused. [...] [T]hese treasures are outstanding examples of ancient metalworking and demonstrate the influence of Persian and Greek luxury across the Balkans.""-- ""This is London"" ""The measure of luxury is subjective, a point illustrated beautifully by The British Museum in this fascinating collection of objects dating from 550 to 30 BC.""-- ""Harrods Magazine"" ""This dazzling British Museum exhibition tells how Persian bling merged with Western tastes, after Alexander the Great defeated the Persians.""-- ""Londonist"" ""This stunning exhibition explores how luxuries were used as markers of authority, and how they influenced different social classes in ancient times.""-- ""iNews"" ""Luxury and Power: Persia to Greece, the British Museum's stunning new exhibition, spans ancient Iran, Athens and the reign of Alexander the Great.""-- ""Sphere Magazine"" ""Luxuriously illustrated... Luxury and Power challenges the Western narrative that presents Persian rulers as opulent despots and instead invokes archaeology, architecture, and literature to demonstrate that the Greeks both appreciated and adapted Persian modes of luxury and power into their own repertoire.""-- ""Asian Review of Books"" ""Shaping up to be one of the British Museum's most crowd-pleasing exhibitions in many years, Luxury and Power: Persia to Greece is the story of exquisitely-crafted works in gold, silver and glass...""-- ""Radio 3 (BBC)"""