Alexander Meeus

Lecturer

Education

M.A., PhD, KU Leuven
Habilitation, Mannheim University

Research Interests

the Hellenistic world; Greek and Roman political cultures; ancient religions; History and theory of historiography; History of knowledge; gender & ethnicity in the ancient world

Courses Taught

CLST 271 Mythology
CLST 273 Classical Tragedy
CLST 273G Classical Tragedy, Women/Gender Focus
CLST 276 World of Classical Rome
LATN 102 - Latin II

Publications/Research Listings

Select Publications:
•    Cynisca: Documenting Women in Ancient Greek Sports, in collaboration with Melanie Meaker, Christoph Begass, 2024, open access at https://fdz.bib.uni-mannheim.de/cynisca/.
•    The History of the Diadochoi in Book XIX of Diodoros’ Bibliotheke: A Historical and Historiographical Commentary (Untersuchungen zur antiken Literatur und Geschichte 149), Berlin: De Gruyter 2022.
•    The Legitimation of Conquest: Monarchical Representation and the Art of Government in the Empire of Alexander the Great (Studies in Ancient Monarchies 7), co-edited with K. Trampedach, Stuttgart: Franz Steiner 2020.
•    ‘Diodoros’ Moralizing Style, the Rhetoric of Honorary Decrees, and the Place of History in Hellenistic Society’, forthcoming in E. Franchi (ed.), Embedding ancient historiography. History, memory, society (Quaderni del Dipartimento di Lettere e Filosofia), Trento.
•    ‘Diodorus Siculus’, forthcoming in A. Ercolani & U. Livadiotti (eds.), Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Phoenician Culture III.2, Written Sources: Greek & Latin, Leuven: Peeters.
•    ‘Money and Honor: Military Compensation in the Armies of Philip and Alexander’, in E.M. Anson (ed.), A Companion to the Campaigns of Philip II and Alexander the Great, Leiden: Brill 2025, 246-263.
•    ‘Traces of Herakles’ Benefactions across the Roman Republican Mediterranean as Proof of their Historicity in Diodoros’ Bibliotheke’, Ktèma. Civilisations de l'Orient, de la Grèce et de Rome antiques 49 (2024), 129-153.
•    ‘Truth, Method and the Historian’s Character: The Epistemic Virtues of Greek and Roman Historians’, in A. Turner (ed.), Reconciling Ancient and Modern Philosophies of History (Trends in Classics – Pathways of Reception 3), Berlin: De Gruyter 2020, 83-122.
•    ‘Diadochi’, in L.T. Stuckenbruck & D.M. Gurtner (eds.), T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Second Temple Judaism, London: T&T Clark 2019.
•    ‘Life Portraits: Royals and People in a Globalizing World’, in K. Vandorpe (ed.), A Companion to Greco-Roman and Late Antique Egypt (Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World), Hoboken, NJ: Wiley 2019, 89-99.
•    ‘Introduction: Narrative and Interpretation in the Hellenistic Historians’, in A. Meeus (ed.), Narrative in Hellenistic Historiography (Histos Supplement 8), Newcastle upon Tyne: Histos 2018, 1-22.
•    ‘Ctesias of Cnidus: Poet, Novelist or Historian?’, in L.I. Hau & I. Ruffell (eds.), Truth and History in the Ancient World: Pluralising the Past, London: Routledge 2017, 172-201.
•    ‘Compilation or Tradition? Some Thoughts on the Methods of Historians and Other Scholars in Antiquity’, Sacris Erudiri: Journal of Late Antique and Medieval Christianity 56 (2017), 395-413.
•    ‘The Career of Sostratos of Knidos: Politics, Diplomacy and the Alexandrian Building Programme in the Early Hellenistic Period’, in T. Howe, E.E. Garvin & G. Wrightson (eds.), Greece, Macedon and Persia: Studies in Social, Political and Military History in Honour of Waldemar Heckel, Oxford: Oxbow Books 2015, 143-171.
•    ‘Kleopatra and the Diadochoi’, in P. Van Nuffelen (ed.), Faces of Hellenism. Studies in the History of the Eastern Mediterranean (4th century B.C.-5th century A.D.) (Studia Hellenistica 48), Leuven: Peeters 2009, 63-92.

Recent Talks:
•    ‘The “exact succession of prophets”: A vexing problem in Flavius Josephus’ argument about the Jewish canon at Contra Apionem 1.41’, The Premodern Working Group at Loyola University Chicago, 10/16/2025.
•    ‘Human affairs and the stuff of myth: The controversial contrast between to mythodes and to anthropinon at Thucydides 1.22.4’, The University of Notre Dame, Department of Classics, 04/30/2025.
•    ‘Jewish or Greek Method? Josephus’ Polemics Against Greek Historians 
(C. Ap. 1.6-39), Classical Rhetoric, and the Sociology of Knowledge’, The University of Notre Dame, Department of Classics, 03/05/2025.
•    ‘Der Vergangenheit gerecht werden? Historiographische Reflexionen über Chancen und Herausforderungen identitätspolitischer Perspektiven’, in collaboration with Julia Engelschalt, conference Wissenschaft und Aktivismus (Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für die Geschichte der Wissenschaften, der Medizin und der Technik e.V.), Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, 09/26/2024.
•    ‘Ptolemy I: Historiography as Monarchic Self-presentation and Legitimation’, International conference Schreibende Monarchen: Über Autorschaft als Mittel der Herrschaftskommunikation in globaler und transepochaler Perspektive. Interdisziplinäre Tagung, Universität Bonn, 02/29/2024.
•    ‘Forschung, Faktizität und Tradition in der griechisch-römischen Ethnographie’, Panel Zwischen Faktizität und Konstruktion: fragile Fakten als historisches und historiographisches Problem in der Alten Geschichte, 54. Deutscher Historikertag, Leipzig, 09/20/2023.
•    ‘Royal Roles and Responsibilities in the Letters of Alexander and the Diadochoi’, International conference Letter Writing and Power. Royal Correspondence as a Means of Representation in Ancient Cultures, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, 07/06/2023.
•    ‘Ancient Rhetorical Historiography in Context: The Contribution of the Sociology of Knowledge’, International conference Rhetoric and Historiography: New Perspectives, The University of Notre Dame, Rome Gateway Center, Rome, 05/19/2023. 

Work in Progress:
•    Tradition and Method in Greek and Roman Historiography (ca. 500 BCE-650 CE)
•    Rhetoric and Society in the Roman World: Law Court Speeches, Historiography, and Theological Polemics