부산대학교 도서관

This chapter situates the figure of Alexander in the Neṣḥānā in relation to the well-known phenomenon of the imitatio Alexandri, adopted by Roman historiographers and imperial propagandists to relate Eastern, “Persian,” campaigns led by Roman generals and emperors to the glorious antecedent of Alexander’s war against the Achaemenid Empire. The chapter highlights the political connotations of the image of Alexander as a kosmokrator in the mid- sixth century. Through this peculiar characterization of Alexander, the Syriac author not only expressed his anti-Sasanian feelings, which culminate in Alexander’s prophecy about the imminent collapse of the Sasanian Empire, but also criticized Justinian for his inability to repeat Alexander’s glorious deeds against the Persians and for his poor achievements in the conflict against the Sasanian enemy. In the Neṣḥānā the figure of Alexander is thus a nemesis of the Byzantine ruler. The chapter also notes the parallel between the Neṣḥānā and the Julian Romance, drawing attention to similarities between the characterizations of Alexander and Jovian in the two works—both of which criticize Justinian.