ABSTRACT
It may seem superfluous to observe that Alexander, as King of the Makedones, represented the apex of the power pyramid. Nevertheless, it is salutary to note that in his relationship with the Makedonian aristocracy, the army, and (to a lesser extent) with his civilian subjects the King’s power was the product of negotiation, both from the beginning of his reign and on a daily basis. 1 That is not to say that he was in any great danger of losing his control over the army—although even this was threatened on occasions 2 —but rather that, despite the ancient sources’ fondness for depicting Alexander as corrupted by oriental practices, the shift from primus inter pares to despot was neither fully realized nor entirely objectionable to those who stood to gain most from a more centralized and autocratic style. 3
