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Howe discusses Alexander in South Africa

By Claire Carlson '12
July 12, 2011

This June, Associate Professor of History Timothy Howe presented two invited papers as a funded guest of the University of South Africa.

For the first paper, Howe argued that Alexander the Great did not found the Egyptian city of Alexandria. "Instead, different African rulers — from the Ptolemies to the modern Egyptians — have constructed a mythic history of that city in order to create a legacy and back-story that was suitably Great," he says. Howe gave this talk at Rhodes University as part of the Classical Association of South Africa's Biennial Meetings.

Howe presented his second paper at a seminar that focused on the relevance of ancient history in the modern world. There, he discussed the different terrorist and insurgent movements in Africa and Greece that opposed Alexander the Great, and how these ancient military movements aid in understanding current realities on the African continent.

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.