Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Quick run-down of the channel at 6 months, with reminders of what's available on the channel. And for those who've wondered what "Mathetria" means, it's "woman scholar" in ancient Greek.
LINKS:
My CV (resume)
jeannereames.net/cv.html
Some publications available online
https://unomaha.academia.edu/JeanneReames
Website about the novels
jeannereames.net/Dancing_with_the_Lion/DwtL.html
My Tumblr:
tumblr.com/jeannereames
Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/mathetria.bsky.social
Quick run-down of the channel at 6 months, with reminders of what's available on the channel. And for those who've wondered what "Mathetria" means, it's "woman scholar" in ancient Greek.
LINKS:
My CV (resume)
jeannereames.net/cv.html
Some publications available online
https://unomaha.academia.edu/JeanneReames
Website about the novels
jeannereames.net/Dancing_with_the_Lion/DwtL.html
My Tumblr:
tumblr.com/jeannereames
Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/mathetria.bsky.social
![Alexander in Roman Memory & Alexander the Tourist with Dr. Jennifer Finn
Dr. Jennifer Finn joins us to talk about her recent book on Alexanders use and presentation by Roman autocrats, as well as her current project on [Royal] tourism in the ancient world, and how ancient rulers used these Grand Tours to demarcate their empires.
In addition, she describes her own journey to not one, but TWO PhDs, one focusing on ancient Greece and Alexander, and the other on the ancient near east. This gives her more languages, and thus, more texts, than traditional Hellenists use. Oh, and shes also a marathon runner and triathlete too.
https://luc.academia.edu/JenniferFinn
Loyola Classics: https://www.luc.edu/classicalstudies/index.shtml
First book: https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9781501504969/html
Second book: https://press.umich.edu/Books/C/Contested-Pasts
ANCIENT FIGURES MENTIONED:
Cyrus: also known as Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian Empire (ca. 550 BCE, on his takeover of the Median Empire and then the city of Babylon in 539 BCE). His tomb was located at the first Persian capital, Pasargadae.
Agrippa: the right-hand man and very able naval commander of Augustus (he also married Augustus’ daughter, Julia), he produced a map detailing all of Augustus’ holdings.
Nabonidus: last king of the Neo-Babylonian dynasty (r. 556-539 BCE), also known in scholarship as “the first archaeologist.”
Marduk: the preeminent and patron god of Babylon, he is the subject of the epic Enuma Elish (The Babylonian Epic of Creation).
Diodorus: late first century BCE author of a universal history that covers mythological times to the late Roman Republic. Book 17 is entirely devoted to the reign of Alexander the Great.
Nebuchadnezzar II: king of the Neo-Babylonian dynasty (r. 605-562 BCE), he was well known for revivifying and beautifying the city of Babylon. Alexander in Roman Memory & Alexander the Tourist with Dr. Jennifer Finn](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/btZl4soegik/mqdefault.jpg)

![Did Alexander Think He Was a God?
Netflix subtitled their recent docudrama on Alexander the Great, The Making of a God. Its a misleading title, even if it might have seemed like a sexy ones, or at least provocativeto bring in viewers. But when Alexander called himself the son of Zeus-Ammon, he didnt mean he was some Greek Jesus.
We talk here about how the Greeks understood levels of divinity, from primordial and concept deities, to the Titans and Olympians (most familiar in myths), to Chthonic deities, lesser divinities, and daimones (little divine things). ALL were immortals as opposed mortals (human beings).
But there was also this between category of HEROES like Herakles who received cult (worship), but who also DIED. This provided a kind of on-ramp for real people to put a toe on the cloak of divinity. From colony/city founders (after death) to Brasidas (after death) to Lysander (while alive) to Philip II (ATGs daddy) to Alexander himself. Not to mention the special role [Macedonian] kings had as possessors of royal charisma (which separated kings from mere tyrants).
For longer discussion: How to Become a Hero https://www.tumblr.com/jeannereames/671883872002277376/did-alexander-post-siwah-really-think-himself-a Did Alexander Think He Was a God?](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ezV3kg6vJTU/mqdefault.jpg)






![How Alexander Used Myth: Love the One Youre With
Inspired by an exchange in the comments to a prior video, here I look at Alexanders approach to religion (and myth) as a polycentral strategy. Post-Granikos, Alexander increasingly began to center his religious actions on WHERE he was, rather than send dedications back home to Macedonia and Greece. This also included how he utilized myth, elevating gods, and heroes, as appropriate to the places he passed through. So Achilles (et al.) mattered at Troy. Herakles mattered at Tyre (and the Aornos Rock). Dionysos mattered in India. Etcetera. In short, Alexander tailored his (religious) message to each place he visited, and selected from the (very rich) Greek religio-literary heritage the appropriate mythological reference.
Prior Videos referenced:
https://youtu.be/r5ZBXgGhCTE?si=G0cXuwG7oA5pAV2G (Alexanders Favorite Hero)
https://youtu.be/td9wCLEClUg?si=YMB3QLL3ikPsUczZ (Bad Research & Over-Romanticism)
https://youtu.be/ezV3kg6vJTU?si=ggjIS1ZTUzaSxgO7 (Did Alexander Think He Was a God)
https://youtu.be/3x3NswCB1E4?si=PVQJawLEW4MsDBTy (Alexander the Tyrant![?])
Ancient Sources mentioned: Plutarch, Arrian, Diodorus, Justin & Curtius
Places referenced: Troy, Tyre & the temple of Melquart, Babylon and the Etemenanki [ziggurat] and the Esagila [Temple of Marduk])
Modern articles referenced:
Ralf von den Hoff (2020) “Alexander’s Dedications to the Gods: Sacred Space, Pious Practice and Public Legitimition,” in K. Trampedach and A. Meeus, eds. THE LEGITIMATION OF CONQUEST: Monarchical Representation and the Art of Government in the Empire of Alexander the Great. Stuttgart, 99–121. https://www.steiner-verlag.de/The-Legitimation-of-Conquest/9783515127813
Jeanne Reames (2025) Philip’s and Alexander’s Use of Religious Cult
in Our Extant Sources, in E. M. Anson, ed. BRILLS TO THE CAMPAIGNS OF PHILIP II AND ALEXANDER THE GREAT. Leiden, 429-76. https://brill.com/abstract/title/71317 How Alexander Used Myth: Love the One Youre With](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/l_bRw4-Hr94/mqdefault.jpg)
