About the book: 1982 / The book by the famous West German ancient historian G. Bengtson is a series of biographies of the rulers of the Hellenistic states formed in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East after the campaigns Alexander the Great. The author extensively covers the political history of the Hellenistic states of the 4th–1st centuries. BC e., refracted in the typical images of individual figures, uses a wide range of sources, treating, however, with great caution information of a legendary nature.