Read complete books and articles on: Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great - or Alexander III, 356–323 b.c., king of Macedon, conqueror of much of Asia.

Youth and Kingship

Alexander the Great - or Alexander III, 356–323 b.c., king of Macedon, conqueror of much of Asia.

Youth and Kingship

The son of Philip II of Macedon and Olympias, he had Aristotle as his tutor and was given a classical education. Alexander had no part in the murder of his father, although he may have resented him because he neglected Olympias for another wife. He succeeded to the throne in 336 b.c. and immediately showed his talent for leadership by quieting the restive cities of Greece, then putting down uprisings in Thrace and Illyria. Thebes revolted on a false rumor that Alexander was dead. The young king rushed south and sacked the city, sparing only the temples and Pindar's house.

Conquests

Greece and the Balkan Peninsula secured, Alexander then crossed (334) the Hellespont (now the Dardanelles) and, as head of an allied Greek army, undertook the war on Persia that his father had been planning. The march he had begun was to be one of the greatest in history. At the Granicus River (near the Hellespont) he met and defeated a Persian force and moved on to take Miletus and Halicarnassus. For the first time Persia faced a united Greece, and Alexander saw himself as the spreader of Panhellenic ideals. Having taken most of Asia Minor, he entered (333) N Syria and there in the battle of Issus met and routed the hosts of Darius III of Persia, who fled before him.

Alexander, triumphant, now envisioned conquest of the whole of the Persian Empire. It took him nearly a year to reduce Tyre and Gaza, and in 332, in full command of Syria, he entered Egypt. There he met no resistance. When he went to the oasis of Amon he was acknowledged as the son of Amon-Ra, and this may have contributed to a conviction of his own divinity. In the winter he founded Alexandria, perhaps the greatest monument to his name, and in the spring of 331 he returned to Syria, then went to Mesopotamia where he met Darius again in the battle of Guagamela. The battle was hard, but Alexander was victorious. He marched S to Babylon, then went to Susa and on to Persepolis, where he burned the palaces of the Persians and looted the city.

He was now the visible ruler of the Persian Empire, pursuing the fugitive Darius to Ecbatana, which submitted in 330, and on to Bactria. There the satrap Bessus, a cousin of Darius, had the Persian king murdered and declared himself king. Alexander went on through Bactria and captured and executed Bessus. He was now in the regions beyond the Oxus River (the present-day Amu Darya), and his men were beginning to show dissatisfaction. In 330 a conspiracy against Alexander was said to implicate the son of one of his generals, Parmenion; Alexander not only executed the son but also put the innocent Parmenion to death. This act and other instances of his harshness further alienated the soldiers, who disliked Alexander's assuming Persian dress and the manner of a despot.

Nevertheless Alexander conquered all of Bactria and Sogdiana after hard fighting and then went on from what is today Afghanistan into N India. Some of the princes there received him favorably, but at the Hydaspes (the present-day Jhelum River) he met and defeated an army under Porus. He overran the Punjab, but there his men would go no farther. He had built a fleet, and after going down the Indus to its delta, he sent Nearchus with the fleet to take it across the unknown route to the head of the Persian Gulf, a daring undertaking. He himself led his men through the desert regions of modern Baluchistan, S Afghanistan, and S Iran. The march, accomplished with great suffering, finally ended at Susa in 324.

Discord and Death

At Susa Alexander found that many of the officials he had chosen to govern the conquered lands had indulged in corruption and misrule. Meanwhile certain antagonisms had developed against Alexander; in Greece, for instance, many decried his execution of Aristotle's nephew, the historian Callisthenes, and the Greek cities resented his request that they treat him as a god. Alexander's Macedonian officers balked at his attempt to force them to intermarry with the Persians (he had himself married Roxana, a Bactrian princess, as one of his several wives), and they resisted his Eastern ways and his vision of an empire governed by tolerance. There was a mutiny, but it was put down. In 323, Alexander was planning a voyage by sea around Arabia when he caught a fever and died at 33. After his death his generals fell to quarreling about dividing the rule (see Diadochi). His only son was Alexander Aegus, born to Roxana after Alexander's death and destined for a short and pitiful life.

Legacy

Whether or not Alexander had plans for a world empire cannot be determined. He had accomplished greater conquests than any before him, but he did not have time to mold the government of the lands he had taken. Incontestably, he was one of the greatest generals of all time and one of the most powerful personalities of antiquity. He influenced the spread of Hellenism throughout the Middle East and into Asia, establishing city-states modeled on Greek institutions that flourished long after his death. There are many legends about him, e.g., his feats on his horse Bucephalus and his cutting of the Gordian knot. The famous Greek sculptor Lysippus did several studies of Alexander.

Bibliography

Arrian and Plutarch wrote biographies of him in ancient times, and the literature of the Middle Ages romanticized his life. See also study by D. W. Engels (1978); modern biographies by C. B. Welles (1970), R. L. Fox (1974), N. G. L. Hammond (1981), and A. B. Bosworth (1989).

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16 of the Best Books and Articles on: Alexander the Great

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

Brill's Companion to Alexander the Great » Read Now
by Joseph Roisman. 400 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Many important issues surrounding Alexander the Great's conquest have captured the interest of scholars and general readers since antiquity. This book acquaints us with these issues and their current interpretations, and opens up new directions of investigation as it confronts them. It covers a...
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Many important issues surrounding Alexander the Great's conquest have captured the interest of scholars and general readers since antiquity. This book acquaints us with these issues and their current interpretations, and opens up new directions of investigation as it confronts them. It covers a broad range of topics: the ancients' representations of the king in literature and art; Alexander's relations with Greeks, Macedonians, and the peoples of Asia; the military, political, sociological, and cultural aspects of his campaigns; the exploitation of his story by ancient philosophers to argue a moral point and by modern communities to affirm or contest ethnic and national identities. This volume will be of interest to scholars and nonspecialists alike and serve as a standard reference work for years to come.
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2.

Alexander the Great » Read Now
by Richard Stoneman. 126 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Alexander the Great by Richard Stoneman is an introduction to the career and impact of the great Macedonian conqueror and the main themes of his reign. As well as tackling problems of interpretation, the author includes:* An examination of the written and other sources and the problems of working...
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Alexander the Great by Richard Stoneman is an introduction to the career and impact of the great Macedonian conqueror and the main themes of his reign. As well as tackling problems of interpretation, the author includes:* An examination of the written and other sources and the problems of working with them* Discussion of archaeological and numismatic evidence* An outline of the Macedonian background* Insight into Alexander's education and ideas* Exploration of Alexander's claim to divinity* Assessment of Alexander's short and long-term achievements* A study of his influence in antiquity
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3.

The Wars of Alexander the Great, 336-323 B.C. » Read Now
by Waldemar Heckel. 95 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

An insight into the achievements of one of the greatest generals ever known, this text examines the military advancements of the fourth century BC and explains how, under the leadership of Alexander the Great, the first Greek empire was born.
4.

Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Empire » Read Now
by A. R. Burn. 297 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...ALEXANDER THE GREAT and the Hellenistic Empire is one...James A. Williamson Catherine the Great and the Expansion of Russia , by Gladys...Basil Williams Frontispiece...
5.

Alexander and the East: The Tragedy of Triumph » Read Now
by A. B. Bosworth. 218 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

In this study, Bosworth looks at Alexander the Great's activities in Central Asia and Pakistan, drawing a bleak picture of massacre and repression comparable to the Spanish conquest of Mexico. He investigates the evolution of Alexander's views of empire and concept of universal monarch, and...
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In this study, Bosworth looks at Alexander the Great's activities in Central Asia and Pakistan, drawing a bleak picture of massacre and repression comparable to the Spanish conquest of Mexico. He investigates the evolution of Alexander's views of empire and concept of universal monarch, and documents the representation of Alexander by historians of antiquity. The book is directed to specialists and general readers alike.
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6.

Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus: Books 11 & 12: Alexander the Great » Read Now
by J. C. Yardley . 360 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Pompeius Trogus, a Romanized Gaul living in the age of Augustus, wrote a forty-four book universal history (The Philippic History) of the non-Roman, Mediterranean world. This work was later abbreviated by a certain M. Junianus Justinus, better known as Justin. This volume presents the first modern...
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Pompeius Trogus, a Romanized Gaul living in the age of Augustus, wrote a forty-four book universal history (The Philippic History) of the non-Roman, Mediterranean world. This work was later abbreviated by a certain M. Junianus Justinus, better known as Justin. This volume presents the first modern English translation and scholarly commentary on Books 11-12 of Justin's so-called 'Epitome' of the history. These books constitute one of the five major sources for the history of Alexander the Great and belong to the so-called 'Vulgate' tradition, which in the opinion of many scholars derives ultimately from the lost historian Clearchus of Alexandria. The original work of Pompeius Trogus appears to have had stylistic and historical influences on the better known History of Alexander by Quintus Curius Rufus. In this volume the authors tease out and differentiate as far as possible the relative contributions of the historian Trogus and the 'epitomator' Justin. The commentary examines the relationship of Justin-Trogus to both the extant sources and the works of the lost Alexander historians, and a serious attempt is made to explain errors or deviations from well-known sources in terms of the methods of historian and 'epitomator' before resorting to the expedient of textual emendation. A second volume, covering books 13-15, is forthcoming.
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7.

Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions » Read Now
by Frank L. Holt. 198 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

"Frank Holt probably knows more than anyone alive about the mysterious Greek kingdoms in Bactria and on the frontiers of India that were one of the odder legacies of Alexander's Eastern conquests. The literary evidence is sparse, the coins remain ambiguous, the topography defeats all but the...
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"Frank Holt probably knows more than anyone alive about the mysterious Greek kingdoms in Bactria and on the frontiers of India that were one of the odder legacies of Alexander's Eastern conquests. The literary evidence is sparse, the coins remain ambiguous, the topography defeats all but the toughest. Holt's forays into this world are those of a clever and persistent detective: he loves cracking problems, and the tougher they are, the better. This time--very properly beginning by invoking the name of Sherlock Holmes--he has given us what Conan Doyle would probably have called 'The Adventure of the Elephant Medallions.' Debate has raged over the scene these portray ever since the first was discovered. A cavalryman with a lance confronts an opponent on an elephant. Who are they? What is the occasion? Guesses have ranged from Alexander to the Greco-Bactrian monarch Eucratides, from Porus at the Jhelum to Darius at Gaugamela. Using his numismatic and historical skills like a Holmesian magnifying-glass, Holt takes us through the theories, deftly explodes the fallacies, and comes up with a (for me) entirely cogent and satisfying solution. He has also, somewhere along the way, acquired a really marvelous prose style. Not only is the problem in itself a page-turner; Holt also throws in, by way of introduction, the best short impressionistic account of Alexander's career I have ever read. This is high scholarship at its most exciting."--Peter Green, author of "Alexander of Macedon, 356-323 B. C.: A Historical Biography
"[This book] brings to a wider audience one of the few contemporary pieces of evidence for the image and ideology of Alexander the Great. While relatively well known to expertsin the field, the 'elephant medallions' of the title are far less well understood, and have thus played a smaller part, in popular accounts of Alexander than they
probably should. Holt's book offers a well thought out int
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8.

Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History (Chap. 10 "Philip II and the Rise of Macedon" and Chap. 11 "Alexander the Great") » Read Now
by Sarah B. Pomeroy, Stanley M. Burstein, Walter Donlan, Jennifer Tolbert Roberts. 514 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

The book introduces readers to the history and civilization of ancient Greece in all its complexity and variety, from its first beginnings in the Bronze Age (c. 3000 BC) through the Hellenistic Era (c. 150 BC). Employing a truly balanced approach to history -- integrating its political, military...
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The book introduces readers to the history and civilization of ancient Greece in all its complexity and variety, from its first beginnings in the Bronze Age (c. 3000 BC) through the Hellenistic Era (c. 150 BC). Employing a truly balanced approach to history -- integrating its political, military, social and cultural aspects -- the authors show how the early Greeks borrowed from their neighbours but eventually developed a distinctive culture all their own marked by astonishing creative, versatility, and resilience. They go on to trace the complex and surprising evolution of Greek civilization to its eventual dissolution as it merged with a variety of other cultures. Using the physical evidence of archaeology, the written testimony of literary texts and inscriptions, and anthropological models based on comparative studies, this book provides an account of the Greek world that is thoughtful and sophisticated while remaining accessible to readers who know little or nothing about Greece. The four renowned authors of this book, whose interests range from the study of women in the ancient world to military and diplomatic history, have produced a lively, up-to-date and balanced account of rich civilization.
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9.

A History of the Greek World from 479 to 323 B.C. (Chap. XI "The Conquests of Alexander" and Chap. XII "The Empire of Alexander") » Read Now
by M. L. W. Laistner. 494 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
10.

A History of Greece (Chap. XVII "Philip of Macedon" and Chap. XVIII "Alexander and Greece") » Read Now
by Cyril E. Robinson. 482 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
11.

The Origins of War: From the Stone Age to Alexander the Great » Read Now
by Arther Ferrill. 240 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

"An excellent reference." San Diego Union "A clear, well-organized survey of the stratagem & tactics of early warfare, true to its sources, fascinating in scope." Northwest Review of Books
12.

Alexander the Great: The Invisible Enemy A Biography » Read Now
by John Maxwell O'Brien. 336 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Despite Alexander the Great's unprecedented accomplishments, during the last seven years of his life, this indomitable warrior became increasingly unpredictable, sporadically violent, megalomaniacal, and suspicious of friends as well as enemies. What could have caused such a lamentable...
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Despite Alexander the Great's unprecedented accomplishments, during the last seven years of his life, this indomitable warrior became increasingly unpredictable, sporadically violent, megalomaniacal, and suspicious of friends as well as enemies. What could have caused such a lamentable transformation?This biography seeks to answer that question by assessing the role of alcohol in Alexander the Great's life, using the figure of Dionysus as a symbol of its destructive effects on his psyche. The unique methodology employed in this book explores various aspects of Alexander's life while maintaining an historical framework. The exposition of the main theme is handled in such a way that the biography will appeal to general readers as well as scholars.
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13.

Warfare in Ancient Greece: A Sourcebook (Chap. 4 "The Rise of Macedonia") » Read Now
by Michael M. Sage. 252 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Warfare in Ancient Greece assembles a wide range of source material and introduces the latest scholarship on the Greek experience of war. The author has carefully selected key texts, many of them not previously available in English, and provided them with comprehensive commentaries.For the Greek...
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Warfare in Ancient Greece assembles a wide range of source material and introduces the latest scholarship on the Greek experience of war. The author has carefully selected key texts, many of them not previously available in English, and provided them with comprehensive commentaries.For the Greek polis, warfare was a more usual state of affairs than peace. The documents assembled here recreate the social and historical framework in which ancient Greek warfare took place - over a period of more than a thousand years from the Homeric Age to Alexander the Great. Special attention is paid to the attitudes and feelings of the Greeks towards defeated people and captured cities.Complete with notes, index and bibliography, Warfare in Ancient Greece will provide students of Ancient and Military History with an unprecedented survey of relevant materials.
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14.

The Alexandreis of Walter of Chatillon: A Twelfth-Century Epic: A Verse Translation » Read Now
by Walter of Chatillon, David Townsend. 252 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

David Townsend's translation - the first ever into English verse - affords modern readers a vivid sense of the aesthetic appeal and sophisticated artistry of Walter's poem. A concise introduction sets out the poem's background and significance in literary history, while also suggesting how Walter's...
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David Townsend's translation - the first ever into English verse - affords modern readers a vivid sense of the aesthetic appeal and sophisticated artistry of Walter's poem. A concise introduction sets out the poem's background and significance in literary history, while also suggesting how Walter's text resonates with the literary sensibilities of our own times. Townsend's explanatory notes, adapted in large part from glosses in the surviving manuscripts, allow modern audiences a remarkable glimpse into the ways in which medieval readers of the Alexandreis must have understood the poem.
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15.

From Arrian to Alexander: Studies in Historical Interpretation » Read Now
by A. B. Bosworth. 240 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

This book provides a new perspective on the sources of Alexander's reign by rigorously examining the methods of historians of the time, particularly those of Arrian. Revealing Arrian's attitude toward his subject matter, approach to sources, techniques in writing speeches, and the degree to which he...
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This book provides a new perspective on the sources of Alexander's reign by rigorously examining the methods of historians of the time, particularly those of Arrian. Revealing Arrian's attitude toward his subject matter, approach to sources, techniques in writing speeches, and the degree to which he imposed his own judgement of his subject matter, Bosworth presents a clearer and more accurate picture of the persona of Alexander the Great, while offering new insights into two vital problems of documentation--the Royal Journals and the purported Last Plans.
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16.

Alexander's Final Resting Place: Andrew Chugg Pinpoints the Emperor's Long-Lost Tomb, in History Today » Read Now
by Andrew Chugg. 7 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library