Alexander the Great: Selections from Arrian, Diodorus, Plutarch, and Quintus Curtius

This compelation of exerpts from all the major ancient sources that realte to Alexander the Great is a good source if you require a compact straight forward document on Alexander's highlights. Although it doesn't replace the full editions of the books it quotes from, it is a very handy - and inexpensive - source book that can be very handy if you don't want to wade through reams of pages of evidence. It can also give you an idea of a starting point to look at in the full editions.

Alexander the Great, was born on or around July 20, 356 B.C.E., and is my favorite personality to read about in history. To me he is the whole package general, statesman, conqueror, and philosopher. The smartest man who ever lived, Aristotle, tutored him. Alexander conquered more of the known world than any other figure in history, accomplishing all this before he dies at the ripe old age of 33. Some people called him conqueror and violent overlord. Some other called him civilizer and even God! All of them yet, called him "The Great". He was the first man in modern history that took this name, "The Great"! Even as a young boy, he shows great promise. Diodorus a Greek historian who lived from 80-20 BCE wrote 40 books of world history. He is an uncritical compiler who used good sources and produced them faithfully. His work is one of the oldest works available and is based on eyewitness accounts. He does a better job than most in explaining the battle scenes, and seems to be more balanced in his admiration and criticism of Alexander then any of the other early biographers. I love his Bucephalus Story, and I recount it here so you get a flavor of the promise this young Alexander shows. The legend begins with Philoneicus, a Thessalian, bringing a wild horse to Philip for him to buy. None of the hands was able to handle it, and Philip grew upset at Philoneicus for bringing such an unstable horse to him. Alexander, however, publicly defied his father and claimed that he could handle the horse. The bet between Philip and Alexander was that if Alexander could ride the horse, Philip would buy it, if not, Alexander would have to pay the price of the horse, which was 13 talents, an enormous sum for a boy of Alexander's age to have. Alexander apparently noticed that the horse had been shying away from its own shadow, and so he led it gently into the sun, so that its shadow was behind it, all the while stroking it gently and whispering into its ear, (Alexander seems to be the original horse whisperer). Eventually the horse let Alexander mount him, and Alexander was able to show his equestrian skill to his father and all who were watching. The incident so impressed Alexander's father, King Philip that he told the boy "Look thee out a kingdom equal to and worthy of you, for Macedonia is too little for thee". He named the horse Bucephalus, which means Ox head, and rode it across Asia, founding a city in its honor in India after its death. This story gives you an inkling about the man. This book is a necessary read for students of Alexander, I also recommend Plutarch's and Arrian's work, and from contemporary writers, J. F. C. Fuller and Tarn. Most of Alexander's greatest military traits are in the area of military logistics and to understand his genius in this area I highly recommend reading, "Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army," by Donald W. Engels. As a retired U. S. Army Major, I recommend this book to anyone who is interested

In what can only be described as historic irony, the short and tumultuous career of Alexander I of Macedonia marked the start of the slow decline of direct Greek participation within the scope of ancient-world politics; but it also ushered in the period of that civilization's most profound cultural influence. In just a dozen years, the Mediterranean world had changed forever, the political landscape reshuffled and its known boundaries expanded. But just as pioneers in any field are beholden to those who came before, the world's first great conqueror displayed many values of the ancient society from which he sprang and paid homage to several ideals that pervaded the culture of ancient Greece from its prehistory to his own time. This work is an annotated journey through Alexander's life as recounted by the ancient chroniclers Arrian, Diodorus, Plutarch, and Quitus Curtius. It is not modernized, or summarized. It is a true historian's read, not a popular manifestation of Alexander's story. Like reading Herodotus or Thucydides, it is history written by historians who are, themselves, a part of history. That being said, everything we know (or think we know) about Alexander was recorded by these chroniclers. This is the historical basis of the popular image of Alexander. And what about that image? Ironically, the very act of bridging the gap between civilizations and exposing the world to more and more scrutiny that, in the end, is Alexander's most important legacy, was the very mechanism that insured that he would never become a god in the ancient tradition. Alexander was a transitional figure in history - both a destroyer of old values and the creator of new ones. Like the great Colossus of Rhodes, Alexander's life bestrides the strait dividing the ancient world from its next incarnation, the Hellenistic Age, the era that - thanks to Alexander and no other - introduced the enduring values of ancient Greece to the known world and beyond.