Alexander the Great
The Story of an Ancient Life

This book explains what made Alexander 'Great' according to the people and expectations of his time and place.

Thomas R. Martin (Author), Christopher W. Blackwell (Author)

9780521148443, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 28 September 2012

208 pages, 2 maps
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.29 kg

'… well edited … the authors have told an interesting tale and one whose argument provides an interesting foil to the bulk of contemporary Alexander scholarship.' David W. Madsen, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Everything we know about Alexander comes from ancient sources, which agree unanimously that he was extraordinary and greater than everyday mortals. From his birth into a hypercompetitive world of royal women through his training under the eyes and fists of stern soldiers and the piercing intellect of Aristotle; through friendships, rivalries, conquests and negotiations; through acts of generosity and acts of murder, this book explains who Alexander was, what motivated him, where he succeeded (in his own eyes) and where he failed, and how he believed that he earned a new 'mixed' nature combining the human and the divine. This book explains what made Alexander 'Great' according to the people and expectations of his time and place and rejects modern judgments asserted on the basis of an implicit moral superiority to antiquity.

1. The world of Alexander's birth and his education in literature and warfare (350s and 340s BC)
2. Opportunities and risks as a teenager (340s to 338 BC)
3. The danger in replacing a murdered father as king (337 to 335 BC)
4. The opening battles against the Persian army (334 to 332 BC)
5. Finding god in Egypt and capturing the riches of Persia (332 to 330 BC)
6. Winning the world as king of Asia (330 to 329 BC)
7. Murder, marriage, and mixing customs in Afghanistan (329 to 327 BC)
8. Victory and frustration in India (327 to 326 BC)
9. Returning to Babylon and becoming divine (326 to 323 BC)
10. Remembering and judging Alexander (323 BC to now).

Subject Areas: Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], Biography: historical, political & military [BGH]