Alexander the Great

by Robin Lane Fox

  Most historians have had their own Alexander, and a view of him which is one-sided is bound to have missed the truth. There are features which cannot be disputed; the extraordinary toughness of a man who sustained nine wounds, breaking an ankle bone and receiving an arrow through his chest and the bolt of a catapult through his shoulder. He was twice struck on the head and neck by stones and once lost his sight from such a blow. The bravery which bordered on folly never failed him in the

  front line of battle, a position which few generals since have considered proper; he set out to show himself a hero, and from the Granicus to Multan he left a trail of heroics which has never been surpassed and is perhaps too easily assumed among all his achievements. There are two ways to lead men, either to delegate all authority and limit the leader's burden or to share every hardship and decision and be seen to take the toughest labour, prolonging it until every other man has finished. Alexander's method was the second, and only those who have suffered the first can appreciate why his men adored him; they will also remember how lightly men talk of a leader's example, but how much it costs both the will and the body to sustain it.

  Alexander was not merely a man of toughness, resolution and no fear. A murderous fighter, he had wide interests outside war, his hunting, reading, his patronage of music and drama and his lifelong friendship with Greek artists, actors and architects; he minded about his food and took a daily interest in his meals, appreciating quails from Egypt or apples from western orchards; from the naphtha wells of Kirkuk to the Indian 'people of Dionysus' he showed the curiosity of a born explorer. He had an intelligent concern for agriculture and irrigation which he had learnt from his father; from Philip, too, came his constant favour for new cities and their law and formal design. He was famously generous and he loved to reward the same show of spirit which he asked of himself; he enjoyed the friendship of Iranian nobles and he had a courteous way, if he chose, with women. Just as the eastern experience of later crusaders first brought the idea of courtly love to the women's quarters of Europe, so Alexander's view of the East may have brought this courtesy home to him. It is extraordinary how Persian courtiers learnt to admire him, but the double sympathy with the lives of Greece and Persia was perhaps Alexander's most unusual characteristic. Equally he was impatient and often conceited; the same officers who worshipped him must often have found him impossible, and the murder of Cleitus was an atrocious reminder of how petulance could become blind rage. Though he drank as he lived, sparing nothing, his mind was not slurred by excessive indulgence; he was not a man to be crossed or to be told what he could not do, and he always had firm views on exactly what he wanted.

  With a brusque manner went discipline, speed and shrewd political sense. He seldom gave a second chance, for they usually let him down; he had a bold grasp of affairs, whether in his insistence that his expedition was the Greeks' reverse of Persian sacrilege, though most Greeks opposed it, or in his brilliant realization that the ruling class of the Empire should draw on Iranians and Macedonians together, while the court and army should stand open to any subject who could serve it. He was generous, and he timed his generosity to suit his purpose; he knew better than to wait and be certain that conspirators were guilty. As a grand strategist, he took risks because he had to, but he always attempted to cover himself, whether by 'defeating' the Persian fleet on dry land or terrorizing the Swat highlands above his main road to the Indus: his delay till Darius could do pitched battle at Gaugamela was splendidly aggressive and his plan to open the sea route from India to the Red Sea was proof of what wider insight into economic realities to which his Alexandria in Egypt still bears witness. The same boldness encouraged the fatal march through Makran; he had tactical sense, whether on the Hydaspes or in the politics of Babylon and Egypt, but self-confidence could override it and luck would not always sec self-confidence through. Here, it is very relevant that rational profit was no more the cause of his constant search for conquest than of most other wars in history. Through Zeus Ammon, Alexander believed he was specially favoured by heaven; through Homer, he had chosen the ideal of a hero, and for Homer's heroes there could be no turning back from the demands of honour. Each ideal, the divine and the heroic, pitched his life too high to last; each was the ideal of a romantic.

  A romantic must not be romanticized, for he is seldom compassionate, always distant, but in Alexander it is tempting to see the romantic's complex nature for the first time in Greek history. There are the small details, his sudden response to a show of nobility, his respect for women, his appreciation of eastern customs, his extreme fondness for his dog and especially his horse; deliberately his court artists created a romantic style for his portrait and it was perhaps characteristic that from the sack of Thebes the one painting which he took for himself was of a captive woman, painted in the intensely emotional style which only a romantic would have appreciated. He had the romantic's sharpness and cruel indifference to life; he was also a man of passionate ambitions, who saw the intense adventure of the unknown. He did not believe in impossibility; man could do anything, and he nearly proved it. Born in a half-world between Greece and Europe, he lived above all for the ideal of a distant past, striving to realize an age which he had been too late to share;

  'My friend, if by deserting from the war before us

  You and I would be destined to live for ever, knowing no old age,

  "We would do it; I would not fight among the first,

  I would not send you to the battle which brings glory to men.

  But now as things are, when the ministers of death stand by us

  In their thousands, which no man born to die can escape or even evade,

  Let us go.'

  No man ever went as far as Alexander on those terms again. The rivalry of Homer's hero Achilles was revived by his successor, King Pyrrhus, but he lacked the talent for outright victories against Rome and in Sicily and he died in failure, struck down by a woman. The rivalry then faded only to the tombstones of late Roman gladiators, who called themselves by names from Homer, last heroic champions in an age when a hero's prospect had narrowed from the world to the arena and the circus.

  Within five years of Alexander's death his Asian Successors gathered near Persia as if to discuss their differences; they could not be brought so much as to sit together, until the suggestion was made of Alexander's royal tent, where they could talk as equals before Alexander's sceptre, his royal robes and his empty throne. These men had been his officers, but they would not take common counsel without his unseen presence. A mood had gone out of the court with his death, and they knew it. Only a lover of Homer can sense what that mood must have been.

  NOTES

  general note on sources

  For convenience throughout the book, ‘I cite many quotations or opinions in the name of Alexander's original historians, Callischenes, Ptolemy, Aristobulus, Nearchus and Onesicritus. I cannot stress too strongly that all these quotations and opinions are only known at second or third hand, as rephrased by other classical writers often four hundred years later, some of whom might be writing on banqueting, geography or grammar. No word or phrase can be assumed to have been retained from the original, especially as the Macedonian authors were known as poor stylists, but sometimes the secondary sources name their original authorities, and at others the original names can be restored, almost certainly, by comparison and cross-argument. In these rare cases, instead of writing 'said Aristobulus, as quoted by Strabo the Augustan geographer', I have just written 'said Aristobulus'. I only do so in cases where I regard the original's identity to be certain and I only imply that the general sense, not the wording, is authentic.

  A brief introduction to the names behind the quotations: Callisthenes was born in Olynthus in north-east Greece, a town wrecked by Philip, and was a kinsman, probably a cousin, of Alexander's tutor Aristotle. He was employed as an already proven historian to write up Alexander's exploits in Asia, if not before. Ptolemy the Macedonian was Alexander's friend from boyh
ood and served as his officer. He wrote a history after Alexander's death, whose date of publication is unknown. He ruled Egypt after Alexander's death and founded the dynasty of the Ptolemies. Nearchus was a Cretan by birth who resided in the Greek town of Amphipolis which Philip had conquered and added to Macedonia; he too was a friend from boyhood and ended as Alexander's admiral, publishing a memoir of his service, again after Alexander's death. Onesicritus, from Astypalaea on the island of Cos, had studied under the philosopher Diogenes and ended by serving as a high officer in Alexander's fleet; his fanciful work was probably the first to appear after Alexander's death. Aristobulus is of unknown origin, though the name is known at Olynthus, home town of Callisthenes and close to his eventual residence in Cassandreia; he served Alexander, his only known task being to repair Cyrus's tomb at Pasargadac. Perhaps he was an architect and in view of the apologetic tone of his history, it is tempting to call him the Albert Speer of the Alexanderreich. He began writing at the age of eighty-four, at least twenty-three years after Alexander's death. One other historian matters: the little-known Cleitarchus, whose father had written a colourful history on Persia and who began life, probably, in the Ionian town of Colophon, a place with a long tradition of poets. He wrote in a lofty rhetorical style and was considered untrustworthy, though skilful. He is not known to have followed Alexander or witnessed his career, but he wrote by 310 b.c., within thirteen years of Alexander's death, and he read the published

  work of Callisthenes, Onesicritus and Nearchus. He is said to have settled in Egypt's Alexandria where he may have talked to Maccedonian officers and veterans, for his work ran into more than ten books and had access to accurate detail. The main secondary authors are Arrian, a Greek from Bithynia (north-west Turkey) who rose to be a Roman consul under the emperor Hadrian and wrote his Expedition of Alexander, probably in later middle age, c. a.d. 150. He had read widely, but composed mainly from Ptolemy, Aristobulus and, for the last three books, Nearchus. Diodorus of Sicily lived perhaps c. 20 b.c. and produced a universal history by abbreviating original histories as casually as possible, confusing their datings and choosing incidents as much for their moral content and their proof of fortune's vicissitudes as for their historical value; in his Book 17, he dealt with Alexander simply by cutting down the work of Cleitarchus and adding a few of his own comments. Justin lived perhaps c. a.d. 150 and is a third-hand source, abbreviating the work of Trogus, an educated Gaul probably from the Augustan age (c. 10 b.c.) whose book has not survived ; his sources often show traces of Cleitarchus, also of Aristobulus and Callisthenes, but as cut down by Justin, his narrative is very wild and cannot be usefully dissected. Perhaps Trogus used one of the many later composers who wrote between his own date and the original histories. The Roman Quintus Curtius wrote a history of Alexander whose Books 3-10 survive; like Diodorus, he makes full use of Cleitarchus, heavily rephrasing him in his own Roman manner, and he intertwines another source, close to one of Arrian's, perhaps Aristobulus more often or rather, than Ptolemy. I believe he read and translated their originals from Greek. His date is unknown but there is a senator mentioned in Tacitus who would fit him neatly; if so, I guess he wrote c. a.d. 45 with a lively memory of the late emperor Caligula, whose favour for Alexander and alleged taste for oriental customs were much to the dislike of senatorial contemporaries and were sometimes recorded in words which match Curtius's own on Alexander. Other clues in his book support this; moreover, his account of the succession debates after Alexander's death can be interestingly compared with the crisis in a.d. 41 when Caligula died and Claudius (said to be feeble-minded, like Philip's bastard son Arrhidacus) compelled the nobles to accept him.

  Lastly there is Plutarch, the Greek from Chaeronea, whose Life of Alexander reflects his wide reading and memory of a full range of the original histories, rephrased in his own terms of the early 2nd century a.d. and sometimes marred by slips of detail. His biography was one of a series arranged in parallel pairs; Alexander paralleled Caesar. He also wrote rhetorical works defending Alexander against the charge that he was more lucky than talented.

  It is always easy to blame the inadequacies of Alexander's contemporary historians, but we should remember that no Greek had previously recorded the exploits of a living king in a mood of accuracy, without moralizing or writing panegyric, and that there was never a king before or since with exploits as vast as Alexander's.

  INDEX

  Abdalonymus, King, 180 Abu Dhahir. 228

  Achilles. 44, 59-62, 64-7, 112-15, 122,

  155. 168, 193, 215, 216, 313 Achilles the Athenian, 223 Ada, Queen of Caria, 135, 136, 139,

  176, 405 Admetus, 190 Adriatic Sea, 17, 84, 90 Aegean Sea, 26, 102, 134, 178, 189, 198 Aeolia, 129, 130 Acropus, 37

  Acschines, ambassador, 46

  Aeschylus, 48, 94

  Action, painter, 317

  Afghanistan, 50, 63, 101, 200, 267, 279,

  292, 314, 482 Africa, 75

  Agamemnon, King, 60, 63, 64, 65 Agathocles, 480 Agathon, dramatist, 48 Aghurmi, 207

  Agis. King of Sparta, 185, 199, 223-4,

  226, 252, 454 Ahriman, 152

  Ahura Mazda, 99, 152, 213, 229, 257, 273

  Aigai. 19, 20, 26, 30, 31, 36, 39, 68

  Aisopus, R., 119

  Ajax, 112, 114

  Albania, 34

  Alectas, 431

  Alcibiades, 322

  Alexander the Great: early life, 18, 20, 22-8, 31-66; and army, 68-73, 75. 77. 79-80; in Thrace, 81-90; background to Persian campaign, 91-6, 98-104; Troy, 109, m-15; battle at Granicus, 116-24; frees Asian cities, 126-36; siege of Halicarnassus, 137-42; at Phaselis and Gordium, 143-51; moves against Darius, 152-6, 158, 160-7; battle at Issus, 168-77;

  Tyre and Gaza, 178, 180-93; to Egypt, 194-218; seeks out Darius, 219-32; battle at Gaugamela, 233-42; at Babylon and Susa, 244-56; Persepolis, 258-64; heir to Darius's empire, 267-78; conspiracy with Parmenion and Philotas, 279-91; at Balkh, 292-307; and Clcitus, 308-314; marriage to Roxane, 315-19; and Callisthenes, 320-30; invades India, 331-49; battle against Porus, 351-62; retreat, 363-72; siege of Multan, 375-380; plans new expedition, 381-6; Makran and Kirman, 387-402; Susa, 403-20; Hamadan, 421-35; deification, 436-60; death, 461-72; aftermath, 473-98

  Alexander IV, s. of Alexander, 474 Alexander, King of Epirus, 20, 90, 164, 278

  Alexander, Prince of Lynccstis, 36, 37, 40, 86, 145, 146, 164, 285, 288, 463

  Alexandretta, 177

  Alexandria, 66, 182, 198, 199, 200, 204, 205, 212, 213, 221

  Alexandropolis, 42

  Alcxarchus, 446

  Alinda, 136

  Amasis, Pharaoh, 202

  Ambhi, rajah, 339, 347, 351, 360, 404

  Ammon, god, 200-8, 210, 211, 214, 216, 217, 219, 222, 224, 376, 385, 401, 443- 444. 446. 451-2, 456, 458, 476

  Amphotcrus, 153 Amritsar, 371, 372 Amun, god, 197, 201-4, 208-9, 212, 213, 221

  Amyntas III, 38, 165, 166, 175, 194, 195, 284

  Amyntas III, King of Macedonia, 53, 440

  Amyntas IV, formerly king, 35,

  37-9.287 Amyntor, 56

  Anahita, goddess, 104, 131, 141 Anakyndaraxes, 163 Anarxarchus, 324, 430, 475 Anchialus, 163 Ancyra, 154 Androsthenes, 51 Antalcidas, 157 Antigone, 287

  Antigonus, S2, 149, 187, 403 Antioch, 361 Antiochus I, 481

  Antipater, 134, 147, 185, 199, 223, 282,

  329,468, 471, 475-7; genera lin

  Macedonia, 31, 36-40, 52, 56, 60; in

  Thrace, 81, 86-7, 89-91; rebellion,

  152-3; Spartan uprising, 252-3, 414;

  and Olympias, 452, 453, 463

  Aornos, 343

  Apellcs, painter, 40, 49, 50, 130, 131,

  443. 449 Apis, Egyptian god, 196 Apollo, 21, 23, 126, 211, 213, 215, 219 Arabia, 454, 460, 461, 476, 481, 485 Arachosia, 292 Arad, 178, 185 Arbela, 124, 228, 241, 244 Arcadia, 49, 463 Archclaus, King, 30, 31, 48, 57 Archidamus, King of Sparta, 183 Ariamazes, 318

  Aristander, 143, 149, 150, 182, 199, 231,

  232, 236, 308, 431
Aristobulus, 121, 146, 148, 150, 163,

  177. 194. 285, 309, 325, 326, 327,

  330,445. 450, 4541 quoted, 328, 365,

  399, 408, 464. 470

  Aristomencs, 217 Aristonicus, musician, 50, 314 Aristotle, 21-3, 41, 45, 53-6, 58-9, 63, 65-7. 70, 90, 94-5, ioi, 103, 144, 152, 197, 204, 248, 275, 296, 336, 350, 475 '

  Armenia, 99, 100, 156, 227-8, 233, 250,

  405. 487. 492 Arrhidaeus, s. of Philip, 35, 36, 39, 473,

  475

  Arrian, 200, 201, 204 Artabazus, Persian satrap, 50, 177, 276, 280, 298-9, 315, 317-18, 322, 410

  Artacoana, 280 Artaxerxes II, King, 157 Artaxerxes III, King, 98, 100, 105, 196, 418, 449

  Artemis, goddess, 43, 104, 126, 130,

  131, 140, 141 Asander, 290, 306 Ashdod,191

  Asia, 19, 77, 78, 81, 83, 85, 89-91, 95,

  279, 280, 293 Asoka, s. of Chandragupta, 482, 484 Aspendos, 143, 148 Assurnbanipal, King of Assyria, 163 Assyria, 165, 170, 182, 183, 246, 270 Athena, goddess, 72, 92, 112, 113, 123,

  140, 177

  Athens, 30, 39, 42, 45, 46, 48 el passim Athos, Mount, 52 Atropates, 410