Hey Veeky Forums, im looking for books about Alexander the Great. Could you recommend me some?

Not really. He was certainly great, but it is easily forgotten that the guy almost had it all handed to him on a silver platter by his father and by chance. The awesome army, the consolidated Greek hegemony, the Persians being in the middle of a fuckhuge civil war, the recent death of the Persian king etc.

this
why waste hours of your time reading accredited, peer reviewed books when you could just watch a 10mins YT review by B A S E D John Green?

>things were going his way
that's literally the case of every conquerors. What makes them great is how well the exploited those opportunities.

True, but it isn't like he faced impossible odds and triumphed. He had the most formidable and battle hardened soldiers around.

No different than Cyrus and his fearaome cavalry. He exploited the troubles the neo-babylonians and lydians were experiencing to sway the land. Good timing, proper resource managment and luck is all you need to be one of the Greats.

Alexander's scolding of his mutinous Macedonians at Opis. This is I think a good example of how he saw himself and his conquests, though very likely not exactly what he said.

Alexander the Great by Paul Cartledge

As someone who mainly focused their studies on Alexander John Green has NO fucking idea what he's talking about.

All these plebs going on about how conquering the Persian Empire wasn't a big deal are fucking retarded. It would be the equivalent of The Philippines conquering the USA.

The best intro book to read is Peter Green's Alexander of Macedon. Then go with Arrian, Plutarch, Justin, Diodorus.

What about Curtius Rufus's book?

Are the any books you would recommend avoiding?

While I don't agree with Bosworth I wouldn't recommend avoiding him.

I totally forgot about Curtius, he's definitely worth read as he's a good contrast to Plutarch.

Hamilton is definitely worth reading too.

...

Thanks, of the ancient works which is the most accessible to a modern reader?

pothos.org/content/index75c4.html?page=top-10-books

This list is kind of old but it was made by Alexanderbu's and scholars.

I recently read Ian Worthington's "By The Spear" and it was a lot of fun.

He argues extensively for Phillips place alongside Alexander's conquests and greatness.

Great and short-read if youre looking to get in on the fun that is Alexander.

Plutarch. Arrian is a close second, but Arrian jumps right from when Alexander's first campaign begins, whereas Plutarch gives more detail about Alexander's early life/childhood.

Arrian is however the most important written source for Alexander's life.

If you have time for a commute, I strongly reccomend picking up The Great Courses lecture series "Alexander the Great and the Macedonian Empire". It serves as a linear narrative, setting up the 50 years or so before Alexander and the end of the first Diadochi wars afterwards. It's really good, easy to follow along with and very in depth in terms of comparing and contrasting theories. Honestly I could email you a copy for Audible for free if you want.

>WHY ALEXANDER WEPT by James Baldwin

ALEXANDER with his little army overran all the western part of Asia.

"The world is my kingdom," he said.

He conquered Persia, which was then the greatest and richest country known. He burned the mighty city of Tyre. He made himself the master of Egypt. He built, near the mouth of the Nile River, a splendid new city which he called, after his own name, Alexandria.

"What lies west of Egypt?" he asked.

"Only the great desert," was the answer. "To the farthest bounds of the earth there is nothing but sand, sand, burning sand."

So Alexander led his army back into Asia. He overran the country beyond the great river Euphrates. He crossed the grassy plains that lie along the shores of the Caspian Sea. He climbed the snowy mountains that seem to overlook the world. He gazed northward upon a desolate land.

"What lies beyond?" he asked.

"Only frozen marshes," was the answer. "Mile after mile, mile after mile, to the farthest bounds of the earth there is nothing but fields of snow and seas of ice."

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So Alexander led his army back toward the south. He overran a large part of India. He subdued one rich city after another. At last he came to a mighty river called the Ganges. He would have crossed the river, but his soldiers would not follow him.

"We go no farther," they said.

"What lies to the east of this wonderful stream?" asked Alexander.

"Only tangled forests," was the answer. "Mile after mile, mile after mile, to the farthest bounds of the earth there is nothing else."

So Alexander caused ships to be built. He launched them on another river called the Indus, and with his army floated down to the sea.

"What lies farther on?" he asked.

"Only trackless waters," was the answer. "Mile after mile, mile after mile, to the farthest bounds of the earth there is nothing but the deep sea."

"Truly, then," said Alexander, "all the inhabited world is mine. West, north, east, south, there is nothing more for me to conquer. But, after all, how small a kingdom it is!"

Then he sat down and wept because there were not other worlds for him to conquer.

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Thanks for you help user,

any fun anecdotes you learned about Alexander and the campaigns that pop culutre has missed?

Alexander the Great got hit in the neck by artillery at the siege of Gaza. Once Gaza was taken he went all Achilles on the commander of the Gaza defence and dragged his ass from a chariot around Gaza three times.

When Alexander fled from his father after the whole "Can't cross from one couch to another incident" he began basically formulating a coup with the help of the Agrianians. After Cleopatra Eurydike gave birth to a girl however Philip realised he was being dumb.

Alexander the Great's mother Olympias burned Cleopatra Eurydike's infant son alive in front of her and then gave the poor woman some rope (with which she proceeded to hang herself with).

Alexander went on a solo commando mission while reconing for timber because one of his boy-school days teacher's was cold and then needed some fire.

Thats some pretty brutal and reckless stuff,also was that teacher Aristotle?

What are some of the myths and memes wrongly attributed to him?

Any other areas of ancient history interest you?

Maybe. Every conqueror beyond Julius Caesar was either trying to LARP him or Julius. But the circumstances certainly did arrange in his favor

Augustus was a big fan of Alexander's apparently

I'm into lots of history, but the only stuff I really consider myself properly well versed in is Alexander and the Hellenistic period.

Bump

So bad I can't believe it's not bait.
Hannibal, Caesar, Pompey, Augustus, Caracalla, and millions more throughout history, they all knew him to be the greatest, and he most certainly was.

pastebin.com/mQyZed6u

Here is an entire bibliography by Joseph Roisman (a leading scholar in the field) for your perusal.

Some of the titles are a bit dated/ incredibly expensive. So look out for that.

Mary Renault series of books