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what would you write on?
as in - a topic that is of much debate, or much intrigue (such as alexander's relationship with his father philip, or the battle of issus for example)?

papercrane wrote:what would you write on?
as in - a topic that is of much debate, or much intrigue (such as alexander's relationship with his father philip, or the battle of issus for example)?

My list would be rather long, I'm afraid. There are many areas into which I would like to delve more deeply (and will, in time). Particular things that spring to mind are:

- Philip's death;
- the day-to-day religion of Macedonia and/or of the Royal Family (I feel there's a PhD thesis in there, somewhere);
- a proper examination of Alexander's orientalism, and his relationship with the non-Macedonian ruling classes.

There's three things that I would love to have the leisure to examine properly. When I am able to do anything about them, however, is a different matter ...

ATB

Being the "romanticizer" I am, I would write about Alexander's love life. Small it may be, but I'm sure I could find enough to write about. Maybe I would focus on his relationship with Hephaestion, or Roxane. I know it's been done, but I can't help myself!

There are so many fascinating aspects about Alexander, but the things that interest me the most are:

1. Alexander's ultimate goals - what were they and how far did he really intend to go?

2. Alexander's views of the East - did he really admire Persian and Asian culture or were his orientalizing policies simply a matter of pragmatism?

3. Alexander's philosophies about life and religious beliefs - this would include the subject of his claim to divinity. What exactly were his beliefs and thoughts?

4. Alexander's administration of the empire - how did he intend to actually rule his vast and growing empire to make it last?

5. Alexander's day-to-day management of the army - being a military buff, I'd be interested in the nitty gritty details of his relationship with the low-rank soldiers and how he kept them sharp and motivated.

6. Alexander's relationship with Olympias - to me, this one is decidedly more complex and ambiguous than Alexander's relationship with Phillip or anyone else for that matter. This was a relationship that, it seems, Alexander himself couldn't quite grasp and handle with his normal decisiveness and conviction.

These are the ones that just pop up in my mind. Essentially, they are things that we will likely really never know about. It's like dreaming about an autobiography from Alexander himself and him revealing what actually went on inside his head - everything from the very biggest in scale (from philosophies to politics) to the smallest details of personal relationships.

Ed

Everything from his birth to 'the hopes'.

An analysis of a miraculously re-discovered lost text. 'The Sacrifice at Ilion' would do nicely. OK, the chances of my being invited to do such a thing are even more remote than such a treasure being discovered, but hey, dreaming's free!
Fiona

you want on Alexander's life, but I like the question. I would suppose that you could take advantage of any discussion group and write paragraphs about what you think Alexander would have done in any scenario...I know that some members do this at discussion group websites, and I always enjoy reading those.

But in answer to your question, I find Alexander's performance in battles to be very interesting. The major part of his life is in drilling and instructing his army, is in the administration of his army, and finally, actually living and performing in all major and minor battles. Alexander always leads the way.

His second primary interest is to be a builder of cities, and I would like to explore that side of his personality and character too since so little is actually recorded about it.

Alexander is an interesting challenge with respect to his belief that he is one of the gods come to life on earth, so I would also like to explore that aspect of his legendary life.

And as I know I can do that on any number of websites, I have selected to write most of my thoughts on a diary or journal form as they have been so deeply personal to me.

For publiscation, I would still choose a serial form, as nobody can do justice to Alexander in a single novel or book.