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by marcus
Sun Apr 06, 2014 3:36 pm
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: Alexander the Great: Beginning the Campaign
Replies: 37
Views: 22062

Re: Alexander the Great: Beginning the Campaign

I agree with Nikas on Ellis, a really good book, for the Macedonian background I would add Eugene Borza's 'In the Shadow of Olympus' and Malcolm Errington's 'History of Macedonia' which packs alot into its 300 pages, it would be churlish not to mention N G L Hammond's 'The Macedonian State' but he ...
by marcus
Fri Apr 04, 2014 8:26 pm
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: Alexander the Great: Beginning the Campaign
Replies: 37
Views: 22062

Re: Alexander the Great: Beginning the Campaign

Though..true. It's a shame that there's no preview. I would have liked to see even at least a few pages of it. To me, even if Ptolemy has no reputation as a stylist as Agesilaos had stated....the fact it's an account made by one of Alexander's companions makes all the difference to me. Though I'm c...
by marcus
Thu Apr 03, 2014 9:12 pm
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: Alexander the Great: Beginning the Campaign
Replies: 37
Views: 22062

Re: Alexander the Great: Beginning the Campaign

Actually, even fiction is hard to find. Last I found was Manfredi's. From a personal point of view, I would strongly suggest not touching Manfredi's books with a barge-pole. I am constantly disappointed by fictional accounts of Alexander - in fact, I can't remember a single one since Mary Renault t...
by marcus
Wed Apr 02, 2014 9:16 pm
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: Alexander the Great: Beginning the Campaign
Replies: 37
Views: 22062

Re: Alexander the Great: Beginning the Campaign

Then I'll be sure to look up Marcus' suggestion. Finding them is the only problem. Lane Fox's version has long been gone from bookstores here. I've searched every bookstore in the vicinity that I can find. Through ebooks I managed to find the psuedo-Callisthenes version and I'm wondering if that's ...
by marcus
Mon Mar 31, 2014 7:12 pm
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: Alexander the Great: Beginning the Campaign
Replies: 37
Views: 22062

Re: Alexander the Great: Beginning the Campaign

And if you get the Loeb edition you get the Greek and a mass of essays by P A Brunt , the Landmark edition has good accompanying essays, the Penguin has a rather free translation and little supporting material but is cheap :D I would always suggest that the Penguin translation is the better startin...
by marcus
Mon Mar 31, 2014 7:10 pm
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Conspiracy against Philotas By Waldemar Heckel
Replies: 42
Views: 51336

Re: Conspiracy against Philotas By Waldemar Heckel

Cleitus sort of went a little further than you'd suggest with that extended hand and the comments about Alexander's pretense toward being deemed a god. But the belittling of Philip was perhaps one of the more interesting bits that came out here. And that this strange condescension against his own f...
by marcus
Sun Mar 30, 2014 9:02 pm
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: Alexander the Great: Beginning the Campaign
Replies: 37
Views: 22062

Re: Alexander the Great: Beginning the Campaign

Welcome, Kahiel. I agree with Hypaspist's suggestion, although I would add that you really can't do worse than to read the ancient sources - you have Plutarch, but get a copy of Arrian's Anabasis as well. After that you should read the other sources, but if you're just starting on your Alexandrian j...
by marcus
Sun Mar 30, 2014 9:00 pm
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Conspiracy against Philotas By Waldemar Heckel
Replies: 42
Views: 51336

Re: Conspiracy against Philotas By Waldemar Heckel

Loyalty would still have counted, had he been disloyal, or even suspected, Kleitos could have gone the way of Parmenion and Philotas; though, just maybe the fact that he was Philotas' natural replacement ensured that he was of a totally different Court Faction, the Antipatrids' perhaps since his mu...
by marcus
Sun Mar 30, 2014 1:29 pm
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Conspiracy against Philotas By Waldemar Heckel
Replies: 42
Views: 51336

Re: Conspiracy against Philotas By Waldemar Heckel

It should also be remembered that Kleitos was the ilarch of the senior squadron, the ile basilike, making him next in rank to Philotas and his most likely successor; it is frequently said that his appointment was a sop to the Old Guard but it seems more likely that Hephaistion's was intended to mit...
by marcus
Fri Mar 28, 2014 7:31 pm
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Conspiracy against Philotas By Waldemar Heckel
Replies: 42
Views: 51336

Re: Conspiracy against Philotas By Waldemar Heckel

Though, in Alexander's defense, replacing Philotas with Cleitus the Black (Hep not withstanding) was still putting another member of the old guard back in charge of the Companions. One wonders just how greatly the whole program suffered strategically, tactically, and logistically as a result of thi...
by marcus
Thu Mar 27, 2014 7:58 pm
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Conspiracy against Philotas By Waldemar Heckel
Replies: 42
Views: 51336

Re: Conspiracy against Philotas By Waldemar Heckel

A few years older and already working with his father and Philip. The interesting aspect of this conjecture is that Philotas would have had already some expertise and perhaps specialism in militaristic matters but without a formal education. Thus, groomed for military life solely and completely whi...
by marcus
Mon Mar 24, 2014 7:33 pm
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Conspiracy against Philotas By Waldemar Heckel
Replies: 42
Views: 51336

Re: Conspiracy against Philotas By Waldemar Heckel

Does anybody know whether or not Philotas, or any of Parmenion's sons, were taught at Mieza by Aristotle? As far as I recall, without running upstairs to my library, we have no certain identification of any of the students with Alexander at Mieza. We can make a few assumptions, based on comments ab...
by marcus
Tue Mar 18, 2014 8:56 pm
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Parmenion, Paeonian chief?
Replies: 16
Views: 9562

Re: Parmenion, Paeonian chief?

'Paul Cartledge runs the whole gamut of Alexander scholarship, from A to B!' to paraphrase... :roll: As Dorothy Parker would have said ... :D I wonder how far it could be called a "by-product", however, as it must have been written before the film was released. (The film was released in 2...
by marcus
Mon Mar 17, 2014 8:23 pm
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Parmenion, Paeonian chief?
Replies: 16
Views: 9562

Re: Parmenion, Paeonian chief?

Marcus, thank you for the "warning" about Worthington's book on Alexander. I was considering taking this book in the library but now I think I am going to skip this reading. I'm glad I have it in my library, but I really don't think it's a particularly good book, and rather too hysterical...
by marcus
Sat Mar 15, 2014 7:35 pm
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Parmenion, Paeonian chief?
Replies: 16
Views: 9562

Re: Parmenion, Paeonian chief?

From some of your former comments it seems that Worthington considers the Upper Macedonians non-Macedonian, this is b#ll#cks, of course, I have not got this book but was not impressed with his Alexander; I will have to check in J R Ellis' "Philip IIand Macedonian Imperialism" which did im...