Suggestions for what next?

[daveh]

Greetings all... I'm a newcomer to the board and to study of Alexander the Great -- so the movie "Alexander" did at least one good thing in that it got someone like me very interested in the topic. The first book I got a hold of was Robin Lane fox's biography, and I have now also just finished Peter Green's "Alexander of Macedon," and I'm pretty well hooked on the topic.My question for you all is what you would suggest moving on to now... keep reaing some contemperary works like Bosworth or maybe go to something like Arrian, or Plutarch. Curtius? Any suggestions or inpout would be much appreciated. I'm assuming it probably really wouldn't matter what I moved on to next, but I sitll thought I'd throw this out and here from some of you all and at least make an introduction on the board. Thanks in advance and I've enjoyed reading over the posts in the last few weeks... hopefully I'll be joining in on the discussions in the near future.-DaveH

[xxx]

I would have suggested you read the original souces first - Arrian (especially) Plutarch (available on the web) Curtius, Diodorus (available on the web) and later Justin (available as a translation by Yardley and Heckel with excellent footnotes) and form your own opinions. Conquest and Empire by Bosworth is the best modern biography out there because it offers little opinion and mostly history. For a good short piece read The Mask of Command by Keegan, the chapter on Alexander. After that explore the recent literature.

[beausefaless]

Greetings Dave,Donald W. Engels: Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian ArmyAll of these books mentioned are very good ones but; Most people don't realize without logistics Alexander would not have been able to conquer his back yard let alone most of the known world, besides a well *trained* army and the cunning to make the right decisions before and during battle, this was the nucleus of his success.Regards, Andrew

[ruthaki]

Dave, enjoy your journey with this magnificent man!
I really liked Steven Pressfield's recently released historical-fiction "Virtues of War" which is told in Alexander's voice. An interesting, easy read. And of course any of Mary Renault's 3 books, in particular (the best& first) Fire From Heaven; the Persian boy and (least impressive) Funeral Games. I got caught up with Alexander when I was 16 and that's practically a life-time away. The stories and the histories never cease to amaze me.

[susan]

I've got Arrian and Justin online ( http://www.alexander-sources.org) , and hope soon to have the Metz Epitome & Liber de Morte as well. The site is a labour of love so please bear with problems. On other sites, Curtius is available online in Latin, and you can download it in English if you pay $10, but I'm not sure if the latter is legitimate. Once I find a legitimate source I'll add it to my site - I think that the Alexander sources should be readily available to all people who are interested, not just to those who can pay for Western academics' translations.

[Halil]

Hello RuthRe: Pressfield - I'd be wary of him. His book lacks Alexander's voice although written from Alexander's pov. He researched him for the book, but most people who know the subject well feel he hasn't captured Alexander's essence. His motive was commercial and you really can't get near Alexander if you approach him from that angle.RegardsHalil

[Halil]

Tre:I agree totally.Dave: Steep yourself in the sources. Get a feel for the times. Form your own opinion.Andrew: I agree totally about the logistics. Many people overlook this. Too many people concentrate on the ancient "gossip" about Alexander and pay no attention to the rest. They seem to stop where Alexander has only just begun.CheersHalil

[smittysmitty]

Hi Dave,my recommendation is to stick with the original sources as mentioned by Tre. Modern accounts rarely enlighten and usualy form fairly subjective points of view, with emphasis placed on the words 'points of view'. Apart from that, there usualy quite expensive books to buy :(cheers!

[marcus]

I agree with Andrew about "Logistics". However, I feel one ought to read at least Arrian first, to get a better understanding of what Engels is talking about much of the time.But it seems the general consensus is, quite rightly, that the next step should be to read the ancient sources. Plutarch's a relatively easy starter, but read Arrian and Curtius before moving on to Diodorus and Justin (I think). Don't ignore the various introductions to whatever editions you read, though, because with all the sources it's worth understanding where they fit in, date wise, and to get a feel for their reliability (although people's ideas about each source's reliability is changing all the time, with Justin and Diodorus much less maligned now than they used to be).All the bestMarcus

[Jooles]

A brief comment: I also found "The Marshals of Alexander's Empire" by Waldemar Heckel extremely interesting. It covers in detail the lives of all the main protagonists and some of the minor ones too. Very expensive though!!! A new book by Heckel is coming out next year I presume on the same topic but with Persian characters added.

[marcus]

Hi Julia,Glad you like "Marshals" - it's my bible!I believe you're right, that next year's book will include Persian characters, as well as Greek and Macedonian non-military personnel. It's priced at about -ú50, so I expect it will be extremely valuable as a resource; although I have yet to find out whether the biographies included will be as detailed as those in "Marshals".All the bestMarcus

[jona]

Most has already been mentioned by others, but I would not neglect the video by Michael Wood, *In the footsteps of Alexander the Great*. It offers fine views of the sites that A. visited; the book is carelessly written.The best intro to the sources at the moment is, without reservation, Battistini's *Alexandre le Grand. Histoire et Dictionaire*. It has broken all sources in pieces, and then tells the story of Alexander bit for bit, and leaves it to the sources. So you get three different accounts of Troy, four accounts of Granicus, two of Sardes, et cetera. Absolutely brilliant, the only general intro in 2004 that is a must-read.Jona

[jona]

Another good book with many sources is Waldemar Heckel & J.C. Yardley, *Alexander the Great. Historical Sources in Translation* (said to be 2004, in fact 2003); yet there's a caveat, as you can read here: http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2004/2004-02-13.htmlJona