mercenary source

[alejandro]

Dear allI was lately reading some articles (quite old, must be said, around the 40s and 50s) about Alexander, and I found a reference to a "Mercenary source", especially for the pre-Gaugamela phase of Alex's conquests. It is supposed to be the narrative of a (Greek?) mercenary (Memnon's?), and provides information of the Persian side that, the author argues (could it be Tarn? I don't remember), couldn't be known by Ptolemy/Aristobulos/Nearchos.
I think I read also a rebuttal to the existence of this source in more recent articles, but I don't remember the argument used to discredit it and cannot remember the article where I read it.
Did you know about this alleged source? Is it an "academically accepted" one, or was discarded as a fiction? What were the reasons for accepting/rejecting it?
All comments will be welcome.
Kind regardsAlejandro

[agesilaos]

Tarn is indeed the culprit. He liked to break down the sources into neat little boxes which accorded more to his prejudices than serious historiography.Curtius contains much that seems to be seen from the Persian side including a detailed account of Bessos et al's treason. Tarn saw a mysterious mercenary source here but since the details are frequently at odds with Herodotos' statements about Persian customs and stem more likely from Kleitarchos' imagination (the depiction of oriental tyranny and luxury were stock fare for poor historians) ; and let's remember his father wrote a 'Persika'.

[marcus]

It was indeed Tarn, and the refutation was by PA Brunt.However, while reading a footnote in my copy of Arrian in Loeb, Brunt appears to be saying that he retracted his refutation... so now I'm confused. Perhaps if I could track down his articles it would become clearer!All the bestMarcus

[ScottOden]

In 'The Generalship of Alexander the Great', Gen. Fuller parrots Tarn's idea of a mercenary source, though he claims it was Diodorus who made use of it. I guess this accounts for Diodorus' occasional pro-Persian slant. The attribution can be found on the first page dealing with the siege of Halicarnassus.Oh, can anyone with a copy of Heckel's 'Marshals...' please tell me what became of Polyperchon; the date he died, especially.Thanks in advance,Scott Oden

[agesilaos]

That would be because Diodoros and Curtius both used Kleitarchos.Polyperchon was reconciled with Kassander after the murder of Herakles and is last heard of as a general of Kassander in the Peloponnese, I don't think his date of death is known.

[alejandro]

thanks guys. it was really helpful
alejandro