Alexander, the Invincible by Peter G. Tsouras

[smittysmitty]

The fullest account of the injury sustained at Cyropolis comes from Curtius.[7.6.22]...and he himself also faced extreme danger when he was struck so severely on the neck by a stone that everything went dark and he collapsed unconscious.The severity of the blow left him sore of speech for at least a few weeks, where Curius picks up on ATG now on the Tanais river preparing to deal with the Scythians.[7.7.5]...He still had not recuperated from his wound, and in particular he had difficulty inspeaking, a condition arising from a sparse diet and the pain in his neck.[7.7.20] Such were Alexander's words, which were spoken in a quavering voice that became increasingly feeble, so that it was difficult even for those next to him to hear.The problem may be a transliteral one, that of what the Greeks meant as neck may also have included throat?

[jan]

Hi Marcus,Weigall's book was published in 1933, just prior to World War II. His interest was primarily Egyptology. He has written a book on Cleopatra as well, and critics claimed that he was the only author who seemed to bring life to Alexander. He turns him into a living personality. He speaks very glowingly of him, in his optimism, his intellect, his physical appearance. All in all, he creates a very likeable Alexander, but he includes all the annihilations of each city that he plundered. He is the only author I have read that points out that Alexander deterred many such plunderings, and protected women and children from rape many times. In other words, Alexander kept his Macedonians under control, but always knew when it was too much to ask that they not be allowed to plunder this time round, which was naturally Persepolis. He had to let them have their way.(On that note, I will confide that I had another vision or dream of Alexander and his Macedonians this morning that overwhelmed me. I can hardly believe it yet, as it is still in my mind. Imagine these thousands of men racing across a plain at such a mad pace in such a mad pack, I mean literally thousands, racing at top speed, screaming their war cries, and speeding like nothing anyone can truly imagine...it was so frightful I realized right away why anyone who was smart simply fled. I honestly do not know now why anyone would have ever dared to take them on. It gave me an insight into the care of the horses, the power surge that was within that warrior pack like nothing I have ever seen. I know that nothing like this will ever be seen in any film, for I doubt that anyone has even thought of it. I certainly hadn't and realized that this kind of thing is simply not recorded. But I had the moment, and it absolutely floored me. I know that anyone who knows why it is Alexander ran after Darius so knows that he and his men did the same to Bessus and others. The kind of determination is so mindboggling that nobody could do anything but fear him or submit to him. It sure as heck impressed me. I am really admiring the few tribes and cities that did attempt to stand up to him, but they would have been so much better off just to have surrendered. So whether a butcher or not, Weigall does prove that the timing of his book's release with the rise of Adolph Hitler is something to think about.Alexander was more than a force to be reckoned with. When the phrase thundering past is

[amyntoros]

Thanks again for the references, Tre. I don't have Hammond, but checked Fox and he does quote "all of a sudden, he shouted with pain as if struck through the liver with an arrow." However, Fox is quoting from the Romance after giving a brief account of its origins. Weigall declined to mention this. :-)Linda Ann

[xxx]

Unfortunately, I do most of my writing on the Forum at the office and I don't have my books there with me so I have to rely on my memory mostly, which is subject to question far more often than I'd like

[yiannis]

Good point! People back then used their memory much, much more than we do. Writting and books were not easily available for quick refference and people HAD to remember.
Don't forget that Iliad and Oddysey were passed over by mouth for generations.
Plato and Socrates even went as far as to condemn (!) the use of writing because it made people lazy and moreover they supported the idea that people who memorized philosophy tended to put it in action as well rather than keep in on a self...This is a really interesting topic that deserves a lot of discussion (come to think about it, I don't even remember any more the phone numbers of the people closest to me!)

[jan]

For you, Dean, I wrote samples from the book. Jan