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If Victor Davis Hanson was known as an Alexander scholar he would give new meaning to the words GÇ£Hostile TraditionGÇ¥ and leave the likes of Badian and Worthington gasping in his dust. As it is, since the release of the movie, his writings on Alexander have become more and more popular.Now I rarely get upset over negative statements or attitude. ItGÇÖs just the writerGÇÖs opinion and I see it as a challenge for him to convince me and not the other way around - if he fails, as he often does, then I see no real point in discussing his work. However, I finally set down to read some of the articles in the Great Commanders magazine, including an article by Hanson which shocked even me with its vitriol and would probably give some Pothosians apoplexy And more than that, Hanson has a way of making sweeping statements that definitely need investigation. Take a look at the following from HansonGÇÖs website, which is more or less reworked in the article:http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/ha ... htmlGÇ£The cranky philosopher and historian Callisthenes was finally done away with, and so were hundreds of Macedonian pages. Alexander, the philosopher king, introduced the popularity of both decimation and crucifixion into the Western world.GÇ¥First of all, can anyone tell me where it is recorded that after the pagesGÇÖ conspiracy *hundreds* of pages were executed? For the life of me, I recall no such event.On to the issue of crucifixion which is a favorite subject of HansonGÇÖs GÇô he almost always brings this up in one form or another in any article he writes. He is, of course, talking about the mass crucifixions at Tyre, but IGÇÖm no expert on ancient history to be able to prove or disprove this statement. Are there any records of previous mass crucifixions, or is this really the first? Somehow I canGÇÖt see Alexander doing this without some kind of precedent, no matter how angry he was with the Tyrians, yet at the same time I canGÇÖt think of a previous event in Greek history where such a punishment might also have been given. Could this, perhaps, have been a Persian tradition that Alexander had learned about? continued...

And finally on to "decimation." Hanson clarifies this in the Great Commanders article when writing about the execution of the generals Cleander and Sitacles after Alexander returned from Gedrosia. Now Curtius writes: "So he clapped them in irons and ordered the execution of 600 common soldiers responsible for putting their barbarous decisions into effect." Hanson, basing his statement on the fact that Cleander and Sitacles arrived with 5,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry says: "In short, without evidence or trial, Alexander decimated an entire corps of 6,000 men, lining up and killing one out every ten." He has no evidence of that! It is based purely on what we know about the Romans - lining up and killing every tenth man - but there's nothing to suggest that this is what Alexander did, or that he set the precedent for the Romans. And surely even the idea that this was a random selection of "victims" is a matter of interpretation. I certainly had never viewed it as such - my interpretation has always been that the 600 soldiers were known to have participated in the cruelties of Cleander of Sitacles and, indeed, had been accused by others. Or am I being na+»ve?Best regards,Linda Ann

Linda Hail&You really gotta try ignore people like this,,, They are only people trying to make a name for themselves through excesives or negatives,,, These people consotrate on the dab bits and just do on about it without any trace of why it happened or mention of what the otherside did.There was once a guy called Albert Goldstien who wrote controversial books about John Lennon and Elvis Presley, and the guyt bidnt have a good thing to say about any of them regardless of there achievenents and the mark the made on history.Linda we all know why Alexander or his troops vented there anger on the Tyrians and your right there was no wholesale massacre of pages.Of course here on Pothos we do disagree with things yet we have a good understanding of Alexander what he did and why. This guy is just someone trying to make a name for himself with controversy,,, the guy will shortly be forgotten unlike Alexander. Alexander has proved himself far and beyond I doubt the writer couldnt even get on a horse without the aid of his publisher.I can only offer you this advice Linda for these jokers. Just put them in the iggy bin it aint worth getting upset about.
Kenny

That's why I said get the Great Commanders Magazine only for the pictures, not for the articles.Hanson should have stuck to his work on Agriculture. The article is full of errors.

Hi Kenny.I'm really more curious than anything else about these particular statements. Oh, I'm sure he's wrong about the pages and I'd love to know where on earth he got that idea, but although he's no Alexander scholar, he is supposed to be an authority on Greek military history. There's a bio at:http://www.fresnostate.net/Classics/Bio ... s.htmGiven the number of books and articles he's written on ancient warfare, he *ought* to know his stuff, which is why I asked about the crucifixions and the so-called decimation. I suspect that the decimation theory is just an over-eager extrapolation, but those crucifixions at Tyre do make me wonder. . .Anyway, I wouldn't exactly say that I'm upset, but I'd be more than happy to see him refuted here. If you've ever read any of his articles on contemporary culture you'll know that he's so far on the right wing you need binoculars to see him. :-)Best regards,Linda Ann

Hello, folks I agree with my main man Kenny. Hansons comments in the Commanders magazine as well as other articles he has written are often exgerated, very one sided, and he always goes out of his way to depect Alexander as one of histories worst butchers. Like Kenny mentioned earlier in his comments, Hanson always fails to go into the complete details behind Alexanders actions and makes the issue that Alexander and his army faced seem so trivial or black and white. When things weren't as anyone who studies Alexander and his story knows that simple sometimes. I thought the magazine was a pretty good read with the exception of Hanson article. But I can see why it was added to the magainze. To add a diffrent point of view, a kind of Politically Correct thing to do. And like Kenny said there are always going to be idiots like this who publish these kinds of works to appear somewhat smarter then they are. I am sure Hanson is a brilliant man, and knows his shit. I would just ask that he study Alexanders ventures in more detail, before labeling him as one of the worlds worst butchers in history. Just not fair, and not that easy.Thanks

Linda HailI know diddly shit abou this guy,,, However your point about him been well learned in matters ancient Greek offers me a reall hindsite and maybe an explanation.I may be worong but I have a distinct feeling that Ancient Greek scholars are very anti Alexander anti Macedonian as a whole.I still maintain there is a deep resentment and very real jelousy towards Alexander.The readings of Alexannder totally go against the more popular view of ANcient Greece and democracy etc,,, In reality there culture was as corrupt and outbalanced as any they would try to lord it over.The Ancient Greek atitude is very inward looking predidice and racist. The couldnt get on see eye to eye or have the intelligence they were on the path of self distruction.As a whole in theory the Ancient Greeks should have thought and tried to interact as did Alexander and Philips whos policy was welcoming rather than excluding.Basically what I say ius that Ancient Greek scholars are as jelous as hell because Alexander and Philip took away there glory... Its basically snobbery they just dont get it that Alexander and Philip were far wider and foreward thinking than there supposedly brilliant minds.Basically they are jelous of Alexanders achievements and will no matter how silly they look with there inacuracies try to pull the great man down.We all know Alexander we accept his silly moments but as a whole he was by far the more better thinker than the ancient philosophers.As the Indian religious men said of Alexander"the first philisopher to come dressed as a soldiers"kenny.Sorry for any spelling errors I only hope my reasoning is intelligent.

Decimation and crucifiction.Its fare to say I dont know who introduced Decimation or Crucifiction. As regard to Alexander crucifying Tyranians did your auther mention in the same paragraph that the Tyranians cricifeid the people Alexander sent to negotiate with them. They were crucified on the wals of Tyre.Tyre took 7 months of toil, Tyrians crucified Macedonian envoys. The poored burning sand onto the troops. Harrased them from the walls and really did provoke Alexander and his soldiers.Does anyone realistically think the Macedonians woult take the city and say never mind boys, It was ok you crucified our boys in full view,, Of coarse there was going to be retribution.Wether Alexander invented wholesale nassacre and executions I doubt it,,, Most societies in one way or another had there own ways of ececuting.I read somewhere that Spartans took pheasant slaves and left them down a huge cravine to die.Kenny

I,for one, do not believe in the crucifixion story. How long would it take to hang that many victims? Since Alexander is always in such a hurry to get to Egypt, it is inplausible to me to believe that he took the time to construct that many crosses and to tie individually that many men. Unbelievable! No way!

But how long did it take him to build the mole?! He had more than thirty thousand men - he could have had sufficent crosses built before lunchtime! And don't forget the whole city was cleared of inhabitants - how long do you think that took? There may not be any truth in the story, but using time as a reason against it being true just doesn't work, sorry.Best regards,Linda Ann

I always thought V D were appropriate initials for Hanson because he is particularly unpleasant with regards to Alexander!I first came across his 'Alexander as the ancient worlds Hitler theory' in his 'Wars of the Ancient Greeks', which isn't bad if you ignore the anti-Alexander vitriolic attacks! He also puts forward some good arguments in his book 'The Western Way of War'. But he sure does have one hell of an axe to grind regarding Alexander.I think Kenny has a point. Maybe Hanson does bear a grudge to Alexander for outshining Classical Greece!?Kit

chris HailI aint read or even heard of this guy,,,But if as you say he has a venemous attitude towards Alexander I would bet my bottom dollar its nothing more than jelousy.I would also wager he could throw his ideas at our trusted memories and am sure after a few brief rounds we put him back in his box.With the study of Ancient Classical History there does come the type of elitism and snobbery attained to Philosophy of Aristotle, that all outside Greek is barbarian. I am more that certain he believed that of the Macedonians as well. Only he played it safe.Basically Alexander and Philip in my opinion outdid Greece at been Greek if that makes sense,, And the old time Greeks the traditionalists ie the writer you refer to just dont and wont forgive him nor give him credit.So they try as hard as they can to bellittle and bring up things that Alexander was supposed to have done or even egagerate.But what they dont do is look at themselves,,, The Greeks are just as dirty with there deeds as are the rest.Theres an old proverb."dont throw stones whilst stood in a glass house"For all the nastyness the Greeks throw at Alexander.The Greeks were killing Greeks for centuries and making lesser Greek peoples there helots and slaves.They were also selling each other out for Persian gold for longer.RegardsKenny

My God! I've read it! Such hate and anger! Nobody said that Alexander was Jesus Christ,even we Greeks. He is admired for his brilliant strategic mind not for his humanitarian feelings. It was an imperialistic war,I agree but far less bloody than others(ref to the campaigns of Xerxes and Artaxerxes against Greece).At least he wasn't killing innocent children saying "I'm sorry,it was a mistake!",a phrase that modern imperialists seem to like. And imagine its was more than 2000 years ago! Why the Egyptians accepted him as a liberator? Was he a better occupant than the Persians?
But again who cares what this liitle man has to say.
As you correctly said Alexender's name lived throughout the centuries.

In my opinion the V.D can stand for one of two meanings.Venerial Disease, Which as this guy has to many feelings of inadequencies I doublt hes been near a woman in his life other than occasional visits to chat rooms for intimate computer relations.Or it syanmds for Verbal Diorhea,,, I think with the evidence of his writings the conclusion is quite eveicent.
Kenny

Please excuse me for answering several persons' posts with one reply. I understand why VDH wouldn't be too popular here (an understatement) but I didn't want to discuss the writer as much as the things he wrote.IMHO, he is not going to "go away" if we ignore him. He has taken an extreme position regarding Alexander and has been working on it for some time - you could call him the Anti-Alexander, if you like. Particularly ince the movie came out I've seen his name attached to newspaper articles and book reviews as well as the Great Commanders article - all of them denigrating Alexander in similar fashion. Now, he is entitled to his opinion whether we like it or not - there is no law that says every writer must love or admire Alexander. The problem that I have with Hanson is that he twists facts, plays with events, and appears to downright invent history to support his opinions! This is despicable and a great shame, especially when there are scholars out there who have much more to offer, including those of the hostile tradition. I don't mind a writer voicing a negative opinion as long as he supports what he says with *facts*. VDH is an entirely different matter. When he writes on his website I can't do anything about it, but the Great Commanders magazine is a publication by the editors of Military History Magazine and MHQ. I wouldn't hesitate to write to them and give them examples of Hanson's errors and misrepresentations, but I want to be absolutely sure that I have *my* facts right - hence this thread.:-)Best regards,Linda Ann