In this authoritative book John Grainger explores the foundations of Alexander's empire and why it did not survive after his untimely death in 323 BC.

Presents a short history of Alexander the Great's conquest of the Persian empire, from the Mediterranean to Central Asia. This book sets the rise of Alexander's short-lived empire within the broad context of ancient Near Eastern history under Achaemenid Persian rule, as well as against Alexander's Macedonian background.

Brill’s Companion to the Reception of Alexander the Great offers a considerable range of topics, of interest to students and academics alike, in the long tradition of this subject’s significant impact, across a sometimes surprising and comprehensive variety of areas. Arguably no other historical figure has cast such a long shadow for so long a time. Every civilisation touched by the Macedonian Conqueror, along with many more that he never imagined, has scrambled to “own” some part of his legacy. This volume canvasses a comprehensive array of these receptions, beginning from Alexander’s own era and journeying up to the present, in order to come to grips with the impact left by this influential but elusive figure.

This exciting new edition includes a selection of the most significant and representative published articles and chapters about Alexander and covers all the main areas of debate and discussion in Alexander scholarship.

Born the son of a powerful king, Alexander the Great worried that there would not be any land left for him to conquer by the time he took over the throne. Instead, while he was still in his twenties, he ruled one of the largest empires in history. But before he could lead, he had to learn . . . from some of the greatest teachers in the history of the world.

Alexander's defeat of the Persian Empire in 331 BC captured the popular imagination, inspiring an endless series of stories and representations that emerged shortly after his death and continues today. An art historian and archaeologist, Boardman draws on his deep knowledge of Alexander and the ancient world to reflect on the most interesting and emblematic depictions of this towering historical figure.0Some of the stories in this book relate to historical events associated with Alexander's military career and some to the fantasy that has been woven around him, and Boardman relates each with his customary verve and erudition. From Alexander's biographers in ancient Greece to the illustrated Alexander "Romances" of the Middle Ages to operas, films, and even modern cartoons, this generously illustrated volume takes readers on a fascinating cultural journey as it delivers a perfect pairing of subject and author.

Alexander the Great: A New History combines traditional scholarship with contemporary research to offer an innovative treatment of one of history's most famous figures. Written by leading experts in the field Looks at a wide range of diverse topics including Alexander's religious views, his entourage during his campaign East, his sexuality, the influence of his legacy, and his representations in art and cinema Discusses Alexander's influence, from his impact on his contemporaries to his portrayals in recent Hollywood films A highly informed and enjoyable resource for students and interested general readers

Alexander the Great is one of the most famous men in history, and many believe he was the greatest military genius of all time (Julius Caesar wept at the feet of his statue in envy of his achievements). Most of his thirteen year reign as king of Macedon was spent in hard campaigning which conquered half the then-known world, during which he never lost a battle. Besides the famous set-piece battles (Granicus, Issus, Gaugamela, Hydaspes), Alexander's army marched thousands of miles through hostile territory, fighting countless smaller actions and calling for a titanic logistical effort.There is a copious literature on Alexander the Great, but most are biographies of the man himself, with relatively few recent works analyzing his campaigns from a purely military angle. This book will combine a narrative of the course of each of Alexander's campaigns, with clear analysis of strategy, tactics, logistics etc. This will combine with Stephen English's The Army of Alexander the Great and The Sieges of Alexander the Great, to form a very strong three-volume examination of one of the most successful armies and greatest conquerors ever known.

Why was it that 2400 years ago the people who had recently conquered the world were unable to stop barbarian Galatians from looting the tombs of their revered royal line? Why was it that the Macedonian state virtually created by Philip II and taken to the heights of epochal triumph by his son Alexander the great had, hardly two generations after his death , became a weaker entity than it had been when the young conqueror had crossed the Hellespont? This was a period during which Cassander and Lysimachus had seemed about to construct durable Europe based polities and had seen the likes of Demetrius Poliorcetes and Pyrrhus of Epirus battling and besieging across Macedonia,Thrace and Greece. The story that unfolds here explores how both the unique character and the particular legacy left when Alexander died at Babylon in 323 ,at the romantically youthful age of 32 , ensured that his homeland failed to gain the kind of imperial dividend that accrued to others of the world’s great Empires. For Macedon there was not the thousand years of glory that was the extraordinary destiny of the Romans, nor even the two hundred years of Persian primacy, only 50 or so years of strife and trauma ending in a Galatian deluge that threatened the sacred site at Delphi and had remarkable parallels to the earlier Persian invasions of the Greek world that Alexander had claimed to avenge.

A re-assessment of Alexander the Great's death, exposing a conspiracy by Alexander's generals after his death to undermine his empire. Alexander the Great conquered the largest empire the world had ever seen while still in his twenties but fell fatally ill in Babylon before reaching 33 years old. His wife Roxanne was still pregnant with what would be his only legitimate son, so there was no clear-cut heir. The surviving accounts of his dying days differ on crucial detail, with the most popular version claiming Alexander uttered ‘to the strongest’ when asked to nominate a successor on his deathbed. Decades of ‘civil war’ ensued as Alexander’s hard-won empire was torn asunder by generals in the bloody ‘funeral games’ his alleged final words heralded in. The fighting for supremacy inevitably led to the extermination of his bloodline. But was Alexander really so short-sighted and irresponsible? Finally, after 2,340 years, the mystery is unravelled. In a forensic first, David Grant presents a compelling case for what he terms the ‘greatest succession cover up of all time’. Alexander’s lost Last Will and Testament is given new credibility and Grant deciphers events that led to its erasure from history by the generals who wanted to carve up the empire for themselves.