The Campaigns of Alexander (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Arrian (Author), J. R. Hamilton (Editor, Introduction), Aubrey De Selincourt (Translator)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Classics | Publication Date: October 28, 1976

Although written over four hundred years after Alexander's death, Arrian's account of the man and his achievements is the most reliable we have. Arrian's own experience as a military commander gave him unique insights into the life of the world's greatest conqueror. He tells of Alexander's violent suppression of the Theban rebellion, his defeat of Persia and campaigns through Egypt and Babylon - establishing new cities and destroying others in his path. While Alexander emerges as a charismatic leader, Arrian succeeds brilliantly in creating an objective portrait of a man of boundless ambition, who was exposed to the temptations of power.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Greek (translation)

About the Author

The details of Arrian's life (c.90AD] are uncertain, though the shape of it indicates a man of wide and varied talents. He was governor to the Emperor Hadrian, the author of a number of works of non-fiction and an Athenian citizen. In 145 he rose tobecome a chief magistrate of Athens and thereby part of the governing body of the city. His date of death is not known. De Selincourt was an acclaimed translator of ancient classics.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics; Revised edition (October 28, 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140442537
• ISBN-13: 978-0140442533
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,931 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > History > Middle East > Iran
  • #72 in Books > History > Ancient > Greece
  • #83 in Books > History > Military > Strategy

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The True Triumph of Greek Civilization, February 2, 2001

By 

Matthew Baldwin "College Professor" (Asheville, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Campaigns of Alexander (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

I thoroughly enjoyed Arrian's account of Alexander, which I found to be lively and readable in this translation by De Selincourt. I think this book should be read in more courses on "Greek Thought and Literature" and "Western Civ." and the like, both because Arrian shows how the tradition of fine Greek historiography stayed alive well into the second century A.D., and also because his very thorough account proves to be a natural continuation of the stories told by Herodotus and Thucydides. This book completes the historical narrative of the rise of Greek civilization, so that the era of Athenian hegemony can be connected with the beginning of the Hellenistic period in the 4th century B.C. -- the true triumph Greek civilization, in my opinion.

After all, if not for Alexander, would we care nearly so much about the Greeks? Alexander subdued the world from Illycrium to the Indus valley, bringing Greece to the East and the East to the Greeks. Without his conquests, the Greek language and culture would never have become so widespread or influential. He paved the way for the Romans, and ultimately, for the Christians after him. This brilliant General-King was therefore the creator of the history, not only of his own times, but also of the times which followed him.

Towards the beginning of the book, Arrian laments on behalf of Alexander that this greatest conquerer of all time had yet to have his deeds written down in a manner which was suited to his magnificence. Achilles had his Homer, but Alexander's exploits remained unsung. Arrian therefore boldly and boastfully steps forward, confident that his literary talents are a match for his subject. Let the reader judge Arrian's (or De Selincourt's) poetic gifts as he may, but the story itself guarantees its greatness.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Of Myth and Men, January 15, 2004

By 

Avid Reader (Franklin, Tn) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Campaigns of Alexander (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

The most amazing thing that about this book is that Arrian somehow managed to rescue the man from the legend, the god from the myth and the story from the soothsayers. He intended to write a factual history of the great leader but by necessity was forced to rely on word of mouth, old stories, past recollections and hardly any authoritative manuscripts.

Considering what he had to work with, the outcome is simply amazing. Like Thucydides, Herodotus and Livy, his goal was to write a factual work that was to have been definitive...and it was. The campaigns are given much attention as well as the character of Alexander. For a more scholarly and literary work I recommend Robin Lane Fox and his biography of Alexander - just stupendous.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 'The book' on Alexander the Great, July 18, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Campaigns of Alexander (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

This is the book from which all modern scholarship derives the life of Alexander the Great. The author wrote that Alexander was without peer over 1,700 years ago, and there is little to question that statement even now. The author was a well-known greek military man in the Roman Empire who wrote several books, few of which survive. The only criticism of Arrian is that he tends to gloss over or omit some of the more unpleasant aspects of Alexanders' career. Arrian used the biographies of Ptolemy (general of Alexander, future Pharoah of Egypt and ancestor of Cleopatra) and Aristobulous (one of the king's engineers), as his main sources. Neither of these biographies has ever been found and are only known from excerpts. You must read this book.