The History of Alexander

Name: The History of Alexander
Rating: 4.6 (142 reviews)

by Quintus Curtius Rufus

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Composed in Latin under the Roman Empire, The History of Alexander is the only surviving Latin monograph devoted entirely to Alexander the Great. The original work comprised ten books, but the first two and portions of later books have been lost, so the extant narrative begins after the invasion of Asia is already under way. Curtius follows Alexander’s war against Darius III through Issus, Tyre, Gaugamela, Babylon and Persepolis, then across Central Asia and into India before the army’s punishing return through Gedrosia.

Military operations are interwoven with speeches, court intrigue and an increasingly critical study of kingship. The executions of Philotas and Parmenion, the killing of Cleitus, the conspiracy involving Callisthenes, Alexander’s marriage to Roxana and the death of Hephaestion reveal a command fractured by fear and rivalry. The final book carries the narrative through the mutiny at Opis, Alexander’s death at Babylon and the first struggle over the regency, monarchy and division of the satrapies, presenting conquest as both an extraordinary achievement and the source of a succession crisis.

Historical periods

Achaemenid Persian Empire

Genres

Classical Literature Political History

Historical people

Alexander of Lyncestisc. 5th century BCE–331 BCE Alexander the Great357 BCE–324 BCE Darius III381 BCE–331 BCE Antipater398 BCE–320 BCE Olympias376 BCE–317 BCE Philip II of Macedonc. 382–336 BCE Hephaestion357 BCE–325 BCE Ptolemy I Soterc. 360s BCE–c. 280s BCE Bagoasc. 5th century BCE–c. 4th century BCE Roxana348 BCE–311 BCE Perdiccas366 BCE–322 BCE Philip III of Macedon360 BCE–318 BCE Cassander356 BCE–297 BCE Antigonus I Monophthalmus383 BCE–302 BCE Parmenion401 BCE–330 BCE