Task 4A
Read the account of the Battle of Chaeronea from Diodorus. What does it tell us about the army commanded by Philip?
Link: http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_t42.html
Alexander’s success undoubtedly depended on the army developed by his father, though we lack the evidence now to decide the precise contribution of each. Because of his training, Alexander had a quick understanding of how best to use his troops in particular circumstances, as Arrian records (7. 28):
He was very quick to see what needed to be done in situations that were still uncertain, and he was very successful in judging what was likely to happen from the facts available to him.
He was very experienced in organising, arming and equipping his troops, and he was outstanding in raising the spirits of his troops, and filling them with confident expectation, and dispelling their terror in dangerous circumstances through his own lack of fear. When it was clear what needed to be done, he did it with the greatest boldness, and whenever he had to secure an objective before any of the enemy even suspected what would happen, he was very skilful at taking the initiative and acting first.
This is amply demonstrated by the accounts of the main battles, and by his organisation of the siege of Tyre, as described above.
Sources
The two main sources we use in this course are Arrian and Plutarch. Both are considerably later than Alexander, and they approach their material in different ways.
5.1 Plutarch
Plutarch (c AD50 – c AD120) came from Chaeronea where his family had lived for a long time. He spent some time in Athens studying philosophy, and also visited Rome where he spent some time teaching. In his later years, he was a priest at Delphi, and he had a deep interest in traditional Greek religion. He probably was known to the Roman emperors Trajan and Hadrian, and he may have held an official post as procurator of Achaea. In his writing he actively promoted the close ties between Greece and Rome, as can be seen in the planning of his greatest work, the ‘Parallel Lives’. In these he selected two figures from Greek and Roman history that he saw as in some way comparable; he wrote separate lives with a short linking section which explained the reason for linking them together. He was more interested in character than history as such, and he tended to choose incidents that revealed the character of the individuals he selected.
Plutarch paired Alexander with Julius Caesar, though in this particular case there was no separate section discussing the comparison (it has probably been lost over time). He set out to examine ‘what sort of a man’ each was’; he differed from a modern writer of biography as he generally assumed that the nature of his subject stayed the same, rather than developing over time. He also concentrated on vices and virtues, and the reader is asked to make moral judgements on the actions of the individuals. His interest is focused on character as revealed in action and behaviour, and he does not try to set his characters in a historical context; we get little sense of the significance of Alexander for the development of the Greek world after his death. The lives are entertaining and have preserved a good deal of information that might otherwise have been lost.
At the beginning of his Alexander, Plutarch asks the reader to understand if he does not deal with all the famous deeds of his subject (1):
For I am writing not history but a life story, and virtue and vice are not always revealed in the most remarkable actions, but in many cases a small matter, such as a comment or a joke, reveals more than battles in which many thousands die or sieges of cities. So, just as painters produce their portraits from the faces of their subjects and the expression of their eyes, which reveal most about their character, and pay much less attention to the rest of the body, I must be allowed to concentrate on the signs of the soul of my subjects and to use these to sketch out the life of each.
Task 5A
Read Plutarch 6: Alexander and Boucephalas
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What does this passage show us about Alexander’s character?
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Compare this incident with other examples drawn from the rest of the Life.
Plutarch is prepared to state his own opinions about his subject. For example, he is clear that in his opinion Alexander did not consider himself divine (28):
From what I have recorded it is clear that Alexander was not maddened by a belief in his own divinity but used it to control others.
However his account does not help us resolve many questions we have about particular incidents such as battles, where the focus on Alexander himself prevents us from getting a sense of what was happening around him.
5.2 Arrian
Arrian (Lucius Flavius Arrianus) (c AD 86 – 160) was born in Bithynia, where he had a political career and studied philosophy with Epictetus. He went on to gain senatorial rank through his association with the emperor Hadrian, and was consul in Rome about AD 129. He then served as an imperial legate in Cappadocia, before he retired to Athens. Most of his considerable writings are lost, but his Anabasis of Alexander survives (together with the Indike which deals with India, and gives an account of Nearchus’ voyage from India to Susa). Arrian was clear about his procedure in writing (Preface to Book 1):
Wherever Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, and Aristobulus, son of Aristobulus have written the same things about Alexander, son of Philip, I have followed their accounts as true in every way; but where they give different accounts, I have chosen what seems to me the more reliable account as well the more worthy of recording in my history. Other writers have given different versions of Alexander’s life, and there is no other figure who has attracted such contradictory accounts. In my opinion Ptolemy and Aristobulus are more reliable; Aristobulus was on the expedition with king Alexander, as was Ptolemy - since he later became a king himself, lying would have been more shameful for him than for any other writer. Both wrote their accounts when Alexander was already dead, so there was no necessity or expectation of reward for them to write down anything except the truth.
Arrian also felt his experience of public life and his own pedigree as a writer fitted him for the task of writing a history of a great man such as Alexander. He records in the Anabasis (1. 12):
No other single individual, either Greek or barbarian, has achieved such incredible success on so many occasions and to such an overwhelming extent. For that reason I have myself started writing this history, as I think I’m up to the task of bringing Alexander’s deeds to a wider audience. Whatever my abilities as a writer may be, I do not need to write my name here, for it is not unknown to my contemporaries, nor is my country nor my family, nor the successes that I’ve had in public life in my own country. But I do state this, that these stories are and have been from my youth my country and my family and my successes. It is for that reason that I consider myself worthy of the finest writers in the Greek language, since my subject, Alexander, was the finest of warriors.
This makes clear his admiration for his subject, as does his conclusion to the Anabasis where he criticised those writers who have concentrated on Alexander’s faults and states his belief in Alexander’s greatness (7. 30):
In my opinion, there was no race of men, no city in those times, not even a single man the name of Alexander had not reached. So I do not believe that a man without equal in all the world would have been born without the involvement of the gods. Oracles are said to have shown this at the time of Alexander’s death, and visions and dreams came to different people; so too the honour paid to Alexander by men up to the present day and the greater than human memory of him; even now after so many years further oracles in his honour have been granted to the Macedonian people. I have myself criticised in this history some of Alexander’s actions, but I’m not ashamed of my admiration of Alexander himself. I have criticised some actions because of the truth in my opinion, and at the same time to emphasise the benefit for men; I started on this history for that reason and I also have been helped by god.
Task 5B
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What issues are raised about Arrian’s reliability in these passages?
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What can we learn about the sources he chose to use?
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5.3 Plutarch’s sources
Plutarch makes a number of references to named sources, and he concentrates more on the incidents which for him reveal the character of the individual. He preserves a great deal of material, but because he is interested in the ‘inner character’ he focuses more on the story than on authenticity or the quality of the evidence. Because he is interested in both virtue and vice, he draws across the range of sources on Alexander (as the contemporary or near-contemporary sources for Alexander present either a positive or a negative slant of his actions).
There are over 30 references to letters written by Alexander, but unfortunately there is no way to show that any of these are genuine. There are explicit references to Aristobulus, Chares and Onesicritus (6 times each); other sources named include Callisthenes, Cleitarchus, Ptolemy and the so-called Ephemerides (Court Journals). Plutarch selects some incidents from particular named sources, but it is not easy to determine how he used them. He was aware of the different approaches taken by the sources towards Alexander, but the incidents he chooses to concentrate on in his life reflect his own interest in character.
5.4 Arrian’s sources
Arrian makes explicit reference to a number of sources, and preserves some details of these for us. However we should consider his explicit discussion of the sources he trusts (see above), and his own endorsement of Alexander’s positive qualities (7.30), which suggests his approach to the available sources was not even-handed. The reasons he gives for preferring the evidence provided by Ptolemy (Preface to Book 1, above) may strike the modern reader as absurd; we should therefore be cautious about the apparently more historical approach.
Although the statement in the preface (quoted above) seems quite clear, it is not certain that Arrian keeps to this plan. It is likely that he used Ptolemy to a considerable extent, especially for the military details. He may also make use of other sources in places, but this is hard to corroborate. However his narrative is more detailed and structured than what survives in Diodorus or Curtius Rufus. This is probably because he makes extensive use of Ptolemy and Aristobulus, as both seem to deny or omit the less credible stories about Alexander and his campaigns. Unfortunately the best evidence for the qualities of these two sources is the work of Arrian himself.
Useful Website: www.livius.org
It is worth following through the discussion of the sources for Alexander found here:
http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_z1a.html
Timelines
Events in bold type are referred to (either directly or indirectly) in the specification content and set sources. Those in italics are not.
Timeline of Alexander the Great
356 BC
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Alexander born in Pella
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343 BC
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Aristotle becomes Alexander’s tutor
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340 BC
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Alexander left as regent in Macedonia while Philip on campaign
Alexander’s raid on the Maedi
Foundation of Alexandropolis
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338 BC
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Battle of Chaeronea
Alexander visits Athens
Olympias and Alexander leave Pella after the marriage of Philip and Cleopatra
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337 BC
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Alexander recalled to Pella
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336 BC
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Cleopatra gives birth to a son for Philip
Murder of Philip
Alexander becomes King of Macedonia
Alexander confirmed as leader of the expedition against Persia at a meeting of the Hellenic League at Corinth
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335 BC
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Alexander deals with Thrace and Illyria
Alexander deals with the revolt of Thebes
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334 BC
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Alexander crosses into Asia Minor
Battle of Granicus
Capture of Miletus
Capture of Halicarnassus
Alexander marches through Lycia and Pamphylia
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333 BC
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Alexander to Gordium
[Memnon’s campaign in the Aegean]
[Death of Memnon]
Darius mobilises Persian forces at Babylon, then moves west
Alexander to Ancyra and Cilician gates
Alexander at Tarsus
Battle of Issus
Alexander marches towards Phoenicia
Darius makes first offer of peace
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332 BC
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Byblos and Sidon submit
Siege of Tyre
Darius makes second offer of peace
Fall of Tyre (July 29th)
Gaza captured
Alexander crowned as Pharaoh of Egypt at Memphis
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331 BC
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Alexander visits the oracle of Ammon at Siwah
Foundation of Alexandria in Egypt
Alexander marches to Thapsacus on the River Euphrates
Darius moves his forces from Babylon
Alexander crosses the River Tigris (Sept 18th)
Darius’ final offer of peace rejected
Battle of Gaugamela
Alexander marches from Arbela to Babylon and captures it
[Defeat of King Agis of Sparta by Antipater at Megalopolis]
Alexander occupies Susa
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330 BC
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Sack of Persepolis
Alexander marches to Ecbatana
Darius retreats towards Bactria
Alexander sends Greek allies home from Ecbatana; leaves Parmenio with Harpalus as treasurer
Darius found murdered near Hacatompylus
Bessus sets himself up as the ‘Great King’
The ‘conspiracy of Philotas’
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329 BC
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Alexander crosses the Hindu Kush
Alexander advances towards Bactria; Bessus retreats across the River Oxus
Alexander crosses the River Oxus; he sends home veterans and Thessalians
Surrender of Bessus
Revolt of Spitamenes
Execution of Bessus
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328 BC
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Alexander campaigns against Spitamenes
The death of Cleitus
Defeat and death of Spitamenes
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327 BC
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Capture of the Sogdian Rock
Alexander marries Roxane
30,000 Persian ‘Successors’ recruited
The ‘Pages’ Conspiracy’ and the death of Callisthenes
Invasion of India begins
Alexander reaches Nysa; the ‘Dionysus episode’
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326 BC
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Battle of the Hydaspes against Porus
Death of Bucephalas
Mutiny at the Hyphasis
Campaign against the Brahmin cities; Alexander seriously wounded
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325 BC
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Revolt in Bactria
Alexander reaches Patala
Alexander begins the march through the Gedrosian Desert
Harpalus abandons his post and returns to Greece
Purge of the Satraps
Nearchus and the fleet reach Hamozia and meet with Alexander at Salmous
Arrival of Craterus
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324 BC
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Nearchus and fleet sent to Susa
Alexander at Cyrus’ tomb
Alexander returns to Persepolis
Alexander at Susa
The arrival of the Persian ‘Successors’
The marriages at Susa
The Exiles’ Decree and the Deification Decree
Craterus appointed as successor to Antipater as Regent
Alexander to Ecbatana
Death of Hephaestion
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323 BC
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Harpalus killed in Crete
Campaign against the Cossaeans
Alexander returns to Babylon
Alexander explores the Pallacopas Canal
Arrival of Cassander, Antipater’s son
Death of Alexander
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Timeline of Philip II of Macedon
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Sent to Thebes as a boy, under the control of Epaminondas the Theban leader
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364 BC
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Returns to Macedonia
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359 BC
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Becomes King of Macedon
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358 BC
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Victories over Illyrians in the Macedonian hinterland
Reorganises Macedonian army
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357 BC
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Marries Olympias of Epirus
Captures Amphipolis
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355 BC
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Sacred War with Phocis
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352 BC
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Takes control of Thessaly
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349 BC
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Besieges Olynthus
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348 BC
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Chalcidice seized by Philip; non-Macedonians enslaved
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339 BC
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Siege of Byzantium
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338 BC
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Battle of Chaeronea: decisive victory over the Greek forces
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337 BC
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Forms League of Corinth
Marries Cleopatra, niece of Attalus
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336 BC
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Advanced force for Persian expedition sent to Asia Minor under Attalus and Parmenio
Murdered at the wedding of his daughter Cleopatra to Alexander of Epirus
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