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Alexander III of Macedon
Alexander III of Macedon
For others with this name, see Arrianus (disambiguation). Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' Macedon or Macedonia ( Greek grc Μακεδονία grc-Latn Makedonía) was the name of a kingdom centered in the northern-most

Lucius Flavius Arrianus 'Xenophon' (ca. 86 - after 146), known in English as Arrian, and Arrian of Nicomedia, was a Greek historian, a public servant, a military commander and a philosopher of the Roman period. For the processor see Intel 8086. Year 86 was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Julian Nicomedia ( Greek: Νικομήδεια modern İzmit) was founded by Nicomedes I of Bithynia at the head of the Gulf of Astacus which opens The Greeks ( Greek: Έλληνες) are a Nation and Ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions See also History An historian is an individual who studies and writes about History, and is regarded as an Authority on it Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Roman Greece See also Roman Greece The Greek peninsula became a Roman protectorate in 146 BC, and the Aegean islands were added As with other authors of the Second Sophistic, Arrian wrote primarily in Attic. The Second Sophistic is a literary-historical term referring to the Greek writers who flourished from the reign of Nero until c Attic Greek is the Prestige dialect of Ancient Greece that was spoken in Attica, which includes Athens. His works preserve the philosophy of Epictetus, and include the Anabasis of Alexander, an important account of Alexander the Great, as well as the Indica a description of Nearchus' voyage from India following Alexander's conquest, and other short works. Epictetus ( Greek:; ca 55&ndashca 135 was a Greek Stoic philosopher. Anabasis Alexandri, the Campaigns of Alexander by Arrian is the most important source on Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' Indica is the name of an ancient book about India written by Arrian, one of the main ancient historians of Alexander the Great. Nearchus (or Nearchos) (c 360 - 300 BC was one of the officers a Navarch, in the army of Alexander the Great. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' He is not to be confused with the Athenian military leader and author, Xenophon from the 4th century BC, whose best-known work was also titled Anabasis. Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's Xenophon (Ancient Greek, Modern Greek "Ξενοφών" "Ξενοφώντας" ca This article is about the Arrian is generally considered one of the best sources on the campaigns of Alexander as well as one of the founders of a primarily military-based focus on history.

Contents

Arrian's life

Arrian was born in the coastal town of Nicomedia (present-day Izmit), the capital of the Roman province of Bithynia, in what is now north-western Turkey, about 70 km from Byzantium (later Constantinople, now Istanbul). Nicomedia ( Greek: Νικομήδεια modern İzmit) was founded by Nicomedes I of Bithynia at the head of the Gulf of Astacus which opens İzmit (ancient Nicomedia) is a city in Turkey, administrative center of Kocaeli Province as well as the Kocaeli Metropolitan Municipality Description Several major cities sat on the fertile shores of the Propontis (which is now known as Sea of Marmara) Nicomedia, Chalcedon, Cius Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches This article is about the city See also Byzantine Empire. Byzantium ( Greek: Βυζάντιον Latin: la BYZANTIVM Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS Istanbul (historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see the other Names of Istanbul) is the largest city of Turkey He studied philosophy in Nicopolis in Epirus, under the Stoic philosopher Epictetus, and wrote two books about the philosopher's teachings. Nicopolis (Νικόπολις city of victory) or Actia Nicopolis was an ancient city of Epirus, founded 31 BC by Octavian in memory Epirus (from Ionic Greek Ήπειρος - Ēpeiros, Doric Greek: Ἅπειρος - Apeiros, in Albanian Stoicism, a school of Hellenistic philosophy, was founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in the early third century BC Epictetus ( Greek:; ca 55&ndashca 135 was a Greek Stoic philosopher. At the same time he entered the Imperial service, and served as a junior adviser on the consilium of Gaius Avidius Nigrinus, governor of Achaea and a close friend of the future Emperor Hadrian, around 111-114. Achaea was a province of the Roman Empire, consisting of the modern-day Peloponnese in southern Greece and bordered on the north by Publius Aelius Hadrianus (January 24 76 &ndash July 10 138 as emperor Imperator Caesar Divi Traiani filius Traianus Hadrianus Augustus, and Divus Hadrianus after Very little is known about his subsequent career - though it is probable that he served in Gaul and on the Danube frontier, and possible that he was in Baetica and Parthia - until he held the office of Consul in 129 or 130. Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western The Danube (In Donau from earlier Danuvius, Celtic *dānu, meaning "to flow run" Slovak and Polish Dunaj Hispania Baetica was one of three Imperial Roman provinces in Hispania, (modern Iberia) Parthia ( Middle Persian: اشکانیان Ashkâniân) was an Iranian civilization situated in the northeastern part of modern Iran Consul (abbrev cos; Latin plural consules) was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire In 131 he was appointed governor of the Black Sea province of Cappadocia and commander of the Roman legions on the frontier with Armenia. The Black Sea is an inland Sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolian peninsula ( Turkey Cappadocia (or Capadocia, Turkish Kapadokya, from Greek: Καππαδοκία / Kappadokía which in turn is from the Persian: For other uses see Legion The Roman Legion (from Latin legio "military levy Conscription," Armenia (Հայաստան transliterated: Hayastan,) officially the Republic of Armenia (Հայաստանի Հանրապետություն Hayastani It was unusual at this time for a Greek to hold such high military command.

In 135, he repelled an Alan invasion by successfully organizing the legions and auxiliary troops at his disposal, among which legions XII Fulminata and XV Apollinaris. The Alans or Alani (occasionally but more rarely termed Alauni or Halani) were an Iranian nomadic group among the Sarmatian people Legio XII Fulminata ("wielder of the thunderbolt" also known as Paterna, Victrix, Antiqua, Certa Constans, and Galliena Legio XV Apollinaris ("devoted to Apollo " was a Roman legion. He deployed the legionaries in depth supported by javelin throwers, archers, and horse archers in the rear ranks and defeated the assault of the Alan cavalry using these combined arms tactics. Combined arms is an approach to Warfare which seeks to integrate different arms of a Military to achieve mutually complementary effects During this period Arrian wrote several works on military tactics, including Ektaxis kata Alanōn, which detailed the battle against the Alans, and the Technē Taktikē. He also wrote a short account of a tour of inspection of the Black Sea coast in the traditional 'periplus' form (in Greek) addressed to the Emperor Hadrian, the Periplus Ponti Euxini or "Circumnavigation of the Black Sea". Periplus is the Latinization of an Ancient Greek word περίπλους ( periplous, contracted from periploos) literally "a sailing-around Periplus Ponti Euxini or The Periplus of the Euxine Sea ( in Greek is a Periplus or guidebook detailing the destinations to be encountered when traveling about the

Arrian left Cappadocia shortly before the death of his patron Hadrian, in 138, and there is no evidence for any further public appointments until 145/6 when he was elected Archon at Athens, once the city's leading political post but by this time an honorary one. Archon (Gr ἄρχων pl ἄρχοντες is a Greek word that means "ruler" frequently used as the title of a specific public office Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's It was here that he devoted himself to history, writing his most important work, the Anabasis Alexandri or "The Campaigns of Alexander". Anabasis Alexandri, the Campaigns of Alexander by Arrian is the most important source on Alexander the Great. He also wrote the Indica, an account of the voyage by Alexander's fleet from India to the Persian Gulf under Nearchus. Indica is the name of an ancient book about India written by Arrian, one of the main ancient historians of Alexander the Great. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region is an extension of the Nearchus (or Nearchos) (c 360 - 300 BC was one of the officers a Navarch, in the army of Alexander the Great. He also wrote a political history of the Greek world after Alexander, most of which is lost. It is not known when Arrian died.

Arrian's work

Arrian is an important historian because his work on Alexander is the widest read, and arguably the most complete, account of the Macedonian conqueror. Macedon or Macedonia ( Greek grc Μακεδονία grc-Latn Makedonía) was the name of a kingdom centered in the northern-most Arrian was able to use sources which are now mostly lost, such as the contemporary works by Callisthenes (the nephew of Alexander's tutor Aristotle), Onesicritus, Nearchus and Aristobulus. Callisthenes of Olynthus (in Greek; ca 360-328 BC was a Greek Historian. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. Onesicritus (Ὀνησίκριτος a Greek historical writer (lived c Nearchus (or Nearchos) (c 360 - 300 BC was one of the officers a Navarch, in the army of Alexander the Great. Aristobulus of Cassandreia (ca 375 - 301 BC Greek Historian, son of Aristobulus probably a Phocian settled inCassandreia accompanied Most important of all, Arrian had the biography of Alexander by Ptolemy, one of Alexander's leading generals and allegedly his half-brother. For the astronomer see Ptolemy; for others named "Ptolemy" or "Ptolemaeus" see Ptolemy (disambiguation.

Arrian had this to say about his work on Alexander:

"This I claim; and never mind who I am; never mind my name although it is not unknown among men; never mind my country, or my family, or any rank I have held among compatriots. I would rather say: for me, this book of mine is country, kindred and career, and it has been so since my boyhood. "

Arrian's work is to a considerable extent a reworking of Ptolemy, with material from other writers, particularly Aristobulus, brought in where Arrian thought them useful. Ptolemy was a general, and Arrian relied on him most for details of Alexander's battles, on which Ptolemy was certainly well informed. Details of geography and natural history were taken from Aristobulus, although Arrian himself had a wide knowledge of Anatolia and other eastern regions. Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black

Today more interest focuses on Alexander as a man and as a political leader, and here Arrian's sources are less clear and his reliability more questionable. Probably it was not possible for Arrian to recover an accurate picture of Alexander's personality 400 years after his death, when most of his sources were partisan in one way or another. Aristobulus, for example, was known as kolax, the flatterer, while other sources were hostile or had political agendas.

Arrian was in any case primarily a military historian, and here he followed his great model (from whom he earned his nickname), the terse and narrowly-focused soldier-historian Xenophon. Xenophon (Ancient Greek, Modern Greek "Ξενοφών" "Ξενοφώντας" ca He has little to say about Alexander's personal life, his role in Greek politics or the reasons why the campaign against Persia was launched in the first place. The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia More than 1800 years later, Mary Renault, an admirer of both Alexander and Arrian, wrote an acclaimed biography of Alexander, "The Nature of Alexander," drawing heavily on Arrian's work, as well as the few other sources which are still extant. Renault's work focuses on Alexander's character, motivations, strengths and weaknesses. With its similar title and prominent mention of Arrian in the preface, it may have been intended as a sequel to Arrian's "The Campaigns of Alexander," or simply to fill in the gaps in his account.

Nevertheless, Arrian's work gives a reasonably full account of Alexander's life during the campaign, and in his personal assessment of Alexander he steers a judicious course between flattery and condemnation. He concedes Alexander's emotionality, vanity, and weakness for drink, but acquits him of the grosser crimes some writers accused him of. But he does not discuss Alexander's wider political views or other aspects of his life that the modern reader would like to know more about.

Arrian in his daily life would have spoken the koine, or "common Greek" of the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Koine Greek (Κοινὴ Ἑλληνική, "common Greek" or, ciˈni ðiˈale̞kto̞s "the common dialect" is the popular form of Greek which emerged in This article focuses on the cultural aspects of the Hellenistic age for the historical aspects see Hellenistic period. But as a writer he felt obliged to follow the prevailing view that serious works must be composed in "good Greek," which meant imitating as closely as possible the grammar and literary style of the Athenian writers of the 5th century BC. The 5th century BC started the first day of 500 BC and ended the last day of 401 BC. In Arrian's case this meant following the Attic style of Xenophon and Thucydides. Xenophon (Ancient Greek, Modern Greek "Ξενοφών" "Ξενοφώντας" ca Thucydides ( C 460 BC &ndash C 395 BC) ( Greek Θουκυδίδης Thoukydídēs) was a Greek This is somewhat the equivalent of a modern historian trying to write in the English of Shakespeare (although it is unheard of for a modern academic to write in Elizabethan English whereas harking back to the language of the Classical past was rather common practice amongst Arrian's contemporaries). William Shakespeare ( baptised His account of India, the Indica, was written in an equally wooden imitation of the language of Herodotus. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Indica is the name of an ancient book about India written by Arrian, one of the main ancient historians of Alexander the Great. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash

The result is a work which was inevitably stilted and artificial, although Arrian handled the strain of writing 500-year-old Greek better than some of his contemporaries. Xenophon was a good model of clear and unpretentious prose, which Arrian was wise to follow. Modern historians may regret that so many of the earlier works on Alexander have been lost, but they are grateful to Arrian for preserving so much.

Other surviving classical histories of Alexander

Further reading

External links

Texts online

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