After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE, his brother Arridaeus and his posthumous son Alexander were made kings; but because Philip was considered mentally deficient and Alexander was still a baby, Perdiccas was made their regent. The…
In 328 or 327, Alexander captured one of the mountain forts in Sogdia, the Sogdian Rock or Rock of Ariamazes. The story of the siege is told by the Greek author Arrian of Nicomedia, whose Anabasis (section 4.18.5-19.5) was translated…
In May 323, shortly before Alexander the Great left Babylon to conquer Arabia, a strange incident happened: a man of very humble origins sat down on Alexander's throne. The Greeks and Macedonians regarded this as a very evil omen.
However, the…
In January or February 324, Alexander reached the old religious capital of Persia, Pasargadae. Here, he visited the tomb of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Achaemenid empire, who had lived two centuries before. The Greek author Arrian of…
In February 324, Alexander forced many Macedonian officers to marry to native women. If it was intended as an attempt to unite the European and Asian elites, it was a sad failure: nearly all marriages ended in divorce. The Greek…
Arrian (c.87 - after 145): Greek historian and senator of the Roman empire, author of several historical studies. His best-known work is the Anabasis, which deals with Alexander the Great. Arrian is the author of various other philosophical and historical…
Arrian (c.87 - after 145): Greek historian and senator of the Roman empire, author of several historical studies. His best-known work is the Anabasis, which deals with Alexander the Great. Arrian is the author of various other philosophical and historical…
Arrian (c.87 - after 145): Greek historian and senator of the Roman empire, author of several historical studies. His best-known work is the Anabasis, which deals with Alexander the Great. Arrian is the author of various other philosophical and historical…
Arrian (c.87 - after 145): Greek historian and senator of the Roman empire, author of several historical studies. His best-known work is the Anabasis, which deals with Alexander the Great. Arrian is the author of various other philosophical and historical…
Arrian (c.87 - after 145): Greek historian and senator of the Roman empire, author of several historical studies. His best-known work is the Anabasis, which deals with Alexander the Great. Arrian is the author of various other philosophical and historical…
After the Mauryan emperor Ashoka (269-232), or Piyadasi, had conquered almost the entire Indian subcontinent, he was sick of all violence (below), converted to Buddhism and adopted a more pacifist world view. On several places in India and Pakistan (and…
Res Gestae Divi Augusti ("the achievements of the deified Augustus"): the official autobiography of Augustus, which survives as an inscription in Ancyra (modern Ankara).
…