Plutarch of Chaeronea (46-c.122): influential Greek philosopher and author, well known for his biographies and his moral treatises. His biography is here; the following fragment is from his Life of Julius Caesar.In August 48 BCE, Julius Caesar defeated his rival…
Plutarch of Chaeronea (46-c.122): influential Greek philosopher and author, well known for his biographies and his moral treatises. His biography is here; the following fragment is from his Life of Crassus.Spartacus was the leader of an army of runaway slaves…
In the last days of May or the first days of June 334, Alexander's army clashed with a Persian army on the boards of the river Granicus. The Persian king Darius III was not present; the Macedonians and Greeks had…
Alexander the Great (*356; r. 336-323): the Macedonian king who defeated his Persian colleague Darius III Codomannus and conquered the Achaemenid Empire. During his campaigns, Alexander visited a.o. Egypt, Babylonia, Persis, Media, Bactria, the Punjab, and the valley of the…
Although Alexander the Great was the son of king Philip of Macedonia and queen Olympias, he claimed to be the son of a god. As a consequence, stories about his miraculous procreation were needed. In section 2-3 of his Life…
Demetrius' victory over Ptolemy at Salamis in 306 gave him and his father Antigonus Monophthalmus so much credit, that it was widely believed that they would reunite the empire of Alexander the Great. With some justification, the two men accepted…
On 7 April 334, Alexander founded Alexandria, the Egyptian city that has correctly been hailed as "the most lasting of all his achievements". The Greek author Plutarch of Chaeronea, describes the event in section 26.3-10 of his Life of Alexander.
The…
Alexander the Great (*356; r. 336-323): the Macedonian king who defeated his Persian colleague Darius III Codomannus and conquered the Achaemenid Empire. During his campaigns, Alexander visited a.o. Egypt, Babylonia, Persis, Media, Bactria, the Punjab, and the valley of the…
Few generals have received the honors that Demetrius I Poliorcetes, son of Antigonus Monophthalmus, received in 307 when he liberated Athens. It was an important event in the Fourth War of the Diadochi (the successors of Alexander the Great), because…
Plutarch of Chaeronea (46-c.122): influential Greek philosopher and author, well known for his biographies and his moral treatises. His biography is here; the following fragment is from his Life of Julius Caesar.In April 56, Julius Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey discussed…