In February 332, Alexander visited the oasis Siwah in the Libyan desert, where he consulted the oracle of Ammon. Nobody knows exactly what Alexander asked and what the god replied; but it is certain that Alexander started to think of…
Plutarch of Chaeronea is quite certain that Alexander was in trouble when he returned from India.
The difficulties of Alexander's march into the upper country, the wound he had received among the Mallians, and the losses suffered by his army, which…
In his Indikê, Arrian of Nicomedia describes the seaborne return of the army of Alexander. His source is the Indikê of admiral Nearchus. One of the most important sections is the catalogue of trierarchs in chapter 18. The trierarchs were…
In November 333, Alexander defeated the Persian king Darius III Codomannus. After this battle of Issus, Darius offered to surrender half of his empire. The Macedonian king considered this not enough; the Greek author Arrian of Nicomedia describes Alexander's reply…
When Alexander returned from India, the greater part of his army was shipped to Babylonia by Nearchus, a youth friend of Alexander who served as his fleet commander. After Alexander's death, Nearchus wrote a book on his adventures, the Indikê.…
In April 323, Alexander the Great entered Babylon. The Chaldaeans, i.e., the famous astrologers working in the Esagila temple complex, came with warnings that he would die if he entered the city without due precautions.
Arrian of Nicomedia describes this his…
The story of Alexander's death in Babylon is a bit mysterious, because our sources mention a "Royal diary" that is not very well-known. However, the information taken from it seems sound, even though there are some very strange elements in…
In the early Summer of 330, Alexander hunted down the Persian king Darius III Codomannus. His courtiers arrested, perhaps because they thought that extraditing him would guarantee their own lives, or perhaps because they wanted to choose a new, stronger…
In the first months of 323, Alexander the Great received embassies from all over the world. Arrian of Nicomedia describes them in his Anabasis, sections 7.15.4-6.
They are given here in the translation by Aubrey de Sélincourt.
In the autumn of 325, Alexander led his men through the Gedrosian desert. Many people died, although we must assume that not the soldiers, but the women, merchants and animals in the train were the main victims. The following description…
In India, Alexander the Great (or his representative Onesicritus) had an interview with the Brahman sages, who lived near Taxila. One of these people, a man named Calanus (Indian Kalyana), followed the conqueror to the west, where he died. The…
After the death of Darius III (July 330), Alexander was sole ruler of the Achaemenid Empire. He introduced the Persian court rituals to his own court, which is called proskynesis. This meant that a visitor, depending on his rank, would…