16 h 51 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
How does one commander conquer an empire—and how does a later soldier decide which stories to trust?
Alexander inherits a strong army and his father Philip II's plan to attack Persia. In The Anabasis of Alexander, Arrian follows the young Macedonian king into a campaign of marches, battles, sieges, and river crossings. At Issus, Alexander faces Darius III on narrow ground between sea and hills, where the land itself helps the smaller force.
Arrian writes long after the campaign, but he turns to Ptolemy and Aristobulus, two men who serve in it. Where their accounts agree, he follows them; where they differ, he weighs the choices. His account offers a soldier's view of Alexander: admiring his achievements, attentive to his decisions, and willing to acknowledge his faults.
What you’ll discover
- A kingdom suddenly inherited Meet Alexander as his father's murder places a young king at the head of Macedon.
- Ground that shapes battle See how narrow ground at Issus helps Alexander's smaller force face the Persian king.
- The work behind conquest Follow the marches, sieges, and river crossings that carry an army through a campaign.
- Sources weighed with care Watch Arrian compare conflicting accounts and explain which version he finds more likely.
- Admiration without closed eyes Consider a commander whose achievements inspire Arrian without keeping his faults out of view.
Who will love it
For readers who love military history and the ancient world, and anyone who wants to meet Alexander through marches, battles, sieges and the choices of a commander.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A soldier and statesman writes the campaign
- A young king secures Macedon and Greece
- Crossing to Asia and winning at the Granicus
- Issus, Tyre, and the road into Egypt
- Gaugamela and the fall of the Persian heartland
- Bactria, Sogdiana, and the strain inside the army
- India, the Hydaspes, and an army that will not go on
- Down the Indus and across the desert of Gedrosia
- Ruling Asia, the last year, and Arrian's verdict
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- 15-minute summary
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Anabasi di Alessandro
by Arriano · 150
Alexander faces Porus and his elephants across the Hydaspes, where a king's battle plans meet a river crossing.
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In short
The Anabasis of Alexander is the fullest surviving ancient account of how a Macedonian king conquered the Persian Empire. It was written in Greek by Arrian, a Roman senator and soldier from Nicomedia, who lived long after Alexander, in the second century after Christ.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A soldier and statesman writes the campaign
Arrian was a Greek from Bithynia, in what is now northwest Turkey, who rose high in the Roman world. He was a pupil of the Stoic teacher Epictetus and wrote down his lessons. Under the emperor Hadrian he became a consul and then governor of Cappadocia, where he commanded troops and faced an invasion by the Alans. He knew armies from the inside, and that shows on every page.
He chose to write in the Greek of the classical age, not the plain Greek of his own day. His models were Xenophon, who had also written an Anabasis about Greek soldiers marching through Persia, and the historian Herodotus. By borrowing the title, Arrian signals that he wants to stand beside Xenophon. He even compares himself to Homer's rivals, saying that Alexander deserved a writer as good as the deeds.
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What is The Anabasis of Alexander about?
It tells of Alexander the Great's campaigns from his accession in 336 BC to his death at Babylon. It covers his wars against Persia, his march into Central Asia and India, and the struggles within his army.
Who was Arrian and why should I trust him?
Arrian was a Greek who became a Roman senator and military governor. He wrote about 400 years after Alexander but based his account on Ptolemy and Aristobulus, who served in the campaign, and he noted where his sources disagreed.
What does Anabasis mean?
Anabasis is Greek for a march up from the coast into the interior. Xenophon used it for his story of Greek soldiers in Persia, and Arrian took the title to link his work to that earlier book.
The author
Arrian
89–175 · Ancient Greek historian and philosopher
Arrian was a Greek historian and Roman provincial governor whose Anabasis of Alexander is widely considered the most reliable surviving ancient account of Alexander the Great's campaigns, drawn from firsthand accounts left by men who served under Alexander himself.
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