The Campaigns of Alexander

Summary

The Campaigns of Alexander, also called the Anabasis of Alexander, is Arrian of Nicomedia's seven-book history of Alexander the Great from the assassination of Philip II in 336 BCE to Alexander's death in Babylon in 323. Written in Greek in the second century CE by a Bithynian who studied under Epictetus and held Roman office, it is the fullest surviving narrative of the conquest of the Persian Empire. Arrian states at the outset that he trusts chiefly the lost histories of Ptolemy son of Lagus and Aristobulus, both companions of Alexander, and that when they disagree he chooses the more credible and worth recording; other reports he marks as rumor. Book I opens with Alexander's securing of Greece and the Balkan campaigns, then the crossing into Asia and the victory at the Granicus. Book II carries the war through the Gordian knot, the illness at Tarsus, Issus, the careful treatment of Darius's captured family, and the long siege of island Tyre by a mole from the mainland. Book III covers Egypt, the visit to the oracle of Ammon in Libya, the foundation of Alexandria, and the decisive battle near Gaugamela, followed by the entry into Babylon, Susa and Persepolis and the pursuit of Darius. Books IV and V narrate the hard fighting in Central Asia, the drunken killing of Clitus at Maracanda, the Indian campaigns including the Hydaspes, and the army's refusal at the Hyphasis to advance farther east. Books VI and VII follow the Indus voyage, the Gedrosian march, Hephaestion's death, the marriages at Susa, the mutiny at Opis, and Alexander's final illness; Arrian closes with a measured character sketch rather than a simple panegyric. For classical Christian classrooms the work is valuable as a primary window onto pagan imperial ambition, friendship, mercy, rage and the limits of command. Inclusion is not endorsement: students should weigh clemency after Issus beside the destruction of Tyre and the murder of Clitus, and ask what greatness without temperance is worth. The hosted text is E. J. Chinnock's literal 1884 English translation (Project Gutenberg #46976).

Plot or Argument

• Preface and accession

  Arrian explains why he privileges Ptolemy and Aristobulus, then narrates Philip's death, Alexander's securing of Greece, and the Balkan campaigns that open the war.

• Asia Minor and Gordium

  Crossing the Hellespont, Alexander wins at the Granicus, takes the coastal cities, and at Gordium confronts the knot tied to a prophecy of Asian rule.

• Issus, Tyre and Egypt

  After Issus he treats Darius's family with care, builds a mole against island Tyre, founds Alexandria, and visits the oracle of Ammon in Libya.

• Gaugamela and Persia

  The battle near Gaugamela breaks Darius's power; Alexander enters Babylon, Susa and Persepolis, then pursues Darius into Media and Parthia.

• Central Asia and Clitus

  Campaigns against Bessus and the northern peoples bring mountain war; at Maracanda a drunken quarrel ends with Alexander killing his friend Clitus.

• India and the Hyphasis

  Victories on the Hydaspes are followed by the army's refusal to cross the Hyphasis; Alexander turns back after angrily offering to go on alone.

• Return, death and character

  The Indus voyage, Gedrosia, Hephaestion's death and the final fever in Babylon close the history; Arrian ends with chronology and a balanced character sketch.

Characters

• Alexander, King of Macedon

  The conqueror whose courage, piety, ambition and violent temper Arrian records without simple hero-worship.

• Darius III, King of Persia

  Alexander's chief opponent, defeated at Issus and Gaugamela and later murdered by his own nobles.

• Ptolemy, son of Lagus, Companion and source

  Officer under Alexander and later king of Egypt; one of Arrian's two preferred authorities.

• Aristobulus, Companion and source

  Engineer and historian who served with Alexander; Arrian's other main source.

• Hephaestion, Closest companion

  Alexander's dearest friend, paired with him at Achilles' and Patroclus' tombs; his death devastates the king.

• Clitus, Companion

  Saver of Alexander at the Granicus, later killed by him in a drunken quarrel at Maracanda.

• Parmenio, Senior general

  Veteran commander whose caution at Gaugamela Arrian records, and who is later executed with his son Philotas.

• Coenus, Officer and spokesman

  The officer who at the Hyphasis voices the army's wish to turn back.

• Philip the Acarnanian, Physician

  The doctor trusted to treat Alexander's fever at Tarsus even after Parmenio's warning letter.

• Arrian, Narrator

  The second-century historian who selects, judges and sometimes moralizes as he retells the campaign.

Lessons

• Sources before spectacle

  Arrian opens by choosing witnesses who were present and had reason to tell the truth after Alexander's death. Students should ask who saw an event and what each stood to gain by shaping it, and notice when Arrian marks a story as rumor rather than fact.

  • Why does Arrian prefer Ptolemy and Aristobulus to other writers?
  • Where does he present two versions of an episode, and what does he do with the disagreement?
  • How does his handling of the poison rumor at Alexander's death show his method?

• Courage is not the whole of virtue

  Alexander's daring at the Granicus, Tyre and the Hyphasis sits beside the murder of Clitus and the shaming of the army. Arrian admires energy and piety without hiding rage; greatness of spirit can coexist with grave injustice.

  • Which episodes show Alexander at his most courageous?
  • How does Arrian narrate the killing of Clitus, and whose side do his sources take?
  • Can a reader praise fortitude while condemning a lack of temperance in the same person?

• Clemency and conquest

  The care shown to Darius's family after Issus is part of how Alexander justifies rule. Mercy can be both a moral act and political craft; students should weigh the gesture against the destruction of Tyre and later acts of severity.

  • What exactly does Alexander do for Darius's mother, wife and children?
  • How might that clemency serve his claim to be king of Asia?
  • How should a Christian reader think about mercy offered by a pagan conqueror?

• Limits of command

  At the Hyphasis the army refuses to go farther. Even a victorious king depends on men who can still say no; Coenus's speech and Alexander's angry reply show command as persuasion under strain, not mere will.

  • What reasons does Coenus give for turning back?
  • How does Alexander try to shame the army into continuing?
  • What does the episode teach about the difference between authority and consent?

Context

Alexander's conquest of the Persian Empire (334–323 BCE) remade the Near East and left successor kingdoms from Egypt to India. Arrian wrote some four centuries later under the Roman Empire, using earlier participant histories that are now lost.

Composition

Composed in Greek in the second century CE by a Bithynian who held Roman office and studied Stoic philosophy with Epictetus. The seven books follow a campaign chronology from accession to death.

Reception

Long the standard military narrative of Alexander for readers of Greek; Chinnock's 1884 literal translation made it widely available in English. Modern annotated editions such as the Landmark series add maps and notes for students.

Comparisons

• The Persian Expedition

  Xenophon's Anabasis follows Greek mercenaries home through the Persian Empire; Arrian's Anabasis follows a Macedonian king conquering that same empire a century later, and both are first-person or near-first-person campaign narratives named for a 'march up-country'.

• The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek Lives

  Plutarch's Life of Alexander in this collection weighs character and anecdote; Arrian follows the campaigns with closer attention to order of battle, geography and conflicting sources.

• The Histories

  Herodotus describes the Persian Empire at its height invading Greece; Arrian describes a Greek-speaking army dismantling that empire from the inside.

• The History of the Peloponnesian War

  Thucydides and Arrian both write austere military prose that weighs evidence and motive; Thucydides narrates a war among Greeks, Arrian a war that made Greeks and Macedonians rulers of Asia.

• The Conquest of Gaul

  Caesar and Arrian both present a conqueror's campaigns with attention to rivers, supply and the commander's decisions; Caesar writes as the general, Arrian as a later judge of generals.

• Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans

  Plutarch's paired Lives treat Alexander and Caesar as moral portraits; Arrian supplies the campaign spine that those portraits assume.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

• Arrian's preface: why Ptolemy and Aristobulus are preferred, and what he does when they disagree.
• The Granicus, Issus and Gaugamela as a sequence of pitched battles that open Asia.
• Mercy after Issus toward Darius's family, set against the destruction of Tyre and later the killing of Clitus.
• The visit to Ammon and what Alexander wanted from the oracle.
• The Hyphasis refusal and Alexander's angry offer to go on alone.

Key terms and names

Anabasis

Greek for a march up-country; Arrian's title echoes Xenophon's earlier Anabasis.

Companions

The elite Macedonian cavalry and inner circle of friends who fought and advised with Alexander.

Granicus

River in northwest Asia Minor where Alexander won his first major victory over Persian satraps in 334 BCE.

Gordian knot

The fastened yoke at Gordium; prophecy held that whoever undid it would rule Asia.

Issus

Battle in 333 BCE where Alexander defeated Darius in person near the Cilician Gates.

Gaugamela

Battle in 331 BCE near Arbela that broke Darius's main army.

Hyphasis

River in the Punjab (Beas) where Alexander's army refused to advance farther east.

Ammon

Oracle of Zeus-Ammon at the Siwah oasis in Libya, which Alexander visited after taking Egypt.

Seminar Questions

1. Comprehension According to Arrian's preface, why are Ptolemy and Aristobulus more trustworthy than other writers on Alexander?
2. Comprehension What happens at the Hyphasis, and how does Alexander respond to the army's refusal to advance?
3. Comprehension How does Alexander treat Darius's mother, wife and children after Issus?
4. Interpretation Arrian records two versions of the Gordian knot. What does his way of presenting both tell you about his aims as a historian?
5. Interpretation In the killing of Clitus, Arrian reports that Aristobulus put the blame entirely on Clitus. How should a reader weigh a source who excuses the king?
6. Interpretation Alexander drinks Philip's medicine while holding Parmenio's warning letter. What virtues and risks does Arrian want you to see in that gesture?
7. Big Question Can a conqueror who shows mercy to captives and kills a friend in a drunken quarrel still be called great? What standard of greatness does Arrian imply?
8. Big Question Arrian writes as a Greek under Roman rule about a Macedonian who conquered Asia. How should students read pagan imperial glory without either dismissing or worshipping it?

Faith Connections

• Proverbs 16:18 (Scripture)

  Pride goes before destruction; Alexander's ambition carries him to India and also into the rage that kills Clitus—an occasion to ask what unchecked desire for honor costs.

• Matthew 16:26 (Scripture)

  What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? Alexander gains Asia and dies at thirty-two; Arrian's closing character sketch invites that weighing without importing Christian language into Arrian's mouth.

• 1 Corinthians 9:25 (Scripture)

  Athletes exercise self-control for a perishable wreath; Alexander's love of honor and danger can be contrasted with the apostle's call to tempered striving for an imperishable crown.

• Augustine, City of God, Book IV, ch. 4 (Church Fathers)

  Augustine asks what kingdoms without justice are but great robberies; use Arrian's conquest narrative to test whether victory and clemency alone make rule just.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: A trustworthy history of Alexander must rest on witnesses who were present and had little to gain by lying after his death; judged by those sources, Alexander appears as a commander of extraordinary energy, piety and ambition whose virtues and vices alike shaped the conquest of Asia.

Rhetorical device: Source criticism (weighing authorities). In the preface Arrian explains why he prefers Ptolemy and Aristobulus, and throughout he marks some reports as mere rumor (as with the poison story at Alexander's death).

Debate: Resolved: Alexander's treatment of Darius's family after Issus shows genuine magnanimity rather than mere political calculation.

Memory Work

from those statements which differ I have selected that which appears to me the more credible and at the same time the more deserving of record

those who wished to return home were at liberty to return and carry back word to their relations that they were come back, having deserted their king in the midst of his enemies

Writing Prompts

Essay: Using Arrian's preface and at least two campaign episodes (for example Gordium, Issus, Clitus or the Hyphasis), write an essay on whether Arrian is more a panegyrist or a judge of Alexander.

Comparison with The Persian Expedition: Compare Xenophon's Anabasis and Arrian's Anabasis as march narratives: who leads, what 'home' means, and how each author presents disagreement between commander and men.

Medical Lens

Arrian records Alexander's fever at Tarsus and the trust placed in Philip the Acarnanian despite Parmenio's warning letter; wounds and medical care on campaign; the role of wine in the killing of Clitus; and the final illness in Babylon, including the rumor of poison which Arrian reports without affirming.

• Book II, Chapter 4

  Fever, sleeplessness and the cup of medicine taken while reading Parmenio's accusation against Philip the Acarnanian.

  Physicians Doctors Fever Infection Pharmacology Poisons
• Book IV, Chapter 8

  Drunken quarrel at Maracanda ending in the killing of Clitus.

  Alcohol Grief
• Book VII, Chapters 25–27

  The final fever, the royal diary of the illness and rumors that Alexander was poisoned.

  Fever Infection Pharmacology Poisons Death Dying

Creative Prompts

• Classroom

  Trace Alexander's route from the Hellespont to the Hyphasis on a blank map; mark Granicus, Issus, Tyre, Siwah, Gaugamela, Persepolis and the turning point at the Hyphasis.

• Essay

  Rewrite the Gordian knot episode once following the sword-cut tradition and once following Aristobulus's pin-and-yoke version; then write a short note on which Arrian prefers and why.

• Fiction

  Write Coenus's speech at the Hyphasis as a letter home explaining why the army will go no farther.

• Dialogue

  Hold a brief classroom trial: was the killing of Clitus drunken rage, royal justice, or both? Use only Arrian's account for evidence.

Further Reading

• The Landmark Arrian: The Campaigns of Alexander, Arrian (ed. James Romm; series editor Robert B. Strassler; trans. Pamela Mensch)

  Modern annotated print edition with maps, marginal dates and appendices; Pantheon (hardcover) and Anchor Books (paperback). Not the Chinnock text hosted here.

• The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek Lives, Plutarch

  Includes Plutarch's Life of Alexander for a character-focused companion; hosted in this library.

• The Persian Expedition, Xenophon

  Earlier Greek Anabasis through Persian lands; hosted in this library.

• Alexander the Great, Robin Lane Fox

  Widely used modern narrative biography for context (copyrighted; not hosted).