Sources of information about his life

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Alexander the Great,

• Sourcesof information about his life

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Introduction

• Alexander is one of the very few figures in
  history to be given the title of Great not
  even Julius Caesar managed this. This is a
  tribute not only to his extraordinary conquest of
  the Persian Empire but also to an unusual
  personality.
• Alexander was not just a Greek but a Macedonian
  too an important point to note. There were very
  deep differences between the cultures and
  histories of the two races. He became King of
  Macedonia and leader of the Greeks at a very
  young age of 19 or 20, and before his death (at
  age 32) he had invaded and conquered the Persian
  Empire, travelling as far as the River Indus in
  India.
• He carried Greek Culture to all parts of this
  vast Empire by founding cities in his name.
  Although his empire disintegrated after his
  death, the Greek influence remained.
• However, there are difficulties in trying to find
  out exactly what happened and why, when there is
  so little reliable historical evidence.

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• Alexanders route

Alexanders travels across the known world
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Sources

• There were many authors who lived at the same
  time as Alexander,
• and wrote a lot of books about him. These are
  primary sources
• because they are eye witness accounts by people
  who were actually
• there at the time.These authors were
• Callisthenes Alexanders official Greek
  historian who accompanied him on his expedition
  to Persia
• Ptolemy One of Alexanders chief generals who
  after Alexanders death became King of Egypt
• Nearchus Alexanders admiral who accompanied
  the expedition and sailed around the coast of
  Persia
• Onesicritus A sailor on the expedition
• Aristobulus A Macedonian soldier and engineer
  who went with Alexander
• Cleitarchus A Greek contemporary of Alexander
  who did not accompany the expedition
• Chares Alexanders Greek houseworker in charge
  of his household

BUT! None of the books that these people wrote
still survive ?
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However.

• There are 5 writers, who lived centuries after
  Alexander the Great, who had read those books.
  So, they wrote their own books based on the facts
  in them.
• And it is from these sources, written by the 5
  authors, that we get our information about
  Alexander from today. The 5 authors are
• Curtius Rufus A Roman writing in the first
  Century Ad (300 years after Alexander)
• Diodorus - A Roman who lived at the same time as
  Curtius Rufus
• Arrian Roman, Second century AD
• Plutarch Greek, Second century AD
• Justin Roman, Third century AD
• Each of these authors quotes one or two of the
  primary sources,
• But it is hard to tell who is most reliable, as
  centuries later stories can easily have been
  changed and altered.

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Analysing the Sources

• Each writer had different attitudes and bias in
  their writing depending on their relationship
  with Alexander or attitude towards him. Whether
  they were Greek, Macedonian or Roman also
  influences their thinking.
• These two groups of sources often have
  conflicting information on the same event in
  Augustus life.

The Vulgate (Curtius Rufus, Diodorus and
Justin) They only use Cleitarchus as their main
source and he is less reliable as he has 2nd hand
information and focuses on popular belief
There are two groups that the sources fit into
The Good Tradition (Arrian and Plutarch)
they use the primary source Aristobulus as a
main source. Who is considered more relaiable.
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• It is very important to use the secondary sources
  in our study of Alexander
• For exam questions
• For understanding
• Homework on the sources read Paul Artus book
• p. 8-9. answer questions on p.12

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Oral tradition and official documents (Diaries,
letters, Ephemerides, Last Plans, etc.)
Nearchus
BC
Callisthenes
Onesicritus
Cleitarchus
300
Aristobulus
Chares
Ptolemy
200
100
DIODORUS SICULUS
0
Pompeius Trogus
CURTIUS
100
PLUTARCH
ARRIAN
200
JUSTIN
300
AD
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Oral tradition and official documents (Diaries,
letters, Ephemerides, Last Plans, etc.)
Nearchus
BC
Callisthenes
Death of Alexander
Onesicritus
Cleitarchus
300
Aristobulus
Chares
Ptolemy
Alexanders admiral
Naval officer in Alexanders fleet
Alexanders houseworker
200
Alexanders official historian
Alexanders general
Engineer or architect
100
DIODORUS SICULUS
0
Pompeius Trogus
World History
World History
CURTIUS
History
100
PLUTARCH
Biography
ARRIAN
200
History
JUSTIN
300
Epitome
AD
12
Oral tradition and official documents (Diaries,
letters, Ephemerides, Last Plans, etc.)
The fragments or Primary sources
or Alexander-historians
Nearchus
BC
Callisthenes
Onesicritus
Cleitarchus
300
Aristobulus
Chares
Ptolemy
200
100
The Vulgate tradition
DIODORUS SICULUS
0
Pompeius Trogus
CURTIUS
100
PLUTARCH
ARRIAN
200
JUSTIN
Primary source of information
300
AD
Considerable information