''The Anabasis of Alexander'' ( grc-gre, Ἀλεξάνδρου Ἀνάβασις, ''Alexándrou Anábasis''; la, Anabasis Alexandri) was composed by
Arrian of
Nicomedia
Nicomedia (; el, Νικομήδεια, ''Nikomedeia''; modern İzmit) was an ancient Greek city located in what is now Turkey. In 286, Nicomedia became the eastern and most senior capital city of the Roman Empire (chosen by the emperor Diocle ...
in the
second century AD, most probably during the reign of
Hadrian. The ''
Anabasis'' (which survives complete in seven books) is a
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
of the
campaigns of
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
, specifically his conquest of the
Persian Empire between 336 and 323 BC.
Both the unusual title "Anabasis" (literally "a journey up-country from the sea") and the work's seven-book structure reflect Arrian's emulation (in structure, style, and content) of the
Greek historian
Xenophon, whose own ''
Anabasis'' in seven books concerned the earlier campaign "up-country" of
Cyrus the Younger in 401 BC.
The ''Anabasis'' is by far the fullest surviving account of
Alexander's conquest of the Persian empire. It is primarily a military history, reflecting the content of Arrian's model, Xenophon's
Anabasis; the work begins with Alexander's accession to the
Macedonian
Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia.
Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to:
People Modern
* Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Ma ...
throne in 336 BC, and has nothing to say about Alexander's early life (in contrast, say, to
Plutarch's ''Life of Alexander''). Nor does Arrian aim to provide a complete history of the Greek-speaking world during Alexander's reign. Arrian's chief sources in writing the ''Anabasis'' were the lost contemporary histories of the campaign by
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
and
Aristobulus and, for his later books,
Nearchus. One of Arrian's main aims in writing his history seems to have been to correct the standard "Vulgate" narrative of Alexander's reign that was current in his own day, primarily associated with the lost writings of the historian
Cleitarchus.
Content
The ''Anabasis'' gives a broadly chronological account of the reign of
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
of
Macedon
Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled ...
(336–323 BC), with a particular focus on military matters. After a short Preface concerning Arrian's sources, the seven books describe the reign of Alexander the Great.
Book 1
This book covers the early years of Alexander's reign (336–334 BC), including notable descriptions of Alexander's sack of
Thebes in 335 and the
battle of the Granicus in summer 334 BC.
Book 2
The majority of this book is dominated by three large set-piece military operations: the campaign and
battle of Issus (333 BC) and the sieges of
Tyre and
Gaza (332 BC). This book also recounts the defeat of King Darius of Persia and how Alexander treated Darius's family after his death. The trial of the Gordian Knot is also included in this book.
Book 3
Book three begins with an account of Alexander in
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
, including his visit to the
oracle of Zeus-Ammon
Amun (; also ''Amon'', ''Ammon'', ''Amen''; egy, jmn, reconstructed as (Old Egyptian and early Middle Egyptian) → (later Middle Egyptian) → (Late Egyptian), cop, Ⲁⲙⲟⲩⲛ, Amoun) romanized: ʾmn) was a major ancient Egyptian ...
at
Siwah (winter 332/331 BC), before turning to the battle of
Gaugamela
The Battle of Gaugamela (; grc, Γαυγάμηλα, translit=Gaugámela), also called the Battle of Arbela ( grc, Ἄρβηλα, translit=Árbela), took place in 331 BC between the forces of the Army of Macedon under Alexander the Great ...
and defeat of
Darius III (331 BC). The latter half of the book describes Alexander's pursuit of Darius through northern Iran, the revolt of the pretender
Bessus, and the deaths of
Philotas and
Parmenion (331–329 BC).
Book 4
This book begins with describing the long
Sogdian campaign of 329–327 BC against
Bessus,
Spitamenes, and
Oxyartes
Oxyartes (Old Persian: 𐎢𐎺𐎧𐏁𐎫𐎼, Greek: ''Ὀξυάρτης'', in fa, وخشارد ("Vaxš-ard"), from an unattested form in an Old Iranian language: ''*Huxšaθra-'') was a Sogdian or Bactrian nobleman of Bactria, father o ...
, and the early stages of the
campaigns in the Punjab (327–326 BC), with a notable departure from chronological sequence at 4.7–14, where Arrian collects many of the most notorious stories tending to Alexander's discredit in a single apologetic digression (the killing of
Cleitus, the
proskynesis affair, the pages' conspiracy and the death of
Callisthenes).
Book 5
This book continues the narrative of the
Indian campaign of Alexander the Great of 326 BC, including Alexander's arrival at Nysa, the battle with
Porus at the
Hydaspes river, and the decision at the
Hyphasis
The Beas River (Sanskrit: ; Hyphasis in Ancient Greek) is a river in north India. The river rises in the Himalayas in central Himachal Pradesh, India, and flows for some to the Sutlej River in the Indian state of Punjab. Its total length is ...
not to push on further into
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
.
Book 6
The journey down the
Indus to the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...
(326–325 BC) is described, including the increasingly brutal violence inflicted on the local inhabitants by the Macedonians ''en route'' (notably at the Malli town), and the crossing of the
Gedrosian Desert (325–324 BC).
Book 7
The last of the books recounts the events of Alexander's final year, including the
Susa marriages, the Opis mutiny, the multiple predictions and omens of Alexander's own death, the death of
Hephaestion, and Alexander's own death (324–323 BC). The very end of this book concludes with speculation about how Alexander died, and whether it was by poisoning or something else.
Criticism
Arrian's ''Anabasis'' has traditionally been regarded as the most reliable extant narrative source for Alexander's campaigns. Since the 1970s, however, a more critical view of Arrian has become widespread, due largely to the work of A. B. Bosworth, who has drawn scholars' attention to Arrian's tendency to
hagiography and
apologia, not to mention several passages where Arrian can be shown (by comparison with other ancient sources) to be downright misleading.
Modern editions
The only complete English translation of Arrian available online is a rather antiquated translation by E.J. Chinnock, published in 1884.
The original Greek text used by the
Perseus Digital Library is the standard
A.G. Roos Teubner edition published at
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
in 1907.
Probably the most widely used scholarly English translation is
Loeb Classical Library edition (with facing Greek text), in two volumes. The work first appeared in 1929 and was later revised with a new introduction and appendices by
P.A. Brunt in 1976.
An English translation by
Aubrey de Sélincourt appeared in
Penguin Classics in 1958. This edition was revised and annotated by J.R. Hamilton in 1971.
The ''Landmark Ancient Histories,'' edited by Robert B. Strassler, includes ''The Landmark Arrian: The Campaigns of Alexander,'' edited by James Romm (Professor of
Classics at
Bard College, 2010), and translated by Pamela Mensch. The Landmark edition includes extensive margin notes and maps on every other page.
A new translation by
Martin Hammond with introduction and notes by John Atkinson appeared in the ''
Oxford World's Classics
Oxford World's Classics is an imprint of Oxford University Press. First established in 1901 by Grant Richards and purchased by OUP in 1906, this imprint publishes primarily dramatic and classic literature for students and the general public. ...
'' series in 2013.
[Arrian, M Hammond, J Atkinson �]
Alexander the Great: The Anabasis and the Indica
Oxford University Press, 2013 etrieved 2015-05-07/ref>
References
Further reading
* Arrian, ''Life of Alexander the Great'', translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt, Harmondsworth, Penguin Books, 1958 and numerous subsequent reprints.
* Arrian, ''The Campaigns of Alexander'', translated by P.A. Brunt, with Greek and English text, edited by Jeffrey Henderson, The Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press. Books I–IV: Books V–VII and Indica:
External links
* Arrian, Anabasis Alexandri
(section 1.13–16) (pp. 18–19)
Battle of the Granicus, from the Loeb edition.
* Arrian, Anabasis Alexandri
(section 4.18.4–19.6)
Sogdian Rock
The Sogdian Rock or Rock of Ariamazes, a fortress located north of Bactria in Sogdiana (near Samarkand), ruled by Arimazes, was captured by the forces of Alexander the Great in the early spring of 327 BC as part of his conquest of the Achaemen ...
, translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt
{{authority control
2nd-century history books
Historiography of Alexander the Great
Ancient Greek military books
Roman-era Greek historiography
Works by Arrian