There are numerous surviving ancient Greek and Latin sources on

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 ...

, king 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 ...

, as well as some Asian texts. The five main surviving accounts are by

Arrian Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; la, Lucius Flavius Arrianus; ) was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the Roman period. ''The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best ...

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history '' Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which ...

Quintus Curtius Rufus Quintus Curtius Rufus () was a Roman historian, probably of the 1st century, author of his only known and only surviving work, ''Historiae Alexandri Magni'', "Histories of Alexander the Great", or more fully ''Historiarum Alexandri Magni Macedon ...

, and

Justin Justin may refer to: People * Justin (name), including a list of persons with the given name Justin * Justin (historian), a Latin historian who lived under the Roman Empire * Justin I (c. 450–527), or ''Flavius Iustinius Augustus'', Eastern Rom ...

.Green, 2007, pp xxii–xxviii In addition to these five main sources, there is the ''

Metz Epitome The ''Metz Epitome'' is a late antique summary of earlier historical fragments and covers the conquests of Alexander the Great between Hyrcania and northwest India.Baynham, E.(1995) ''An Introduction to the Metz Epitome: its Traditions and Valu ...

'', an anonymous late Latin work that narrates Alexander's campaigns from

Hyrcania Hyrcania () ( el, ''Hyrkania'', Old Persian: 𐎺𐎼𐎣𐎠𐎴 ''Varkâna'',Lendering (1996) Middle Persian: 𐭢𐭥𐭫𐭢𐭠𐭭 ''Gurgān'', Akkadian: ''Urqananu'') is a historical region composed of the land south-east of the Caspian ...

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 ...

. Much is also recounted incidentally by other authors, including

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called " Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could s ...

Athenaeus Athenaeus of Naucratis (; grc, Ἀθήναιος ὁ Nαυκρατίτης or Nαυκράτιος, ''Athēnaios Naukratitēs'' or ''Naukratios''; la, Athenaeus Naucratita) was a Greek rhetorician and grammarian, flourishing about the end of ...

Polyaenus Polyaenus or Polyenus ( ; see ae (æ) vs. e; grc-gre, Πoλύαινoς, Polyainos, "much-praised") was a 2nd-century CE Greek author, known best for his ''Stratagems in War'' ( grc-gre, Στρατηγήματα, Strategemata), which has been pr ...

, Aelian, and others. Strabo, who gives a summary of Callisthenes, is an important source for Alexander's journey to Siwah.

Contemporary sources

Most primary sources written by people who actually knew Alexander or who gathered information from men who served with Alexander are lost, but a few inscriptions and fragments survive. Contemporaries who wrote accounts of his life include Alexander's campaign historian Callisthenes; Alexander's generals

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

Nearchus Nearchus or Nearchos ( el, Νέαρχος; – 300 BC) was one of the Greek officers, a navarch, in the army of Alexander the Great. He is known for his celebrated expeditionary voyage starting from the Indus River, through the Persian Gulf and ...

; Aristobulus, a junior officer on the campaigns; and

Onesicritus Onesicritus ( el, Ὀνησίκριτος; c. 360 BC – c. 290 BC), a Greek historical writer and Cynic philosopher, who accompanied Alexander the Great on his campaigns in Asia. He claimed to have been the commander of Alexander's fleet but w ...

, Alexander's chief helmsman. Finally, there is the very influential account of Cleitarchus who, while not a direct witness of Alexander's expedition, used sources which had just been published. His work was to be the backbone of that of

Timagenes Timagenes ( grc, Τιμαγένης) was a Greek writer, historian and teacher of rhetoric. He came from Alexandria, was captured by Romans in 55 BC and taken to Rome, where he was purchased by Faustus Cornelius Sulla, son of Sulla. It is said th ...

, who heavily influenced many historians whose work still survives. None of his works survived, but we do have later works based on these primary sources.

The five main sources

Arrian

*''

Anabasis Alexandri ''The Anabasis of Alexander'' ( grc-gre, Ἀλεξάνδρου Ἀνάβασις, ''Alexándrou Anábasis''; la, Anabasis Alexandri) was composed by Arrian of Nicomedia in the second century AD, most probably during the reign of Hadrian. The ...

'' (''The Campaigns of Alexander'' in Greek) by the Greek historian

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 ...

, writing in the 2nd century AD, and based largely on Ptolemy and, to a lesser extent, Aristobulus and Nearchus. It is generally considered one of the best sources on the campaigns of Alexander as well as one of the founders of a primarily military-based focus on history. Arrian cites his source by name and he often criticizes them. He is not interested in the King's private life, overlooking his errors. ''That Alexander should have committed errors in conduct from impetuosity or from wrath, and that he should have been induced to comport himself like the Persian monarchs to an immoderate degree, I do not think remarkable if we fairly consider both his youth and his uninterrupted career of good fortune. I do not think that even his tracing his origin to a god was a great error on Alexander's part if it was not perhaps merely a device to induce his subjects to show him reverence 888''. (Arrian 7b 29) *'' Indica'', written in the 2nd century AD, mainly describes the voyage of

's officer

from the

Indus The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

to the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...

following Alexander's conquest of much of the Indus Valley.

Plutarch

*''Life of Alexander'' (see ''

Parallel Lives Plutarch's ''Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans'', commonly called ''Parallel Lives'' or ''Plutarch's Lives'', is a series of 48 biographies of famous men, arranged in pairs to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings, probably writt ...

'') and two orations ''On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander the Great'' (see ''

Moralia The ''Moralia'' ( grc, Ἠθικά ''Ethika''; loosely translated as "Morals" or "Matters relating to customs and mores") is a group of manuscripts dating from the 10th–13th centuries, traditionally ascribed to the 1st-century Greek scholar Pl ...

''), by the Greek historian and biographer

Chaeronea Chaeronea (English: or ; el, Χαιρώνεια , ) is a village and a former municipality in Boeotia, Greece, located about 35 kilometers east of Delphi. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Livadeia, of which ...

in the second century, based largely on Aristobulus and especially Cleitarchus. Plutarch devotes a great deal of space to Alexander's drive and desire and strives to determine how much of it was presaged in his youth. He also draws extensively on the work of

Lysippus Lysippos (; grc-gre, Λύσιππος) was a Greek sculptor of the 4th century BC. Together with Scopas and Praxiteles, he is considered one of the three greatest sculptors of the Classical Greek era, bringing transition into the Hellenistic p ...

, Alexander's favorite sculptor, to provide what is probably the fullest and most accurate description of the conqueror's physical appearance.

Diodorus

*''

Bibliotheca historica ''Bibliotheca historica'' ( grc, Βιβλιοθήκη Ἱστορική, ) is a work of universal history by Diodorus Siculus. It consisted of forty books, which were divided into three sections. The first six books are geographical in theme, ...

'' (''Library of world history''), written in Greek by the Sicilian historian

, from which Book 17 relates the conquests of Alexander, based almost entirely on Cleitarchus and Hieronymus of Cardia. It is the oldest surviving Greek source (1st century BC). Diodorus regarded Alexander like Caesar as a key historical figure and chronological marker.

Curtius

*'' Historiae Alexandri Magni'', a biography of Alexander in ten books, of which the last eight survive, by the Roman historian

, written in the 1st century AD, and based largely on Cleitarchus through the mediation of Timagenes, with some material probably from Ptolemy. His work is fluidly written, but reveals ignorance of geography, chronology, and technical military knowledge, focusing instead on the character. According to

Jona Lendering Jona Lendering (born 29 October 1964) is a Dutch historian and the author of books on antiquity, Dutch history and modern management. He has an MA in history from Leiden University and an MA in Mediterranean culture from the Amsterdam Free Unive ...

: ''..the real subject was not Alexander, but the tyranny of

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

and

Caligula Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (31 August 12 – 24 January 41), better known by his nickname Caligula (), was the third Roman emperor, ruling from 37 until his assassination in 41. He was the son of the popular Roman general Germani ...

. (It can be shown that Curtius Rufus' description of the trial of

Philotas Philotas ( el, Φιλώτας; 365 BC – October 330 BC) was the eldest son of Parmenion, one of Alexander the Great's most experienced and talented generals. He rose to command the Companion Cavalry, but was accused of conspiring against Alex ...

is based on an incident during the reign of Tiberius)...Curtius copies Cleitarchus' mistakes, although he is not an uncritical imitator.''

Justin

*The '' Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus'' by

, is highly compressed version of an earlier history by

Trogus Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus also anglicized as was a Gallo-Roman historian from the Celtic Vocontii tribe in Narbonese Gaul who lived during the reign of the emperor Augustus. He was nearly contemporary with Livy. Life Pompeius Trogus's grandfathe ...

, with the selections governed by Justin's desire to make moralistic points, rather than with an eye for the history itself.

Letters

Alexander wrote and received numerous letters, but no originals survive. A few official letters addressed to the Greek cities survive in copies inscribed in stone and the content of others is sometimes reported in historical sources. These only occasionally quote the letters and it is an open question how reliable such quotations are. Several fictitious letters, some perhaps based on actual letters, made their way into the ''Romance'' tradition.

Lionel I. C. Pearson Lionel I. C. Pearson (30 January 1908 – 18 September 1988) was a British classical scholar. Career Lionel Ignatius Cusack Pearson was born in London on 30 January 1908, the son of Arthur Anselm and Ellen Cusack Pearson. He is a graduate of Tr ...

(1955), "The Diary and the Letters of Alexander the Great", ''Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte'' 3(4): 429–455, at 443–450.

Lost works

*Life of Alexander by Aesopus *Works of

Anaximenes of Lampsacus Anaximenes of Lampsacus (; grc, Ἀναξιμένης ὁ Λαμψακηνός; 320 BC) was a Greek rhetorician and historian. He was one of the teachers of Alexander the Great and accompanied him on his campaigns. Family His father was named Aris ...

*Works of

Aristobulus of Cassandreia Aristobulus of Cassandreia (c. 375 BC – 301 BC), Greek historian, son of Aristobulus, probably a Phocian settled in Cassandreia, accompanied Alexander the Great on his campaigns. He served throughout as an architect and military engineer as w ...

*Geographical work of

Androsthenes of Thasos Androsthenes ( grc, Ἀνδροσθένης; literally meaning: "Man's Strength") of Thasos, son of Callistratus, was one of the admirals of Alexander the Great. He sailed as a trierarch with Nearchus, and was also sent by Alexander down the Euphra ...

*Deeds of Alexander by Callisthenes (the official historian) *Personal Notebooks, or ''Hypomnemata'', by Alexander himself (possibly inauthentic) *History of Alexander by Cleitarchus *On the empire of the Macedonians by

Criton of Pieria Criton of Pieria (Greek: Κρίτων Πιεριώτης, Πιερ(ι)εύς; Latin ''Crito Pieriota'', ''Pieriotes'', ''Pierius'', ''Pierensis'') was a 2nd-century Greek historian.Suda κ 2453 Titles of works *''Παλληνικά'', ''Pallenica ...

*Histories (also listed as Macedonica and Hellenica) by

Duris of Samos Duris of Samos (or Douris) ( grc-gre, Δοῦρις ὁ Σάμιος; BCafter 281BC) was a Greek historian and was at some period tyrant of Samos. Duris was the author of a narrative history of events in Greece and Macedonia from 371BC to 281BC ...

*''Ephemerides'' (royal journal) of the royal secretary Eumenes (existence or authenticity disputed) *Work of Ephippus of Olynthus *Works of Strattis of Olynthus *Work of

Hagnothemis According to Plutarch, six years after Alexander the Great's death, Hagnothemis ( grc, Ἁγνόθεμις) claimed that Antipater was responsible for poisoning Alexander, and that it was Aristotle who instigated this and procured the poison. Hagnot ...

upon which Plutarch rested the belief that Antipater poisoned Alexander. *Work of Hieronymus of Cardia *On the education of Alexander and Macedonian history by Marsyas of Pella *Work of Medius of Larissa *Work of

, the primary source of Arrian's Indica *How Alexander was Educated and geographical works by

*Work of

Ptolemy I Soter Ptolemy I Soter (; gr, Πτολεμαῖος Σωτήρ, ''Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr'' "Ptolemy the Savior"; c. 367 BC – January 282 BC) was a Macedonian Greek general, historian and companion of Alexander the Great from the Kingdom of Macedo ...

*Work of Nicobule *History of Alexander by

*Historiae Philippicae by

Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus also anglicized as was a Gallo-Roman historian from the Celtic Vocontii tribe in Narbonese Gaul who lived during the reign of the emperor Augustus. He was nearly contemporary with Livy. Life Pompeius Trogus's grandfathe ...

Greek epigraphy

* Decree of Philippi (ca.335-330 BC) Alexander arbitrates a boundary dispute between local Thracian tribes and the city of Philippi. *A dedicatory inscription to

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

was found at Toumbes Kalamotou, Thessaloniki regional unit ; it records a list of priests of

Asclepius Asclepius (; grc-gre, Ἀσκληπιός ''Asklēpiós'' ; la, Aesculapius) is a hero and god of medicine in ancient Greek religion and mythology. He is the son of Apollo and Coronis, or Arsinoe, or of Apollo alone. Asclepius represen ...

who had fulfilled their duties from the time ''when King Alexandros gave Kalindoia and the villages around to Makedones.'' *A dedicatory inscription to Olympian Zeus by Philonides of Crete in which he is mentioned as ''King Alexandros' hemerodromos (cursor) and bematist of Asia''. * Lindos Chronicle. ''King Alexandros having defeated Darius in battle and become lord ''

kurios ''Kyrios'' or ''kurios'' ( grc, κύριος, kū́rios) is a Greek word which is usually translated as "lord" or "master". It is used in the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew scriptures about 7000 times, in particular translating the name ...

'' of Asia, sacrificed to

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of v ...

Lindos Lindos (; grc-gre, Λίνδος) is an archaeological site, a fishing village and a former municipality on the island of Rhodes, in the Dodecanese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Rhodes, of which it ...

''. boukephala (ox-heads) and hopla (armour) * Antigonus (son of Callas) hetairos from Amphipolis, commemorates his victory in hoplite racing at Heraclean games after the Conquest of Tyrus.

Non-Greco-Roman Sources

Babylonian Chronicles

*''Alexander Chronicle'' mentions 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 a ...

and the incident of

Bessus Bessus or Bessos ( peo, *Bayaçā; grc-gre, Βήσσος), also known by his throne name Artaxerxes V ( peo, 𐎠𐎼𐎫𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎠 ; grc-gre, Ἀρταξέρξης; died summer 329 BC), was a Persian satrap of the eastern Achaemenid sa ...

, who was pursued by ''Aliksandar''. *''Alexander and Arabia Chronicle'' refers to events concerning the last years of the King.

Zoroastrian texts

The Bible

Daniel 8:5–8 and 21–22 states that a King of Greece will conquer the Medes and Persians but then die at the height of his power and have his kingdom broken into four kingdoms. This is sometimes taken as a reference to Alexander. Alexander was briefly mentioned in the

first Book of the Maccabees The First Book of Maccabees, also known as First Maccabees (written in shorthand as 1 Maccabees or 1 Macc.), is a book written in Hebrew by an anonymousRappaport, U., ''47. 1 Maccabees'' in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001)The Oxford Bible Comme ...

. All of Chapter 1, verses 1–7 was about Alexander and this serves as an introduction of the book. This explains how the Greek influence reached the

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine (see also Isr ...

at that time.

The Quran

There is evidence to suggest that orally transmitted legends about Alexander the Great found their way to the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , ...

. In the story of

Dhul-Qarnayn , ( ar, ذُو ٱلْقَرْنَيْن, Ḏū l-Qarnayn, ; "He of the Two Horns") appears in the Quran, Surah Al-Kahf (18), Ayahs 83–101 as one who travels to east and west and sets up a barrier between a certain people and Gog and Magog ...

, "the two-horned one" (chapter

al-Kahf Al-Kahf ( ar, الكهف, ; The Cave) is the 18th chapter (sūrah) of the Quran with 110 verses ( āyāt). Regarding the timing and contextual background of the revelation (''asbāb al-nuzūl''), it is an earlier "Meccan surah", which mean ...

, verse 83–94), Dhu al-Qarnayn is identified by most Western and traditional Muslim scholars as a reference to Alexander the Great.