The campaigns of Alexander

Although written over 400 years after Alexander's death, Arrian's "Campaigns of Alexander" is our best source of knowledge of the man and his deeds.

Arrian had himself been a military commander, and his record of the exploits of the world's greatest conqueror reveals sympathy for his subject, without the adulation or contempt which so often mar other histories of the time.

His unaffected style of writing, with its matter-of-fact tone, offsets the remarkable career and paradoxical nature of Alexander.Arrian's sources were "Alexander's men", but he is a true historian, not a mere compiler; presenting a fair, clear report about a man who was worshipped as a god in his own lifetime.