Alexander of Macedon 356-323 B.C.: A Historical Biography

Not too long ago I read yThe Soul of Battley by Victor David Hanson and came to learn that not everyone held Alexander in the same esteem. I think Hanson may have even called him a ybutcher.y It finally dawned on me, of course, world conquest is not an act of loving kindness. A man could not be responsible for that much death and destruction and not be a brute. I figured I had to read something other than fiction to get a more accurate accounting of my boyhood hero.

The Amazon.com site ran a review of yAlexander of Macedony that caught my eye with the claim that Peter Greenys biography was yone of the finest.y I was immediately pleased with the title, yAlexander of Macedony rather than the expected, yAlexander the Great.y The book is not a difficult read, in fact, for history itys often quite breezy. The Alexander portrayed is no less a wonder than I always thought, but much more a human. Alexanderys greatness, according to Mr. Green, was somewhat erratic, as he could be both great and petty but not in equal measures. The pleasures of slaughter, rape, and plunder were much closer to Alexanderys soul than the pleasures of the palace, or the intellectual pleasure of bantering with philosophers. Alexander was an intriguer from childhood, with as great a genius for self-promotion and manipulation as for war; and as great a thirst for alcohol as conquest.

Mr. Green has obviously plumbed the sources. His book opens the worlds of Macedonia, Greece, and Persia. He gives us a supporting cast equal to the times, and, finally, Mr. Green gives us a life, as short as it may have been. Alexander died at 33, and his empire went quickly into collapse.


Have sword and spear, will travel   October 12, 2003
Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA)
43 out of 44 found this review helpful

Only occasionally have I read a work of history that's in the "can't put down" category. DISTANT MIRROR by Barbara Tuchman, MEN TO MATCH MY MOUNTAINS by Irving Stone, and Shelby Foote's monumental Civil War trilogy come to mind. ALEXANDER OF MACEDON, 356-323 B.C. by Peter Green is now another.

This material first appeared as ALEXANDER THE GREAT in 1970. This particular volume, a revision and expansion of that earlier book, is the second reprint (1991) of the title first published in 1974.

For the sake of background, the author necessarily begins his masterpiece with Alexander's father, Philip of Macedon, whose achievement was to unify Macedonia and coerce the Greek states to the south to join with him in an Hellenic League. But, after Philip is assassinated on page 105, it's all Alexander as he marches his army on a peripatetic route of conquest against the Persian Empire throughout Asia Minor and the Middle East as far as present-day West Pakistan - and then back again. Twenty-five thousand miles - the circumference of the Earth - in eleven years. I kept turning the pages to see what he was going to do next.

In his "Preface to the 1991 Reprint", Green makes it clear that his study of Alexander is a work in progress, and that even this book needs further revision in the light of new information. However, as flawed as the author may consider his ALEXANDER OF MACEDON to be, his masterful distillation of 17 pages worth of ancient and modern sources makes the narrative of Alexander's life sing. Green's prose is crisp and touched with a dry humor, and it never bogs down.

Though Green concludes that Alexander is "perhaps ... the most incomparable general the world has ever seen", he doesn't spare his subject from charges of megalomania and tyranny. But, in a man who never lost a battle and was proclaimed first the son of a god, and then himself a deity, can this be so surprising? Alexander is, in a sense, a tragic figure - one who couldn't see the wisdom in the statement of his subordinate commander, Coenus:

"Sir, if there is one thing above all others a successful man should know, it is when to stop."

ALEXANDER OF MACEDON is replete with a Table of Dates, fourteen maps and battle plans, and a 24-page appendix examining in detail the poorly documented battle on the River Granicus, Alexander's first victory in Asia against the Persian king Darius III.

My only complaint regarding this riveting historical piece is that the author didn't summarize the chaotic dissolution that overtook Alexander's empire immediately after his death. The contrast would have made me appreciate Alexander's achievement all that much more.


A Well-Written Tabloid.   November 8, 2004
Mr. Fellini (El Paso, Texas United States)
30 out of 40 found this review helpful

Few stories from antiquity have been exhausted like that of Alexander The Great. The guy at least deserves the title of "Great" for the fact that more than 3,000 years after his death we are still debating his life, legacy and character. Peter Green jumps into the argument with another book that attempts to give us a "new" look at Alexander's life, what his "Alexander Of Macedon" eventually is is another take on views shared by professors such as Harvard's Badian which try to judge Alexander with more "clear" views suited to our times. The problem here is that Alexander The Great lived in an era much different from our own, consider that the Greeks expressed the importance of philosophy, reading and knowledge in general as a society, today we express the importance of getting home on time for the Super Bowl. Unlike Robin Lane Fox, who's towering work "Alexander The Great" remains the best of the Alexander biographies, Green dismisses a lot of clear evidence and decides to give us something "new" by simply messing up the image of Alexander into that of some murderous conqueror or deranged dictator. It's as if Green, like Paul Cartledge, simply turns the positive into negative so it feels "fresh." He also feels appalled by tactics in ancient Macedon that today would seem barbaric but back then were the norm. The simple truth is you cannot judge a man like Alexander by the standards of our time, today we live in a world where idealism is being scorned or called "war-mongering" and heroism seems cartoonish or unrealistic, a guy like Alexander The Great would naturally feel out of place in today's world (I can just imagine Michael Moore walking around ancient Macedon, writing a rabid attack on Alexander and Philip). However, I cannot call Green some kind of unskilled writer, he actually has a very vivid, readable way of expressing his viewpoints and the book at least doesn't suffer from horrible craftsmanship. But I do not recommend it for those who are barely being introduced to Alexander, instead I recommend the more skillful works "Alexander The Great" by Robin Lane Fox and "The Nature Of Alexander" by Mary Renault.


An excellent work of biography and history   December 4, 1999
David Durman (Washington, DC)
27 out of 27 found this review helpful

This is a truly excellent biography of a near-mythical figure. First of all, this book provides a thorough review of the known history of Alexander the Great - I have no idea how someone could consider this book "fictional," as one reviewer did. What's most impressive is how Green insists on treating Alexander as a human being. An exceptional person, but still a person, motivated by human passions and concerns. Most ancient history treats its subjects like the stone statues seen in museums. But we can't forget that there were people behind the marble, and they acted like, well, people. Alexander may have considered himself chosen by the gods - and by the end, even divine himself - but Green isn't buying it. At every turn, Green insists on interpreting Alexander's actions just as he might interpret a leader's actions today. Green weighs the poltical, military, family and psychological factors that affected Alexander's decisions, and leaves divine will out of it. Some readers may be put off by Green's demythologizing. I think that Green revitalizes Alexander by restoring humanity to his myth.


A Brilliant Historical Study   February 15, 2000
22 out of 23 found this review helpful

This book is absolutely brilliant--one of the best I've everread on any topic. If this were Siskel and Ebert, it would rate twothumbs, up, way up! To be sure, things get off to a slow start, as the author lays out the setting, introduces a large cast of characters, some of whom had the same name, so it was hard to keep up at times. But after the first several dozen pages, the story just takes off and you can't put the book down. The author does a superb job of putting you right there--I really felt like I was along for the ride clear across Asia to India and back again. But what clearly distinguishes this work is Green's dissection of Alexander. He refutes the traditional description of Alexander as an elightened civilizing force spreading Western culture. It turns out the enemy Persian Empire was a sophisticated, enlightened establishement in its own right--so much so that Greeks in Asia Minor decline to join Alexander's crusade--they've got it good under the Persians. Alexander himself is a ruthless megalomaniac who stamps out anyone he thinks is standing in his way. That said, Green judges him the greatest military commander in history and provides the goods to prove, i.e. wins under every consceivable circumstance. The descriptions of the major operations and battles--Tyre, Issis, Arbela, etc.--are first rate. I also liked the way Green wove in modernist terms (the artillery, the propaganda section, etc.) to show that certain principles and concepts are timeless. In short, this is an absolutely brilliant historical biography. Two thumbs up, way up!