Alexander the Great
His Life and His Mysterious Death
(Sprache: Englisch)
What can we learn from the stunning rise and mysterious death of the ancient world s greatest conqueror? An acclaimed biographer reconstructs the life of Alexander the Great in this magisterial revisionist portrait.
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What can we learn from the stunning rise and mysterious death of the ancient world s greatest conqueror? An acclaimed biographer reconstructs the life of Alexander the Great in this magisterial revisionist portrait.[An] infectious sense of narrative momentum . . . Its energy is unflagging, including the verve with which it tackles that teased final mystery about the specific cause of Alexander s death. The Christian Science Monitor
More than two millennia have passed since Alexander the Great built an empire that stretched to every corner of the ancient world, from the backwater kingdom of Macedonia to the Hellenic world, Persia, and ultimately to India all before his untimely death at age thirty-three. Alexander believed that his empire would stop only when he reached the Pacific Ocean. But stories of both real and legendary events from his life have kept him evergreen in our imaginations with a legacy that has meant something different to every era: in the Middle Ages he became an exemplar of knightly chivalry, he was a star of Renaissance paintings, and by the early twentieth century he d even come to resemble an English gentleman. But who was he in his own time?
In Alexander the Great, Anthony Everitt judges Alexander s life against the criteria of his own age and considers all his contradictions. We meet the Macedonian prince who was naturally inquisitive and fascinated by science and exploration, as well as the man who enjoyed the arts and used Homer s great epic the Iliad as a bible. As his empire grew, Alexander exhibited respect for the traditions of his new subjects and careful judgment in administering rule over his vast territory. But his career also had a dark side. An inveterate conqueror who in his short life built the largest empire up to that point in history, Alexander glorified war and was known to commit acts of remarkable cruelty.
As debate continues about the meaning of his life, Alexander's death remains a
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mystery. Did he die of natural causes felled by a fever or did his marshals, angered by his tyrannical behavior, kill him? An explanation of his death can lie only in what we know of his life, and Everitt ventures to solve that puzzle, offering an ending to Alexander s story that has eluded so many for so long.
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CHAPTER 1Goat Kings
July 20 in the year 356 B.C. was a great day for Philip, and it marked a high point in his life so far.
An intelligent and charismatic young man in his midtwenties, he had been king of Macedonia for the past two years. This was no sinecure, for he was surrounded by enemies. On the day in question, he was with his army on campaign; three messengers arrived one after another at his camp, each bearing wonderful news.
The first rider brought a report from his trusty and talented general Parmenion, who had scored a victory against Macedonia s hereditary foes, the fierce, wild Illyrians. Then came a dispatch from southern Greece, where the Olympic Games were being held. Philip had entered a horse in one of the equestrian events. Only the very wealthy could afford the training and upkeep of two- or four-horse chariots, but financing a competitor in a four-and-a-half-mile horse race was costly enough. Philip s investment had paid off, for his mount came in first. The publicity would give a shine to his embattled reputation.
But the last messenger arrived from Pella, his capital city. His wife Olympias had given birth to a healthy boy. The official seers or soothsayers said that the arrival of a son timed to coincide with these other successes augured well. When he grew up he would surely be invincible. For his father, there was the prospect of continuing the dynasty.
The infant s name was to be Alexander.
The baby crown prince faced the prospect of a daunting inheritance. He soon came to understand the realities of life and death as a member of the royal family. Being a clever and observant child, he remembered what he saw, and early lessons set the pattern of his adult attitudes.
Here are some of the things he must have learned.
The rocky and vertiginous geography of Macedon was hostile to good governance. The kingdom lay to the north of Mount Olympus, traditional home of Zeus and the other anthropomorphic divinities of the
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Hellenic pantheon. Its center was a fertile alluvial plain bordered by the wooded mountains of northern Macedonia. Its coastline was interrupted by the three-fingered peninsula of Chalcidice, which was peppered with Greek trading settlements.
Macedonia was inhabited by unruly tribes which devoted their time and energy to stock-raising and hunting. They regularly moved sheep to and from grazing grounds the lowlands in winter and the highlands in summer. They paid as little attention as possible to central authority. There was a myriad of villages and very few settled urban communities.
The kingdom had one important raw material in almost limitless amounts high-quality timber. Trade increased around the Aegean Sea, for travel or transport by sea was easier by far than to go by land. There was growing demand for merchant ships and war galleys and, it followed, for planking and oars. The tall trees of Macedonia were ideal for the purpose, unlike the stunted products of the Greek landscape. Pitch was also exported for caulking boats.
Life, even for despots, was basic. The father of history, Herodotus, who flourished in the fifth century b.c., writes of the primitive Macedonian monarchy. His contemporaries would have recognized the simplicity of the royal lifestyle, which had changed little over the centuries. The king lived in a farmhouse with a smoke hole in the roof, and the queen did the cooking. Herodotus, who probably visited Macedonia, commented: In the old days ruling houses were poor, just like ordinary people.
Up to Philip s day and beyond, the monarch adopted an informal way of life. At home he hunted and drank with his masculine Companions, or hetairoi. In the field he fought at the head of his army and was surrounded by a select bodyguard of seven noblemen, the somatophylaxes. His magnificent armor inevitably attracted enemy attacks.<
Macedonia was inhabited by unruly tribes which devoted their time and energy to stock-raising and hunting. They regularly moved sheep to and from grazing grounds the lowlands in winter and the highlands in summer. They paid as little attention as possible to central authority. There was a myriad of villages and very few settled urban communities.
The kingdom had one important raw material in almost limitless amounts high-quality timber. Trade increased around the Aegean Sea, for travel or transport by sea was easier by far than to go by land. There was growing demand for merchant ships and war galleys and, it followed, for planking and oars. The tall trees of Macedonia were ideal for the purpose, unlike the stunted products of the Greek landscape. Pitch was also exported for caulking boats.
Life, even for despots, was basic. The father of history, Herodotus, who flourished in the fifth century b.c., writes of the primitive Macedonian monarchy. His contemporaries would have recognized the simplicity of the royal lifestyle, which had changed little over the centuries. The king lived in a farmhouse with a smoke hole in the roof, and the queen did the cooking. Herodotus, who probably visited Macedonia, commented: In the old days ruling houses were poor, just like ordinary people.
Up to Philip s day and beyond, the monarch adopted an informal way of life. At home he hunted and drank with his masculine Companions, or hetairoi. In the field he fought at the head of his army and was surrounded by a select bodyguard of seven noblemen, the somatophylaxes. His magnificent armor inevitably attracted enemy attacks.<
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Autoren-Porträt von Anthony Everitt
Anthony Everitt, a former visiting professor in the visual and performing arts at Nottingham Trent University, who has written extensively on European culture, is the author of Cicero, Augustus, Hadrian and the Triumph of Rome, The Rise of Rome, and The Rise of Athens. He has as well served as secretary general of the Arts Council of Great Britain. Everitt lives near Colchester, England s first recorded town, founded by the Romans.
Bibliographische Angaben
- Autor: Anthony Everitt
- 2021, 496 Seiten, Masse: 13,1 x 20,2 cm, Kartoniert (TB), Englisch
- Verlag: Random House Trade Paperbacks
- ISBN-10: 0425286533
- ISBN-13: 9780425286531
- Erscheinungsdatum: 17.07.2021
Sprache:
Englisch
Pressezitat
Reads as easily as a novel . . . [Anthony] Everitt has a wealth of anecdotes and two millennia of histories to work with, and he delivers and interprets them flawlessly. Nearly unparalleled insight into the period and the man make this a story for everyone. Kirkus Reviews (starred review)Everitt, an expert storyteller, has written a riveting narrative that restores Alexander to his own context and takes a whack at solving the remaining mysteries. . . . Along the way, he takes us on a spirited passage through the ancient world, from the Balkans to South Asia. BookPage
Ancient history expert Everitt attacks the young Macedonian king s astonishing conquests on three continents Africa, Asia, and Europe with relish. . . . This detailed account of the intriguing ancient military genius will fascinate military history readers eager to learn more about Alexander s motivation and the lifelong fearlessness that propelled him to near-mythic status. Publishers Weekly
Praise for Anthony Everitt
The Rise of Rome
Fascinating history and a great read. Chicago Sun-Times
Everitt writes for the informed and the uninformed general reader alike, in a brisk, conversational style, with a modern attitude of skepticism and realism. The Dallas Morning News
Cicero
An excellent introduction to a critical period in the history of Rome . . . Cicero comes across much as he must have lived. The Wall Street Journal
Riveting . . . a clear-eyed biography [offering] vivid lessons about the viciousness that can pervade elected government. Chicago Tribune
Augustus
Fascinating and brisk to read . . . All the stuff of adventure is here, from court intrigue to roving armies to shipwreck. The Washington Post Book World
A narrative of sustained drama and skillful analysis . . . an accomplished biography. The Philadelphia Inquirer
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