ArrianBesprekingen

Preserved only in truncated form, the Ektaxis kat' Alanon, or "Deployment Against the Alans", is a curious text, prescribing the march order, deployment, and tactics for an army that Adrian led against the Alans* in the form of a classicizing literary essay.

Campbell introduces, edits, translates, and comments the text - the commentary accounts for well over half the page count. Much of it consists of disagreements with previous translators, but the is also in-depth discussion of all the units of the Roman army involved, and elucidation of obscure passages.

A must for those interested in ancient military texts.

* A nomadic people of the Caucasus region. The modern Ossetes are their descendants.

En esta segunda parte continúan las conquistas y aventuras del rey macedonio, finalizando en el momento de su muerte. Viene incluido un último libro que relata el retorno marítimo de Nearco hasta su reencuentro con Alejandro, en este último li8bro cabe destacar lo detallado de las distancias y localidades geográficas descritas, pudiéndose buscar sus paralelos actuales perfectamente.

Una historia de las aventuras y conquistas de Alejandro Magno. Arriano vivió siglos después del fallecimiento del rey macedonio, pero sin embargo se basó fuentes directas para elaborar esta historia, hoy día perdidas, por lo que supone la mejor fuente para acercarnos a obras ya perdidas, como Tolomeo. Arriano era un político y militar greco-romano por eso las descripciones de las disposiciones previas a las batallas, los mandos, las divisiones y el desarrollo de las batallas es muy detallado. Es una de las mejores fuentes para saber sobre la vida de Alejandro.

Arrian's Anabasis Alexandrou in Pantheon's beautiful Landmark series with many footnotes, side-notes, maps, battle plans and grayscale images of locales, coins, and archeological finds. There are a series of modern essays as appendices. [The very last appendix reveals that Arrian was the student whose notes are what we have of Epictetus.] Arrian has his own criticisms of Alexander, but still, he was the great revered conqueror and leader of antiquity. To modern eyes it seems like a long way to go to find new people to kill and enslave, but it must have been all Alexander thought about since he was a child - defeat Persia and why stop there? If his "Last Plans" are authentic, then he was planning to take Arabia next and to interchange Greek and Asian peoples to make the civilized world homogeneous. Fortunately or unfortunately something like typhoid fever intervened.

The only relevant extant source on Alexander is a fantastic read. We don't get to know the person however, and it would seem that even Arrian, who wrote about him with all the then extant sources—like Ptolemy's lost writings for example—were unable to get a grasp on him either. Too bad.

But what we do get, is a breathtaking description of his conquests and campaigns. Arrian is a bit arrogant, he knows what a great writer he is and is not afraid to inform us of this either, as he tells us in the beginning of book one. He focuses on the colossal scale of the enterprise—it is colossal even by modern standards—and the military genius of the young commander and his generals. Alexander's goal was to revenge the sacking of Athens by the Persians, as recounted by Herodotus in his book “Histories”.

This was how the whole enterprise was sold to the Greeks, Arrian tells us, and we get to follow the young soon to be king as he and his father makes several important campaigns into modern day northern Greece, Macedonia, and the Balkans. This is where the legend of Alexander the General is born. Thirteen years later, after the goal of revenge had been met—Persia ceased to exist as a country, never mind as a superpower after Alexander ravaged it—he dies in Babylon in modern day Iraq after having conquered the known world. Never having lost a single battle.

Alexander was the Great for a reason.

Were it not for young Alexander, leader of Greece, our world as we know it would not exist. Alexander is likely the singular most significant individual in recorded history. Without him the Hellenistic age would never have happened, entire cities or even countries would not exist, there would never have been a Caesar or a Jesus, and most certainly, you and I would never have been born. (nod to Kenneth Harl)

A one hundred percent enjoyable read with fabulous extras such as maps (there is one map every three to five pages) and pictures of places as they look today, historical artefacts from archaeology, and add to all of that above: numerous essays on various aspects of the known world at that time.

This was disappointing. There is little narrative, just a laundry list of places and dubious numbers. I was hoping for more explication.

ANÁBASIS SE ALEJANDRO MAGNO. LIBROS I - VIII

Lucio Flavio Arriano nació en 85-90 d.C. en Nicomedia (Bitinia; hoy Ismit, en la Turquía asiática occidental), donde se educó y fue sacerdote de Deméter y Perséfone. Ocupó el cargo de procónsul de Bética y legado imperial en Capadocia, para retirarse por último a Atenas en calidad de arconte (145-146). Gran parte de su considerable obra, en griego, se ha perdido, pero sabemos que escribió tratados filosóficos sobre Epicteto, militares e históricos.

La Anábasis ('expedición hacia el interior del país') se integra en la larga tradición de escritos dedicados a Alejandro Magno. Arriano, a quien la crítica considera un testimonio de primer orden sobre el rey macedonio, lo muestra como un vigoroso hombre de acción y un pensador político que trata de lograr la unidad de los pueblos, aunque en la vertiente pasional no es ajeno al ansia de gloria. Arriano se distancia de las biografías retóricas y mitologizantes que hacían furor en su tiempo, y presenta su obra como un "libro profesional", dirigido a gentes de la carrera civil y militar, casi como un manual monográfico de historia militar centrado en las campañas de Alejandro. Así, en este primer volumen de la Anábasis aparecen, narrados con un estilo recio que no hace concesión alguna al ornato innecesario, los lances principales de las aventuras y conquistas alejandrinas: campañas en Tracia, represión de Tebas, expedición contra los persas, victorias en Éfeso y Mileto, Tarso y Tiro, Gaza y Menfis, fundación de Alejandría, organización administrativa de Egipto, combates contra Darío, triunfos en Babilonia, Susa, Persépolis, Bactria... Como autor del siglo II d.C., Arriano posee una gran cultura y tiene el referente de la Atenas clásica; en su faceta de historiador, pretende ser un segundo Jenofonte.

ANÁBASIS DE ALEJANDRO MAGNO

VIDA Y OBRA
Lucio –o Aulo- Flavio Arriano [1] nació entre los años 80-95 dC en Nicomedia (Bitinia), por lo que fue un “heleno asiático romanizado” en genial expresión de Mary Renault. Este admirable autor pertenece a la estirpe de grandes de las letras helénicas como su modelo Jenofonte o Polibio de Megalópolis. Fueron tanto intelectuales como destacados hombres de armas, al tiempo que entendieron el registro histórico como una misión sagrada, la cual debe efectuarse dentro de un mínimo de rigor y honestidad. Por ello el historiador debe renunciar a tratar de admirar al lector mediante fabulaciones y distorsión de los hechos. Máxime, cuando la realidad supera la ficción. Este “triunvirato” de autores se acercó a ese objetivo e ideal, quizás sólo superados por Tucídides, maestro de historiadores no sólo en la antigüedad, sino de todos los tiempos.

Así como Jenofonte tuvo la inmensa dicha de ser discípulo de Sócrates, Arriano tuvo durante su juventud como maestro al filósofo Epicteto, quien enseñara que la libertad es el resultado de la victoria sobre el miedo. Luego de unos tres o cuatro años de estudios, el emperador Adriano –sucesor del gran Trajano, el optimus princeps- le concedió el ingreso al Senado romano.
Probablemente sus cualidades le valieron que unos años después (117-120 dC) fuera designado cónsul. No fue la culminación de su carrera política: entre los años 131-137 fue nombrado gobernador de la provincia de Capadocia, donde tuvieron lugar sus hechos de armas más notables: rechazó repetidas veces una temible invasión de los alanos, pueblo que junto con los suevos y vándalos fuera el azote de Roma, Hispania inclusive. Hallazgos arqueológicos indicarían que nuestro buen autor hubiese pisado suelo español [2]. Hacia 145-6 dC fue designado ciudadano de honor de Atenas.

Sobre sus últimos años nada se sabe. Se ha conjeturado la posibilidad de que Arriano haya sido una víctima más de los últimos años de Adriano. La hipótesis resulta creíble no sólo en virtud de la ausencia de registros sobre los postreros días del de Nicomedia, sino igualmente por su obra como se verá a continuación.

Sobre la obra:

La Anábasis ('expedición hacia el interior del país') se integra en la larga tradición de escritos dedicados a Alejandro Magno. Arriano, a quien la crítica considera un testimonio de primer orden sobre el rey macedonio, lo muestra como un vigoroso hombre de acción y un pensador político que trata de lograr la unidad de los pueblos, aunque en la vertiente pasional no es ajeno al ansia de gloria. Arriano se distancia de las biografías retóricas y mitologizantes que hacían furor en su tiempo, y presenta su obra como un "libro profesional", dirigido a gentes de la carrera civil y militar, casi como un manual monográfico de historia militar centrado en las campañas de Alejandro. Así, en este primer volumen de la Anábasis aparecen, narrados con un estilo recio que no hace concesión alguna al ornato innecesario, los lances principales de las aventuras y conquistas alejandrinas: campañas en Tracia, represión de Tebas, expedición contra los persas, victorias en Éfeso y Mileto, Tarso y Tiro, Gaza y Menfis, fundación de Alejandría, organización administrativa de Egipto, combates contra Darío, triunfos en Babilonia, Susa, Persépolis, Bactria... Como autor del siglo II d.C., Arriano posee una gran cultura y tiene el referente de la Atenas clásica; en su faceta de historiador, pretende ser un segundo Jenofonte, como se echa de ver en el préstamo del título.

I read this for a history class, long ago.

One of my all time favorite books. Probably the first real piece of classical history I read when I was 19, and it's still my favorite, even though Arrian's stoic justification for Alexander's bad behavior is less justified for me at 34. You can feel Alexander's glory.

This is the edition I would recommend if you want to read this book. The translation is superb with a useful introduction and notes, a usable set of maps and all printed on good quality paper. It also has the Indica which is otherwise hard to come by.

These books are 1900 years old and the reason our forebears have taken the trouble to preserve them is because they're fucking brilliant.

The Anabasis is strictly an account of Alexander's campaigns but you really get a sense of the man; his continuous questioning: "What happens if I attack these people?" "Will they worship me?" "Will the gods sanction this?" "Will I die?" His unthinking aggression. His quest for glory. He reminds me of Julius Caesar; either that or Arrian's style is like Caesar's. A man obviously driven by his own demons (small man syndrome, much?). As the book progresses disturbing elements appear: his war crimes, for example. Ultimately this book is pro-Alexander and when his troops turned him back I felt they had spoilt the pristine glory.

Indica: don't be put off by the opening; an author writing today would use a map.

"I would advise you to undertake a regular course of history & poetry in both languages, in Greek, go first thro’ the Cyropaedia, and then read Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon’s Hellenies & Anabasis, Arrian’s Alexander, & Plutarch’s lives..." - Thomas Jefferson to Francis Eppes, 6 Oct. 1820

"...there are a number of particular histories, filling up chasms, which may be read at leisure in the progress of life, such as Arrian, Q. Cortius, Polybius, Sallust, Plutarch, Dionysius Halicarnasseus, Micali Etc." - Thomas Jefferson to George W. Lewis, 25 Oct. 1825

"I would advise you to undertake a regular course of history & poetry in both languages, in Greek, go first thro’ the Cyropaedia, and then read Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon’s Hellenies & Anabasis, Arrian’s Alexander, & Plutarch’s lives..." - Thomas Jefferson to Francis Eppes, 6 Oct. 1820

"...there are a number of particular histories, filling up chasms, which may be read at leisure in the progress of life, such as Arrian, Q. Cortius, Polybius, Sallust, Plutarch, Dionysius Halicarnasseus, Micali Etc." - Thomas Jefferson to George W. Lewis, 25 Oct. 1825

This is the most detailed life of Alexander written by someone with access to the records of his time, which was probably around 150CE. Also it's got lots of battles, and keeps track of some of the changes in the staff and army of the conqueror. If you can only read one, read this one.
The translation is well written in the 1971 edition, which is the one I've got.

Everything you need to know is all wrapped up in this book....outstanding!

Det finns ett par antika biografier över Alexander den store bevarade, och främst av dessa torde Arrianos stå. Han är ohöljt beundrande inför denne lyckoriddare, och trots en del ansatser i kritisk riktning, där han några gånger redogör för motstridiga uppgifter eller sådant han själv inte säger sig tro på, så behåller han uppenbart orimliga uppgifter (som en första åtgärd kan man vid stridsskildringar skära ner på motståndet till en tiondel och öka de makedoniska förlusterna tio gånger, så får man i alla fall siffror som inte verkar helt omöjliga).

Själva historien är den kända, lite enahanda: Alexander anfaller perserriket, erövrar det, och fortsätter österut och underkuvar folk på folk, till dess hans soldater tröttnar och tvingar honom tillbaka till Babylon, där han dör, efter att i stort sett ha tillbringat tretton av trettiotre år på hästryggen, på väg från en strid till en annan.

Alexander är sannerligen en av dessa figurer som i efterhand verkar nästan overklig: som härskare över en halvbarbarisk stat som visserligen börjat dominera över Grekland lyckas han ta sig an, besegra och erövra en stormakt, och påbörja erövringen av en subkontinent. Han jämför ofta med myten om hur Dionysos erövrade ungefär motsvarande område, vilket i efterhand verkar rimligt. Samtidigt är han inte direkt omänsklig: han smickras och förargas, han tar mördar och ångrar sig, han sörjer sin älskare.

Arrianos skildring är kanske inte en av de stora klassikerna, men den är läsbar och behöver inte skämmas för sig.

Description of the "perfect" Hellenistic army written by a Roman official and general (these being one and the same in the early Roman Empire). Probably written especially for the emperor Hadrian who was very interested in all things Greek. Also shows the Roman fascination with the Alexander the Great who was almost "ancient history" even to the Romans (Arrian writes 430 years after Alexander lived). However, even the author admits that the army he describes was no longer a viable organizational model. The book also includes a fragment of the description of Arrian's assault on the barbarian Alans in which he describes the contemporary composition of a Roman army. This would be of extreme importance if we had the entire text. Greek text with English translation.

awesome

Anabasis Alexandri (Greek: Ἀλεξάνδρου ἀνάβασις Alexándrou anábasis), the Campaigns of Alexander by Arrian, is the most important source on Alexander the Great.
The Greek term anabasis referred to an expedition from a coastline into the interior of a country. The term katabasis referred to a trip from the interior to the coast. So a more literal translation would be The Expedition of Alexander.

This work on Alexander is one of the few surviving complete accounts of the Macedonian conqueror's expedition. Arrian was able to use sources which are now lost, such as the contemporary works by Callisthenes (the nephew of Alexander's tutor Aristotle), Onesicritus, Nearchus, and Aristobulus, and the slightly later work of Cleitarchus. Most important of all, Arrian had the biography of Alexander by Ptolemy, one of Alexander's leading generals and possibly his half-brother.

It is primarily a military history; it has little to say about Alexander's personal life, his role in Greek politics or the reasons why the campaign against Persia was launched in the first place.

So let me start with saying that Alexander THE GREAT is truly deserving of “Great”. From stat to finish I was enthralled (there are parts, not so much but very few). The shear scale of battle the audacity and arrogance of the man made him one of the first greats. I mean hell he conquered the known world before he was thirty and then died before he was forty. Here it is over 2500 years later and this man is still considered to be and labeled as "THE GREAT" An excellent book if your a history nerd (like myself) an even more outstanding piece of classical ligature about one of the world first superpower leaders

Mine is one of those Kaktos editions, with the original Greek on one side and Modern Greek on the other. Weirdly, although I don't have any Modern Greek, it's still often helpful.

although written 400 years after his death, this is considered the best account of Alexander's life and history

De Selincourt's translation is over forty years old now, but still remains my preferred version of Arrian; his rendering provides a lot of the elasticity and fluency which Arrian's original didn't have because of his choice of prose style. It's a nice compromise which adds to the accessibility of the work. What didn't, and what is nearly always my quibble with Penguin editions of the Classics, is the complete dearth of any useful maps. I was surprised that the one in this even managed to show Issus, it was that basic.

a little distant, but still vastly accessible to our own time.

Arriano nacque, tra l'85 e il 90 d.C., a Nicomedia, in Bitinia, da genitori che probabilmente avevano ricevuto la cittadinanza sotto i Flavi, come indicherebbe il nomen Flavio. A Nicomedia, dove fu educato secondo la comune educazione letteraria, fu insignito del sacerdozio a vita del culto delle dee protettrici Demetra e Core, come lui stesso ricorda.

Frequentò poi le lezioni dello stoico Epitteto a Nicopoli, in Epiro e ne pubblicò la trascrizione fedele: per questa sua attività viene appunto ricordato dalla Suda e dai bizantini come "filosofo", e come tale è qualificato da Luciano e nel titolo della sua biografia, scritta nel III secolo da Cassio Dione, che è andata perduta.

L'amicizia con l'imperatore Adriano (117-138), forse conosciuto all'epoca della frequentazione di Epitteto, gli permise di ricoprire prestigiose cariche politiche: da un'iscrizione ritrovata a Cordova sappiamo che fu proconsole della Spagna Betica, e sappiamo che intorno al 130 fu console.

Nominato governatore della Cappadocia dal 131 al 136, riuscì ad amministrarla con grande competenza, respingendo nel 135 un'invasione dei barbari Alani, cui dedicò in seguito un'opera.

Dopo il 136 si ritirò a vita privata, forse in maniera definitiva dal 138 per incomprensioni con l'erede di Adriano, Antonino Pio, divenendo cittadino di Atene e rivestendovi varie cariche, tra cui spicca quella di arconte eponimo nel 145; in questo periodo si dedicò, inoltre, all'attività letteraria a tempo pieno, probabilmente componendo le sue opere più vaste e ispirandosi in maniera costante e sistematica a Senofonte. Ignoriamo l'anno della sua morte.

Egli cominciò a scrivere di Alessandro quando il carattere di lui già da tempo era diventato oggetto di discussione nelle scuole di filosofia e di retorica. In quei tempi, Alessandro era la massima figura che fosse mai apparsa nella storia, e un concentrato di tutto ciò che l'uomo aveva sognato e immaginato. Arriano era sobrio, scrupoloso, preciso: cercava di rinnovare l'esattezza di Senofonte: consultò e utilizzò gli storici più fededegni. Arriano cancellò i paesaggi orientali, che avevano incantato Curzio Rufo: sfumò le figure minori e le ombre, e tutto il suo quadro fu occupato dal nuovo Achille, che conquistò il mondo.

Anabasi di Alessandro: il titolo e la divisione in 7 libri dell'opera mostrano chiaramente come il modello strutturale sia Senofonte. Arriano si pone consapevolmente al termine della lunga discussione storiografica sull'impresa di Alessandro, che riporta con competenza ed obiettività basandosi sulle fonti più autorevoli dell'alessandrografia ellenistica, e giungendo a dare un resoconto veridico sulla spedizione, dai preparativi in Grecia alla morte del conquistatore, evitando il romanzesco e il leggendario.

Infatti la narrazione della "marcia verso l'interno" del conquistatore macedone si basa, oltre che sulle Efemeridi (diari di corte) sulle opere (perdute) di Tolomeo I (367-283 a.C.) ed Aristobulo (374-290 a.C. ca.), compagni del re nella sua spedizione ed alieni dal romanzesco che permeava la restante produzione ellenistica (di cui parte è confluita in Diodoro Siculo e Plutarco), restituendoci così le versioni "ufficiali" di vari eventi e consentendoci di capire quale fosse il dibattito storiografico ellenistico sulla figura di Alessandro.

In tal modo, Arriano rappresenta per noi il più autorevole testimone della storia di Alessandro, che integra con diverse note di carattere etnografico e con grande attenzione all'aspetto militare.