History of Alexander the Great and ancient Macedon

I just read this in Robinson's "the History of Alexander the Great" Part 2, "The Fragments"
It's from PLUT. Aet. gr. 9 p. 292 D-F.
"Fort the Delphians do not use b for ph (as the Macedonians...)"
So, is it Hebaistion and Bilippos???

Hey there,

I'm new to this community, but have been interested in Alexander and his reign for some time.
So, I actually consider myself an Alexander-fan, as I think he's a fascinating historical person (with his spirits, and his pothos, and his romance and genius, ... )  and had a great effect on the European/Asian world. I'm also studying Ancient Greek in school, and generally love most Greek things (yeah, I know, Alexander was Macedonian), so that's a point too.

However, today I was wondering - why is Alexander considered such an incredibly important person in history, or rather, were the changes he caused any good?
I mean, clearly, it speaks of great strategical abilities to conquer an empire I don't know how many times larger than your own, with an army the accordant size, etc. Then we've got the hellenism, which itself isn't a bad thing, as cultural change is usually positive for both sides, IMO.
But generally, the idea of conquering another empire just for the sake of is, is not something ultimatively positive, at least from nowaday's perspective, is it?

So, my question: What do you think, was Alexander's reason to act like he did, and what (positive and negative) effects did it have on the world?

I know, there've been entire books written about that, but I just wanted to know some of your opinions ...

I thought I'd let you know that my new book, The Quest for the Tomb of Alexander the Great, has just been published and has become available through www.amazon.com and www.amazon.co.uk in the last few days. It updates and extends the story relative to my first book, The Lost Tomb of Alexander the Great, published in June 2004. It begins with an in-depth analysis of Alexander's death. There are more details on my website at www.alexanderstomb.com
Best wishes,
Andrew

Folks, as it turns out, Dr. Carney's conference at Clemson has limited space, so it's NOT open to general attendance. Sorry about that.

I just wanted to introduce myself.  I''m not an academic, but an avid ancient history buff.  I am glad to find an intelligent community on LJ.

Has anyone read Alexander the Great by Paul Cartledge?  The author presented some interesting points.  I composed a review of it here: http://www.unrv.com/book-review/alexander-the-great.php

Yes. Another Alexander movie. Here's the IMDB-info
And a teaser on YouTube
And some more info

Let me quote this bit from the last link that I found very, uhm, interesting:
"Alexander experiences all the problems a modern teenager has today, be it bullies and cheats at school, or winning the affections of beautiful girls."

Is it just me, or does the idea of a "modern teenager Alexander" indeed sound slightly disturbing? I mean - he's the heir of King Philip. What kind of problems could he possible have with bullies? And what kind of modern teenager prepares to be a king and has his first battle experiences?
I must say I'm not impressed...

Now that he has been informed, I'm able to announce publicly that Looking in From the North: papers on Macedonia in honor of Eugene N. Borza has been accepted by Regina Publications. This is a festschrift edited by myself and Dr. Tim Howe of St. Olaf's College in Minnesota. It will contain a range of articles, including a number from the Usual Suspects. :-) Although there will also be some from other old friends and colleagues who don't normally publish in Macedonia.

Dr. Carol Thomas' new Alexander the Great in His World is available from Blackwells and might be of interest as it places Alexander in a Macedonian context. (I will be adopting it for my class "Alexander the Great and the Macedonian Origins" as it's right up my alley.) The more we learn about Macedonia, the better we're getting at understanding Alexander the Macedonian.

(P.S. for the few who've wondered, yes, the joint Lane Fox/Greenland project Responses to Alexander is apparently still afloat with Cambridge, but I have no news on any release date. As some of you know, it was originally slated for publication over a year ago, but still isn't out yet. That's academic publishing for you. (g))

Oliver Stone’s Alexander film has been re-released in a dvd form called Alexander Revisited: The Final Cut. This version of Stone’s film is, in my opinion, one of the three greatest films about the ancient Graeco-Roman world that have ever been made. (The others being Spartacus and Cleopatra.)

That doesn’t mean that it’s not flawed, however. It’s probably impossible for Hollywood to present American audiences with certain truths about the lives and value systems of the Greeks and Romans, and it’s also probably impossible to make moderns understand the radical differences in human nature and temperament that have evolved since ancient times.

There are some other opinions about this film below—some of which I agree with , and some of which I don’t. The things I would have liked to see and didn’t would have been a more “documentary” approach to the battle scenes, to actually help the viewer understand the audacity and ingeniousness of Alexander’s battle strategies, which revolutionized warfare and which, in terms of flexibility and ACCURACY of perception of topography and movements of forces, would remain unequalled until Napoleon Bonaparte’s time. If this had involved the interpolation of graphics, I wouldn’t have minded.

Also, a truer interpretation of the “nature” of Alexander would have included SOME, at least of the atrocities against resistors, both military and civilian. There should have been some crucified Tyrians or some enslaved Sogdians.

Finally, the more linear narrative of the earlier versions should have been kept, rather than the “flashback” method of this film. I understand and appreciate the emphasis on the psychological quirks of Alexander’s nature, but, since these may only be speculated upon, and since not everybody knows so much about the actual history as the members of this community, I think the more linear approach creates less confusion for the average viewer.

The “in your face” representation of Alexander’s bisexuality here, however, although historically factual, will make this film permanently unpopular with the great masses of American homophobes. Only the Europeans and Asians will ever be able to appreciate what a break-through this film represents, in terms of honesty about both history and historical mythologizing.

Others’ reviews follow:
( Read more... )
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0346491/
( Read more... )

http://www.the-trades.com/article.php?id=5264

I agree with most of what the reviewer below writes, but I think that the “crybaby” element of Alexander’s character, as displayed sometimes in the film, is one of its aspects that makes him EXACTLY parallel to the Achilles of the Iliad, a character he was intent on emulating and exceeding. Thus, I think this reviewer is displaying a typical Anglo-Saxon’s misunderstanding of the emotional temper of Mediterranean masculinity:
( Read more... )

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/click/movie-1173874/reviews.php?critic=all&sortby=default&page=1&rid=1604589

Francisco Bosch’s Bagoas character is far more important in this uncut version:



http://www.francisco-bosch.net/alexa.html

Alexander's Feast by Händel

in case anybody is interested, I uploaded the complete version of the oratorio. Find the download in my journal:

http://fallout-robin.livejournal.com/71770.html

We just missed the anniversary of Alexander’s death in Babylon on June 10/11 323 B.C.

Has the world seen an equal since?

I have an unpublished manuscript about the Apocalypse if the gods were in charge and Alexander, Hephaistion, Achilles and Patroclos are the heroes.  I'm wondering if there are any readers who would like to look at it to see if it's worth trying to get it published.  It's 81 pages currently and is in pdf format.

Are there any interested readers out there?

rjones2818

There is a 6-page article on Alexander's tomb in the February 2007 edition of BBC Focus Magazine. It should already be available in most larger UK Newsagents. Unfortunately their website at www.focusmag.co.uk only seems to have a two sentence summary. However, I have put a few more details onto the Latest News page of my website at www.alexanderstomb.com for the benefit of non-UK residents.

The article seems fairly balanced and includes short interviews with myself, Jean-Yves Empereur and N. Saunders.

Best wishes,

Andrew

I know you're out there, hiding, somewhere. Actually, I think I'm hiding more than you are, lately. Anyway, I finished Lost Tomb and desperately want to ask you some questions. How doth I get ahold of you? They aren't antogonistic, more clarification for me.

And on another, entirely not related note, is there a decent history of Alexandria, preferably modern and actually cites it's sources, that isn't 5 volumes long? I love Mr. Fraser's work, but woooooow. It's HUGE! And it only covers, as some of us know, Ptolemaic time period anyway. I've got most of that era down, it's following Christianity and the coming of Islam to the city that I'm fuzzy on the details.

Help?

Val (or B. I guess I'm known as here?)

Howdy Alexander's fans. I am interested to learn more infos about ancient macedonian religion and also the sun of Vergina. Did ancient macedonian believed in the same Gods as ancient greeks or they had their own gods? Has the sun of Vergina been a symbol in ancient Macedonia for as long as it has been created?? Did other ancient people shared the same symbol?

Thanks in advance. :)

Howdy, all. I've been watching this community for awhile and I've learned a lot. So I was hoping that somebody could tell me where I could find some good information about Roxane, Alexander's first wife? I've become increasingly curious about her.

Thanks in advance for any help!

I found an unauthorized translation of my website online, one that included a "copyright" notice listing the name of the translator ... not mine. I had to ask the person to take it down.

I'm sorry to sound persnickity, but folks, PLEASE ask my permission before translating ANYTHING from my websites. You are quite free to link without my permission. That's like a book citation. I'm flattered. But if you want to quote large sections of my material on your website or live journal OR translate it into another language, please ask my permission first. And whatever you do, do not put a copyright notice with your own name in it. This material is copyrighted to me, and someone else attempting to copyright it could result in my not being able to publish it.

Again, I really hate to sound so picky, and if you ask my permission first, I will almost CERTAINLY give it as long as you cite me. But the copyright thing is problematic and could potentially prevent me from publishing my own material, so please, PLEASE don't make me have to send a cease-and-desist email. It scares the wits out of someone else and makes me feel like an ogre.

Thanks!

(Also, I've corrected all links. Sorry for the confusion. My address was changed automatically and I didn't realize it myself until recently. I'm not in the habit of consulting my own website. LOL! [I'm not that narcissic. (g)])

I have finally found the Hephaistion and the Beyond Renault sites, but not the Alexander site. The URLs have been changed. The sites are now here :





http://myweb.unomaha.edu/~mreames/Hephaistion/hephaistion.html

http://myweb.unomaha.edu/~mreames/Beyond_Renault/beyondrenault.html

but please, Dr Reames, update the links from this LiveJournal, as well as the links between the sites, as they are not working.

Can't have the site of our favourite man not accessible to all his fans out there, can we ?

All right, so this only took me an extra month to get up . . . These were taken this August, in the museum at the Acropolis, two in Vergina, and the rest in Pella. They made me happy. I hope they make you happy as well.

Oh, and please don't steal them.

http://s105.photobucket.com/albums/m212/Laeliena/

Just in case anyone is based in Italy or can be there in mid-September:

The University of Padua (“Universita degli Studi di Padova” near Venice) is holding a conference on the Tombs of the Greek Heroes ("Eroi, Eroismi, Eroizzazioni Dalla Grecia Antica") on 18th -19th September.

I will be presenting a paper entitled “Famous Alexandrian Mummies:
The Adventures in Death of Alexander the Great and Saint Mark the Evangelist” at this conference on Monday 18th September. The pdf of the conference programme is downloadable from the Latest News page of my website at www.alexanderstomb.com

Best wishes,

Andrew

Yes, I haven't been around much this summer. Mea Culpa!

But I did want to put up this information for those of you "down under" who may be able to reach THIS conference but wouldn't one in N. America. (Looks pointedly at 3scoremiles_10)

Alexander the Great and His Successors
Third International Symposium for the first time in the Southern Hemisphere!

23 to 25 August 2006 at University of Otago, Saint Margaret's College, 333 Leith Street, Dunedin, New Zealand

Keynote Speaker: Professor Brian Bosworth (University of Western Australia)

All staff, students and members of the public are welcome to attend to hear from the world's leading experts on Alexander the Great.

For information and/or to register contact
Dr Pat Wheatley, Department of Classics, University of Otago
Email: pat.wheatley@stonebow.otago.ac.nz
Tel: 479 8709

Official Conference Webpage (complete w/ seagulls ... really)
Pat's personal page with publications and links to his websites at bottom