Anabasis Alexandri, the Campaigns of Alexander by Arrian is the most important source on Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great Lucius Flavius Arrianus Xenophon (c. ... Alexander the Great (Greek: ,[1] Megas Alexandros; July 356 BC–June 11, 323 BC), also known as Alexander III, king of Macedon (336–323 BC), was one of the most successful military commanders in history. ...

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 the oldest surviving complete account of the Macedonian conqueror. Arrian was able to use sources which are now lost, such as the contemporary works by Callisthenes (the nephew of Alexander's tutor Aristotle), Onescritus, 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. Callisthenes, or Kallisthenes, ( in Greek) of Olynthus (c. ... Aristotle (Greek: Aristotélēs) (384 BC – March 7, 322 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. ... Nearchus (or Nearchos) was one of the officers in the army of Alexander the Great. ... Aristobulus (reigned 104-103 BC) was a king of the Hebrew Hasmonean Dynasty, and the eldest of the five sons of King John Hyrcanus. ... Cleitarchus, one of the historians of Alexander the Great, son of Demon, also an historian, was possibly a native of Egypt, or at least spent a considerable time at the court of Ptolemy Lagus. ... Ptolemy I Soter (367 BC–283 BC) was the ruler of Egypt (323 BC - 283 BC) and founder of the Ptolemaic dynasty. ...

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. The Persian Empire was a series of historical empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau (Irān - Land of the Aryans[1]) and beyond. ...

Further reading

• Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander, translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt, Penguin Classics, 1958 and numerous subsequent editions.

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Αλεξάνδρου Ανάβασις

* (section 4.18.4-19.6), (Sogdian Rock), translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt Image File history File links Wikisource-logo. ... The original Wikisource logo. ... Sogdian Rock or Rock of Ariamazes a fortress in Sogdiana was captured by the forces of Alexander the Great in 328 or 327 BC. Oxyartes of Bactria had sent his wife and daughters, one of whom was Roxane, to take refuge in the fortress because it was thought to be...