Travels with Alexander the Great

[magicmountain]

"... Alexander went east to Hellenize Asia and ended up Orientalizing the Greek-speaking Mediterranean."
 

Claude Mossé, who like Paul Cartledge established her reputation through investigating the class conflict of fourth-century Greece, offers a livelier, but more eccentric account in Alexander: Destiny and myth. Only half of Mossé’s short biography is devoted to the usual round-up of battles, conquests and palace intrigue. Instead of adjudicating between the good and bad Alexander, Mossé assesses his achievement for posterity in more material, zero-sum terms of winners and losers.

There was always monarchy on the fringes of the Hellenic world outside the Greek polis, but after Alexander it transmogrified into a global phenomenon, both more intrusive and authoritarian than the old homegrown kingship in Thessaly or Macedon. As both living god and saviour, the new Hellenistic basileus felt no need to haggle over concessions with the old cadre of landed aristocrats and mounted grandees. Macedonian-style monarchy might have ignored local autonomy here and there, but the logic of Alexander’s notion of regality was totalitarian and theocratic, with dire ramifications for what was left of Greek liberty.

As for Alexander’s “empire”, there was none really, but rather a sort of continental Lebanon, where successor thugs fought each other for centuries. The Hellenism of the successor kings was never more than a thin veneer over mostly unassimilated Asian populations; in practical terms consisting chiefly of Greek public works and the military sciences of killing more efficiently through phalanxes, siegecraft and huge ships. Here the post-Marxist Mossé makes good points about the rising level of exploitation as Hellenistic expertise and a monetary economy helped marshal labour and capital more efficiently to enhance the ever more few. Imported know-how now largely enriched a narrow Persian-like, though Greek-speaking, elite. Thus Alexander’s legacy over three centuries unfolded as a pyramidal society of two, not three classes of the old polis. In strict economic terms, Alexander went east to Hellenize Asia and ended up Orientalizing the Greek-speaking Mediterranean.

Yet Alexander really did leave a radically altered world in terms of elite culture. What emerged from the vast wealth of the looted Achaemenid treasuries, and the nexus of thousands of intellectuals and scientists who tagged along after the army, was a garish hybridized pan-Mediterranean arts and letters. As Peter Green has emphasized, the mishmash was often extreme and overdone, but undeniably wild and radically different nonetheless.

Claude Mossé uses the first person too much; much of her analysis is impressionistic rather than logical; and there is no apparent rationale to the presentation of chapters. Yet the book is nevertheless oddly engaging – especially her final account of Alexander’s continual reinterpretation in the medieval and contemporary European worlds. Janet Lloyd offers another of her customarily reliable translations of French classical scholarship, and the result is something far better than the usual rehash of Alexander’s life and legacy. - Victor Davis Hanson

http://victorhanson.com/articles/hanson100904b.html

[magicmountain]

The Republic of Macedonia recently  began assembling a controversial 22-meter-high (72-foot-high) bronze statue of Alexander the Great, a monument seen as a towering challenge to neighboring Greece's claim on the ancient hero.

Giant pieces of the monument were brought Tuesday to a cordoned-off area in the heart of Macedonia's capital, Skopje, where construction of a pedestal is still under way. Over the next few days, cranes will be used to put together the parts of the statue.

Although the statue is officially named "Warrior on a Horse," the face closely resembles ancient depictions of Alexander the Great.

Full article:

http://www.salon.com/wires/world/2011/06/14/D9NROQRO0_eu_macedonia_statue/index.html

[magicmountain]

Stephen English investigates every aspect of the Macedonian forces, analysing the recruitment, equipment, organisation, tactics, command and control of the fighting arms (including the famous pike phalanxes, elite Hypaspists and incomparable Companion cavalry). Some of Alexander's most famous battles and sieges are described in detail to show the army in action. With forensic thoroughness he draws on recent archaeological evidence and scholarship to present a detailed portrait of the army which demonstrated a superiority over its opponents equal to (but much longer-lasting than) that enjoyed by the German forces in the blitzkrieg campaigns of 1939/40. Alexander's navy is also covered.

[magicmountain]

This is the second entry in a three book series looking at the career of Alexander the Great, and comes between the first volume, on his army, and the third, which will look at his field campaigns and battles (although it isn't necessary to read book one before coming to this one). Alexander's career was littered with famous sieges, from the attack on Tyre that turned it from an island into a peninsula, to the attacks on mountain top fortresses on the eastern fringes of the Persian Empire - indeed he fought many more sieges than major battles.

English starts with a look at the development of siege weapons during this period, including the first use of torsion powered catapults, a technological breakthrough which ended a period in which strong stone walls had been seen as impervious to attack. Alexander was thus able to take advantage of a technological leap to attack some of the strongest fortifications in the Ancient World, without having to rely on starvation or trickery.

English is willing to acknowledge the limits of our sources, none of which are contemporary with Alexander (rather ironically considering how concerned Alexander was with the historical record). In several cases the main sources disagree on the details of events, and we are presented with both versions as well as the author's views. This ensures that we are aware of the amount of uncertainty in any study of Alexander. English is also willing to admit to Alexander's failings and his willingness to learn from them - mistakes being made as late as the famous siege of Tyre, where Alexander failed to protect his own siege works. This is a well-researched and well written look at a key element of Alexander's military career, making it clear where we can't be sure about exactly what happened, while at the same time putting forward credible and well-argued suggestions for the most likely course of events.

[magicmountain]

Alexander the Great is one of the most famous men in history, and many believe he was the greatest military genius of all time (Julius Caesar wept at the feet of his statue in envy of his achievements). Most of his thirteen-year reign as king of Macedon was spent in hard campaigning which conquered half the then-known world, during which he never lost a battle. Besides the famous set-piece battles (Granicus, Issus, Gaugamela, Hydaspes), Alexander's army marched thousands of miles through hostile territory, fighting countless smaller actions and calling for a titanic logistical effort. There is a copious literature on Alexander the Great, but most are biographies of the man himself, with relatively few recent works analysing his campaigns from a purely military angle. This book combines a narrative of the course of each of Alexander's campaigns, with clear analysis of strategy, tactics and logistics.

[magicmountain]

Classically Greek and exuberantly tweaked, the 60-unit Alexander Ruler of the World Apartments in Hollywood were purportedly built by Paramount Studios to house actors in 1927.  Actor George Pan-Andreas bought the property in 1992 and in 2007 hired artist Danny Doxton to tart it up, beginning with ruby red paint patterned with orange swirls.

“Alexander the Great opened Persia to the world, and so I honor him with this building,” Pan-Andreas says, seated in his lobby near a photo of James Dean and a painting of Jesus paired with Art Nouveau nymphs.

Having nailed their theme, Pan-Andreas and Doxton went to work, adding cartouches styled after figural Greek vases that flank Doric columns topped with an entrance pediment. Greek-style lettering and frets, Olympic rings, depictions of Valentino, Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, along with reliefs of Alexander III of Macedon also vie for attention -- along with the building’s hot pink walls --  in case you should miss this Parthenon-on-acid while approaching 830 N. Van Ness Ave.

More here:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home_blog/2011/06/alexander-ruler-of-the-world-apartments.html

[magicmountain]

"A Capriccio Of The Forum Romanum, with the Sculpture Groups Of Alexander and Bucephalus and Cain and Abel"
by Thomas Blanchet

[magicmountain]

[magicmountain]

Artist: Isaac Alexandre

[magicmountain]

Dinocrate présente à Alexandre son projet pour le Mont Athos
Jean-Baptiste Corneille (1649-1695)

Deinocrates of Rhodes (Dinocrates) was a Greek architect and technical adviser to Alexander the Great. Around 332_BC Alexander appointed him director of surveying and urban planning work for the city of Alexandria. Vitruvius a Roman writer, architect engineer and author of “On Architecture”  relates that:

Dinocrates the architect, relying on the powers of his skill and ingenuity, whilst Alexander was in the midst of his conquests, set out from Macedonia to the army, desirous of gaining the commendation of his sovereign. That his introduction to the royal presence might be facilitated, he obtained letters from his countrymen and relations to men of the first rank and nobility about the king’s person; by whom being kindly received, he besought them to take the earliest opportunity of accomplishing his wish. They promised fairly, but were slow in performing; waiting, as they alleged, for a proper occasion. Thinking, however, they deferred this without just grounds, he took his own course for the object he had in view. He was, I should state, a man of tall stature, pleasing countenance, and altogether of dignified appearance. Trusting to the gifts with which nature had thus endowed him, he put off his ordinary clothing, and having anointed himself with oil, crowned his head with a wreath of poplar, slung a lion’s skin across his left shoulder, and carrying a large club in his right hand, he sallied forth to the royal tribunal, at a period when the king was dispensing justice. 

The novelty of his appearance excited the attention of the people; and Alexander soon discovering, with astonishment, the object of their curiosity, ordered the crowd to make way for him, and demanded to know who he was. “A Macedonian architect,” replied Dinocrates, “who suggests schemes and designs worthy your royal renown. I propose to form Mount Athos into the statue of a man holding a spacious city in his left hand, and in his right a huge cup, into which shall be collected all the streams of the mountain, which shall then be poured into the sea.”

"I propose to form Mount Athos into the statue of a man holding a spacious city in his left hand, and in his right a huge cup, into which shall be collected all the streams of the mountain, which shall then be poured into the sea.”

Alexander, delighted at the proposition, made immediate inquiry if the soil of the neighbourhood were of a quality capable of yielding sufficient produce for such a state. When, however, he found that all its supplies must be furnished by sea, he thus addressed Dinocrates: “I admire the grand outline of your scheme, and am well pleased with it: but I am of opinion he would be much to blame who planted a colony on such a spot. For as an infant is nourished by the milk of its mother, depending thereon for its progress to maturity, so a city depends on the fertility of the country surrounding it for its riches, its strength in population, and not less for its defence against an enemy. Though your plan might be carried into execution, yet I think it impolitic. I nevertheless request your attendance on me, that I may otherwise avail myself of your ingenuity.” 

From that time Dinocrates was in constant attendance on the king, and followed him into Egypt; where Alexander having perceived a spot, at the same time naturally strong, the centre of the commerce of the country, a land abounding with corn, [Image] and having those facilities of transport which the Nile afforded, ordered Dinocrates to build a city whose name should be Alexandria. Dinocrates obtained this honour through his comely person and dignified deportment. ...
 

[fritzkep]

I wonder if the FYROMacedonians will be claiming possession of Aristotle next.

[Macedon]

obviosly you dont know anything about the Macedonians

[CellarDweller115]

*mod enters thread*

Hello to all those who follow Alexander's travels.

The pics here are always eye-catching, and I appreciate the work you all go through to post them here, but I need to post a reminder.

The forum has a rule where we ask members to limit the use of images to one picture for each post.

Thanks!

[fritzkep]

Δεν υποχωρώ σε πατριωτισμό σας.

Јас одложи на вашиот патриотизам.

[magicmountain]

Italian workers finalize the massive statue of Alexander the Great on his horse Bucephalus
before it will be mounted on a pedestal on Alexander`s birthday at the Macedonia Square.

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=129473