Waldemar Heckel provides a revisionist overview of the conquests of Alexander the Great. Emphasising the aims and impact of his military expeditions, the political consequences of military action, and the use of propaganda, both for motivation and justification, his underlying premise is that the basic goals of conquest and the keys to military superiority have not changed dramatically over the millennia. Indeed, as Heckel makes clear, many aristocratic and conquest societies are remarkably similar to that of Alexander in their basic aims and organisation. Heckel rejects the view of Alexander as a reincarnation of Achilles - as an irrational youth on a heroic quest for fame and immortality. In an engaging and balanced account of key military events, Heckel shows how Alexander imposed his will on the willing and how the defeated were no longer capable of resisting his military might.
The Conquests of Alexander the Great
Description
Table of Contents
Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. How do we know? Sources for Alexander the Great; 3. The Macedonian background; 4. The Persian enemy; 5. Conquest of the Achaemenids; 6. Resistance on two fronts; 7. Conquest of the Punjab; 8. The ocean and the West; 9. The long road from Susa to Babylon.
Author Description
Waldemar Heckel is a professor in the department of Greek and Roman studies at the University of Calgary. A scholar of the age of Alexander the Great, he is the author of The Marshals of Alexander's Empire and Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great: Prosopography of Alexander's Empire, which was listed by the Times Literary Supplement as among 'the best books of 2006'. Dr Heckel is one of the founding editors of the Ancient History Bulletin and has collaborated with J. C. Yardley on a number of translations of, and commentaries on, the Alexander Historians.