His march of conquest - if not to the world's end, at least beyond the limits of Darius I's empire at its most extensive - was a legendary achievement in military terms, though his motives for undertaking it have been much romanticized. His vision of world conquest, it is safe to say, did not spring from any grandiose feeling for the Brotherhood of Man. His policy of racial fusion between Greeks and Orientals, like his adaptation of Persian court protocol, stemmed in the first instance from practical administrative needs. But his sheer record of conquest was stunning enough in itself. Three brilliantly fought major battles the Granicus (334), Issus (333) and Gaugamela (331) – shattered the Achaemenid Empire and left Alexander himself de facto Lord of Asia. His eastward quest for Ocean was halted only by faulty geographical knowledge and a full-dress mutiny by his exhausted veterans. When he died in Babylon (June 323), perhaps of malaria, more probably by poison, he was busy planning fresh campaigns in Arabia and the west. By then he had also, arguably, become insane, a classic case of alcoholic megalomania. His demand to be worshipped as a god was only one symptom of this condition. Whatever our assessment of Alexander the man, there can be no doubt as to his immense impact on the whole Greek-speaking world. He flooded the Mediterranean with gold bullion 'liberated' from Susa and Persepolis, an act which caused serious economic problems for his successors. Though he was not, as has sometimes been alleged, the first ruler to open up regular trade-routes between east and west, he certainly promoted the extensive Hellenization of an area stretching far beyond the Hindu Kush. The scientists and surveyors who accompanied his expedition laid the foundations of all future classical knowledge concerning eastern geography, and brought home a wealth of data relating to the flora, fauna, mineral resources and social mores of the exotic countries through which they passed. Greek dynasties in regions as remote as Bactria brought Hellenic government, ideas, even sculptural iconography to alien cultures one might have thought wholly immune to such influences. In more ways than one, Alexander changed the shape of the known world, besides bringing much that had hitherto been unknown within the compass of contemporary civilization. He also set up the pattern for a new age. Though the vast empire he carved out fell apart almost immediately after his death, its disiecta membra - bitterly fought over for forty years and more by his surviving senior officers formed the basis for those great 'Successor Kingdoms' which dominated the Greek-speaking world until their final absorp tion by Rome. His insistence on deification set a popular trend in emperor-worship which led directly to figures such as Antiochus. Epiphanes and, later, Elagabalus. The myth and enigma of his personality far outstripped its merely historical context, becoming in later centuries a touchstone for every kind of idealized exploration and romantic striving after eternal glory. Classical Greece died with Alexander: indeed, it might be said to have died at Chaeronea. What followed that many-faceted, brilliant phenomenon known to scholars as the Hellenistic Age - ushers in a new chapter of European history. Select Bibliography Note: This bibliography is specifically designed to help non-specialist readers who want more detailed information concerning the various topics touched on in this brief survey. It does not, therefore, include any foreign works, or (with one impor tant exception) articles in specialist periodicals, or studies which require knowledge of ancient Greek, e.g. Meiggs and Lewis's indispensable Greek Historical Inscriptions. It does, on the other hand, list the main primary sources for the period in translation. To avoid excessive cross-indexing, titles are listed alphabetically according to author; the descriptive rubric in the left-hand column offers a quick guide to subject-matter. Works of especial interest or value are marked with a star, thus:*. Text Historiography Social Studies Social Studies Social Studies Crete Philosophy Political Topographical Art Political Bronze Age Text Troy ARIAS, P.E., HIRMER, M. A History of Greek Vase Painting. BARKER, E. Greek Political Theory. sth ed. London 1960. Barnstone, w. Greek Lyric Poetry. Indiana 1962. berve, H., gruben, G., hirmer, M. Greek Temples, Theatres BLEGEN, C. W. Troy. Cambridge U.P. 1964 [= CAH3 Vol. 1, |