Alexander the Great

De: Arrian

Narrado por: Charlton Griffin

This is the incredible story of the world's greatest conqueror, a man who single handedly changed the course of history...and who was worshipped as a god. There have been many attempts in the 2,300 years since Alexander's death to tell the epic story of this enigmatic soldier. His deeds read like the stuff of legends. Of all the chroniclers of Alexander, and there have been many famous ones, including Plutarch and Ptolemy, none have given us a clearer and truer account than the one by Arrian.

Writing 450 years after Alexander's death, Arrian had the advantage of hindsight and the unique ability to sift through important historical material which is now lost. He was able to judge the motives of many of the detractors of Alexander and to set the record straight in many instances. Alexander's aims have always been a topic of intense debate and this history will tell you what this brilliant tactician was trying to accomplish and why. From his first encounter with the Persians at the Battle of the Granicus to his last battle on the banks of the Indus River, thrill to the extraordinary exploits of Alexander the Great as he turns the ancient world upside down. After his passing, nothing would ever again be the same....

Lucius Flavius Arrianus, or Arrian (circa A.D. 85 to 90 - circa 146) was born in Nicomedia, a Greek town which at the time was a part of the vast Roman Empire. It is fairly certain that Arrian's ancestors had been citizens for some time because his family was prominent, and he himself seems to have held an important priesthood as a young man. Arrian studied Stoic philosophy with the famous Epictetus and has left us an excellent book on the subject based on his notes. One of his fellow students was the future emperor, Hadrian, whose close friend he remained in later life. Arrian was a wealthy man with a great sense of responsibility. He put his considerable abilities to work on behalf of society and served with distinction as a senator and as a military commander. In fact, he was the first Greek ever to command Roman legions. He later served as governor of Cappadocia. In his spare moments, Arrian wrote many important books, of which his Anabasis of Alexander is by far the most popular.©2004 Audio Connoisseur (P)2004 Audio Connoisseur

Fascinating for so many reasons

First of all, there is so much more detail available on Alexander's life than I imagined. I am assuming that Arrian didn't make any of it up and that his sources didn't make any of it up and that the translator didn't smooth things over. Second, the details of his life, the true story, is so much more rich and interesting than the soundbite rendition most of us are familiar with. Beyond that, it's interesting to see what the state of biography or scholarly writing was in Arrian's time. To see the things that he focused on or didn't focus on. It would be interesting to know how much the translator had to massage the text to get it to sound comfortable to modern ears.

Very entertaining

Arrian is interesting and very good at explaining.
Griffin is an excellent narrator.
The story is very fun to listen to, and informative.

A good listen but a bit confusing

I overall liked this book but it is a bit to chew through. It has lots of names and facts in it and a overall good story (historical) guide line, but sometimes understanding what is going on is a bit hard.

It was written at least 1500 years ago so most of problems with the book itself is understandable as dramatic themes and verse is quite different today.

This book is not for the faint of heart when it comes to Alexander. A modern version would be about 1/3 of the lenght.

Awesome Epic, sublime Roman prose

What did you love best about Alexander the Great?

Arrian's writing is a great example of Roman prose and is well executed here.

What other book might you compare Alexander the Great to and why?

The March of the Ten Thousand by Xenophon is similarly epic in scale and both read like scripts for massive action movies with heavy metal in the soundtrack and you know...flames and skulls on poles...... Skulls are cool.

What does Charlton Griffin bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His voice gave the book a strident tone and made it easy to picture the adventure as it unfolded.

As close to a Primary Source as you can get

Great history, too short. The context is preserved because of the closeness between the writer and the subject.