Book 1 Summary and Analysis

The author of the Campaigns of Alexander writes during the second century AD, about four hundred years after the fact. Arrian's full name is Lucius Flavius Arrianus, aka Xenophon, and he comes from a wealthy Greek family. He is a recognized historical authority on the life and times of Alexander the Great. Aubrey de Selincourt translates the book and J.R. Hamilton adds footnotes to clarify and point out certain disputable facts, largely having to do with the names of places, geography and the numbers of troops involved in the battles.

Arrian sets out to give the most accurate account of Alexander's campaigns in his time and challenges his readers to first examine the works of Ptolemy and Aristobulus, two contemporaries of Alexander, before passing judgment on Arrian's account. The logic behind this is that Arrian sees no reason for either...