Alexander's Lovers by Andrew Michael Chugg

Yes, I got all excited reading Alexander's Lovers (ISBN 1411699602), not because of some spicy details about Alexander’s intimate life, but the way Chugg consulted all the available ancient bits and pieces of lost chronicles besides the more complete works of Arrian, Plutarch, Diodorus, Curtius, etc, and he also takes the viewpoints and critics of today’s writers in consideration. He is a very analytical writer as I found out reading about his search for The Lost Tomb of Alexander the Great and he really can deliver his story.

He starts off with a concise biography of Alexander the Great and concludes with a short epilogue about the fate of his family.

The essence of the book covers all the people Alexander established a personal and private relation with: Hephaistion, Bagoas, Barsine, Roxane, Stateira and Parysatis, even the Queen of Amazons and Massaga. Chugg’s deductions and conclusions are his own, of course, but they shed an entirely new light on the personalities of Hephaistion and Bagoas in particular. We will never know for sure how great a man Alexander’s closest friend and probable lover Hephaistion was, but I am convinced there is more unsaid than told about his personal and professional achievements. As to Bagoas, very little is known about the role eunuchs played in antiquity for the only picture we have is that of harem stories during the Ottoman Empire and even those pictures have been erroneously interpreted.

I read this book from cover to cover, and relished on Chugg’s detailed and thorough research of the available sources. It is absolutely worthwhile and a must for any fan of Alexander the Great!

Also available as an eBook (ASIN: B007OXZU60)