For several
years, I used Robin Lane Fox’s Alexander the Great (ISBN 0-141-02076-8) as a reference book but it is not until
now that I really read it cover to cover. It turned out to be a most
captivating experience.
Before writing
down my own impressions on this book, I looked at previous comments made by
other purchasers on Amazon and I am truly appalled to see it qualified as “very
badly written” and “hard to understand”. This is not a novel and cannot be
compared to Manfredi’s tales. On the contrary, this is a serious work in which
Robin Lane Fox put his entire heart and soul, together with his thorough
knowledge of one of the most enigmatic persons who ever lived.
The book is not
a quick history of Alexander’s life
and conquests but an in-depth study of his actions set against the background
of the world he lived in and to which he had to adapt time and again as he met
other civilizations and foreign tribes during his march east.
While the author
follows Alexander’s steps, he often
stops to analyze the whole context and to place the story against the
background which the king encountered. It is so easy to judge Alexander based on our own experiences but to judge him in the frame of so many new elements and circumstances is a totally different
matter.
For instance, Robin
Lane Fox takes the time to explain the Macedonian military machine and armory as put into place by Philip,
Alexander’s father. He does the same
for Persia
where he highlights the court system and the complexity of its government –
most of it not unknown to Alexander
but an aspect that is more often than not skipped in our western literature. He explains
Persian customs and court protocol, including the meaning of being the “King of
kings”. He also reminds us of the fact that Alexander
had no maps and no more directions to guide him than what Herodotus had written in his Histories (something like the maps
of the stars used by the first astronauts flying to the moon in the 1960s).
Although some
parts of Alexander’s march east are
passed by quickly, the author certainly takes the time to discuss the main
events. There is, for instance, Siwah, where he not
only describes the voyage and Alexander’s
reception by the priests but also the significance of the god Amon and the idea
behind the title “son
of Amon”. Lane Fox also analyses the battles of Issus
and Gaugamela
including Alexander’s preparations
but also looks at the tactics from Darius’
point of view. The Philotas’ Affair implicating
his father, Parmenion,
as well as the conspiracy of the Pages and the murder of Cleitus
are discussed extensively and weighed up against the circumstances and the irrefutable
evidence with which Alexander was confronted.
Other battles and sieges, especially the attack of the Aornos Rock, the decisive
Battle
on the Hydaspes and the Mallian fight in which Alexander is deadly wounded are clearly explained with all pros and
cons. And let us not forget the mutiny of Alexander’s
Macedonians at the Hyphasis and at Opis
– how masterly the king addressed his men in both cases.
It is clear that Robin Lane Fox has a great admiration for Alexander and it shows but he also approaches this great king without prejudice and with a great effort to merely analyzing the facts. Considering that Alexander covered almost20,000 kilometers
in eight years coping with battles and sieges, crossing the widest rivers and the
highest mountains, taking the responsibility to feed and care for one hundred
thousand of people if we include the baggage train, Robin Lane Fox did an
extremely good job to present Alexander
as a human being, king, general and faithful friend.
It is clear that Robin Lane Fox has a great admiration for Alexander and it shows but he also approaches this great king without prejudice and with a great effort to merely analyzing the facts. Considering that Alexander covered almost
I`ve always avoided reading Fox. I thought he was against Alexander and tahat sort of thing doesn´t interest me. I appreciate you clarifing tihngs for me. Now I will read it. I really like your blog. Will you able to talk about Spitamenes?
ReplyDeleteYes, sometimes things have to grow on us - or we have to grow to another level to understand the events.
ReplyDeleteThanks for inquiring about Spitamenes, He is on my (very long) todo list ;)