When he was 83, he began writing his book about the exploits of Alexander from the early days of his kinship to his death. He was blessed with an excellent memory, being able to recall so many events, novelties, and details! Apparently, his book was finished at about the same time as Ptolemy and Cleitarchus published theirs, 285-283 BC. Unfortunately, most of his work is lost. We only have a few scraps together with his observations recorded and used later by Arrian and Strabo.
We may assume that Aristobulus’ accounts were exact and reliable. He had a wide field of interest and investigated the land, the animals, the many peoples he encountered, the public buildings, and other construction works. Alexander’s military campaign was not his priority.
Aristobulus,
however, was mainly a geographer. He spent much time analyzing and describing
the fauna and flora he encountered, the rainfall and the Indian monsoon (whose
arrival he recorded in Taxila), the rivers, and the
different climates. He drew an in-depth comparison between
The Oxus (see: Crossing the Oxus River),
for instance, was the longest river, he said, that was navigable and used to
transport goods from
On the
other hand, fragments of Aristobulus’ text on plants have been
preserved. He tells us how rice was cultivated in beds in the backwaters and
that the plants were
We know
very little about Aristobulus’
fascinating personality, but he is one of the rare authors who draws an
overwhelmingly positive picture of Alexander. He depicts him as a
righteous king, concerned about justice and not making hasty decisions. Another
of his remarkable declarations is that Alexander was not a heavy drinker
but liked to spend time with his companions, toying with his drink. That is a
far cry from the many statements or hearsay statements depicting Alexander
as a heavy drinker and even that the wine led to his premature death in
Aristobulus rightfully declares that Alexander was under the protection of the gods.
Nowadays, we would say that he was born under a lucky star. Why not?
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