The Legacy of Alexander —— Politics, Warfare, and Propaganda under the Successors

In this rather superb book which is now some twelve years old, A. Bosworth analyses the couple of decades that followed the death of Alexander, and how his Successors fought over his Empire. While there have been a number of books on the Diadochi, especially since the turn of the 21st century, this one was one of the earliest, and it is still one of the very best, if not the best of them all. One reason for this is the meticulous care that the author takes in reconstructing the immediate “Legacy of Alexander” just after his death. The author does more than simply deliver a narrative of the main events that followed the demise of the Conqueror. He sets the political and military scene at the time of his death in Babylon. At least three main features and points are clearly made at the outset. One was that the Macedonian King’s conquests were far from being achieved, with a number of areas left unconquered or in need of further “pacification”, including Thrace, the Northern part of Asia Minor and at least part of Armenia. Moreover, the colonists and troops left in the so-called “Upper Satrapies” would revolt shortly after Alexander’s death, further illustrating how fragile the conquest had been. Another is the strain that the whole conquest had put on the Macedonian manpower, with the original Kingdom having had to provide tens of thousands of soldiers as reinforcements. While the author’s insistence on the (negative) impact of Alexander’s conquests on the demographics of the Macedonian original kingdom may at times seem exaggerated, and has been criticised by several other authors, the drain on human resources seems hard to deny. The competition between his Marshals for Macedonian troops, in addition to their alleged superiority, also highlights their relative rarity. The third element is that the Marshals, largely because of the two elements above, had to reach some kind of agreement to share power, or, rather, there were several agreements, and a lot of political and military infighting between factions to control lands, military resources and treasury, but also to establish some sort of legitimacy. It is these agreements and power fights that Bosworth analyses and describes in detail, showing how and why the various contenders played their hands in certain ways and allied or turned against each other. Essentially, the contents of this book fully match its subtitle in that they do bring to life the “Politics, Warfare and Propaganda under the Successors” from the death of Alexander right down to 301 BC and the battle of Ipsos, although the core of the narrative is centred on the dozen or so years ranging from BC 323 to BC 311. The “Peace of the Dynasts”, which took place at the later date and from which Seleucos was excluded, sees the five remaining Successors in place. While some would prosper and others would ultimately fall, by that date rather than by BC 306, the author seems to contend that the notion of a unified Empire was essentially dead. Although some elements may be disputable, this is a remarkably clear analysis of the aftermath of Alexander’s death. It is also one of the most – and perhaps even the most - complete presentation of the politics and warfare, with careful analysis of the propaganda warfare waged between the participants which still appears here and there through the sources which are also carefully reviewed. A must read for anyone interested in the Successors and in Alexander’s legacy. Five stars.

The years and decades after the untimely death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC always have been very confusing to me as only forty years later or so the endless bickering and mutual envy seems to have subsided when the world conquered by Alexander was finally divided in four major territories between Lysimachos, Cassander, Seleucos and Ptolemy. Bosworth has taken on the huge task to shed a clear light on these confusing times and he deserves all the merit and appreciation one can imagine. He must have spent many a sleepless night in the process of putting this book together! He starts with the Babylonian Settlement, i.e. the agreement made among Alexander's generals shortly after his death. This was not an easy matter for not all commanders were in Babylon at the time. Craterus, for instance, was underway to relieve Antipater as Regent and with him was an army of 15,000 veterans, all of Macedonian stock and dedicated entirely to their dead king. Bosworth also analyses how many men in the split armies are still true Macedonians as everyone of them has his say in the matter of Alexander's succession - with quite amazing results. Here like in the following chapters, Bosworth quotes all the writers from antiquity that he can lay hands on and not only the most obvious ones like Plutarch, Arrian, Diodorus and Curtius but many, many others whose names I often hear for the first time. He then compares notes to sift out the most plausible truth and timing of the events, adding opinions and perspectives from any and every contemporary author he can find. A colossal job! After that, he focuses on the campaigns in Persia with its turbulent satraps, followed by a detailed account of the situation in India and the nomads of Nabataea. Each territory has its own complex structure and I can't help wondering how Alexander would have tackled these problems had he still been alive. But then his intervention may not have been necessary for now each of his generals is fighting his fellow commander over all sorts of land disputes that would not have existed otherwise. The rise of Seleucos and the precarious rule of Lysimachos are clearly highlighted and this thorough analysis ends with a chapter about the Hellenistic Monarchy, its success and its legitimacy, starting around 306 BC. It seems that this is the time when the second generation of commanders is taking matters in hand, except for Seleucos and Ptolemy who by now have settled within their own boundaries and are merely left alone by the others. The book concludes with a very handy chronology of events running from 323 BC to 311 BC, showing a parallel of what happened in Europe and in Asia at the same time - a most helpful tool to keep track of battlefields, rulers and constant changes of power. I highly recommend this precious reading to anyone who is looking for a clear and thorough sketch of the difficult years that followed Alexander's death. However, I would like to add that a good basic knowledge of Alexander's life will be very helpful.

This book is what you hope for on such a unique subject. Unlike the great flood of coffee table books after the recent Alexander movie, this is a solid work that breaks ground, reads well, and the footnotes ad the right utility for the basic scholar. A. B Bosworth certaily knows his material but he also knows what to leave out. Casual readers will learn alot, scholars will find unique arguments for some of the tradtional subjects. I seldom buy a second copy of the book, but now I think I'll scoop up a hardback edition.