This riveting historical fiction depicts a soldier in Alexander the Great's army, and was written using the authentic Macedonian letters discussing Alexander's conquests across Asia. We join the young Charidemus as he competes in a race around Olympia. Athletic and determined by nature, we find the young man ostracized by the Greek establishment owing to his origins in Macedonia - a territory which, in centuries past, was considered an uncivilized and barbaric province north of the Hellenic League. Such stigma, though troublesome, does not dent the courage of our hero, who grows ever-stronger and is recruited into the army of a young general named Alexander. After completing an initial tour, Charidemus is chosen as one of the 40,000 men to embark with Alexander on his epic conquest of Asia's uncharted lands. With vivid battle scenes, exotic descriptions of far-flung ancient cities and landscapes, flowing dialogue between the warriors, and an attentiveness to historic accuracy, A Young Macedonian is an underrated classic of ancient historical fiction. Alfred John Church was a renowned scholar of classics who studied and taught in universities in London and wider England. An able translator of Greek and Latin, he produced several new editions of ancient works, particularly letters and biographic material.

A gold mine for fans of Greek history! This work engages the reader in Greek culture and the history of Alexander the Great and his invasion of Persia, mixing elements of fiction, fact and romance with action scenes woven into the story line, while showing the magnitude of influence that the Greek had at the time.

What can we learn from the stunning rise and mysterious death of the ancient world’s greatest conqueror? An acclaimed biographer reconstructs the life of Alexander the Great in this magisterial revisionist portrait. “[An] infectious sense of narrative momentum . . . Its energy is unflagging, including the verve with which it tackles that teased final mystery about the specific cause of Alexander’s death.”—The Christian Science Monitor More than two millennia have passed since Alexander the Great built an empire that stretched to every corner of the ancient world, from the backwater kingdom of Macedonia to the Hellenic world, Persia, and ultimately to India—all before his untimely death at age thirty-three. Alexander believed that his empire would stop only when he reached the Pacific Ocean. But stories of both real and legendary events from his life have kept him evergreen in our imaginations with a legacy that has meant something different to every era: in the Middle Ages he became an exemplar of knightly chivalry, he was a star of Renaissance paintings, and by the early twentieth century he’d even come to resemble an English gentleman. But who was he in his own time? In Alexander the Great, Anthony Everitt judges Alexander’s life against the criteria of his own age and considers all his contradictions. We meet the Macedonian prince who was naturally inquisitive and fascinated by science and exploration, as well as the man who enjoyed the arts and used Homer’s great epic the Iliad as a bible. As his empire grew, Alexander exhibited respect for the traditions of his new subjects and careful judgment in administering rule over his vast territory. But his career also had a dark side. An inveterate conqueror who in his short life built the largest empire up to that point in history, Alexander glorified war and was known to commit acts of remarkable cruelty. As debate continues about the meaning of his life, Alexander's death remains a mystery. Did he die of natural causes—felled by a fever—or did his marshals, angered by his tyrannical behavior, kill him? An explanation of his death can lie only in what we know of his life, and Everitt ventures to solve that puzzle, offering an ending to Alexander’s story that has eluded so many for so long.

If you want to learn about one of history’s greatest military commanders and uncover some of his secrets of drive—drive that enabled him and his small army to first subdue all of Greece and then the mighty Persian Empire—then you want to read this book. Some people like to think that geniuses are so inherently extraordinary that they navigate their journeys with clairvoyant ease. This simply isn’t true. Greatness does not come lightly. It requires that you make sacrifices of time, interests, and—sometimes—possessions. The further you move toward greatness, the more greatness demands from you. But all barriers yield to one mythical quality: drive. The will to persist and overcome. To never give up. To never accept defeat. Few stories better illustrate this better than the life of one of the most extraordinary warriors the world has even known; a man of legendary ambition, will, and grit: Alexander the Great. In this book, you’ll be taken on a whirlwind journey through Alexander’s life and conquests, and not only learn about the successes and mistakes of one of history’s greatest conquerors, but also how to awaken a fire in your own life and adventures. Read this book now and learn lessons from Alexander the Great on why drive is so vital to awakening your inner genius, and learn insights into the real power of purpose, how to defeat the insidious force of “Resistance” that holds us back, and more.

In the first authoritative biography of Alexander the Great written for a general audience in a generation, classicist and historian Philip Freeman tells the remarkable life of the great conqueror. The celebrated Macedonian king has been one of the most enduring figures in history. He was a general of such skill and renown that for two thousand years other great leaders studied his strategy and tactics, from Hannibal to Napoleon, with countless more in between. He flashed across the sky of history like a comet, glowing brightly and burning out quickly: crowned at age nineteen, dead by thirty-two. He established the greatest empire of the ancient world; Greek coins and statues are found as far east as Afghanistan. Our interest in him has never faded. Alexander was born into the royal family of Macedonia, the kingdom that would soon rule over Greece. Tutored as a boy by Aristotle, Alexander had an inquisitive mind that would serve him well when he faced formidable obstacles during his military campaigns. Shortly after taking command of the army, he launched an invasion of the Persian empire, and continued his conquests as far south as the deserts of Egypt and as far east as the mountains of present-day Pakistan and the plains of India. Alexander spent nearly all his adult life away from his homeland, and he and his men helped spread the Greek language throughout western Asia, where it would become the lingua franca of the ancient world. Within a short time after Alexander’s death in Baghdad, his empire began to fracture. Best known among his successors are the Ptolemies of Egypt, whose empire lasted until Cleopatra. In his lively and authoritative biography of Alexander, classical scholar and historian Philip Freeman describes Alexander’s astonishing achievements and provides insight into the mercurial character of the great conqueror. Alexander could be petty and magnanimous, cruel and merciful, impulsive and farsighted. Above all, he was ferociously, intensely competitive and could not tolerate losing—which he rarely did. As Freeman explains, without Alexander, the influence of Greece on the ancient world would surely not have been as great as it was, even if his motivation was not to spread Greek culture for beneficial purposes but instead to unify his empire. Only a handful of people have influenced history as Alexander did, which is why he continues to fascinate us.

This biography portrays Alexander as both a complex personality and a single-minded general, a man capable of such diverse expediencies as patricide or the massacre of civilians. Writing for the general reader, the author provides gritty details on Alexander's darker side while providing a gripping tale of Alexander's career.

This definitive biography of one of history's most influential father-son duos tells the story of two rulers who gripped the world -- and their rise and fall from power. Alexander the Great's conquests staggered the world. He led his army across thousands of miles, overthrowing the greatest empires of his time and building a new one in their place. He claimed to be the son of a god, but he was actually the son of Philip II of Macedon. Philip inherited a minor kingdom that was on the verge of dismemberment, but despite his youth and inexperience, he made Macedonia dominant throughout Greece. It was Philip who created the armies that Alexander led into war against Persia. In Philip and Alexander, classical historian Adrian Goldsworthy shows that without the work and influence of his father, Alexander could not have achieved so much. This is the groundbreaking biography of two men who together conquered the world.