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Ancient Writings on Alexander the Great

INTRO

DIODORUS

CURTIUS

PLUTARCH

ARRIAN

JUSTIN

ROMANCE

BATTLES

Quintus Curtius Rufus  (10 BCE - 53 CE) was a Roman citizen and a contemporary of Jesus Christ.  He wrote a "popular" history of Alexander in Latin in about the year 35 CE.  He based his book largely on the now lost work of Cleitarchus, who wrote a history of Alexander in Greek a few years after Alexander's death.  Cleitarchus was notorious for being both very entertaining and not so very accurate.  So it isn't surprising that Curtius also is both very entertaining, and not so very accurate.  At some points, the work of Curtius is more like historical fiction than history.  Nevertheless, Curtius was obviously taken by Alexander, and the book is vivid and exciting.

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

BOOKS

COINS

EVENTS

Quintus Curtius Rufus The History of Alexander Translated by John Yardley

FAMILY

This paperback is an affordable translation of Curtius by John Yardley.  It contains an excellent 20-page "Glosary of Personal Names" and a summary by Waldemar Heckel of Curtius' two lost books.  Heckel's contribution is important because only one manuscript of Curtius survived the ravages of the Dark Age, and it did not survive unscathed, having lost not only a few words and paragraphs here and there throughout its entirety, but also the whole first two of its ten books.  Heckel does an admirable job of drawing from the surviving works of other ancient writers to "replace" these missing first to books.

FORUMS

FRIENDS & FOES

GAMES

INFLUENCES

MAPS

MISCELLANEOUS

Quintus Curtius History of Alexander Books I - V Translated by John C. Rolfe

NEWS

This Loeb Classical Library book contains books 3 - 5 of Curtius, having his original Latin on the left page and an English translation by J. C. Rolfe on the right.  Also included is a summary "replacement" of Curtius' lost books 1 - 2 by J. Freinshem, who first published it in 1648 CE, basing it upon "material furnished by Arrian, Diodorus Siculus, Justin, Plutarch, and others..."  This book also contains an interesting history of the Curtius manuscript - how it was copied by different monks (some more "lawlessly" than others), then finally printed by the printing press, and translated into various languages.

PAINTINGS

RELIGIOUS

SCULPTURE

SITES

TIMELINES

Quintus Curtius History of Alexander Books VI - X Translated by J. C. Rolfe

VIDEOS

WRITINGS

This second volume of Curtius in the Loeb Classical Library contains books 6 - 10.  It is a compainion to volume 1, and contains the index for both volumes, which is excellent.  For instance, if you look up "Alexander," you will find six pages stating most every event of his life, and on what page it is described.  This makes it possible to go straight to the index, look up any given episode in Alexander's life, and see what Curtius has to say about it.  As always with a Loeb Classical Library book, the original language (Latin in this case) is printed on the left page, alongside an English translation on the right.

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BATTLES

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

BOOKS