Virtues of War
Authors: Steven Pressfield
CONTENTS
For Mike and Chrissy
H
e ruled over these nations, even though they did not speak the same language as he, nor one nation the same as another; for all that, he was able to cover so vast a region with the fear which he inspired, that he struck all men with terror and no one tried to withstand him; and he was able to awaken in all so lively a desire to please him, that they always wished to be guided by his will.
âX
ENOPHON,
“T
HE
E
DUCATION OF
C
YRUS
”
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Alexander, son of Philip | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | King of Macedon, conqueror of Persian empire |
Philip of Macedon | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Alexander's father, extraordinary general in his |
Olympias | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Philip's wife, Alexander's mother |
Cyrus the Great | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Founder of Persian empire, circa 547 |
Darius III | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Great King of Persia, defeated by Alexander |
Epaminondas | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | General of Thebes, inventor of the “oblique order” |
Parmenio | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Philip and Alexander's senior general |
Antipater | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Senior Macedonian general, garrisoned |
Antigonus One-Eye | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | “Monophthalmos,” senior general |
Aristotle | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Philosopher, tutor of Alexander |
Hephaestion | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Alexander's general and dearest friend |
Telamon | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Arcadian mercenary, friend and mentor to Alexander |
Craterus | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Alexander's general |
Perdiccas | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Alexander's general |
Ptolemy | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Alexander's general; later dynast of Egypt |
Seleucus | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Alexander's general |
Coenus | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Alexander's general |
Eumenes | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Alexander's Counselor-at-War |
Leonnatus | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Alexander's friend and Bodyguard |
Philotas | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Parmenio's son; Commander of Companion Cavalry |
Nicanor | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Parmenio's son; Commander of Royal Guards brigades |
Black Cleitus | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Commander of Royal Squadron of Companion Cavalry; murdered by Alexander in Maracanda |
Roxanne | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Alexander's Bactrian bride, “Little Star” |
Itanes | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Roxanne's brother; later a Royal Page in Alexander's service and, later still, a Companion |
Oxyartes | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Bactrian warlord, father of Roxanne |
Memnon of Rhodes | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Greek mercenary general, commander under Darius |
Barsine | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Alexander's mistress, daughter of Artabazus, widow of Memnon |
Artabazus | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Persian noble, father of Barsine; Alexander's satrap of Bactria |
Bessus | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Darius's satrap of Bactria, commander of the Persian left at Gaugamela; murderer of Darius and pretender to the throne |
Mazaeus | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Satrap of Mesopotamia, commander of Persian right at Gaugamela; later Alexander's governor of Babylonia |
Spitamenes | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Rebel commander in Bactria and Sogdiana |
Bucephalus | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Alexander's horse |
Porus | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | King of Punjab in India; defeated by Alexander at Battle of Hydaspes River |
Tigranes | Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | Persian cavalry commander, later friend of Alexander |
CHRONOLOGY B.C.
C | C |
490 | A |
480/479 | X |
356 | A |
338 | B |
336 | A |
334 | A |
333 | B |
332 | S |
331 | B |
331/330 | A |
330 | A |
326 | A |
326 | A |
323 | A |
323 | D |
A NOTE TO THE READER
W
hat follows is fiction, not history. Scenes and characters have been invented; license has been taken. Words have been put into the mouths of historical figures, which are entirely the product of the author's imagination.
Although nothing in this telling is untrue to the spirit of Alexander's life as I understand it, still I have transposed certain historical events in the interest of the theme and the storytelling. The speech that Arrian tells us Alexander gave at Opis, I have made his eulogy for Philip. I have Parmenio in Ecbatana, when Curtius tells us he was still at Persepolis. The harangue that I have Alexander delivering at the Hydaspes, he actually made at the Hyphasis, while the plea of his men, which Arrian tells us Coenus voiced at the latter, I have him offering at the former. I note this so that the knowledgeable reader will not believe that events are migrating perversely of their own will.
I have taken the liberty of using, on occasion, contemporary place names, such as Afghanistan, the Danube, and words such as miles, yards, acres, which obviously did not exist in Alexander's time, as well as such latter-day concepts as chivalry, mutiny, knight, guerrilla, and others, which technically have no equivalent in Greco-Macedonian thought but which, in my judgment, communicate to the modern reader so vividly and so closely in spirit to the ancient import that their employment may be by the purist, perhaps, forgiven.