Before and After Alexander : The Legend and Legacy of Alexander the Great

In the arc of western history, Ancient Greece is at the apex, owing to its grandeur, its culture, and an intellectual renaissance to rival that of Europe. So important is Greece to history that figures such as Plato and Socrates are still household names, and the works of Homer are regularly adapted into movies. The most important hero of all, though, is Alexander the Great, who was not fictional in the least. While many historians have studied Alexander’s achievements at length, author and professor Richard A. Billows delves deeper into the obscure periods of Alexander’s life before and after his reign. In his definitive biography Before and After Alexander , Billows explores the lesser-known years of Alexander, who, without the foundation laid by his father, Philip II of Macedon, would not have had the resources or influence to develop one of the greatest empires in history. The years following his death were even more momentous. Alexander’s unexpected demise at the age of thirty-three created such a power vacuum that it incited decades of conflict among his generals, ultimately leading to the decline of Hellenistic civilization and the rise of the Roman Empire. In the arc of western history, Ancient Greece is at the apex, owing to its grandeur, its culture, and an intellectual renaissance to rival that of Europe. So important is Greece to history that figures such as Plato and Socrates are still household names, and the works of Homer are regularly adapted into movies. The most acclaimed hero of all, though, is Alexander the Great.While historians have studied Alexander's achievements at length, author and professor Richard A. Billows delves deeper into the obscure periods of Alexander's life before and after his reign. In the definitive Before and After Alexander, Billows explores the years preceding Alexander, who, Billows argues, without the foundation laid by his father, Philip II of Macedon. would not have had the resources or influence to develop one of the greatest empires in history. Alexander was groomed from a young age to succeed his father, and by the time Philip was assassinated in 336 BC, his great empire was already well underway.The years following Alexander's death were even more momentous. In this ambitious new work, Richard Billows robustly challenges the notion that the political strife that followed was for lack of a leader as competent as Alexander, pointing out instead that there were too many extremely capable leaders who exploited the power vacuum created by Alexander's death to carve out kingdoms for themselves.Above all, in Before and After Alexander, Billows eloquently and convincingly posits a complex view of one of the greatest empires in history, framing it not as the achievement of one man, but the culmination of several generations of aggressive expansion toward a unified purpose. Before and After Alexander is an invaluable addition to our understanding of this historic figure's legacy, as Billows challenges the myth of Alexander the Great as a pioneer and visionary. He argues that the real credit lies with Philip II and the generals who came after Alexander, and reveals just how complex and multifaceted were the foundations on which our modern civilisation was built. Alexander the Great's life, career and achievements have been written about extensively, and he is famed for his strategic vision and tactical prowess - but was he truly the great hero of history we know him as? In this book, the eminent scholar Richard A. Billows reassesses the legend by delving deeper into the lesser known periods before and after Alexander's reign. A mere two decades before Alexander's accession, Macedonia was a disorganized backwater, overshadowed by Athens, Sparta and Persia. It was Alexander's father, Philip II, who shaped it into the greatest power of its time by building a new type of army and style of warfare, uniting the country and providing his son with the groundwork for Alexander's career of conquest. As king, Alexander led an unprecedented military campaign through Asia and Africa, defeating some of the world's most powerful armies and creating one of the largest empires in history. However, in leaving no clear successor upon his death, the empire Alexander governed so briefly threatened to descend once again into instability. It fell to his generals to rule a vast territory stretching from Greece to India, and it was they who transformed it into the great Hellenistic empire In the arc of western history, Ancient Greece is at the apex, owing to its grandeur, its culture, and an intellectual renaissance to rival that of Europe. So important is Greece to history that figures such as Plato and Socrates are still household names, and the works of Homer are regularly adapted into movies. The most important hero of all, though, is Alexander the Great, who was not fictional in the least.While many historians have studied Alexander’s achievements at length, author and professor Richard A. Billows delves deeper into the obscure periods of Alexander’s life before and after his reign. In his definitive biography__Before and After Alexander__, Billows explores the lesser-known years of Alexander, who, without the foundation laid by his father, Philip II of Macedon, would not have had the resources or influence to develop one of the greatest empires in history.The years following his death were even more momentous. Alexander’s unexpected demise at the age of thirty-three created such a power vacuum that it incited decades of conflict among his generals, ultimately leading to the decline of Hellenistic civilization and the rise of the Roman Empire. Macedonia before Philip II Philip's childhood The reign of Philip Philip's new model army and new model state The reign of Alexander The wars of the successors The Hellenistic world and Hellenistic civilization Aftermath: the lingering impact of Hellenistic culture. "By the author of Marathon, an enlightening look at the historical context behind Alexander the Great, his accomplishments, and his legacy"-- Amazon.com