James S. Romm

How good is this?

How good is cake?

I am always amazed that so many know so little about Alexander the Great or the Wars of the Successors. Probably Arrian's Anabasis is a good place to start - doesn't that filter through your heart and brain like beach sand through your fingers? Great stuff. Let me refocus on this utterly perfect (caveat coming) masterpiece of history-drama.

Alexander over runs a big chunk of the world, dies with a mentally disabled half brother of doubtful lineage, a show more pregnant foreign wife (all non-Greeks are to the Macedonians, mere barbarians), and a plethora of amazingly skilled and experienced generals.

Generals with battle hardened veterans.

They'll all get along great, right?

Nah.

And so the wars begin, and this book covers everything from Alexander's death to roughly the middle of the successor wars, which doesn't diminish it because it ends right around the "OVERTURE" pause, the way we might divide WWI & WII as if they are something other than one war with 2 parts. Read this, it is brilliantly researched and written like a Ken Follet page turner. 100 Stars. show less

This book ROARS across the pages leaving in its wake blood, sand and fair amount of confusion in the readers lap. Not confusion from the author, but confusion from the players on the massive board which is Europe and Asia. It also leaves us with many questions as to what might have been the fate of Alexander and makes the waters of the time a little less murkier. We all know what history has told us about the man, the conqueror and the would be king. But what we don’t know… and it is show more done brilliantly… is what happened to the massive swath of the Earth that was left behind when Alexander died.
There are so many aspects to this book. I am still looking for hoofprints across my backside after reading it. Who knew there were so many players and contenders for the spoils of war; not to mention civil war amidst the unfolding drama. As you read this book you might find yourself picking sides. Eumenes, Cassander, Antipater, Etc. Etc. the list goes on.
One man does stand out. Eumenes. Ghost on the Throne could have easily been about him. As a matter of fact…most of it is. The author portrays him in a sneaky but gallant manner and not so subtly hints that he was by far the most important chess piece on the field, not to mention the smartest.
Who had the right to rule, and who had no claim at all? Eumenes knew he had no claim, but he also knew he had an obligation set forth by his dying leader. The author makes this very clear.
With events that took place so long ago Mr. Romm does not forget to remind the reader that some things are very unclear and some things are more transparent due to documentation. The reader will discover many sides to a story that is engaging enough to want to dive deeper in the melee that was the fight for Alexanders throne. Be noted though. This book is no dim witted Oliver Stone farce. This is not only a hard, galloping and head rolling history it is whiny megalomaniacs all scratching for the same piece of pie mixed with the sad fates of many who were thrown the wolves of destiny just because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
We all know Alexander and his conquest changed the world, but we don’t know is what his long term plans were. Well the author highlights that. Alexander was known as a melting pot commander who encouraged cultural fusion while not only conquering lands but creating new cultures along the way. Read this book and it will cause you stand in front of the mirror and wonder what your world, the world around you and world history might have been like had he not died at such a young age. Once again…read this book.
There are many aspects to the book which my review does not cover but I will briefly mention. An interesting take on Jerusalem, and some wily and interesting family members of Alexander that many historians fail to mention. show less

This is an excellent book: educational, entertaining, well written, thematic rather than just a summary of the Histories, written from a base of deep knowledge of the subject and its context, and written with real affection for the object: Herodotus and what he achieved in producing his Histories.

Romm describes Herodotus’s work as, “a voyage of discovery on the order of Columbus’s crossing of the Atlantic: an experiment on a monumental scale, the adaptation of the form and magnitude show more of Homeric poetry to the new and as-yet humble craft of prose narrative.” And what are the new elements of this voyage of discovery: a redefinition of the author’s responsibility for his work (“These are the researches of Herodotus of Halicarnassus…); and Herodotus’s “bold decision to make not merely the conflict between East and West but the cause of that conflict a major theme of his investigation.” The scope of Herodotus’s ambition and his achievement are wonderful and impressive; he is insatiably curious about everything and he, in turns, deals with ethnography, geology, biology, sociology, political history, cartography, cultural anthropology in addition to being an entertaining story-teller and an observer of personalities and character development; there are over 1,000 characters referred to in the Histories, many mentioned only in passing, but others are dwelt upon for their personal histories and the lessons that their lives teach.

Romm provides useful historical background for the context of not just the events in the Histories, but also for the social and political currents of Herodotus’s time. He explores a number of themes in the Histories. One is the “downfall from greatness” wherein, as Solon tells Croesus, “One must look to the end of every matter, how it will turn out; for the god has shown a glimpse of happiness to many men, then destroyed them root and branch.” As Room puts it, “These related ideas of divine balance and moral retribution pervade Herodotus’s understanding of the cosmos, and so they appear everywhere within the text of the Histories.” Another theme has to do with the structure of the earth and the ills that befall those who try to change it, thus angering the gods, because these are bounds of nature that should not be superseded. In a chapter entitled “The Kingdom of Culture”, Romm explores Herodotus’s “remarkable evenhandedness in dealing with barbarian nomoi [customs] and in comparing them with those of the Greeks.” Herodotus shows an appreciation of foreign customs that is, “exceptional for his time and inspirational for ours.” Failure to respect the cultures of others is often invoked by Herodotus to explain reckless diplomatic and military blunders.

Romm expands upon Herodotus’s strengths as a story teller and as an observer of character and its development, as well as his analysis of the relative merits of different political systems and how he used Persian and Greek models to explore these.

This is an excellent introduction to Herodotus and should inspire readers to go to the original. It is also an excellent review for those familiar with the Histories. Romm deserves re-reading as an intelligent and thought-provoking guide to the sprawling and ambitious and ultimately successful scope of the Histories. show less

I’ll probably read this book two or three times. Concise, precise prose. (A lesser author would’ve consumed 600 pages to tell the same stories.) Thoroughly enjoyed the pace and poignancy with which he revealed the demise of the lost kingdom of Alexander. Had he lived, could he have held it together? Found a balance between Argead monarchy, Greek oligarchy, and the desire of the masses for democracy? Hmm... probably not. But at least one form of his dynastic megalomania was attempted show more through mixing the DNA of west and east, of northern and southern Europe—marrying generals and bodyguards off to women as the spoils of war.

This work speaks to the folly of building an empire you cannot outlive, placing that power in birthrights, speaking for ghosts, and plying soldiers hungry for battle and fortune with ill-gotten second-hand wealth. And perhaps most relevant to these times, be wary of resting one’s fate on the outcome of battles between old men who just won’t g was t out of the way of progress.

The appearance and character of women as portrayed in this book speaks to laziness and stimulates, in my mind, hilarity. Always pawns, prizes, or bitches. Rarely shrewd, always conniving, causes of wars. Hrumph.

- Alexander’s top generals were about to tangle with one of history’s top teenage girls.p 167
- The blow that destroyed (two great blocks of Alexander’s empire) seemed almost banal, a piece of gossip about a man’s interest in another man’s wife. Women represented legitimacy, and marital alliance security... p 169
- One brought him pleasure, the other power. p 195
- (That house)...was being torn apart ... by meddlesome, ungovernable women. p 210
- With his dying breaths, Antipater had reportedly spoken one last, stern injunction to his followers: “Don’t let Macedonia be ruled by a woman! - p 237

The last is my favorite excerpt before I turn to a book by Elizabeth Carney suggested by Romm that I hope will do more justice to the women in this book. It seems true to this day that one book can do justice either to the kings or to the queens but never both. LOL

Signed,
A “meddlesome ungovernable woman”




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