Arrian
Author of The Campaigns of Alexander
About the Author
Historian, philosopher, and general, Arrian was born into a wealthy Greek family in Nicomedia, in Asia Minor. He was a pupil and friend of the philosopher Epictetus, whose lectures he published at Athens. For six years, from 131 to 137, he served as governor of Cappadocia under the emperor Hadrian. show more It was during this time that he successfully drove back invading Alans. Arrian wrote several geographical and historical works, including the Indica, an account of a voyage to India. He is best known, however, as author of the Anabasis. A much praised and valuable account of the life of Alexander the Great, it is based on the writings of Ptolemy I and Aristobulus, two of Alexander's generals. He modeled the work on Anabasis of Xenophon. Arrian died at an advanced age during the reign of Marcus Aurelius. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Works by Arrian
Arrian: Anabasis of Alexander, Books 5-7. Indica. (Loeb Classical Library No. 269) (1707) 117 copies
Alexander The Great: Selections From Arrian, Diodorus, Plutarch, And Quintus Curtius (2005) 69 copies
Arrian: Alexander the Great: Selections from Arrian (Translations from Greek and Roman Authors) (1981) 37 copies
Arriani Nicomediensis Scripta Minora 13 copies
Tactical Handbook and the Expedition Against the Alans/Texnh Taktika: A Manual for Ancient Warfare (1993) 8 copies
Ancient India As Described by Megasthenes and Arrian, a Tr. of the Fragments of the Indika of Megasthenes Collected by… (2010) 7 copies
Anabasis Alexandri: Books I-IV (History of Alexander and Indica - Loeb Classical Library, Vol. I) (1929) 5 copies
De expeditione Alexandri Magni 2 copies
History of Alexander and Indica I 2 copies
Le manuel d'Épitecte 1 copy
Alexanders des Großen Siegeszug durch Asien. Eingeleitet u. neu übertr. v. Wilhelm Capelle (1950) 1 copy
Histoire d'Alexandre.. 1 copy
Guerre du Péloponèse suivi de Retraite des Dix Mille, La Cyropédie, Du commandement de la cavalerie, Traité… — Author — 1 copy
Les entretiens d'Épitecte 1 copy
The Anabasis of Alexander; or, The History of the Wars and Conquests of Alexander the Great (0002) 1 copy
Storia di Alessandro 1 copy
Acies Contra Alanos (Greek) 1 copy
Anabasis, books 1 & II 1 copy
Flavius Arrianus. Adiectae sunt tres tabulae geographicae et fragmentum papyri 1284 societatis italianae / Vol. II,… (2013) 1 copy
Tactica (Greek) 1 copy
Obras completas 1 copy
Cynegeticus (Greek) 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Arrian
- Legal name
- Arrianus, Lucius Flavius
- Other names
- Arrian
Arrian of Nicomedia
Arrianus Xenophon, Lucius Flavius - Birthdate
- c. 86
- Date of death
- c. 146
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- Greece
- Country (for map)
- Greece
- Birthplace
- Nicomedia, Bithynia
- Place of death
- Athens, Greece
- Places of residence
- Nicomedia, Bithynia
Nicopolis, Epirus
Cappadocia
Athens, Greece - Occupations
- Consul
Procurator (province of Cappadocia)
Archon (at Athens)
Author - Relationships
- Epictetus (teacher)
- Short biography
- Arrian was born in the town of Nicomedia, in the province of Bithynia (present-day Izmit, Turkey), and studied philosophy under Epictetus in Nicopolis. He entered service in the Roman Empire, serving under Gaius Avidius Nigrinus, governor of Achaea, and eventually achieving the office of Consul in 129 or 130. In 131 he was appointed procurator of Cappadocia, and in 135 he commanded the legions that repelled an Alan invasion. He was elected Archon at Athens in 145/6, where he later devoted himself to history, writing the "Anabasis Alexandri" and the "Indica."
Members
Reviews
Arrian's Anabasis Alexandrou in Pantheon's beautiful Landmark series with many footnotes, side-notes, maps, battle plans and grayscale images of locales, coins, and archeological finds. There are a series of modern essays as appendices. [The very last appendix reveals that Arrian was the student whose notes are what we have of Epictetus.] Arrian has his own criticisms of Alexander, but still, he was the great revered conqueror and leader of antiquity. To modern eyes it seems like a long way to go to find new people to kill and enslave, but it must have been all Alexander thought about since he was a child - defeat Persia and why stop there? If his "Last Plans" are authentic, then he was planning to take Arabia next and to interchange Greek and Asian peoples to make the civilized world homogeneous. Fortunately or unfortunately something like typhoid fever intervened.… (more)
The only relevant extant source on Alexander is a fantastic read. We don't get to know the person however, and it would seem that even Arrian, who wrote about him with all the then extant sources—like Ptolemy's lost writings for example—were unable to get a grasp on him either. Too bad.
But what we do get, is a breathtaking description of his conquests and campaigns. Arrian is a bit arrogant, he knows what a great writer he is and is not afraid to inform us of this either, as he tells us in the beginning of book one. He focuses on the colossal scale of the enterprise—it is colossal even by modern standards—and the military genius of the young commander and his generals. Alexander's goal was to revenge the sacking of Athens by the Persians, as recounted by Herodotus in his book “Histories”.
This was how the whole enterprise was sold to the Greeks, Arrian tells us, and we get to follow the young soon to be king as he and his father makes several important campaigns into modern day northern Greece, Macedonia, and the Balkans. This is where the legend of Alexander the General is born. Thirteen years later, after the goal of revenge had been met—Persia ceased to exist as a country, never mind as a superpower after Alexander ravaged it—he dies in Babylon in modern day Iraq after having conquered the known world. Never having lost a single battle.
Alexander was the Great for a reason.
Were it not for young Alexander, leader of Greece, our world as we know it would not exist. Alexander is likely the singular most significant individual in recorded history. Without him the Hellenistic age would never have happened, entire cities or even countries would not exist, there would never have been a Caesar or a Jesus, and most certainly, you and I would never have been born. (nod to Kenneth Harl)
A one hundred percent enjoyable read with fabulous extras such as maps (there is one map every three to five pages) and pictures of places as they look today, historical artefacts from archaeology, and add to all of that above: numerous essays on various aspects of the known world at that time.… (more)
But what we do get, is a breathtaking description of his conquests and campaigns. Arrian is a bit arrogant, he knows what a great writer he is and is not afraid to inform us of this either, as he tells us in the beginning of book one. He focuses on the colossal scale of the enterprise—it is colossal even by modern standards—and the military genius of the young commander and his generals. Alexander's goal was to revenge the sacking of Athens by the Persians, as recounted by Herodotus in his book “Histories”.
This was how the whole enterprise was sold to the Greeks, Arrian tells us, and we get to follow the young soon to be king as he and his father makes several important campaigns into modern day northern Greece, Macedonia, and the Balkans. This is where the legend of Alexander the General is born. Thirteen years later, after the goal of revenge had been met—Persia ceased to exist as a country, never mind as a superpower after Alexander ravaged it—he dies in Babylon in modern day Iraq after having conquered the known world. Never having lost a single battle.
Alexander was the Great for a reason.
Were it not for young Alexander, leader of Greece, our world as we know it would not exist. Alexander is likely the singular most significant individual in recorded history. Without him the Hellenistic age would never have happened, entire cities or even countries would not exist, there would never have been a Caesar or a Jesus, and most certainly, you and I would never have been born. (nod to Kenneth Harl)
A one hundred percent enjoyable read with fabulous extras such as maps (there is one map every three to five pages) and pictures of places as they look today, historical artefacts from archaeology, and add to all of that above: numerous essays on various aspects of the known world at that time.… (more)
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StefanConradsson | 4 other reviews | May 3, 2022 |
StefanConradsson | 4 other reviews | May 3, 2022 | 
This was disappointing. There is little narrative, just a laundry list of places and dubious numbers. I was hoping for more explication.
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Campbell introduces, edits, translates, and comments the text - the commentary accounts for well over half the page count. Much of it consists of disagreements with previous translators, but the is also in-depth discussion of all the units of the Roman army involved, and elucidation of obscure passages.
A must for those interested in ancient military texts.
* A nomadic people of the Caucasus region. The modern Ossetes are their descendants.… (more)