Scan barcode
A review by librarianonparade
Dividing the Spoils: The War for Alexander the Great's Empire by Robin Waterfield
3.0
The death of any powerful leader with no obvious successor or heir inevitably creates a vacuum, inevitably leads to a power struggle between those left behind - and what great leader of antiquity existed than Alexander the Great, conqueror of much of the known world? When Alexander died at the age of thirty-three, having won himself an empire that stretched from Greece to India, encompassing Egypt, Persia, Babylon, Afghanistan and Syria, he alone was the glue that held these disparate lands and peoples together. To quote Yeats, "things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed."
And was it ever loosed. Alexander's Successors fought over his empire for forty years, each striving either to carve out his own kingdom or establish dominion over the others. Sons, nephews, brothers and cousins, all came together in ever-changing combinations, one moment allies, the next enemies, and then allies again.
In truth, no-one could ever have succeeded Alexander, and it is telling that once the generation of Successors who had fought alongside Alexander had died, the next generation were more content with creating their own kingdoms, no longer aimed at world domination. Alexander's empire was perhaps inevitably destined by breakup, being so reliant as it was on the almost superhuman, charismatic, exceptional individual it was founded on. Praise Alexander or condemn him, no-one can deny that he was a remarkable individual, rarely seen outside of the pages of fiction.
It was a swirling, complicated time, but Robin Waterfield provides a clear and concise overview of the period. This is a relatively short book for such a turbulent time involving so many different players, and on occasion the lack of depth frustrated me. This book could have done with being twice as long, with perhaps more emphasis on the context and histories of the cultures and individuals involved. James Romm's Ghost on the Throne: The Death of Alexander the Great and the War for Crown and Empire covers much the same ground, although focusing only on the first generation of Successors, and on the whole I would recommend that one over this, for anyone interested in a post-mortem of Alexander the Great's empire.
And was it ever loosed. Alexander's Successors fought over his empire for forty years, each striving either to carve out his own kingdom or establish dominion over the others. Sons, nephews, brothers and cousins, all came together in ever-changing combinations, one moment allies, the next enemies, and then allies again.
In truth, no-one could ever have succeeded Alexander, and it is telling that once the generation of Successors who had fought alongside Alexander had died, the next generation were more content with creating their own kingdoms, no longer aimed at world domination. Alexander's empire was perhaps inevitably destined by breakup, being so reliant as it was on the almost superhuman, charismatic, exceptional individual it was founded on. Praise Alexander or condemn him, no-one can deny that he was a remarkable individual, rarely seen outside of the pages of fiction.
It was a swirling, complicated time, but Robin Waterfield provides a clear and concise overview of the period. This is a relatively short book for such a turbulent time involving so many different players, and on occasion the lack of depth frustrated me. This book could have done with being twice as long, with perhaps more emphasis on the context and histories of the cultures and individuals involved. James Romm's Ghost on the Throne: The Death of Alexander the Great and the War for Crown and Empire covers much the same ground, although focusing only on the first generation of Successors, and on the whole I would recommend that one over this, for anyone interested in a post-mortem of Alexander the Great's empire.