By The Spear: Philip II, Alexander The Great, And The Rise And Fall Of The Macedonian Empire (Ancient Warfare And Civilization)

Features of By the Spear: Philip II, Alexander the Great, and the Rise and Fall of the Macedonian Empire (Ancient Warfare and Civilization)

Alexander the Great arguably the most exciting figure from antiquity waged war as a Homeric hero and lived as one conquering native peoples and territories on a superhuman scale From the time he invaded Asia in 334 to his death in 323 he expanded the Macedonian empire from Greece in the west to Asia Minor the Levant Egypt Central Asia and India Pakistan and Kashmir in the east Although many other kings and generals forged empires Alexander produced one that was without parallel even if it was shortlivedAnd yet Alexander could not have achieved what he did without the accomplishments of his father Philip II r 359336 It was Philip who truly changed the course of Macedonian history transforming a weak disunited and economically backward kingdom into a military powerhouse A warrior king par excellence Philip left Alexander with the greatest army in the Greek world a centralized monarchy economic prosperity and a plan to invade AsiaFor the first time By the Spear offers an exhilarating military narrative of the reigns of these two largerthanlife figures in one volume Ian Worthington gives full breadth to the careers of father and son showing how Philip was the architect of the Macedonian empire which reached its zenith under Alexander only to disintegrate upon his death By the Spear also explores the impact of Greek culture in the East as Macedonian armies became avatars of social and cultural change in lands far removed from the traditional sphere of Greek influence In addition the book discusses the problems Alexander faced in dealing with a diverse subject population and the strategies he took to what might be called nation building all of which shed light on contemporary events in culturally dissimilar regions of the world The result is a gripping and unparalleled account of the role these kings played in creating a vast empire and the enduring legacy they left behind