Prior to starting the Daily Diodorus series I had never read his life of Alexander the whole way through. I was put off doing so by the small size and thick ink of my Loeb Library edition of the text. However, while it seemed to me that Diodorus did not have Arrian’s or even Curtius’ reputation as a historian of Alexander, I knew I ought to read it anyway.
My read-throughs of Arrian and Plutarch took several months I wanted to read Didorus more quickly than that so hit upon the idea of a daily series of posts. The posts below are the fruit of that thought.
Each post is divided into four sections: Headlines based on the key events in chapter(s) covered in the post, a précis of the chapter(s) covered, comments and, at the end, a little humour to round things off.
I decided to include headlines so that the reader would know immediately what stage of Alexander’s life would be under discussion in the post. Unlike my Arrian and Plutarch read-throughs, I have not focused on a particular aspect of Diodorus’ history. This made me keen to write a précis to help me better remember what I had just read. It also gives the reader a context for my comments. In regards the comments, they are simply me thinking aloud about what I have just read. They aren’t meant to be academic thoughts. As for the humour that is just me unwinding. I beg your indulgence for them.
i. The Battle of Chaeronea and its Aftermath (Book 16, Ch. 86-88)
ii. Alexander’s First Days as King (Bk. 17, Ch. 1, 2, 5, 6)
iii. The Greek Response to Alexander’s Accession (Ch. 3, 4)
iv. Darius Prepares for War (Ch. 7)
v. The Fall of Thebes (Ch. 8, 9, 11-14)
vi. Omens of Defeat (Ch. 10)
vii. Athens’ Dilemma (Ch. 15, 16)
viii. Alexander Crosses The Hellespont (Ch. 17, 18)
ix. The Battle of the Granicus River (Ch. 19-21)
x. The Siege of Miletus (Ch. 22, 23)
xi. The Siege of Halicarnassus (Ch. 24-27)
xii. The Marmares’ Folly (Ch. 28)
xiii. Memnon takes the Battle to Greece (Ch. 29, 30)
xiv. Darius Prepares for War as Alexander Falls Ill (Ch. 31)
xv. Alexander and Darius Draw Close to One Another (Ch. 32)
xvi. The Battle of Issus (Ch. 33, 34)
xvii. The Aftermath of the Battle of Issus (Ch. 35, 36)
xviii. “He too is Alexander” (Ch. 37, 38)
xix. Darius’ Response to his Defeat at Issus (Ch. 39)
xx. The Macedonian Mole Approaches Tyre (Ch. 40, 41)
xxi. The Siege of Tyre (Ch. 42-46)
xxii. Ballonymus is made King of Tyre (Ch. 47)
xxiii. The Deeds of Amyntas son of Antiochus (Ch. 48)
xxiv. The Journey to Siwah (Ch. 49)
xxv. Siwah Oasis (Ch. 50)
xxvi. The Oracle of Ammon (Ch. 51)
xxvii. The Foundation of Alexandria (Ch. 52)
xxviii. The Road to Gaugamela (Ch. 53-55)
xxix. The Formation of the Macedonian Army (Ch. 56, 57)
xxx. The Battle of Gaugamela (Ch. 58-61)
xxxi. Sparta’s Rebellion (Ch. 62, 63)
xxxii. Babylon (Ch. 64)
xxxiii. Susa (Ch. 65, 66)
xxxiv. Across the Pasitigris and into the land of the Uxii (Ch. 67)
xxxv. The Susian Rocks (Ch. 68)
xxxvi. The Mutilated Greeks (Ch. 69)
xxxvii. Persepolis (Ch. 70-72)
xxxviii. The Death of Darius III (Ch. 73)
xxxix. Bessus takes up the fight against Alexander (Ch. 74)
xl. In Hyrcania and Mardia (Ch. 75)
xli. Thallestris (Ch. 77)
xlii. Satibarzanes’ Betrayal (Ch. 78)
xliii. The Trial and Death of Philotas, son of Parmenion (Ch. 79, 80)
xliv. The Benefactors (Ch. 81)
xlv. Across Mount Paropanisum (Ch. 82, 83)
xlvi. Slaughter of the Mercenaries (Ch. 84)
xlvii. The Aornus Rock (Ch. 85)
xlviii. Mophis’ Approach (Ch. 86)
xlix. The Battle of the Hydaspes River (Ch. 87-89)
l. A land of strange and clever animals (Ch. 90)
li. The Journey to the Hyphasis River (Ch. 91-94)
lii. Of Giant Altars and Heraclean Men (Ch. 95, 96)
liv. A Narrow Escape on the Indus River (Ch. 97)
lv. The City of the Mallians (Ch. 98, 99)
lvi. Dioxippus vs Coragus (Ch. 100, 101)
lvii. A Land of Blood and Mercy (Ch. 102)
lviii. Alexander Saves Ptolemy’s Life (Ch. 103)
lix. Genocide? The Macedonian Trident (Ch. 104)
lx. The Savage Desert (Ch. 105)
lxi. The Good,the Bad, and the Seven Day Party (Ch. 106, 107)
lxii. The Fall of Harpalus (Ch. 108)
lxiii. Death of a Friend (Ch. 109, 110)
lxiv. Dangerous Roads: Lamia to Babylon (Ch. 111, 112)
lxv. The Diplomatic King (Ch. 113)
lxvi. Hephaestion’s Funeral (Ch. 114. 115)
lxvii. The Death of Alexander (Ch. 116-118)
fin
The Second Achilles 