CLAS 0810A ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND THE ALEXANDER TRADITION PART III: THE SURVIVING SOURCES CLASS 10 SEPTEMBER 24, 2014 THE HISTORICAL ALEXANDER-SOURCES: THE PRIMARY WRITTEN SOURCES

BC The “Vulgate” DIODORUS SICULUS tradition Pompeius Trogus CURTIUS Oral tradition and official documents (Diaries, letters, Ephemerides, “Last Plans”, etc.) The fragments or Primary sources or “Alexander-historians” BC Nearchus Callisthenes Onesicritus Cleitarchus 300 Aristobulus Chares Ptolemy 200 100 The “Vulgate” tradition DIODORUS SICULUS Pompeius Trogus CURTIUS 100 PLUTARCH ARRIAN 200 JUSTIN 300 = Primary source of information AD = Considerable information

The Library at Alexandria …and the new (2001) The old…

Ancient writing materials (1) On wood (a mummy-tag) On pottery (an ostrakon tax receipt) On wax tablets (a birth certificate, 128 AD)

Ancient writing materials (2) On papyrus (recycled as Mummy cartonnage) On paper (Hebrew manuscript of a prayer) On parchment or vellum (10th-century Coptic manuscript of the Old Testament)

Ancient writing materials (3) Classical-era bookroll or scroll — Papyrus, used for long works, such as literary texts or government records The codex — usually on parchment. Replaces the bookroll in late antiquity. Strongly associated with Christian writings. The Byzantine-era bookroll (4th-7th centuries AD) was written and read vertically

Palimpsests

Stemmata and textual criticism I: CAT SAT ON THE MAT II: CAT SAT ON THE HAT III: CAT SAT ON THE MAT B: CAT SAT ON THE HAT A: BAT SAT ON THE HAT C: CAT SHAT ON THE MAT D: CAT SAT ON THE BAT [Black = surviving manuscripts; green = hypothesized lost manuscripts]

Siege of Constantinope, 1453 Earliest surviving manuscript copies of ancient texts about Alexander are from the Middle Ages: e.g., Arrian ca. AD 1200 Plutarch ca. AD 1300 Page from The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, printed by Caxton in 1474. This was the first book printed in England. William Caxton’s printing press

Earliest extant manuscript copies of Arrian date to the late Middle Ages… Arrian ca. 1200 AD, Plutarch ca. 1300 AD Sack of Byzantium by the Crusaders 1204 AD Ottoman Turks take Constantinople 1453 AD First moveable-type printing press in England by William Caxton in 1474 AD

BC DIODORUS SICULUS Pompeius Trogus CURTIUS The “Vulgate” tradition Oral tradition and official documents (Diaries, letters, Ephemerides, “Last Plans”, etc.) The fragments or Primary sources or “Alexander-historians” BC Nearchus Callisthenes Onesicritus Cleitarchus 300 Aristobulus Chares Ptolemy 200 100 DIODORUS SICULUS Pompeius Trogus CURTIUS 100 The “Vulgate” tradition PLUTARCH ARRIAN 200 JUSTIN 300 = Primary source of information AD = Considerable information

Justin 3rd century AD epitome of Pompeius Trogus’s Philippic Histories P. Trogus was a Romanized Gaul writing at the time of the emperor Augustus His account of Alexander occupied Books 11 and 12 Drew on similar sources as Diodorus and Curtius Contains many fantastic, legendary stories (e.g. about Alexander’s parentage)

Diodorus Siculus Written and published in the late 1st century BC A “Universal History”… … of which Book 17 covers the years 336-323 BC Big gaps in the surviving manuscripts (but the Table of Contents has survived) Valuable for military details lacking in other accounts Emphasizes the importance and fickleness of Luck Portrays Alexander in terms of the idealized virtues of the Hellenistic monarch

Quintus Curtius Rufus Date not certain, probably 1st century AD (perhaps at time of the emperor Claudius). History of Alexander in 10 books (Books 1-2 lost) Wrote in Latin, and so more accessible to readers Very popular after the Renaissance, and the main source of inspiration for artists Emphasis on (a) Alexander’s constant good furtune, and (b) the deterioration of his character after death of Darius III Rhetorical, flowery style Speeches are an important feature of Curtius’ writing

BC DIODORUS SICULUS Pompeius Trogus CURTIUS The “Vulgate” tradition Oral tradition and official documents (Diaries, letters, Ephemerides, “Last Plans”, etc.) The fragments or Primary sources or “Alexander-historians” BC Nearchus Callisthenes Onesicritus Cleitarchus 300 Aristobulus Chares Ptolemy 200 100 DIODORUS SICULUS Pompeius Trogus CURTIUS 100 The “Vulgate” tradition PLUTARCH ARRIAN 200 JUSTIN 300 = Primary source of information AD = Considerable information

BC DIODORUS SICULUS Pompeius Trogus CURTIUS PLUTARCH ARRIAN JUSTIN AD Oral tradition and official documents (Diaries, letters, Ephemerides, “Last Plans”, etc.) BC Nearchus Callisthenes Onesicritus Death of Alexander Cleitarchus 300 Aristobulus Chares Ptolemy Alexander’s admiral Naval officer in Alexander’s fleet Alexander’s chamberlain 200 Alexander’s official historian Alexander’s general Engineer or architect 100 DIODORUS SICULUS [World History] Pompeius Trogus [World History] CURTIUS [History] 100 PLUTARCH [Biography] ARRIAN 200 [History] JUSTIN 300 [Epitome] AD