The Death of Alexander the Great: A Reconstruction of Cleitarchus

by Andrew Chugg

The most influential account of the career of Alexander the Great was penned by Cleitarchus the son of Deinon, a Greek writing in Alexandria in the decades after Alexander's death. Most of the surviving ancient texts on Alexander were more or less based upon his work, but every single copy of the original was discarded or destroyed in antiquity. The question how far might it be possible to reconstruct it from the secondary writings? In response, this book presents an extensive reconstruction of Cleitarchus' account of the death of Alexander the Great in the stifling summer heat of Babylon in 323BC. It sweeps through a dramatic series of antecedent episodes culminating in the funeral of Hephaistion. Soon after it climaxes with Alexander's own expiry, then thunders on into the shock and chaos of the aftermath in a text studded with eulogistic orations and scintillating speeches. It is a must for any fascinated by the deep political undercurrents that streamed beneath a pivotal event in our history.

108 pages, Paperback

First published January 26, 2010

About the author

Andrew's researches and writings are largely focussed upon the career and exploits of Alexander the Great, both in life and in the context of his equally remarkable adventures in death, through the quest for his lost tomb. See also his websites at www.alexanderstomb.com and www.alexanderslovers.com for videos, photos, news and his huge collection of antique engravings and maps.

Andrew has been actively researching the history of Alexander's tomb since 1998, including visits to Alexandria and Saqqara in Egypt. He has had academic articles on the subject published in the classics journal Greece & Rome and in the American Journal of Ancient History and he is the author of The Lost Tomb of Alexander the Great, published in London by Periplus in November 2004. He has also written pieces on the hunt for the tomb for Minerva, History Today and other magazines. In September 2006 he addressed the Eroi conference in the University of Padua on the subject of Alexander's tomb. Various new theories on the locations and appearances of Alexander's several tombs have emerged from his work. In particular, Andrew's novel theory that the Alexandrians might have given Alexander's corpse a new identity as the remains of St Mark the Evangelist, when the emperor Theodosius outlawed paganism in AD391, attracted international press attention in 2004.

Andrew's latest book on the history of Alexander's adventures in the afterlife, The Quest for the tomb of Alexander the Great, appeared at the end of 2007. It incorporates significant extensions of his theories, including a chapter on a section of a sculptural relief from a Macedonian tomb of royal importance dating to about the 3rd century BC and found embedded in the foundations of the main apse of the Basilica di San Marco in Venice. This is a comment from an Amazon reviewer: "I just finished this book deep into last night, and it did not want to leave my hands... The book will command your full attention -- no eating cookies or watching TV while reading... Chugg makes the book read like a fascinating, grandly presented detective study... The author admits early in the work that his quest is 'to enthrall readers with fresh revelations.' He indeed does that, covering highly complex materials with confidence and ease... The author and his book will most certainly keep Alexandria and its Founder's tomb on the front page of newspapers for years to come."

Andrew has also appeared in National Geographic television documentaries on Alexander and his tomb, including Beyond the Movie: Alexander the Great in 2004 and Alexander's Lost Tomb in 2008, the latter being shot on location in Alexandria, Egypt (also broadcast on Channel 5 in the UK). More recently, Andrew appeared in the Alexander the Great episode of National Geographic's Mystery Files series, which concentrated on the enigma of Alexander's tomb.

Andrew has also extensively researched Alexander's death with an article in Minerva in September 2004 and an academic paper on The Journal of Alexander the Great in the Ancient History Bulletin. In April 2006 he published a book on Alexander's Lovers, an examination of the king's personality through the mirror of the lives of the people with whom he pursued romantic relationships. One Amazon reviewer has written: "At first glance anyone interested in Alexander the great might dismiss this book as just another cash in on the Alexander legend presented with an irrelevant modern bias; that would be a mistake, as this is the most impressive and informative book on Alexander I have read in a long time."

Andrew's most recent project is an ambitious and far-reaching attempt to reconstruct the lost text of the most influential of all the ancient accounts of Alexander's career: the History Concerning Alexander by Cleitarchus of Alexandria. Andrew's painstaking detective work has unmasked Cleitarchus as the perpetrator of the most elaborate and potent account of Alexander the Great by progressively reconst

Reviews

[Matt Crotts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrew Chugg has a formidable passion for research into the history, archeology and ancient literature of all things pertaining to Alexander the Great, equaled only by his exemplary research standards. This reconstruction endeavor is quite exhaustive, and enormously helpful to anyone interested in the classical world's premier biography of Alexander.