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In 302 BCE great armies were in motion across the Greek world. Lysimachus, at the head of his army, invaded Asia Minor. Demetrius, the son of Antigonus Monophthalmus, secured a truce with Cassander in Greece so as to sail to Asia Minor. Seleucus set out from Babylonia with some 20,000 foot, 12,000 cavalry and 480 elephants. Ptolemy left Egypt with a large army and set about subduing – not unusually for him or any other Pharoah – Coele-Syria. An end game was nigh.

Antigonus Monophthalmus, assessing the threats, marched from Antigoneia with his “standing army” and engaged Lysimachus, who after a number of fighting retreats, fell back upon Amastris and her port of Heracleia. Antigonus also sent a smaller force to block Seleucus’ march into Cappadoccia – it failed. Antigonus, realising that a confrontation with the three was unavoidable, took the measure of his opponents. Eighty years shrewd, he sent messengers into Syria spreading news of a catastrophic defeat of the allied armies in Cappadoccia. Ptolemy, an empire gambler never quite prepared to call a bluff, folded. Antigonus, his rear for the time being secured, was joined by his co-regent and son, Demetrius. Their combined armies, along with those of Lysimachus and Seleucus, awaited the spring and the inevitable showdown.

And so we have Diodorus at the end of his twentieth book:

In this way, then, the forces of the kings were being gathered together, since they all had determined to decide the war by force of arms during the coming summer. But, as we proposed in the beginning, we shall make the war that these kings waged against everyone for supreme rule the beginning of the following book.

Given that now only scraps remain of the following book(s) this is the season end to end all seasons of any show. I do not know how many times I have read this paragraph – probably as many as I have of Thucydides books six and seven – and always with the same ridiculous notion: this time it might be different. But the Athenians never leave directly after the disaster in the Great Harbour; they wait upon their procrastinating “general” and suffer – ultimately – for his superstitions. And there is no coherent book twenty-one of Diodorus.

Hieronymus of Cardia, why hast thou manuscript deserted us?

Paralus you gave me goosebumps. It has been a long, cold lonely winter...

...And hopefully one day will come the sun

Let us not forget that there were argeads before Alexander and Macedonians before them and that much of what we deduce about Alexander comes from the practices anteceding him and those of his successors so it is not entirely off subject. I think they might benefit from seperate domains within the site just to keep things clear. Or even separate sections for different aspects of Alexander such as 'Historiography' etc Zeus tell me I'm not that anal - must dash now to recount my pin collection

Achaemenids?

agesilaos wrote:I think they might benefit from seperate domains within the site just to keep things clear. Or even separate sections for different aspects of Alexander such as 'Historiography' etc Zeus tell me I'm not that anal - must dash now to recount my pin collection

If there's anything more satisfying than owning a pin collection it is surely the counting of its constituents. And if there is anything more enjoyable than a schooner of black beer, it is the downing of its contents.

The separate sections is the go. It is something I proposed on the "Improve Pothos" thread. Thomas is the person who really understands how to do it - and whether it's possible on this platform. The idea is that the forum would remain (and the site) essentially the same and one adds "sub forums" or sections on the Argeads, Macedonia, fourth century and Hellenistic Greece, Successors, etc. These too could have their own background material as does Alexander.

Hi, everybody,

I'm new to the site as a registered user, but I've been lurking around for a few years now. I really respect the extend of the knowledge around here.

I think it would be a great idea to break up the forum into sub-forums with areas that may be tangentially related to Alexander. From one perspective, it might just net us some lively discussions that may not have happened had we only concentrated on Alexander himself.

From another perspective, I think all pepole are influenced by their surroundings and even their cultural history and background, some going back hundreds if not thousands of years. And Alexander is no exception.

Anyways, look forward to participating in more discussions down the road.