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The story of Alexander the Great and his career has been told many times, in narrative histories and historical biographies, some written for the general reader and some for professional scholars of ancient history. This book does not attempt to retell that history, nor does it claim to be a full and continuous account of Greek and Macedonian politics during the years of Alexander’s life. Rather than a history of events, it is an analysis of certain specific events involving individual Macedonians, individual Greeks, cities, treaties, and other institutions. It aims to describe the complex relationships between Macedonians and Greeks while Alexander was campaigning in Asia, and in doing so, to explain the crises that arose upon Alexander’s return.

My study’s intended audience are students and scholars of Alexander-history and the history of the 4th century BC generally. I have tried to make my arguments accessible to scholars outside the field of ancient historyall Greek and Latin is translatedbut the book necessarily devotes attention to specific areas of scholarly debate and certain historical problems that may be unfamiliar to the general reader.

My hope is that this study will contribute to the continuing discussion of Alexander’s career, and that it may contribute to our understanding of the transition between the Classical world that produced Alexander, and the Hellenistic world that he helped to shape.

Many people helped me write this study. My friends and colleagues Roy Benke, Craig Gibson and Charles Kaylor provided insight and criticism when it was needed. I owe particular thanks to John Oates and Kent Rigsby of Duke University, Elizabeth Carney of Clemson University, Anne Leen and Richard Prior of Furman University, and Dan Garrison of Northwestern University for their professional wisdom and scholarly advice. My wife, Amy Hackney Blackwell, has shared, inspired, motivated, and supported me throughout. My debt to all of these is immeasurable, and any mistakes, omissions, or weaknesses are mine alone.

Greenville, South Carolina

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