Arrian Anabasis, Book 1, Chapter 1, Section 1 (Translated by Nick Thompson, student on the project)

Greek-  Πτολεμαῖος ὁ Λάγου καὶ Ἀριστόβουλος ὁ Ἀριστοβούλου ὅσα μὲν ταὐτὰ ἄμφω περὶ Ἀλεξάνδρου τοῦ Φιλίππου συνέγραψαν, ταῦτα ἐγὼ ὡς πάντῃ ἀληθῆ ἀναγράφω, ὅσα δὲ οὐ ταὐτά, τούτων τὰ πιστότερα ἐμοὶ φαινόμενα καὶ ἅμα ἀξιαφηγητότερα ἐπιλεξάμενος.

Translation- Ptolemy son of Lagus and Aristobolus son of Aristobolus as great as on the one hand both accounts write in agreement of these things about Alexander son of Philip, I write these things as the complete truth, on the other hand as great as these things do not [write in agreement], the more trusted of these things seems for me also at the same time that which has been attributed as being more worth telling.

Commentary- Arrian was not an eye-witness of Alexander’s deeds. He merely reports upon an amalgated history made up of the accounts of Ptolemy (a bodyguard and general of Alexander) and Aristobolus (a close friend, architect, engineer and historian of Alexander). Therefore, we can presume that this is a reasonably reliable account of Alexander’s exploits geographically but is likely to be subjective to Alexander’s point of view whilst relaying events as it relies solely upon the evidence of his trusted friends.

                Sikandar Nama, e bara (The Book of Alexander the Great) by Nizami is the only other major text concerning Alexander and is written from the Persian perspective. However, this relies upon aural traditions passed down generations of Persians and so is also likely to be subjective in its approach. Another issue with Nizami’s version of events is that they were written in around 1202AD and therefore suffer from a lack of detailed, accurate knowledge of Alexander and his exploits.

                Our maps are entirely based upon Arrian and so, as accurate as we may try to be, we can only be faithful to Arrian to the exclusion of all other writers so as to have as much of a likeness as possible to the shape of Alexander’s journey to infinite power.

-Nick Thompson, Group 5