Description
Book SynopsisA unique military and cultural history that chronicles the reigns of Philip and Alexander the Great in one sweeping narrative
Trade ReviewBy the Spear is an impressive book * Gerard DeGroot, The Times *
this will be a great text for Greek history collections ... Highly recommended. * J. M. Williams, CHOICE *
A steady stream of fascinating stories of brilliant military tactics interspersed with rampant post-Classical gore. From the slaughter of whole villages to unbridled violations of human dignity, By the Spear reminds us of the ugliness of war, especially when military leaders are apparently void of morality filters ... By the Spear is loaded with compelling details ... but they aren't simply piled on helter-skelter; rather, they are embedded in Ian Worthington's coherent narrative about Macedonian ascendancy in the 4th century BC. This celebrated professor at the University of Missouri convincingly gives Philip II his due in Hellenism's spread, and masks not his thesis that Philip 'has lived too long in Alexander's shadow'. * Books & Culture *
Most histories extolling Alexander the Great pay modest attention to his father, Philip II, but Worthington gives him equal billing in this admirable, scholarly dual biography. * Kirkus Reviews *
Ian Worthington is one of this generation's leading historians of ancient Greece and Macedonia. In this book he provides for the first time in a single volume a comparative perspective on Philip and Alexander's empire building, and he admirably succeeds in making this complex and convoluted story accessible to the uninitiated. * Joseph Roisman, author of Alexander's Veterans and the Early Wars of the Successors *
As Ian Worthington reminds us, without Philip II there would have been no Alexander the Great, and by considering together the accomplishments and foibles of both father and son, By the Spear raises a larger question: do great conquerors make great kings? Alexander inherited the legacy of Philip, an ascendant Macedonian empire, but what was the legacy of Alexander, and to whom was it left? By considering the larger picture, Worthington provides new insight into one of ancient history's most fascinating sagas. * Steven Saylor, author of Raiders of the Nile and Roma: A Novel of Ancient Rome *
The Macedonian empire that reshaped the Mediterranean world was the creation of two remarkable men. Worthington's provocative thesis is that Alexander was a conqueror whose legacy was chaos. Philip was a king who left Alexander the basis of empire. Was the father, then, greater than the son? By the Spear offers an unconventional answer in a narrative that is both persuasive and engaging. * Dennis Showalter, author of Armor and Blood: The Battle of Kursk *
Table of ContentsPreface ; Acknowledgements ; Timeline ; Quotations from Ancient Works and Special Abbreviations ; Maps ; 1. The Architect and the Master Builder ; 2. Greece and Macedonia ; 3. Philip II and the Rise of Macedonia ; 4. The New Player in Greek Politics ; 5. The Gathering War Clouds ; 6. The Downfall of Greece ; 7. Philip's Assassination and Legacy ; 8. Alexander's Early Kingship - and Persia ; 9. From Europe to Asia ; 10. Alexander: Master Strategist and Emerging God ; 11. The Decline and Fall of the Persian Empire ; 12. The War in Afghanistan ; 13. Passage to India ; 14. Retreat from India ; 15. Alexander's Final Years ; 16. Death in Babylon and Alexander's Legacy ; Appendix: The Sources of Information ; Bibliography ; Index
