Pierre Briant Bücher

Around 550 BCE, the Persian people emerged from Iran and engaged in an adventure that, under the leadership of Cyrus the Great and his successors, culminated in the creation of an Empire that stretched from central Asia to Upper Egypt, from the Indus to the Danube. This book helps you understand how such an Empire emerged, developed, and faded.

This publication marks the first English translation of Pierre Briant's classic history of Alexander the Great's conquest of the Persian Empire, spanning from the Mediterranean to Central Asia. Rather than focusing solely on Alexander's biography, it situates his brief empire within the broader context of ancient Near Eastern history under Achaemenid Persian rule and his Macedonian background. As a distinguished historian of both the Macedonians and Persians, Briant offers a unique perspective on Alexander's significance from the viewpoints of both conquerors and the conquered, examining what changed and what remained constant as the Hellenistic world emerged over Darius's Persia. The book begins with a concise account of Alexander's life prior to his invasion of Asia Minor, followed by an overview of the key stages of his conquest. This foundation leads into thematic chapters that delve into the origins and objectives of the conquest, the nature of resistance encountered, the administration and exploitation of conquered territories, and the complexities of Alexander's relationships with Macedonians, Greeks, and Persians, as well as the succession issues after his death. For this edition, Briant has added a new foreword and conclusion, updated the text and bibliography, and included an appendix evaluating current scholarship on Alexander and future research directions, enhancing this significant work's relevance and insight.

Est-il encore nécessaire et utile de parler d'Alexandre le Grand - dira-t-on peut-être -, alors même que le rythme et l'ampleur des publications qui lui sont consacrées paraissent incontrôlables ? André Aymard, l'un des plus perspicaces parmi les historiens de l'Antiquité, eut en 1953 une formule lapidaire : "Alexandre ne manque pas d'historiens, et ceux-ci ne manquent pas d'Alexandres." Le moment est venu, non pas tant de faire un bilan des connaissances que de proposer une réflexion sur les manières variées et contradictoires selon lesquelles, au cours des siècles, de l'Islande à Java, ont été échafaudées, contestées, déconstruites et reconstruites les images et interprétations sur lesquelles les historiens continuent de se disputer et leurs lecteurs de rêver. On ne sera donc pas désarçonné de voir fleurir, dans cette analyse critique des lieux communs et de leurs usages selon les époques, des entrées telles que "Croisade", " Mission civilisatrice", " Sikandar", " Maison de Bourgogne" ou " Chute de Constantinople", "Heavy Metal", "Mali", "Maudit Aliksandar" ou encore "Napoléon". Chacune traite de la mémoire d'Alexandre et de ses différentes strates, manifestations et instrumentalisations au cours des siècles, d'Est en Ouest et du Couchant au Levant.