Darius in the Shadow of Alexander - Hardcover

Pierre Briant; Jane Marie Todd

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0674493095 ISBN 13: 9780674493094

Publisher: Harvard University Press, 2015

Synopsis

The last of Cyrus the Great s dynastic inheritors and the legendary enemy of Alexander the Great, Darius III ruled over a Persian Empire that stretched from the Mediterranean to the Indus River. Yet, despite being the most powerful king of his time, Darius remains an obscure figure. As Pierre Briant explains in the first book ever devoted to the historical memory of Darius III, the little that is known of him comes primarily from Greek and Roman sources, which often present him in an unflattering light, as a decadent Oriental who lacked the masculine virtues of his Western adversaries. Influenced by the "Alexander Romance" as they are, even the medieval Persian sources are not free of harsh prejudices against the king D r, whom they deemed deficient in the traditional kingly virtues. Ancient Classical accounts construct a man who is in every respect Alexander s opposite feeble-minded, militarily inept, addicted to pleasure, and vain. When Darius s wife and children are captured by Alexander s forces at the Battle of Issos, Darius is ready to ransom his entire kingdom to save them a devoted husband and father, perhaps, but a weak king. While Darius seems doomed to be a footnote in the chronicle of Alexander s conquests, in one respect it is Darius who has the last laugh. For after Darius s defeat in 331 BCE, Alexander is described by historians as becoming ever more like his vanquished opponent: a Darius-like sybarite prone to unmanly excess."

About this title

Review:

From a review of the French edition: Though the Achaemenid Empire has been one of the important forces of the ancient world, its role and achievements have been generally rather underexposed and undervalued. . . This book ranks among the finest examples of. . . historical analysis: it is elaborate, eloquent, and full of displays of erudition. --"Bryn Mawr Classical Review"

(...) in the minds of many Darius III, the most powerful king of his time with a vast empire stretching from the Mediterranean to the Indus River, exists only as Alexander's legendary Persian enemy. Pierre Briant tackles this issue head on in his book Darius in the Shadow of Alexander, now expertly translated from the 2003 French original (...) Briant provides excellent analysis of the sources, as scarce and biased as they may be in some cases. (...) Despite his open declaration that 'this book is not a biography', it does provide valuable information on Darius' public and private lives, as well as on the perils of an 'Alexandro-maniacal' viewpoint and the persistence of images in general (...) elaborate and exceptionally detailed - Minerva

"Anyone interested in Alexander or the end of Persia s first empire will need to engage with Briant s thoughtful and at times provoking text. It is also full of interest for students of colonial and post-colonial historiography and Orientalism ... Briant is not a Persian or Arabic scholar, but he has read and consulted far and wide and gives a very clear trip through the jungle ... this big book is a remarkable testimony both to the shifting afterlife of the last king of the Persian Empire and to its ultimate satrap, Pierre Briant, who has transformed studies of its legacy. --Literary Review

"A dim and obscure figure rendered all the more phantasmal by the blaze of Alexander s glory, the Great King is doomed to lose the battle of memory . The phrase is that of Pierre Briant, the greatest living historian of the Achaemenids, and the scholar who has probably done more than any other to make sense of how their empire actually functioned. Now, in a new translation of a book originally written in French a decade ago, he has applied his seasoned eye to Darius III; but not to write a biography. To penetrate to the truth of his personality and reign is, Briant states flatly, an insurmountable challenge . His aim instead is simultaneously less ambitious and considerably more so: to explore all the various traditions told of Darius, and by doing so to elucidate the very nature of ancient history [...] At the end of his book, after more than 400 pages of detailed and incisive analysis of every conceivable tradition told about the last king of Achaemenid Persia, he throws up his hands, and acknowledges, we still do not know who Darius was . Only then, though, does the really intriguing confession come: our uncertainty about the real Alexander has also increased [...] Easy Briant s book is not; but it is, for anyone interested in ancient history, as brilliant a demonstration of its mingled frustrations and fascinations as one could hope to read." - Spectator

"In a search for the historical Darius, Briant brings to life specialist work tracing the war against Alexander through images on coins, as well as through the Babylonian astronomical diaries, classical histories and many versions of the Alexander Romance." -- The Independent

About the Author:

Pierre Briant is Emeritus Professor of History of the Achaemenid World and Alexander's Empire at the College de France.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0674493095
• ISBN 13: 9780674493094
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 608