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Ghost On The Throne: The Death Of Alexander The Great And The War For Crown And Empire (2011)

by James Romm(Favorite Author)

4.19 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

0307271641 (ISBN13: 9780307271648)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Knopf

review 1: Alexander the Great's life can't help but be a fascinating and compelling story, but who would have thought that the same could be said of the story that followed his death?In 1977 two great tombs were uncovered in the small Greek village of Vergina. One is believed to be the tomb of Alexander IV, son of Alexander the Great; the other, that of Alexander's half-brother, Philip III, and his wife, Adea, who was also Alexander's niece. This is very much their story, but there are many more actors in the drama whose stories are just as interesting.There's Alexander's mother, Olympias, and her struggle to remain a power in Macedonia. And Alexander's sister, Cleopatra, yet another dynastic pawn. There's Antipater, who had guarded Macedonia on Alexander's behalf for twelve years, ... morewith help from his son, Cassander, and who may, or may not (probably not,) have poisoned Alexander. The rumors certainly flew at the time, but they usually did when a person of importance died.There was Perdiccas, the killer of Philip's, Alexander's father, assassin, and the man who Alexander would bequeath his empire to. At his side was Eumenes, who, as a Greek, was mistrusted by the rest of Alexander's generals, but who would turn out to be the one who would remain the most faithful to Alexander's memory. And, of course, Ptolomy, who would grab Egypt and found his own dynasty.It's also the story of the many countries affected, first by Alexander's life, and then by his death. Like Greece, who couldn't seem to decide which side to be on, what price they were willing to pay, and who they would give up in order to pay it. Or India, who gave Alexander elephants and taught him how to use them in battle. Or, even more, Macedonia, whose three-and-a-half century old dynasty would die with Alexander.Alexander's empire would be torn apart by the Hellenic Wars in the west, the rivalry between Antipater and Olympias over Macedonia, and the constant battling among the generals for supremacy and control of that empire in the east. What was left would be fought over for generations.I can't recommend this book more highly.
review 2: I loved this book, even though its a really sobering read about the perils of the ancient world. What happened after Alexander's death in 323 BC is easily as interesting as what happened during his lifetime, even if the historical records are hazy and unreliable (and James Romm does a brilliant job at piecing those together). This is the story of the ruinous divvying up of the Macedonian Empire amongst Alexander's rival generals, eventually, into (very loosely speaking and after a lot of shifting alliances) various spheres of influence. This was not the gentleman's arrangement of a division of four kingdoms I somehow imagined when I first read about the Alexander's death as a school child. It is also the "slow motion execution" (in the author's words) of Alexander's entire family (save one half sister), including the Dual Kings (Alexander's half brother and infant son), his formidable mother Olympias, and his foreign (Bactrian) Queen, Rhoxane. Truth is stranger than fiction; but readers will likely think of "Game of Thrones". One small disappointment for me was the decision to end the story before the rise of one of Alexander's generals, Seleucus, establishing his own long term "Asian" (Seleucid) empire in 312 BC. His rise to prominence is not covered in this book and he remains a secondary character here, although he is noted as one of the number of generals who would crown himself king. Still, the author had to end the story somewhere, and it is the sign of a great book when you want it to carry on! less

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