Spearpoint

Who were Alexander the Great’s lovers? Meet Roxane, the Little Star, Stateira II and Parysatis, Persian princesses and daughters of Great Kings, Bagoas, a resourceful eunuch, and – most famous of all - Hephaestion, the Macedonian general who stuck by Alexander from childhood to death, through thick and thin, yet whose relationship with the conqueror is still covered in mystery.  In  Alex...

In Part One of this two-part series, Malcolm and Frances explored images of Alexander from his own lifetime through to the end of the nineteenth century. In Part Two, they turn their attention to those produced in a variety of forms in the twentieth and twenty-first century: folk art and pop art, television and movies, portraits and currency are all represented – plus more! If you would like to se...

No one controlled their image as much as Alexander the Great. Despite this, however, artists in antiquity produced a variety of portrayals of him: Alexander as a young man, realistic images, idealistic, and even Alexander as a divinity. This diversity only increased over the centuries following Alexander’s death. In  Images of Alexander , Malcolm and Frances explore how the conqueror has been...

Alexander the Great is a figure of such historic importance it can be easy to forget where he came from. His father, Philip II, makes himself known by his own achievements. But what about his mother, Olympias? Dynamic, ruthless, and determined; by force of personality, and the fact that the crown prince of ancient Macedonia was  her  son, Olympias did her utmost to bend the world to her...

In the winter of 331 BCE, Alexander the Great visited the famed Oracle at Siwa in the Egyptian desert. There, it is said, he discovered an amazing truth: he was not the son of Philip II but of the god Zeus-Ammon. This news did not come out of the blue. Alexander had grown up close to the gods. Through his ancestors Herakles and Achilles, they were even part of his family. In  The Man Who Beca...

Alexander the Great not only conquered the Achaemenid Persian Empire, but also many nations in Central Asia and parts of ancient northwest India. In ten years of campaigning, he did not lose a single battle. He became the richest man in the world, and was regarded by many as a god.  Despite this, none of his men, indeed, no ancient Macedonian, ever called him ‘the Great.’ So, where did this t...

Alexander the Great (356-323 BCE) is one of the most influential men ever to live. Through his conquests, he changed the world forever, politically, socially, and even physically.  Today, our knowledge of what Alexander achieved comes from five writers, known collectively as the Alexander historians, all of whom wrote their accounts of the conqueror’s life between three and five hundred years...

Malcolm Mann and Frances Joseph like nothing better than thinking and talking about Alexander the Great. Why? Check out this pre-episode to hear their brief personal introductions and find out who they are and where their interest in the legendary king and conqueror comes from. Resources on-line texts for the Alexander Historians: Arrian Curtius Diodorus Plutarch Justin About Malcolm and Frances M...