A question on sources

[iceman0486]

I am working on a paper covering the empire of Alexander the Great. I know this mod covers the Roman period, but as part of the paper I am covering the military tactics used by Alexander's forces. I was wondering what sources the creators of this mod used to get their information on the Macedonian units put in the game (and Wikipedia is not an admissible source).

Thanks,
Iceman

[khshayathiya]

One of he main sources I am using (although I am not the one personally responsible for the Antigonids) is M.B. Hatzopoulos - L'organisation de l'armee macedonienne sous les Antigonides, Centre de Recherche de l’Antiquite Grecque et Romaine, Athens, 2001. As you may see, however, this is not concerned with Alexander's Army.

I might suggest Donald W. Engels, Alexander the Great and the logistics of the Macedonian army, Berkeley ; London : University of California Press, 1978, although this not focused on the tactics of the army.

There is one book, David J. Lonsdale, Alexander the Great : lessons in strategy, London : Frank Cass, 2005, but I haven't read it, so I cannot vouch for its quality. N.G.L. Hammond, Alexander the Great : King, commander and statesman, London : Chatto & Windus, 1981 is rather apologetic in tone, so use with caution.

Other authors who have treated the subject are Tarn, Bosworth or - more recently - Lane Fox.

If you are after primary sources, then Arrian's Anabasis is considered to be the best extant source, as it is written by a professional soldier and has for source the Memoirs of another accomplished general, Ptolemy.

[Dunadd]

If you've not read them all already you could take a look at Peter Connolly's 'Greece and Rome at war', as well as
Osprey books (on military history) and the Wargames Research Group's 'Armies of the Macedonian and Punic Wars'.

They're all good introductions with some amazing artwork and have bibliographies and citations to other secondary sources and to primary ones.

[Mikail Mengsk]

Ospreys are VERY good sources!

[khshayathiya]

Ospreys are VERY PRETTY sources.

However, their drive to show warriors, to provide pictures, pushes the authors into sometimes accepting compromises and settling for what "is plausible" rather than just what "is demonstrable". Pretty much like what we do here with RTW based mods.

[iceman0486]

Thanks a lot, I'll be sure to check these out.

[Pat89]

Is this like a "drop all of your sources here" thread?

Would be valueble... a bibliography

[Jamey]

Is this like a "drop all of your sources here" thread?

Would be valueble... a bibliography

There was a whole subforum devoted to sources on the RTR forums before they went down. I got a number of the referenced books from the library or Amazon and enjoyed reading them.

Is that sort of resource available anywhere at this point?

[Artax]

I think somewhere on TWC was a thread devoted to this... just can't remember where.

However there is a huge list of books in EB bibliography: http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=70698