Alexander the Great

Giustina Monti is Senior Lecturer in Classical Studies (Greek Culture) at the University of Lincoln. Her main research interests lie in Greek Historiography, and she has published articles on Alexander the Great, Herodotus, and Polybius. She is also the co-editor (with K. Scarlett Kingsley and Tim Rood) of The Authoritative Historian: Tradition and Innovation in Ancient Historiography (2022).

• Introduction 1. The Sources for the Letters of Alexander 2. How Did the Letters Reach Later Writers? The Archive and the Royal Grammatistes 3. The Formula of Salutation used by Alexander in his Letters 4. The Persian Custom of Writing Letters 5. The Contents of the Letters and their Addressees: I. The Great King Darius II. Antipater III. Olympias IV. Pedagogues and Friends V. Alexander’s Trust in Doctors: Warning Letters 6. Language 7. History of Modern Scholarship on the Letters Chronological Table Conspectus SiglorumLetters: A SelectionCommentaryBibliography: Critical Editions StudiesIndex LocorumGeneral Index

"Giustina Monti’s edition of Alexander’s Letters is a really important contribution to scholarship. These letters, preserved largely by Plutarch and Arrian, cover a wide range of topics: angry ripostes to the Persian king Darius, reports on battles to Antipater back at home, more or less chatty letters to his friends, even one to his mother telling her what he was told at the oracle of Siwah. Some seem pretty clearly to be inauthentic - not forgeries, perhaps, but rather later literary exercises; some though give every impression of being genuine and containing good, hard information... If she is right, they become an immensely valuable resource for sifting some truth from the morass of Alexander legend.” Christopher Pelling FBA, Emeritus Regius Professor of Greek, University of Oxford