Although Arrian is not always reliable, he's what we have. He brought to together a number of sources to write this account which goes more or less linearly through all of Alexander's major battles, the rebellions, and his death.

The text sometimes includes dialogue that is almost certainly made up but is also quite fun. Likewise the descriptions of the battles and the numbers of troops on each side. Arrian doesn't omit the legends either, like the 'untying' of the Gordian knot.

This translation is magnificent. It is accurate and utterly readable, with minimal but effective notes. If you have great interest in Alexander this is the book to read. This is what all the historians base their accounts on and it is sure to be the basis for the upcoming films.

I thoroughly enjoyed Arrian's account of Alexander, which I found to be lively and readable in this translation by De Selincourt. I think this book should be read in more courses on "Greek Thought and Literature" and "Western Civ." and the like, both because Arrian shows how the tradition of fine Greek historiography stayed alive well into the second century A.D., and also because his very thorough account proves to be a natural continuation of the stories told by Herodotus and Thucydides. This book completes the historical narrative of the rise of Greek civilization, so that the era of Athenian hegemony can be connected with the beginning of the Hellenistic period in the 4th century B.C. -- the true triumph Greek civilization, in my opinion.

After all, if not for Alexander, would we care nearly so much about the Greeks? Alexander subdued the world from Illycrium to the Indus valley, bringing Greece to the East and the East to the Greeks. Without his conquests, the Greek language and culture would never have become so widespread or influential. He paved the way for the Romans, and ultimately, for the Christians after him. This brilliant General-King was therefore the creator of the history, not only of his own times, but also of the times which followed him.

Towards the beginning of the book, Arrian laments on behalf of Alexander that this greatest conquerer of all time had yet to have his deeds written down in a manner which was suited to his magnificence. Achilles had his Homer, but Alexander's exploits remained unsung. Arrian therefore boldly and boastfully steps forward, confident that his literary talents are a match for his subject. Let the reader judge Arrian's (or De Selincourt's) poetic gifts as he may, but the story itself guarantees its greatness.

Arrian gives us a picture of the "total" Alexander. Though he constantly praises his every virtue he never forgets to detail his faults. Slow going and a bit bewildering at first but moves to a fast paced and exciting end. Highly recommended.

Herodotus is not your ordinary historian. He makes things up. He uses legends and dialogue to explain things, but then again if it weren't for Herodotus there would be no historians.

Most of this text concerns the Persian Greece war in which Xerxes was barely beaten back by the Greeks. Other key points within the next are the kingdom of Darius and Cyrus as well as the death of the 300. Reads like a novel, this book sweeps you along with the events and characters of pre-Athens Greece. There's a second historical note in that once the Persians invaded Babylon all the subjects of Babylon were allowed to go back to their homelands - including the Jews who went back to build the Second Temple and cement their place in history.

At points it gets long and you wish Herodotus would skip over some stuff, but it's well worth the stretches. For people interested in other ancient historians try Seutonius. If you like Herodotus' style in general, Alison Weir's English history texts are amazing. If you want another treatment of this era, Frank Miller's 300 is an excellent adaption of the Massacre of the 300 story which in many ways is central to the narrative.

This is the first great prose work in European literature and the first history text. Herodotus is a volume that should be required reading for all educated men and women. The edition I read, and recommend, is the translation by Aubrey de Selincourt of Penguin Books. "The Histories" is an account, which I found very entertaining, of what led up to the war between the Greek city-states and the Persians under Darius and Xerxes resulting in the battles of Marathon (490 B.C.), Salamis (480 B.C.), and Plataea (479 B.C.). Scholars often seem to keep forgetting that Herodotus was also a great storyteller, even if he gets his dates wrong, has little military experience (hence, his descriptions of the battles leaves much to be desired), and often relies on untrustworthy sources. However, he never intentionally misleads the reader. He usually informs the reader if some information is hearsay or untrustworthy. The text is divided into nine books. Book I deals primarily with the conflicts the Greeks had with their neighbors, leading to the Trojan War. It also contains an account of the conquest of Lydia by Croesus (and Solon's famous visit) and the establishment of the Persian Empire. Book II is mainly concerned with Egypt and Book III deals with the reign of Cambyses over Egypt and the rise of Darius. Book IV is concerned with the beginning of Darius' campaign against Scythia and his conquest of Lybia. Book V discusses the reduction of the Scythians in Thrace and the beginning of the Ionian revolt against Persia. Book VI reports on the progress of the war down to the victory of the Greeks at Marathon. Books VII to IX cover the death of Darius, the preparation of the army of Xerxes, the march across the Hellespont, the battles of Thermopylae and Salamis, and the final defeat of the Persians at Plataea and at Mycale.

Herodotus, as everybody knows, is "The Father of History." However, another tradition, almost as old, has cast him as the "Father of Lies". Unlike Thucydides, who immediately followed him, Herodotus' history was epic in scope, encompassing all human life - and his discussions of supernatural or divine events, for instance, often read as being exceptionally credulous and lacking in critical awareness.
However, this need not detract from one's enjoyment of this marvellous work. Herodotus travelled all across the world, Greek and non-Greek, and while he supplies us with a good deal of fascinating and factual information about historical events, his digressions into the realms of mythology and local folk-tales keep us entertained to the last. The highly digressive structure of the work makes it exceptionally difficult to follow the chronological or analytical thread in places, but that's beside the point. The "Histories" is a book to submerge yourself into, and whether you want to find out about Greek history in the archaic period or merely be entertained by a wealth of beautifully-told anecdotes, Herodotus is the man for you. His merits are numerous - unlike Thucydides, his conception of history encompasses far more than the narrow realms of politics and wars, and he is happy to set differing traditions alongside one another and allow the reader to make up their own mind. As we move into a period when history is increasingly seen as "holistic", and away from the narrow Thucydidean conception of history, we increasingly learn to treasure Herodotus for what he is - the fossilized voice of an entire generation of men, living in an impossibly distant past, keeping us entertained with their fireside stories. All this is facilitated by Aubrey de Selincourt's fluent (if slightly free) translation. Superb.

It is strange, but the more one studies the past the more one finds the present. Through out this work, Livy readily admits in his own word's: "...the mists of antiquity cannot always be pierced." He makes up for the lack of information with lively stories of Rome's foundation and early struggles that sound as though they could come from any High School history book on the American Revolution. George Washington, who consciously propagated the image, could be seen as a latter day Cincinnatus. The founding of the Twelve Tables could be likened to the writing of the Constitution. And at the end you can detect in the speech of Camillus the religious fanaticism of a proto-Pat Robertson, claiming all their victories as due to strict religious observance, and clearing the way towards that sense of self-righteous conviction that would purge the Romans of all guilt in their later conquest's. Though it is excellent in its telling, (a proof of its power and danger) Livy has created a masterpiece of nationalist propaganda; the foolish, sentimental example of which has still to be learned from after two-thousand years.

In the past there has been a scholarly tendency to criticize Livy and prefer other sources over him. Of late however more and more historians are realizing the true value of his work. He gives a useful view of Roman history as well as a good view of Roman mores in the Augustan period. Livy remains a valuable tool for teaching Roman history as he is interesting as well as informative. Along with Polybius and Tacitus one of the must read ancient historians.

Titus Livius, better known as Livy, lived and wrote his famous history about 2,000 years ago, and even then the early history of Rome was ancient history. But the Romans were a people much taken with themselves and their perception of their destiny, and they were a highly literate people as well, so Livy was not without resources on which he could draw for research. Thanks to him and a handful of other Roman historians, we have a fairly detailed knowledge of this remote period, a knowledge that is constantly being expanded and refined through archaeology.
Livy's history, which scholars believe was intended as a series of 120 or so volumes (of which 35 have come down to us), stands as a remarkable achievement, both literary and historical. The first five volumes, translated in the present book, cover the period from the founding of the city (traditionally dated to 753 BCE) by Romulus to the defeat of the Gauls by Marcus Furius Camillus in c. 396 BCE. It is a fascinating time in Roman history, witnessing the age of the kings, their ouster by Junius Brutus and the subsequent establishment of the Republic, ongoing class struggle between the aristocratic "Patricians" and their fellow citizens, the "Plebeians," and naturally, almost unending warfare between Rome, the new kid on the block, and its neighbors.
At times the narrative can seem repetitive, what with the endless skirmishing against the Volscians, Hernici, and Latins, but Livy himself is aware of this and even makes a joke or two about it. Actually, Livy does an admirable job of holding his readers' interest in spite of the repetitive nature of his material. His highly accessible, round style of writing keeps the narrative moving along, and the characters that inhabit the text are themselves so dramatic and intriguing that they easily overcome any sluggish patches in the plot.
Anyone interested in ancient Rome does themself an enormous disservice if they rely solely on modern authors for their explorations. The ancient Roman historians in general, and Livy in particular, offer us vivid accounts of this truly extraordinary place and time, artistic and historical contributions that are as exciting, interesting, surprising, suspenseful, and valuable as anything penned since.

The great Roman historian Livy tells a story as interesting as that of the American Civil War. The Second Punic War was a great crisis in Roman history. This book starts with the uneasy peace after the First Punic War between Rome and Carthage. Rome won that war. Carthage swore revenge, and Hannibal devoted his life to conquering his bitter enemy. He invaded Italy via Rome and the Alps with his elephants. No Roman army could stay in the field against his Carthaginians. A Roman consul named Fabius persuaded the Romans not to give battle, and for twenty years Hannibal roamed wherever he liked in Italy. But he wasn't strong enough to capture Rome, and there were Roman generals such as Marcellus who were able to defeat him partially. Meanwhile in Spain a young Roman general whose father and uncle had been killed by Hannibal devoted his life to defeating Hannibal. But not by fighting Hannibal in Italy. Rather, by first conquering Spain, then invading Africa, so Hannibal had to depart Italy, as it turned out forever, to defend his homeland. In Africa, at Zama, Scipio Africanus defeated Hannibal. Scipio became the first of the great Romans who broke the mould of the Republican conventions. His family was instrumental in bringing Greek culture to Italy. Was this good for Rome? It was inevitable. The historian Livy wrote in the times of Augustus, about the time of Christ. Livy is not considered the best of historians, he's more interested in gripping narrative than in careful checking of sources. He writes in the annalistic format, that is, one year at a time. Livy wrote two hundred years after the events; it'd be like a modern historian describing the American Revolution. But he is Roman, and the flavor he imparts to events is very different from that of a modern day historian. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in thrilling history or in Rome.

I have just finished reading The War With Hannibal, and I must say that not only is it a masterpiece, but it is one of the books I most enjoyed reading. I had never read Livy before and this was a great discovery for me. Although it was written about two thousand years ago, this book is as engaging and appealing as if it had been written today. It is important, however, to make some points clear if you are not acquainted with Livy or other similar classical writers. First, this extense history of the Second Punic War is not history in the modern, scientific sense of this word. It is not a methodic, systematic and objective approach what you will find here: some parts are conjectural, some are simply invented. Throughout his account Livy inserts his political opinions and he is, of course, partial to the Romans. These is not being critical, because we can't judge Livy by our own, contemporary, cultural standards, but just something you should know before reading the book. Second, this is not a social or an economic history but basically a military history of the war with Hannibal. Livy focuses on the description of battles and sieges, on logistics like the movement of armies or the getting of supplies and on the commanders and the tactics employed. If this interests you, you should not hestitate to read it. With the ability of the best novelists, Livy constructs a wonderful narration of events, which never slackens its pace and is always interesting and entertainig. His descriptions of battles is vivid and some passages are full of tension and suspense. As an analyst, Livy is weaker than in his descriptions. His opinions, however, are highly lucid and you can see the influence his thought had upon Machiavelli, for instance when he speaks of the dangers of using armies made up of mercenary soldiers. This Penguin Classics' edition is very good and De Selincourt's translation is superb. I give this book the highest possible rating.

By any measure, the Second Punic War is one of the most fascinating episodes in history. The audacious invasion of Italy through the Alps (imagine leading elephants through the Alps on foot trails), Rome's defeat at Cannae, The delaying strategy of Fabius Maximus that kept Rome alive while it rebuilt its strength, and Rome's ultimate victory are extraordinary.

Livy gives a lively and detailed account. True, this isn't an eyewitness account. He borrowed liberally from Polybius. He also must have had other sources that are long since lost, however, so his telling is his own. He also is known for being pro-Roman. His respect for Hannibal's accomplishments comes through clearly in his narrative, though, and he has no reason to belittle Hannibal or what Hannibal did. It would only belittle the Roman accomplishment in ultimately defeating a formidable foe. Moreover, Livy wrote for a Roman audience familiar with the story, so he must make his work as dramatic as tha material permits.

All in all, this is a great story recorded by a consummate historian. It makes for a very interesting and informative read. I recommend it highly.