The ''Itinerarium Alexandri'' ("The Journey of Alexander") is a 4th-century
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''
Itinerarium
An ''itinerarium'' (plural: ''itineraria'') was an ancient Roman travel guide in the form of a listing of cities, villages ( ''vici'') and other stops on the way, including the distances between each stop and the next. Surviving examples include ...
'' - a travel guide in the form of a listing of
cities
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
,
villages
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
(vici) and other stops, on a journey with the intervening
distances
Distance is a numerical or occasionally qualitative measurement of how far apart objects or points are. In physics or everyday usage, distance may refer to a physical length or an estimation based on other criteria (e.g. "two counties over"). ...
given.
The text describes
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...
's journey of conquest to the Empire of the
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
. The book contains a description of Alexander's life from his ascendance to the
Macedonian throne to his
conquests in India. The content of the texts draws heavily on the
Anabasis of Alexander
''The Anabasis of Alexander'' ( grc-gre, Ἀλεξάνδρου Ἀνάβασις, ''Alexándrou Anábasis''; la, Anabasis Alexandri) was composed by Arrian of Nicomedia in the second century AD, most probably during the reign of Hadrian. T ...
by
Arrian
Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; la, Lucius Flavius Arrianus; )
was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the Roman period.
''The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best ...
and it has similarities to the
Alexander Romance.
The work is dedicated to the
Roman Emperor Constantius II
Constantius II (Latin: ''Flavius Julius Constantius''; grc-gre, Κωνστάντιος; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germani ...
. The
author
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
is
unknown
Unknown or The Unknown may refer to:
Film
* The Unknown (1915 comedy film), ''The Unknown'' (1915 comedy film), a silent boxing film
* The Unknown (1915 drama film), ''The Unknown'' (1915 drama film)
* The Unknown (1927 film), ''The Unknown'' (1 ...
but it is suspected to have been
composed in 340 by
Julius Valerius Julius Valerius Alexander Polemius ( AD) was a translator of the Greek '' Alexander Romance'', a romantic history of Alexander the Great, into Latin under the title ''Res gestae Alexandri Macedonis''. The work is in three books on his birth, acts a ...
, who wrote
Res gestae Alexandri Macedonis.
Bibliography
* Heckel, Waldemar, John Yardley
Alexander the Great: Historical Texts in Translation Blackwell Publishing, 2004, {{ISBN, 0-631-22821-7, p. xxvi. xxvi.
* Iolo Davies: Alexander's itinerary (itinerary of Alexandria). An English translation. In: Ancient History Bulletin 12, 1998, p. 29-54.
* Raffaella Tabacco: Itinerarium Alexandri. Testo, apparato Critico, introduzione traduzione, e commento. Turin 2000th
* Raffaella Tabacco: Itinerarium Alexandri. Critical review of studies and research perspectives, in "Bulletin of Latin Studies" XVII, 1987, pp. 77–120
* Michael H. Dodgeon
The Roman eastern frontier and the Persian wars AD 226 - 363, Volume 1 Page 385
Roman itineraries
Ancient Roman geography
Foreign relations of ancient Rome
History of navigation
Travel books
Geography books
Ancient Greek military books
Roman-era Greek historiography
4th-century Latin books
Works of unknown authorship
Historiography of Alexander the Great