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 ...

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 ...

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