Sample Chapter & Preface

Alexander’s Lovers is a factual, historical account of the various persons with whom Alexander is believed to have conducted romantic relationships. It incorporates much new research and tells a more complete version of their biographies than has previously been published.

The issue of Alexander’s personality has been called the hardest problem in history. This new book takes up the challenge by investigating the king’s character through the mirror of the lives of his lovers. Foremost among these relationships was that with Hephaistion, the companion of Alexander’s youth, who later rose to become his deputy. Yet also of key importance were Roxane, the king’s fabulously beautiful Afghan queen, Barsine, his Persian mistress, and Bagoas, the eunuch who entered Alexander’s service near the shores of the Caspian Sea. There were others, including Pankaste, the Thessalian courtesan, Thalestris, Queen of the Amazons, Stateira and Parysatis, the Persian princesses and Cleophis, Queen of Massaga, but these liaisons were either essentially political in nature or merely mythical.

Alexander’s Lovers is aimed at the large range of Alexander enthusiasts who have been frustrated to find his rather intriguing love life relegated to little more than embarrassed footnotes in the conventional histories of his career. It is also rendered accessible to the wider audience of filmgoers who have recently seen Oliver Stone’s Alexander movie by the incorporation of an 18,000-word prologue providing a concise introductory biography of the king.

To understand Alexander well, it is necessary to follow his heart more carefully than his policies. Anyone who wants to know the full truth about Alexander need merely read on.

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