I've been reading about the death of Alexander at the beginning of the Hellenistic period. It's all new to me, and much of it is fascinating, especially about cultural matters, but there's also page after page of difficult-to-retain accounts of warfare and of particular battles. Here's an example of the kind of material that takes up three-quarters or perhaps even 80% of the book.
"The two armies faced each other quite conventionally, with the phalanx composed mostly of Lysimachus' and Cassander's troops confronting Antigonus' phalanx. On their right, Seleucus and Lysimachus stationed a vast mass of Seleucus' light infantry; on the left was their heavy cavalry commanded by Seleucus' son Antiochus. Confronting Antiochus was Demetrius in command of Antigonus' heavy cavalry. As the battle commenced, Demetrius and his cavalry charged Antiochus and drove the enemy cavalry off. Demetrius proceeded to commit the worst blunder a cavalry leader can commit: he over-pursued, leaving the main battle well behind, instead of turning to attack the enemy infantry from behind. As soon as Demetrius had disappeared in the distance, Seleucus brought forward four hundred war elephants and placed them as a screen between Demetrius and his path back to the battle. Meanwhile Lysimachus' phalanx came to grips with that of Antigonus, and Seleucus led his light cavalry in an outflanking maneuver to attack Antigonus' infantry from behind...." Etc.
Exactly what is at stake in this war? The historian (Richard Billows, Before and After Alexander [New York, 2018]) leaves us rather in doubt. He puts no emphasis on the usual economic or ideological issues; the struggle seems to be entirely about personalities. Will the kingdom be ruled by Lysimachus or Demetrius, by Antiochus or Antigonus? It doesn't seem to matter, either to me or to the historian.
But what of the soldiers? Whether on one side or the other, they're likely to be impaled by the dreaded Macedonian larissa, trampled by horses, or squished by elephants. For what purpose?
I think that at one point in my life I might have been intrigued by these dynastic struggles, but now, what I feel most strongly is sympathy for the ordinary soldier and sorrow for the stupidity of my species.
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