The Alexander Romance, an entertaining story about various episodes (real and imaginary) in the life of Alexander the Great, was extremely popular in medieval times. It was translated from the original Greek into many different languages in Europe, Asia and Africa. In some of the manuscripts, it is mistakenly attributed to the Greek historian Callisthenes, which is why it is sometimes referred to as "Pseudo-Callisthenes".
The story was constantly evolving over the centuries, with new episodes being added. The translation shown here is primarily based on the oldest recension ( α ) of the Greek text, which was probably established in the 3rd century A.D. It is compared with two other old versions, in Armenian (5th century) and Syriac (7th century), to show how the story developed in late antiquity. These three versions have been translated by E.H.Haight, A.M.Wolohojian & E.A.W.Budge; PDF copies of the Armenian and Syriac versions are available online (copied from Robert Bedrosian's website). The standard modern English translation is by R.Stoneman, which is mostly based on another recension ( β ) of the Greek text, but includes additional episodes from other versions.
| Book 1 | 1 - 12 | Greek text | English translation | Olympias and Nectanebos; birth of Alexander |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book 1 | 13 - 19 | Greek text | English translation | Alexander and Bucephalus; Olympic chariot race |
| Book 1 | 20 - 32 | Greek text | English translation | Death of Philip; foundation of Alexandria |
| Book 1 | 33 - 41 | Greek text | English translation | Alexander captures Tyre and defeats Darius |
| Book 1 | 42 - 47 | Greek text | English translation | Destruction of Thebes |
| Book 2 | 1 - 10 | Greek text | English translation | Debate at Athens; Alexander advances to Persia |
| Book 2 | 11 - 20 | Greek text | English translation | Defeat and death of Darius |
| Book 2 | 21 - 40 | Greek text | English translation | Alexander as king of Persia; letter to Olympias |
| Book 3 | 1 - 17 | Greek text | English translation | Alexander defeats Porus; the gymnosophists |
| Book 3 | 17 - 18 | Greek text | English translation | Alexander in the far east; the king of China |
| Book 3 | 19 - 26 | Greek text | English translation | Alexander and Candace; the Amazons |
| Book 3 | 27 - 35 | Greek text | English translation | Alexander returns to Babylon; his death |
For some medieval versions of the Alexander Romance, see: