SexViolHist Bib: Representations: Literary Texts: Alexander Romance

»The Alexander Romance is an account of the life and exploits of Alexander the Great. Of uncertain authorship, it has been described as "antiquity's most successful novel". The Romance describes Alexander the Great from his birth, to his succession of the throne of Macedon, his conquests including that of the Persian Empire, and finally his death. Although constructed around a historical core, the romance is mostly fantastical, including many miraculous tales and encounters with mythical creatures such as sirens or centaurs. In this context, the term Romance refers not to the meaning of the word in modern times but in the Old French sense of a novel or roman, a "lengthy prose narrative of a complex and fictional character" (although Alexander's historicity did not deter ancient authors from using this term).
It was widely copied and translated, accruing various legends and fantastical elements at different stages. The original version was composed in Ancient Greek some time before 338 AD, when a Latin translation was made, although the exact date is unknown. Some manuscripts pseudonymously attribute the text's authorship to Alexander's court historian Callisthenes, and so the author is commonly called Pseudo-Callisthenes.
In premodern times, the Alexander Romance underwent more than 100 translations, elaborations, and derivations in dozens of languages, including almost all European vernaculars as well as in every language from the Islamicized regions of Asia and Africa, from Mali to Malaysia. Some of the more notable translations were made into Coptic, Ge'ez, Middle Persian, Byzantine Greek, Arabic, Persian, Armenian, Syriac, and Hebrew. Owing to the great variety of distinct works derived from the original Greek romance, the "Alexander romance" is sometimes treated as a literary genre, instead of a single work.« (Extract from: Wikipedia)

G e n e r a l K e y w o r d s

I. Chronological Index: Acnient History: Ancient Greece; Medieval History: 12^th Century

II. Geographical Index: European History: Greek History, English History

III. Topical Index: Types: General: Rape

Res gestae Alexandri Macedonis

I n f o r m a t i o n

»The Res gestae Alexandri Macedonis (The Deeds of Alexander the Macedonian) is the earliest Latin translation of the Alexander Romance, usually dated between 270–330 AD and attributed to Julius Valerius Alexander Polemius. It was based on the α recension of the Romance, but it also has unique material, like the Letter of Zeuxis. The original meaning of the common material was kept, but Julius also wrote with an expansive style of narration, using the literary style of amplificatio. Julius was also impacted by the influence of some earlier authors, the most important one being that of Virgil especially in his Aeneid.
Julius' Res gestae was both sophisticated and complex. Because of this, a simpler and easier to read abridged version of the Latin translation composed in the 9th century, known as the Zacher Epitome, surpassed it in popularity. In the 12th century, another simple although distinct Latin recension of the Romance, known as the Historia de proeliis, was written, and became even more popular.« (Extract from: Wikipedia)

B i b l i o g r a p h y

I. Author Index

[Info] Watt, Caitlin G. »‘Thy Womb Will Avenge Thee’: Olympias, Revenge, and Consent in Medieval Alexander the Great Narratives.« Reconsidering Consent and Coercion: Power, Vulnerability, and Sexual Violence in Medieval Literature. Edited by Jane Bonsall et al. Turnhout 2025: 271-287.

II. Speaker Index

Historia de preliis Alexandri Magni

I n f o r m a t i o n

»The Historia de preliis Alexandri Magni (History of Alexander's Battles), more commonly known as the Historia de preliis (History of Battles), is a family of Latin translations of the Alexander Romance that all go back to the Nativitas et victoria Alexandri Magni regis of Leo the Archpriest. Between the twelfth and fifteenth centuries, the Historia went through three major recensions and it is through these recensions that the text is known today as the original is lost. The three recensions are called I¹, I², and I³ (also called J¹, J², and J³ in some publications). Their influence was enormous on medieval European literature, spawning an immense number of translations into almost every vernacular and subsequently making Alexander a household name in the European Middle Ages. The Alexander Romance, through the Latin Historia, underwent more translations than any text with the exception of the Gospels.« (Extract from: Wikipedia)

B i b l i o g r a p h y

I. Author Index

II. Speaker Index

Thomas de Kent: Roman de toute chevalerie

I n f o r m a t i o n

»Thomas de Kent or Thomas of Kent was a twelfth-century Anglo-Norman writer who wrote the Alexander romance Roman de toute chevalerie.« (Extract from: Wikipedia)

B i b l i o g r a p h y

I. Author Index

II. Speaker Index