When the dying Alexander the Great was asked to whom he bequeathed his vast empire, he supposedly replied 'to the strongest'. There ensued a long series of struggles between his generals and governors for control of theseterritories. Most of these Diadochi (Successors) were consummate professionals who had learnt the art of war under Alexander or even his father, Philip. Few died a peaceful death and the last survivors of this tough breed were stillleading their armies against each other well into their seventies. Colourful characters, epic battles, treacheryand subterfuge make this a period with great appeal to anyone interested in ancient history and ancient warfare in particular. The wars shaped the map from the Balkans to India for the next couple of centuries. This first volume introduces the key personalities - characters such as Antigonos 'Monopthalmus' (the One-eyed) and his son 'Demetrius 'Poliorcetes' (the Besieger), Seleucus 'Nicator' ('the Victorious') and Ptolemy 'Soter' ('theSaviour') - and gives a narrative of the causes and course of these wars from the death of Alexander to the Battle of Corupedium (281 BC) when the last two original Diadochi faced each other one final time.

著者

鲍勃·本尼特与麦克·罗伯茨皆为英国历史作家，他们对古典世界有着巨大的热情，创办了一个研究世界古代史的网站，致力于希腊罗马时代的军事历史研究。另有合著《希腊化世界的黄昏》与《斯巴达的霸权》。其著作旁征博引、文采斐然。

译者

张晓媛，山西太原人，毕业于山西大学文科试验班，后入读意大利帕多瓦大学，修习古典学，主攻希腊史，擅长英文与意大利文翻译。