Rating: 5 out of 5
It is a rare pleasure to see a book where the Romans are ignored in favour of the Hellenes of the third century BC. Yet, Alexander’s conquest is not nearly as interesting as the Successors’ Wars that superseded the death of the great conqueror. It is that moment of death where Mr Fabbri begins his story and we continue through some of the first crises.
Eumenes jumps out as my favourite character, mostly due to his snarkiness and prudent analysis of the ongoing events. Ptolemaios is similarly enjoyable, and Seleukos gets my attention for I know how successful he will be by the end of it. Some of the other Macedonians — Perdikkas, Antipatros, and Antigonos in particular — are less interesting though of course very relevant in understanding the original conflicts as well as how these develop.
I should note that the story was relatively similar for all of the characters — most started out introduced in the middle of a battle, and then we get some point-of-view chapters in which the people proceed through events that have come about due to the actions of Perdikkas who thinks for more of himself than he should. That is also the reason Eumenes stands out — the logical analysis he applies to the situation is refreshing and fairly unique over the brute force that the others are known for.
Overall, a strong recommend. The prose isn’t the best, but the setting is definitely unique!
