THE ROMAN EMPIRE: AD 162
500 AD
1 AD
500 BC
1000 BC
SPECIAL
Writing in the build-up to the emperor Lucius Verus’ Parthian War in AD 162, the and Polyaenus prepared eight books of stratagems, his, each book published separately. He planned 900 stratagems to cover all of Greek history from mythology onwards; book eight covers Roman history and the latest anecdote (8.62) comes from the reign of Nero. It is in book four, however, that Polyaenus covers the Macedonians, and he notes in the preface that their history in particular would be of interest to his imperial readers since “I, a Macedonian who has inherited the ability to conquer the Persians in war, want to do my part at the present critical time.” The Roman mind equated the Parthians with the Persians whom Alexander the Great had defeated, and Polyaenus clearly wanted to emphasize that his own Macedonian heritage gave him insights into how to defeat them. What is more, those insights (and Alexander’s success) could give Roman commanders the edge when facing the Parthians. Polyaenus’ focus on Alexander, who receives 32 anecdotes, makes him one of the individuals with the most stratagems in the entire collection (other generals with a similarly high number of anecdotes include Iphicrates, Agesilaus II of
