The Anabasis of Alexander

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. When I began this Translation, more than two years ago, I had no intention of publishing it; but as the work progressed, it occurred to me that Arriam is an Author deserving of more attention from the English speaking races than he has yet received. No edition of his works has, so far as I am aware, ever appeared in England, though on the Continent many have been pub lished. In the following Translation I have tried to give as literal a rendering of the Greek text as I could with out transgressing the idioms of our own language. My theory of the duty of a Translator is, to give the ipsissima verba of his Author as nearly as possible, and not put into his mouth words which he never used, under the mistaken notion of improving his diction or his way of stating his case. It is a comparatively easy thing to give a paraphrase of a foreign work, presenting the general drift of the original; but no one, unless he has himself tried it, can understand the difficulty of trans lating a classical Author correctly without omission or mutilation.

When I began this Translation, more than two years ago, I had no intention of publishing it; but as the work progressed, it occurred to me that Arriam is an Author deserving of more attention from the English speaking races than he has yet received. No edition of his works has, so far as I am aware, ever appeared in England, though on the Continent many have been pub lished. In the following Translation I have tried to give as literal a rendering of the Greek text as I could with out transgressing the idioms of our own language. My theory of the duty of a Translator is, to give the ipsissima verba of his Author as nearly as possible, and not put into his mouth words which he never used, under the mistaken notion of improving his diction or his way of stating his case. It is a comparatively easy thing to give a paraphrase of a foreign work, presenting the general drift of the original; but no one, unless he has himself tried it, can understand the difficulty of trans lating a classical Author correctly without omission or mutilation.