EVEN THOUGH THAT doyen of Alexander scholars Robin Lane Fox has been the adviser to Oliver Stone's forthcoming film about Alexander and will be seen on horseback leading the charges, it will, like all historical films, be rubbish. I strongly recommend Paul Cartledge's fine new assessment to keep the history in focus.

Greece in the fourth century BC was not a nation-state or a political unity of any sort. lt consisted of self-governing independent city-states - like Athens, Corinth, Sparta and so on - all fighting among themselves like snakes in a sack. To the north of Greece, however, lay Mace don