Alexander, the Great, 356 B.C.-323 B.C. (King of Macedonia)

Contents MS 180 contains a part of the Alexandreis, an epic poem by twelfth-century author, Walter of Châtillon. Walter's epic of Alexander the Great is written in hexameter verse and became a popular text in the Middle Ages. Written in the 1180s after Walter returned to France following his degree in law at the university of Bologna, the Alexandreis was requested by William, Archbishop of Rheims. This connection is explicit in the...

Contents The epitaph, attributed to Demosthenes, consists of twenty-seven couplets. It is preceded by a prose introduction which begins on f. 40v with the words Demostes autem phyllosophus post magni A(lexandri) deectum maximum de ipsius gestis et morte composuit codicem and ends with praebendo etiam nobis exemplum ut elationem superbie reppellamus.The verses begin on f. 40v with the words En ego...

Contents The epitaph, attributed to a philosopher called Dotomeus, consists of thirty hexameters is preceded by a prose introduction which begins on f. 39v with the words Post mortem siquidem augustissimi Alexandri macedonis dominator orbis sive mundidictus estet Rex Regum and ends on f. 40r with Scripsit itaque dotomeus in piramida huiusmodi versus.The verses are introduced by a rubric on f. 40r: ...

Contents The text is a version of the Historia de preliis ('History of the wars'). This was the traslation of the Greek collection of myths and legends connected with the figure of Alexander the Great known as Pseudo-Callisthenes and originally brought from Constantinople to Naples by the Italian priest and scholar Leo Archipresbyter. Leo was active in Naples between c. 941 and c. 968, under the Dukes John II and Marinus II. His translation became very famous...

Contents The letter is introduced by the rubric Forma epistole quam mardoceus princeps iudeorum missit Alexandro ipsum a cultura ydolorum cupie(n)s revocare and by a short prologus which begins with Postquam phy(lippus) macedonus universas regiones mundi ad quas pes hominis calcare potest subiugavit and ends with et de greco in latinum translata.The text of the letter begins on f. 41v with...

Contents

The text is preceded by the rubric Quibus vitiis victus fuerat Alexander hic exponitur. It begins on f. 41r with the words Alexander qui puer magnus dicebatur licet universis and ends with novo succurite morbo.