Arrian, as he himself explains, chose this rather commonplace subject, the account of Alexander the Great's campaign, mainly because Alexander's major achievements have not been sufficiently honored.

His work, following the model of the Anabasis of Cyrus, is divided into seven books and is written in the Attic dialect, which he handles with clarity and without resorting to the usual rhetorical exaggerations.

Regarding his choice of sources, he demonstrates clear capability when turning, as he states, mainly to the memoirs of his great Macedonian contemporaries, Ptolemy the Looter and Aristebulus, as well as distinguishing between popular tradition and historical record.

On military matters, he clarifies that he mainly followed Ptolemy, while for geographical details he considered Aristebulus to be more reliable.

In “Anabasis of Alexander,” imperfections, omissions, and some errors can be identified. One of these is the reference that the sculpture created by Lysippos for the fallen horsemen of the Granicus was not located in Dium, but was transferred to Rome.

Several scholars attribute to him that in his effort to stay true to his written sources, he does not record his personal observations. Concerning the personality of Alexander the Great, Arrian's admiration contains critique, as he mentions his positive traits but does not omit to point out and criticize the negative aspects of his character.

The “Anabasis” is a generally reliable work, but it is not characterized by the insightful perspective of Thucydides. However, through it, Arrian demonstrates exceptional skill in wordsmithing, as the text is easy to read, succinct, and particularly clear.

Moreover, even the always sarcastic Lucian describes Arrian as “a first-class Roman, with lifelong dedication to education.”

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