author

John Watson McCrindle

1825–1913

A Scottish classical scholar whose books opened a window onto the ancient Greek and Roman world’s knowledge of India. Best known for translating and collecting classical references to the subcontinent, he helped make difficult source material far more accessible to later readers.

1 Audiobook

The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great as described by Arrian, Q. Curtius, Diodoros, Plutarch and Justin: Being Translations of such portions of the Works of these and other Classical Authors as describe Alexander's Campaigns in Afghanistan, the Panjâb, Sindh, Gedrosia and Karmania

The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great as described by Arrian, Q. Curtius, Diodoros, Plutarch and Justin: Being Translations of such portions of the Works of these and other Classical Authors as describe Alexander's Campaigns in Afghanistan, the Panjâb, Sindh, Gedrosia and Karmania

by John Watson McCrindle

About the author

Born in 1825 and dying in 1913, John Watson McCrindle was a Scottish philologist, educator, and historian of the classical world. He is chiefly remembered for works that gathered, translated, and explained what Greek and Roman writers said about India, making him a useful guide for readers interested in how the ancient Mediterranean world understood South Asia.

McCrindle studied classics at Edinburgh and later went to Calcutta, where he worked in education. His years in India shaped much of his scholarship, and many of his best-known books focus on authors such as Megasthenes, Arrian, and other classical writers whose accounts touch on Indian history, geography, and Alexander the Great’s campaigns.

His writing is valued less for flashy style than for patient scholarship: translation, compilation, and explanation. For modern readers, that makes his books especially approachable, since they bring scattered ancient passages together in one place and show why they matter.