ALEXANDER THE GREAT IN 19th CENTURY SERBIAN HISTORY TEXTBOOKS

Abstract

Alexander the Great (356 B.C – 323 B.C) has gone down in history as one of the greatest conquerors of Antiquity. By the time he was 30, he had conquered most of the known world. The territory under his control lay from Greece in the west, southward through Egypt and eastward to India. His military successes made him an inspiration to many writers of his time and later. Since his life span corresponds to the era that today we call Hellenism, he is mentioned in all the educational systems of Europe. From their first appearance on this continent, school books have alluded to Alexander and his conquests. The first history textbooks in the Serbian language emerged in Serbia in the mid-19th century and they, too, included Alexander the Great. In this paper, we shall show how the history of Alexander was taught at the time and how his feats influenced generations of Serbian children educated at the first schools founded in the areas of the Habsburg Empire that they inhabited.

Keywords

• Alexander the Great, history textbooks, Serbian schools, 19th century, antiquity