Callisthenes, a nephew and former student of Aristotle, is appointed to attend Alexander as historian on his uncle's recommendation.

He will write a history of Greece from the peace of Antalcidas (386 BCE) to the Phocian War (355 BCE), a history of the Phocian War, and other works in addition to his account of the Asiatic campaign (all of which have perished).

His account of Alexander's expedition will be preserved long enough to be mined as a direct or indirect source for other histories that have survived; Polybius will scold Callisthenes for his poor descriptions of the battles of Alexander.