Aristobulus
Aristobulus was probably one of the friends of Alexander's father Philip
and accompanied Alexander on his war in the East. Since he is never mentioned
as a participant to the fights, it has been assumed that he was either
a military engineer or a non-military official. It is certain that Alexander
ordered him to repair the tomb of Cyrus
the Great, which had been neglected or intentionally desecrated (text).
From Aristobulus:
The tomb of Cyrus at Pasargadae
Yet, we can be confident that Aristobulus was among Alexander's greatest admirers, because when there are more than one stories about the same event, Aristobulus usually gives the kinder version. For example, all authorities agree that Alexander was a heavy drinker, but Aristobulus explains that this was merely because he loved to be with his friends. And when a drunken Alexander killed Clitus, Aristobulus says that it was Clitus' own mistake. Another example: Ptolemy writes that Alexander ordered Callisthenes, who had criticized him in public, to be crucified, and Aristobulus says that the man died in prison.
The word -or its Latin translation ingens cupido- became a standard description of Alexander, and perhaps one of the attractions of the idea was that pothos could also signify a desire to die: pothos was the name of the flower that Greeks placed on someone's tomb. An author who had used this word, could leave Alexander's behavior during battles and sieges and his drinking habits unexplained. Like his ancestor Achilles, Alexander had chosen to be famous and die young.
Aristobulus may have lived in Alexandria, published his memoirs of the Persian campaign at the age of eighty-four, and died in Cassandra in Macedonia after 301.