Festival march to Carmania &
Purges
relief from stress?
first news suggests
something rotten in the state of Denmark
ATG must bide time
Much has been made of ATG's viciousness
upon return
Note that he hands
out punishment to both sides
Astaspes (Persian), Cleander & Sitakles (Macedonian)
most famous is Harpalus (and Athens)
Message is the same
it's always been:
"Rebel against my authority and it won't go well for you."
But what occurs at
large at this point is a slow replacement
Macedonian for Iranian or Greek
Alexander seems to have changed his tune about co-rule
No Greeks appointed -- Macedonians
Peukestes a famous peculiar example
assimilation of Persian custom
Coupled with this was the demobilization of mercenary troops
Bosworth nicely makes the point about the instability it caused
Final result was
suspicion
throughout empire
Games and carousing at capital to
commorate
Gedrosia survival
Arrival of Nearchus;
received with joy
Nearchus commissioned to continue naval explorations
Certain figures at
court honored specifically: Peukestes, Leonnatos, Hephaistion
when, exactly, Hephaistion made Grand Vizier (hazarapatish)?
here, during weddings? Hard to pinpoint
After Mallia, ATG must have been conscious of hierarchy problem
Hazarapatish
in charge of
secretariat,
treasury, and court proceedings
highest civil service
job in empire
Persian Hazarapatish commanded Immortals
Hephaistion appears to have kept first Hipparchy of Companions
As the empire grew,
it was a necessary beauracracy
but not destined to make the one who held it popular
internal struggles with Eumenes? Chares?
Marriages at Susa
ATG married twice
(apparently
at the same ceremony)
1) Darius' daughter Statiera, and 2) Parysatis (descended from
Artaxerxes)
both in addition to Roxane
Officers married off
to high-ranking Persians
Hephaistion got Drypetis (sister of king's wife)
After ATG's death,
only a few of these men stayed married to Persian women (Seleukos
notably)
some of them had had Macedonian wives
Indiscipline at Opis
Among the acts of
Alexander
upon returning to Susa, the heart of empire, was to settle accounts
Many of his soldiers had fallen into huge debt
ATG was nothing if not rich; he offered to settle their accounts
General suspicion made them doubt his intentions
not just recent purges, but shades of incidents like the "letter
reading"
after Parmenion's murder
Irritated, ATG finally made the account settling anonymous
He also brought in
new PERSIAN troops, trained in the Macedonian manner (Epigoni)
And he released his veterans,
retired them, and ordered them to return to Macedonia
Macedonian home army to replace them; Krateros to lead them and take
Antipatros'
place
Krateros being removed from Hephaistion's sphere of influence
Given most prestigious position that wasn't at King's own side
Thinking themselves
insulted (honor [time]), the "mutinied"
as in India, this not a proper mutiny; they're making their
disatisfaction
known
unlike India, it didn't work
ATG arrested ringleaders, then cloistered himself with Persians
here, he had leverage
soldiers finally repented -- great reconciliation scene
Infamous "Banquet of Reconciliation" -- note placements: Macedonians,
Greeks,
Persians
This the main event on which Tarn based his "Brotherhood of Mankind"
theory
evidence doesn't support it
Great propaganda, but that's it
ATG's actions show a greater preference for Macedonian
leadership
than previously!
Soldiers still dismissed and sent home
ATG got what he wanted after all
Tragedy in Ekbatana
In the pattern of the
old Persian kings, Alexander decided to spend the rest of the summer in
Ekbatana (cooler)
Held games, took care of administration, no doubt planned for his next
expeditions
Tragedy struck: Hephaistion
came down with some bug and died after a 7-day illness
what it was is unknown, most likely typhoid or malaria, but not enough
evidence
poisoned? Probably not (why?)
The Mourning of Alexander
Much ink spilled,
ancient
and modern, on Alexander's grief
considered "excessive"
[handout of mourning actions]
In fact, it wasn't
-- typical pattern of mourning spouses
recall Alexander's emotional attachment to Hephaistion (at least 19
years)
bereavement patterns: stages of grief
Greek and Macedonian mourning -- ecology and context
subnote: pregnancy
(second?) of Roxane
Alexander faces his own mortality?
The Road to Babylon
Omens of disaster
(hindsight
or happened and later retrointerpreted?)
lobeless livers, diadema blown off while sailing, fellow sitting on
throne
Greeks suspicious; omens often noted, but didn't always pan out
forget what isn't significant
Alexander fell ill
in Babylon
much discussion over what he died of; typhoid current reigning theory
Why is it hard to "diagnose" ancient illnesses?
contributions of wounds and grief
Royal Diary, possible poisoning?
Got worse and worse,
died (maybe) on the morning of June 10, 323
Significant things surrounding his head
when faced by the end, people's priories narrow, refine -- good clue to
'real' Alexander
1) continued to perform sacrifices until he literally coudn't
2) called in men to say goodbye, despite lack of strength, saw ALL of
them
3) resisted naming a successor until end
Kratistos (the strongest) or Krateros?
Perdikkas (who'd taken
Hephaistion's place in all but name got ring
two potential heirs: half-brother Arrhidaios, and unborn child (if male)
both wound up co-ruling for a while, under regents (who manipulated
them)
Arrhidaios married off to neice and daughter of Philip by Audata:
Eurydike
Hadea
murdered by Olympias finally
Alexander IV controlled by various figures until Cassander (son of
Antipatros)
got hold of him and mother
murdered by Cassander
Krateros died early, stray arrow through the throat after a successful
battle -- one of those chance events
Ptolemy made off with corpse
ATG entombed in Memphis temporarily
Eventually moved to the Sema in Alexandria
still there? Mosque of Nebi Daniel?
Age of Successors
ushered in: empire split apart -- none of them as charismatic as ATG
Major empires: Ptolemaic (Egypt), Seleucid (Asia), Antigonid
(Anatolia),
Lysimachos (Thrace), Cassander (Macedon)
Cassander's attempt didn't outlast him, Antigonids moved in, Thrace
faded.
Three big empires remained.
Battle of Ipsos significant for drawing the major lines.
Final Plans (Hypomnemata)
Grandios plans presented to the army by Perdikkas, to be voted down
How real were they?
One thing seems clear: planning a western campaign all the way to
Pillar
of Herakles (straits of Gibraltar)
massive planned fleet build-up
planned circumnavigation of Arabia (at least), early Suez Canal
looking for a water route from India to Mediterranean?
also more of ATG the explorer? (pothos)
Who was his target in the Mediterranean?
What do you think his final goals really were?
What do you think would have
happened
if he'd survived his illness in Babylon? If Hephaistion had
survived
him?
(a fun little exercise
in "what if"?)