Countless books person been written astir Alexander the Great and his myth, yet fewer absorption connected the play earlier his conquests and the unknown, shocking events that followed his death. Examining successful item the assorted scenarios regarding Alexander’s beingness and death, Richard A. Billows, successful his publication Before and After Alexander – The Myth and Legacy (recently published by Patakis Editions, translated by Katerina Servi), offers a calm position connected the implicit viewpoints. Furthermore, aiming to shed airy connected the chartless stories of his son’s destiny and the battles that followed successful Macedonia, with his parent arsenic the cardinal figure, the prof from Columbia University, author, and researcher, explains wherefore the empire Alexander built came to surpass adjacent him. He besides reveals details astir chartless lovers and mistresses, thoroughly explaining the strategies that helped Alexander win, and sheds airy connected the conflicts among the successors that, according to the historian, straight influenced the changing narratives concerning his burial.
Billows besides uncovers details astir the large theft of Alexander’s treasury by a erstwhile associate, which tragically resulted successful the definitive decision of the Athenians by the Macedonians and the eventual triumph of the North implicit the South. However, arsenic the writer admits, questioning galore aspects of Alexander’s personality, the immense dominance of Alexander and his successors made the Greek constituent known crossed the world: “Thanks to the operation of cities by Antigonus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy, Greek municipality beingness and civilization prevailed, and the Greek connection became universal,” helium writes, reflecting connected the bequest Alexander near to the Greeks and his successors.
Why Alexander the Great won each his battles – New theories connected his death, and wherever his tomb mightiness be
Richard A. Billows’ Before and After Alexander has conscionable been released successful Greek by Patakis Editions.
Why He Always Won
Although Billows is not 1 of Alexander’s large admirers, helium cannot contradict the general’s overwhelming occurrence connected the battlefield. Naturally, arsenic a large instrumentality of his begetter Philip, helium focuses connected the due grooming Alexander received from his begetter and the hunting and subject traditions of the Macedonians: “Every Macedonian had to beryllium his worthy by sidesplitting a chaotic boar without a hunting nett earlier being allowed to usage a recliner astatine accepted antheral dinners, the symposia,” helium writes. “By the 4th period BC, cervid and chaotic boars were abundant successful Macedonia and were communal game; determination were besides bears, panthers, and lions,” helium emphasizes, referring to the iconic depiction of hunting successful the royal tombs astatine Aigai.
However, beyond the contented of hunting and the martial arts that allowed Alexander to surpass adjacent his father, Billows acknowledges the creativity successful conflict tactics, suggesting that his victories were mostly owed to his heavy knowing of force systems. Among different things, helium knew however to decision the “mahoot” fighters, who preferred to combat not connected horseback (a Macedonian specialty) but with elephants. Furthermore, knowing that science was key, helium dispersed fearfulness among his enemies by making his accomplishments celebrated agelong earlier a battle. Billows states that the astir celebrated scholars of the clip were enlisted to trade stories astir Alexander’s feats, with Plutarch himself inventing the communicative of the celebrated gathering betwixt the Great Strategist and the queen of the Amazons successful Hyrcania (south of the Caspian). Since the Amazons are mythical, the recognition of Alexander with these divine-like warriors was a deliberate mode of mixing the divine constituent with mortal existence. Because it wasn’t capable for him to beryllium king, Alexander understood that by presenting himself arsenic divine, helium could symbolically predominate the corporate consciousness. He deliberately sought to beryllium seen arsenic a descendant of Hercules and Achilles, which is wherefore helium archetypal visited the country of Troy, requesting to beryllium shown the tomb of the legendary demigod.
There, helium hurried to connection sacrifices successful grant of his expected ancestor, alongside his companion Hephaestion, evoking wide parallels with the Achilles-Patroclus duo. Since everyone knew Alexander wanted to task himself arsenic a god, they adjacent asked Plutarch if this was his intent, to which helium replied, “If Alexander wants to beryllium a god, fto him beryllium a god,” perchance due to the fact that helium was the lone mortal susceptible of achieving this. Even today, determination are distant areas successful Asia wherever Alexander is revered arsenic a saint. For Billows, an important relation successful creating Alexander’s story was played by the wide representation of him passim the Macedonian Empire via coins, arsenic Apelles, the large creator of the time, was permitted to trade portraits of Alexander arsenic an imposing deity holding a thunderbolt (the deity of gods).
The Unknown Lovers
Another arguable facet of Alexander’s personality, which Billows focuses on, is his sexuality. While the anticipation that helium was strictly heterosexual, arsenic projected by William Tarn, ever existed, Billows believes that bisexuality, which was highly permissible successful Ancient Greece, allowed Alexander to prosecute simultaneously with some sexes, revealing chartless lovers and mistresses. However, arsenic helium argues, “One facet of Alexander’s property that is powerfully documented and beyond quality is that helium was mostly not peculiarly funny successful sex. His passions were battle, hunting, and drinking, not sex.” Yet, from an aboriginal age, helium had an exceptionally adjacent and idiosyncratic narration with his beloved person and companion Hephaestion. Although nary root explicitly states that their narration was sexual, it is highly probable that this was not mentioned because, successful 4th-century BC Greek culture, it was considered self-evident, not due to the fact that it wasn’t the case. In different words, Alexander and Hephaestion were undoubtedly lovers; this is powerfully evidenced by Hephaestion’s relation arsenic Alexander’s change ego, a information supported by galore anecdotal stories, and Alexander’s paranoid grief erstwhile Hephaestion died successful 324 BC. Moreover, we larn that Alexander was passionately sexually attracted to a handsome young Persian eunuch named Bagoas. Alexander’s constricted involvement successful enactment seemed to thin much towards homosexuality, but, arsenic with astir past Greeks, this penchant was not exclusive.
He had a work to wed and nutrient heirs, and though helium neglected this work for years, helium yet joined the Bactrian princess Roxana successful 327 BC. Although sources contiguous this matrimony arsenic 1 of love, it was apt a governmental alliance, overmuch similar his begetter Philip’s marriages. Roxana’s begetter was a salient Bactrian noble named Oxyartes, and Alexander needed the enactment of the Bactrian aristocracy to unafraid his power implicit Bactria, which helium had conquered with large effort. In 324 BC, Alexander joined again, this clip 2 Persian princesses, daughters of Artaxerxes III and Darius III, respectively. However, determination was nary emotion involved; the intent was to link with the remnants of the Achaemenid royal family. The lone denotation of genuine intersexual involvement successful a pistillate was the rumored narration with Barsine, if determination is immoderate information to it,” concludes the author.
The Theft
Among the galore chartless events Billows details is the communicative of Alexander’s erstwhile confidant who stole wealth from the cardinal treasury successful Babylon, wherever taxes were collected, and fled to Athens with an astonishing sum of 5,000. The magnitude was supposedly confiscated by the Athenians nether the pretext of returning it to Alexander, but they yet utilized it to money their run against his successors.
With this money, they mobilized a ample army, starting a liberation warfare against the Macedonians, and adjacent sent the wide Leosthenes to Taenarus to wage the erstwhile mercenaries of Alexander, whom helium had expelled and who had taken refuge there. After Leosthenes gathered them, helium convinced respective city-states—most notably the Aetolians and Thessalians—to crook against the Macedonian rulers, but they yet failed. The archetypal triumph of the Athenians implicit Antipater, which forced him to fortify himself successful Thessaly, yet backfired, starring to a conjugation of Macedonian generals who decisively crushed antiauthoritarian Athens successful 322 BC, marking its end. In fact, according to Billows, it was this battle, alternatively than the Battle of Chaeronea, that determined Athens’ fate.
The Tomb Version
Richard A. Billows, believing that Alexander’s narration with Hephaestion was akin to that of Achilles and Patroclus, argues that Alexander’s grief implicit his companion’s decease led to his ain demise. However, determination had already been a bid of rebellions successful the army, which took a terrible toll connected his psyche, with the astir important being the 1 astatine Susa successful Opis. Yet, it was successful Ecbatana, the past Medean capital, wherever Hephaestion drank himself to decease during celebrations, causing utmost sorrow successful Alexander, who ordered that Hephaestion beryllium worshipped arsenic a deity successful immoderate areas. Drinking excessively and mourning his person for days, Alexander yet destroyed his already weakened self. When his soldiers saw that decease was inevitable, they began to travel 1 by 1 to bid him farewell.
Perdiccas
It is said that Alexander gave his signet ringing to his wide Perdiccas, but erstwhile Perdiccas asked him whom helium was leaving his kingdom to, Alexander replied, “to the strongest.” The Great Strategist took his past enactment connected June 13, 323 BC, conscionable earlier turning 33. This was the starting constituent for a bid of conflicts wrong the Macedonian Empire, which was divided among his officers into zones of implicit control.
This struggle yet determined the destiny of his tomb, arsenic explained by Billows. Instead of Macedonia, wherever Alexander wanted it, his coffin remained successful Alexandria. The writer explains this successful detail: “Ptolemy followed an autarkic argumentation aiming to marque Egypt his kingdom. To execute this, helium emphasized his narration with Alexander to contiguous himself arsenic the morganatic successor successful Egypt: helium built Alexandria, the metropolis Alexander had officially founded, though Alexander ne'er saw
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