Thursday, December 23, 2010

A view of the Battlefield of Gaugamela!

A view of the Battlefield of Gaugamela at last!



Just have a look at this video of Gaugamela. It is only one of the many scenes from Oliver Stones' movie on Alexander the Great, but what a movie and most of all: what a scene! It is absolutely breathtaking for you are right in the middle of the battle.

It's exactly how I always saw it in my dreams...

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Alexander coins found in Syria

Every new discovery of an Alexander item is great news as far as I’m concerned. This time the news comes from Syria and more precisely from Najm Castle in the Aleppo area, which I visited recently, where a hoard of coins has been unearthed. Why don’t I find such hidden treasures….!

Well, to start with I am not a local, like this Syrian who did some construction works on his land and discovered a bronze box filled with no less than 250 coins! He was so honest to deliver them to the competent local authorities who quickly could sift through them. They were all from Hellenistic times and all made of silver, i.e. 137 tetra drachmae (four drachmae) and 115 drachmae.


The tetradrachmae all clearly show Alexander the Great on one side, while the obverse depicts Zeus sitting on a throne holding an eagle on his arm. As can be expected, most of these coins carry Alexander’s name but they come in two different ways: 34 coins read King Alexander and 81 just show Alexander. Strangely enough, the remaining 22 coins bear the name of King Philip!

On the single drachmae coins however, one hundred of them show the name of Alexander while the remaining fifteen coins are inscribed with the name of Philip.

Why the name of King Philip, Alexander’s father is showing on Hellenistic coins seems kind of odd as he never got as far as Syria and the Hellenistic period started only after Alexander’s death many years later. This article from Global Arab Network (March 2010) does not offer any further explanation, nor does it mention a timeframe when these coins were minted. That is highly unfortunate, I would say.

Isn’t this great news? There certainly are not too many Alexander coins around and if the Syrians banalise this find and think it is not worth more press space, they are certainly welcome to distribute them among the Alexander fans of this world. Personally, I would even travel all the way to Syria just to collect one of these Alexander coins. Who else?

Monday, December 13, 2010

Alexander the Great. Selections ... by James Romm


The full title of this book actually reads “Alexander the Great. Selections from Arrian, Diodorus, Plutarch and Quintus Curtius. Edited, with Introduction and Notes, by James Romm. Translated by Pamela Mensch and James Romm".

Quite a mouthful indeed. The reason I purchased this book was to read, at least parts, of the original texts which every single author seems to refer to, i.e. the writers from antiquity. Since I don’t know Greek or Latin, I have to use whatever translation that is available. This means that I have to trust today’s authors to present a thorough and/or complete text for I have no way to control this by any means.

James Romm has put together the life-story of Alexander the Great, starting in Macedonia with his father Philip, and ending with his own death in 323 BC. He is using alternatively whatever ancient writer he feels fit, tying his selection of ancient writers together with an occasional explanatory paragraph.

Personally I find this book rather disappointing for it does not add any new vision or argument to the battles and conquests of Alexander the Great or to the exceptional personality he was. It is however easy reading, yet just too superficial to my taste.