Happy Birthday!

Today, we are celebrating Alexander’s birthday. This is very unusual because we have only rare dates from antiquity that we can pin down and match to our modern calendar. Luckily for us, Alexander’s birthday is such an exception.

Unfortunately, we have no picture of the baby or of young Alexander. In fact, we only have one single picture of Alexander made during his lifetime, i.e. the tiny ivory head found in his father’s tomb at Vergina. All other statues, busts, reliefs, mosaics, intaglios, medallions and coins of Alexander the Great are either copies of contemporary works or creations from later centuries. His favorite sculptor Lysippos has transpired through later copies but none of Apelles’ paintings have survived. Imagine what it would mean to have just one of those originals!

The same goes for Alexander’s historians as nearly all contemporary literature is lost and we have to be content with “second hand” information gleaned by later authors who still had access to the original texts. My secret hope is that one day some of those original documents may be discovered among the Oxyrhynchus papyri that are still being deciphered.

Alexander truly keeps us busy, and rightfully so. Many happy returns, dear Alexander, may you live on forever in the memory of the world!

[Picture from Pinterest]