Historical truth and legends surrounding Alexander

In his lifetime, Alexander was a living legend. As he marched ever further eastward, his impact was told and retold over the centuries to the extent that nobody, in the end, knew where reality stopped and legend started. Today’s travelers will easily meet locals ready to share their tales or direct them toward the routes the conqueror followed more than two thousand years ago.

It is quite remarkable that the most prominent figure in history left us with almost no contemporary documents. As a comparison, Julius Caesar, who lived some three hundred years after Alexander, managed to put down detailed accounts of his campaigns. His best-known books are The Conquest of Gaul and The Civil Wars, whereas The African Wars, The Alexandrian Wars, and the Hispanic Wars are also attributed to him.

The results for Alexander are very meager. Among his historians, we count his royal secretary, Eumenes of Cardia, and the keeper of his official diary, Callisthenes of Olynthus. As contemporary authors of Alexander, we may also include Ptolemy, Aristobulus, Nearchus, and Onesicritus, who participated in his campaigns and lived the events firsthand. Despite these apparent sources, only a few fragments have survived, no matter how deep we dig.

Callisthenes inspired Onesicritus as well as Cleitarchus. Cleitarchus turned out to be the key figure for many historians to rely on. He, in fact, had access to earlier accounts by Nearchus, Ephippus, Polycleitus, Megasthenes, and Aristobulus (who also drew from Onesicritus himself).

Under these circumstances, it becomes obvious that we have sources that are very much truncated over the centuries. In the 1^st century BC, Diodorus of Sicily wrote his history of Alexander based directly on Cleitarchus. Curtius Rufus, in the 1^st century AD, composed his version of the events, leaning heavily on Cleitarchus and to a lesser extent on Trogus and Ptolemy. Shortly afterward, Plutarch made headlines with his Lives using, besides Cleitarchus, Aristobulus, Chares (who was in charge of Alexander’s journal), and remaining bits of the official Ephemerides that were kept by Eumenes. Arrian, in the 2nd century AD, seems to be our most reliable source. For his Anabasis, he mainly trusted Ptolemy. However, he also consulted other historians like Aristobulus, Megasthenes, Nearchus (who himself wrote Indica to recount his sea voyage from India back to Persia), and the surviving  texts of the Ephemerides as well. It should be noted that Trogus’ book is almost entirely lost, but his story has been summarized, not all too well, by Justin two hundred years later.

This is quite a cocktail of information, and it becomes very hard to sift through so many versions and interpretations of the facts and figures.

In my quest to find the sources, I came across an extensive list of lost works on Wikipedia that I insert hereafter. I added the appropriate dates as far as I could find them.

Life of Alexander by Aesopus (no dates found)

Works of Anaximenes of Lampsacus (ca. 380-320 BC)

Works of Aristobulus of Cassandreia (ca. 375-301 BC)

Geographical work of Androsthenes of Thasos (one of Alexander’s admirals who sailed with Nearchus)

Deeds of Alexander by Callisthenes (the official historian)

Personal Notebooks, or Hypomnemata, by Alexander himself (possibly inauthentic)

History of Alexander by Cleitarchus (4^th century BC)

On the Empire of the Macedonians by Criton of Pieria (2^nd century AD)

Histories (also listed as Macedonica and Hellenica) by Duris of Samos (350-after 281 BC)

Ephemerides (royal journal) of the royal secretary Eumenes (existence or authenticity disputed)

Work of Ephippus of Olynthus

Work of Hagnothemis upon which Plutarch rested the belief that Antipater poisoned Alexander.

Work of Hieronymus of Cardia (354?-250 BC)

On the education of Alexander and Macedonian history by Marsyas of Pella (ca. 356-ca. 294 BC)

Work of Medius of Larissa (general under Alexander and senior commander under Antigonus Monophthalmus)

Work of Nearchus, the primary source of Arrian's Indica

How Alexander was Educated and geographical works by Onesicritus (ca. 360-ca. 290 BC)

Work of Ptolemy I Soter (ca. 367-282 BC)

History of Alexander by Timagenes (1^st century BC)

Historiae Philippicae by Gnaeus Pompeius Trogus (1^st century BC)

This list cannot be exhaustive. There must have been many more documents. Nobody mentions, for instance, Alexander’s correspondence with his mother and his sister, with Aristotle, with Antipater in Macedonia, with Queen Ada, and Queen Sisygambis. Letters were exchanged with the many embassies that contacted him or came to visit him. The entire world evolved around Alexander, and strangely enough, there is not a single document left to prove it. The famous  Library of Alexandria must have held scores of such precious testimonies. Besides, the later Graeco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek Empires most certainly produced literature of their own. 

We do have, of course, the Alexander Romance (see: Le Roman d’Alexandre, traduit du grec par A Tallet-Bonvalot). The oldest known version dates probably from the 3rd century AD, and its author is unknown, although it has been attributed to Pseudo-Callisthenes. This document is generally called version α and served for all subsequent accounts that were published on a more or less regular basis until the 16^th century. They were written in Latin, Greek, Armenian, Georgian, Persian, Hebrew, Arabic, Islamic, French, English, Italian, Spanish, Hungarian, Romanian, German, Ethiopic, Mongolian, and several medieval patois. Useless to say that each translation or interpretation contributed to embellishing the legendary person of Alexander.

Historians generally agree that Pseudo-Callisthenes based his tales on the writings of Onesicritus, who used Callisthenes.

The legends about Alexander are endless, and a great many of them have not been put in writing. They are part of the oral tradition of many peoples. They were told and retold by traveling bards over the centuries, and we can still find those tales today in the countries crossed by Alexander.

From the top of my head, I remember the story about the Prison of Alexander in Yazd, Iran (see: Alexander’s Prison?), and that of his general Farhangi-Sarhang in Nur, Uzbekistan (see: Sogdian Forts and Alexander Fort in Nurata).

There is also the later tale of Alexander Rex, which is part of the mosaic in the church of Otranto in southern Italy (see: Alexander's presence in Magna Graecia). Or Saint Alexander depicted in Byzantine and Orthodox art, appearing in the 12th-century Church of S. Demetrius in Vladimir, Ukrainian Kiev. Around the 15^th and 16^th centuries, Alexander became a symbol of vanity. Several churches in Greece display frescoes of monks who meditate on vanity while gazing down on Alexander’s body at their feet. For instance, at the church of St John the Baptist in the Peloponnese and at the Monastery of the Holy Trinity at the Meteora (see: Alexander, from hero to saint).

The references to Alexander are endless, and I am talking mainly about written documentation here. His legacy in architecture, paintings, statues, coins, jewelry, and other decorative elements constitutes another fascinating testimony of Alexander to the world

Updated 24 May 2025

All Alexander’s Women by Robbert Bosschart (3rd edition - meanwhile replaced by his 5th edition)

This is the third edition of All Alexander’s Women by Robbert Bosschart (actually replaced in March 2025 by his 5th edition). It is rare and rather exceptional to find a book on Alexander the Great looking at this world conqueror from an entirely different and unusual angle: the women who were part of his life in one way or another. This is what Robbert Bosschart has accomplished.

The role of these women was widely developed in his previous two editions, in which he stated that Alexander the Great would have introduced equal rights for men and women had he lived long enough! This status of women’s equality was not something Alexander created but existed already in the Persian Empire he conquered. It is said to go back to the Zoroastrian doctrine backed by Cyrus the Great and even before that in a matriarchal era. The leading power was the goddess Inanna, equaled by Anahita and blended later on with Ishtar, Isis, Cybele, and the entire Greek female pantheon; she was still venerated in the Sassanid era.

In this third edition, Robbert Bosschart talks us through the relations Alexander had with women, the best known being his own mother Olympias and his sister Cleopatra, Queen Ada of Caria and Queen-Mother Sisygambis of Persia, the two latest having adopted him as their son. This was not a small matter, for in the case of Persia it meant that Alexander was accepted to rule “by the power of Ahuramazda” together with that of the goddess Anahita.

It is a vast topic hardly mentioned in our Western literature since ancient Greeks generally treated women as mere trade goods. It is easy to understand why this concept of equality - which must have looked very “Barbarian” in their eyes – was willfully left out of their literature. The macho Roman writers did the same and as a matter of course our Western world was unaware of the customs and habits of the East.

Robbert Bosschart is taking us a step further as he develops the Persian point of view on the matter of equality, which he only touched on superficially in his previous versions. He is digging even deeper into the subject exploring many oriental sources. One of them is the Persepolis Fortification Tablets, an archive of thousands of clay tablets containing over 15,000 texts from the Achaemenid Period which are only partially translated till now.

Another aspect highlighted in this book is the Persian version of the Alexander Romance, the Darab-Nama, and the Sikandar-Nama, a mixture of Old Persian tradition with Hellenistic and Muslim themes. Also discussed is the Liber de Morte, a fictional last will which is often but not always attached to the Alexander Romance. Last but not least, the author reminds us that Alexander is elevated to the status of prophet in the Koran, hence his nickname the “Two-Horned”. The book also includes an interesting chapter about the “King’s Eyes”, integer secret keepers that were responsible for reporting to the king (a kind of Persian Intelligence Service avant-la-lettre) and controlling the implementation of his laws and orders all through the King’s huge empire.

To complete his extensive research and to take it to a level to be comprehended by all, Robbert Bosschart has added several helpful lists and tables: Historical Dates/ Facts in Alexander’s Life; Chronological list of Persian kings; The Classical sources on Alexander’s era; Reference works; Biographical/Geographical Index (alphabetical); and an extremely useful list of Where Alexander’s Women appear in the Classical Sources”.

I find the subject of this book truly fascinating! The Persian viewpoint for one, is unique. And just imagine what our world would have looked like had Alexander lived long enough to realize his “merging” of East and West as he undoubtedly planned when he celebrated the mass wedding in Susa. Not only would our world have known one single ruler, one single currency, and one single vehicular language (Greek), but we also would have lived in a society where men and women were each other’s equals.

P.S. For those who can’t wait, a select extract of a good 50 pages of this book is available (free of charge) at Academia.edu.

Alinda, the refuge fortress of Queen Ada of Caria

From 545 BC onwards, Caria was part of the Persian Achaemenid Empire and as such was ruled by a satrap (governor). The most famous of them was Mausolus, who proclaimed Halicarnassus as his new capital – clearly a man with ambition and great visions. Mausolos married his sister Artemisia as was customary, and when he died childless in 353 BC, she continued ruling until her death. The power went to Artemisia’s younger brother, Idreus who had married his younger sister Ada. She ruled after her brother/husband died also. But there was still another younger brother, Pixodarus who hungered for the title of satrap and befriended the Persians. He expelled the widowed Ada from Halicarnassus and she sought and found refuge in her stronghold of Alinda, further inland.

Queen Ada managed to keep her independence in her fortress of Alinda but on Alexander’s approach in 334 BC, she decided to offer her surrender to the new conqueror and to adopt him as her own son – much to Alexander’s delight, no doubt. Alexander generously trusted Caria to Queen Ada who ruled over her country once again, except for the military affairs that were in the hands of a Macedonian garrison. She probably died in 323 BC, the same year as Alexander the Great.

Driving up to Alinda, it is quite clear that this is a very strategic location and the city’s defence walls running down into the fertile valley are there to prove it. The first constructions that welcome today’s visitor as he drives up from Karpuzulu are the remains of a Roman aqueduct with four arches still intact and a handful of scattered Carian sarcophagi. The heavily shattered and overgrown Roman theatre from the 2^nd century BC lies on the other side of the hill, just above the impressive market building. This is probably the best testimony of Alinda’s importance and was three storeys high. The highest level touches the agora measuring 30x30 meters.

It seems Alinda, as capital of Caria died together with Queen Ada as it was the last stronghold of the Carians. However, the city did not lose its importance entirely for Antiochus III established a garrison there in the mid-3^rd century BC but lost it to the Romans in the early 2^nd century BC.

Which Cnidos? Near modern Tekir or modern Datça? - Caria 4

History is often more complicated than it appears to be at first glance. The famous city of Cnidos, boasting about its unique statue of the first naked woman ever created in the shape of Aphrodite, is located at the end of the Dorian peninsula near today’s Turkish town of Tekir. The lizard-like peninsula is approximately forty miles long. Still, at no point more than eight miles wide, its name “Dorian” refers to the origin of its first settlers who came from the Greek city of Sparta, according to Herodotus.Being built shortly after 360 BC, it would have looked pretty new if Alexander the Great had visited Cnidos. We must imagine shining white stones and polished marbles enhanced with the bright colours on the pediments and the friezes of the many temples. This is one of those moments in life I wish I could travel back in time … 

Among the Carians, the Cnidians were renowned sailors who traded with cities all over the eastern Mediterranean and who, together with other Greeks, established several colonies, even as far as Sicily in the early 6th century BC. However, the best-known settlement is that of Naucratis founded as early as 610 BC in the Nile Delta, roughly 70 km away from the later city of Alexandria. 

Exceptionally, the Egyptian pharaoh allowed it to be called a city and named it Hellenium. Here a good half dozen states including Cnidos and Halicarnassus were allowed to trade, the only place in Egypt where Greeks were allowed to do so. The Cnidian entrepreneurship made them one of the most prosperous people in the Greek world and it is not surprising to see typical Cnidian amphora at the Archaeological Museum in Bodrum. I personally think that business was so flourishing that they could afford their own amphora factory and their own design with a cone-shaped base that served as a third handle - a funny-looking little knob. Cnidos of the wine from Chios. It was distributed all over the Mediterranean and the Aegean, reaching its peak between the 3rd and 1st century BC. This inexpensive, rather sweet wine called “protopon” was especially appreciated by the soldiers posted in Alexandria and Athens, it seems.

Yet the city of Cnidos was not always located near modern Tekir, which I visited (see: Was Alexander the Great aware of Cnidos?) but until about 360 BC was lying halfway the Dorian peninsula, near the pleasant harbor of modern Datça. Except for a few coastal patches, this peninsula had not much arable land between the mountains and the sea - most of the eastern end is truly bare. For that reason, the few villages settled near fertile land around the middle of the peninsula, exactly where I find Datça when sailing into its busy harbor. I don’t have the opportunity to investigate the scarce remains of this first settlement of Cnidos, but traces of a well-defended city wall dating to around 400 BC have been found. All we know of this city is based on the few stretches of walls, loose blocks, and solid foundations of a large building near the river-mouth, for most of it is now buried at considerable depth. The old city at Datça was not abandoned when the new Cnidos was built at the western tip of the peninsula, but since commerce was centered on this new efficient double harbor at Cape Crio, it is evident that the old location became less attractive. Looking at the overall landscape, I try to find the acropolis and the outlines of the ancient harbor. This is not easy, for the entire bay is crowded with ships and boats tied to the concrete shoreline where scores of cafés and restaurants compete for the tourist’s attention. To escape the crowds, the noise, and the invading music, I seem to walk around in circles, and I’m glad that we soon heave the anchor to rest in a more peaceful cove for our own meal on board.

Famous artists flocked to the new city of Cnidos. I mentioned Praxiteles earlier as the sculptor of the beautiful Aphrodite, but there were others, like Bryaxis who made a statue of Dionysus; Skopas who created another Dionysus and an Athena; the unknown creator of the famous head of Demeter that Newton found in the area; and finally Sostratos who eventually built the lighthouse of Alexandria in Egypt. As early as the 5th century BC, Cnidos knew many good doctors, like for instance Euryphon who developed a new method to examine his patients. And there was Ctesias, in fact a historian whose excellent medical skills promoted him to become the personal physician of the Great Persian King. The most famous citizen of Cnidos is in my eyes the scientist, Eudoxus, a many-sided scholar, who is said to have built an observatory on top of the hill in Cnidos (the new city near Tekir, of course), but no trace has been found so far. Besides being an astronomer, he also was a mathematician, physician, geographer and philosopher. Some say that he was the one who wrote the code of laws for the new city – it would be interesting to find that out, wouldn’t it? He is known to have died about 355 BC (when Alexander was only one year old …).

The prosperity of Cnidos must not have gone unnoticed by the Persians who were ever pushing further westwards. After taking Lydia in 546 BC, they gradually moved further south and took possession of Caria by 353 BC. Yet their rule was a pretty loose one, and the Carians were happy with the way the Hecatomids treated them. When Alexander the Great arrived there in 334 BC, he found a Persian satrap governing the region while the Carian Queen Ada, the true successor to the throne of King Mausolus, was living in exile in Alinda. How and what Alexander decided to do with Cnidos is not documented. It probably was simply included in Ada’s Caria till she died as well as Alexander. After that, Cnidos became the scene of the unfortunate wars of Alexander’s successors.

[Click here to see all the pictures of Cnidos]
Click on the label Caria 2012 to read the full story

Halicarnassus, capital of Caria

As part of the Persian Achaemenid’s Empire from 545 BC onward, Caria was governed by a succession of uneventful satraps (governors). The first satrap to make Caria more independent was Hyssaldomus of Mylasa – the capital city at that time. He was succeeded by his son, Hecatomnos, followed in turn by his son, Mausolos in 377 BC. Mausolos was a man with ambition and quite a visionary. He really established Caria’s independence, rebuilt the cities of Myndos and Syangela, fortified the city walls of Latmos and Caunos, and as if it were the most evident step, moved everyone else to Halicarnassus, which he proclaimed his new capital to replace Mylasa because its location was more favorable. Mausolos married his sister Artemisia, as was customary, and when he died childless in 353 BC, she was the one to finish the construction of the grand Mausoleum. She continued ruling until she too died from grief, it is said, after which the power went to her younger brother, Idreus. Idreus had married his younger sister Ada, who ruled after her brother’s/husband’s death. But there was still another younger brother, Pixodarus, who hungered for the title of satrap. He expelled the widowed Ada from Halicarnassus and she sought and found refuge in her stronghold of Alinda, further inland. Pixodarus aimed to befriend the Persians and ruled unofficially for a short while next to the Persian satrap Orontobates, who took over after Pixodarus’ death. This is the situation in Caria when Alexander the Great arrives at Halicarnassus in 334 BC.

The city of Halicarnassus was built as a natural theater around its well protected harbor and was, on the land side, defended by a seven kilometres-long wall dating from 365 BC, the reign of King Mausolos. This wall ran along the surrounding hillcrests, meaning that the approaching enemy could be watched and attacked from higher grounds, giving the city an unmistakable advantage. Only a few parts of that city wall are still visible today as most of Halicarnassus is hidden under the modern houses and streets of Bodrum.

Arrian tells us that when Alexander arrived from Mylasa in the east, he set up camp about half a mile from this well-fortified city. The very next day, he faced the first attack without difficulty. A few days later, hoping to find an easier approach, Alexander moved to the other side of Halicarnassus near the road to Myndos (modern Gümüşlük). Luckily for us, this Myndos city gate has been preserved and partially restored, giving us an insight into what Alexander was up against. The imposing towers of andesitic blocks open up into a well-defended courtyard from where another gate led into the city. Next to the Myndos Gate, a short stretch of city wall is still visible surrounded by the remains of the moat which, according to Arrian, ran 45 feet wide and 23 feet deep. These measurements seem to fit with what I see here, including the restored trench that runs over a length of some fifty meters. The feel of it alone is a unique experience and it is very rewarding to stand between the towering walls of the gate itself, where I easily picture Alexander shouting orders amidst the battle-cries of the Macedonians.

The Persians had amassed a substantial force of troops and mercenaries at Halicarnassus, under the leadership of the Rhodian general Memnon whom the Persian King Darius had by now appointed to control all of Asia Minor and to command the Persian fleet anchored in the harbor below. We’ll remember how Memnon, although under the command of the Persian satrap Arsites,  had lost the previous confrontation with Alexander at the Granicus a year earlier, and we can be sure that he was not willing to face another defeat.

Here on the Myndos (western) side of the city, Alexander started to fill the moat without much difficulty and brought his siege engines in position. The Halicarnassians didn’t waste any time either and as soon as darkness fell they set fire to the siege towers, but the Macedonians on guard acted promptly and extinguished the fire.

Meanwhile, it was on the Mylasa (eastern) side that another situation developed, involving two Macedonian infantrymen who one evening were bragging about their bravery. Under the influence of wine, their boasting reached such extremes that they decided to grab their weapons and set out to conquer Halicarnassus single-handed. The guards on the city walls reacted, the two soldiers got support from their mates and friends, the defenders got their own reinforcements, and in no time the brawl turned into a full-blooded battle. Halicarnassus was nearly taken and would have been if the attack had been organized and planned in full force. I’m not sure how Alexander took this incident, I don’t think all too kindly. The next morning, Alexander brought in his siege engines, which were again promptly torched by the town’s people. Yet as soon as the King appeared in person, the brave attackers hurriedly withdrew.

All in all, however, the defenders of Halicarnassus had the advantage of a commanding view over their enemy from the height of the city walls. Alexander personally led a new attack, his catapults hurling heavy stones towards the walls and soon a breach was made. The defenders counterattacked on two fronts, one group pouring out of the gap in the wall and another near the Tripylum Gate (north side). Disaster struck at this gate when the Macedonians had to retreat in force over a bridge across the moat. The narrow bridge collapsed and the soldiers were either trampled or shot by their comrades in the commotion. One such bridge has been reinstalled over the moat at the Myndus Gate, a shivering thought when you know this story. Worst of all was the slaughter which occurred near the city gates where the over-anxious Persians and mercenary soldiers, in order to keep the Macedonians out, were shutting their own men out. Lots of them were stranded before closed doors and turned out to be easy prey for the Macedonians who simply cut them down there and then. Once again, Alexander nearly took the city. This is what Arrian tells us.

If however, we follow Diodorus, we read a rather different story. He tells us that Memnon collected two thousand picked men equipped with lighted torches. At daybreak he threw the city gates wide open, and while one group of his soldiers set fire to the Macedonian siege engines he led the other to attack Alexander’s men who were moving forward to extinguish the fire. At this stage, Alexander himself sounded the attack. Under dense showers of missiles, the Macedonians killed the fires, sustaining heavy losses. That was however too much for the Macedonian veterans who were witnessing these events from a distance as they themselves were exempted from duty. After all, they had served under King Philip, Alexander’s father, and were far more experienced. Besides, they felt that the honor of Macedonia was at stake as well. They joined the fight and with great effort, the Macedonians pushed the enemy back within the city walls and Alexander sounded the recall.

At this point, according to Arrian again, Orontobates and Memnon set up a meeting to discuss further action since part of the city wall was gone and other parts were seriously damaged. It was clear they couldn’t hold out much longer. Besides, they had suffered heavy losses. They still had the harbor with the fleet in their hands, but the ships were of no use in the present situation. It was decided to set the city’s magazine on fire as well as the houses close to the walls, but strong winds spread the flames all over the city. When reports of these fires reached Alexander, he immediately took action and ordered his Macedonians to kill every man they saw setting buildings afire. The inhabitants, however, should be spared and rescued. Meanwhile, the surviving enemy army withdrew to the Arconese, an island stronghold in the harbor of Halicarnassus (where today’s fort is located, probably on top of the Carian Royal Palace - now attached to the land), and on the high grounds of the Acropolis.

Diodorus simply mentions that Memnon decided to abandon the city, moving his best men to the acropolis with sufficient provisions, and sending the rest of the army to the nearby island of Cos. When Alexander discovered this move the next morning, he razed the city (although we may wonder how much of the city was actually razed) and surrounded the citadel with a formidable wall and trench. Arrian, on the other hand, simply tells us that Alexander decided not to besiege the Persians in their strongholds which were difficult to take. Besides, such a siege would not bring him much advantage as the city of Halicarnassus was already his.

Alexander generously handed Caria over to Queen Ada who ruled over her country once again. She probably died in 323 BC, the same year as Alexander the Great. As to Memnon, he organized fierce opposition in the Aegean which could have been a serious threat to Alexander’s back had he not died of illness on Lesbos in 333 BC.

Since I first was here with Peter Sommer on his tour "In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great" I was mesmerized by the locations that spoke to me as if the battle had happened just yesterday. Since then, I have returned several times, and each time I am rewarded with new vivid memories of what happened here 2,500 years ago.

Click on the Label Caria 2012 to read the full story

[Click here to see all the pictures of Halicarnassus]

Philip’s wives and marital conflicts - Macedonia forged by Philip II - 15

Philip’s wives and marital conflicts (337 BC)

We know or hear very little about the first five wives of Philip before Olympias. It is interesting to note that all four of them spoke Greek (Phila, Philinna, Nicesipolis, and Olympias) and two did not (Audata and Meda). How historians managed to find that out, I wonder. Nicesipolis died soon after childbirth, but all the others were apparently living at court in Pella (see: The Many Wives of Philip II.). Olympias had a special status because she was the mother of the heir, Alexander. The other ladies had given birth to a daughter, except the retarded Arrhidaeus. Since these marriages had happened rather early in his kingship and for political reasons, one may wonder how closely Philip kept in touch with them.

In 337 BC, at the age of 45, Philip announced his marriage to Cleopatra. She was an orphan and had been adopted by Attalus, one of Philip’s generals of noble origin, as his niece. Rumor had it that Philip fell in love with the girl, but speculations ran in a different and more serious direction. As Philip was getting ready to invade Asia, he needed one or more heirs to ensure his succession, for betting on Alexander alone did not offer enough security. This very idea will not have been well accepted by Olympias, fearing that a son of Cleopatra could displace Alexander in the longer term, of course.

[picture from Oliver Stone's movie Alexander]

The wedding took place, probably a typical Macedonian affair with an abundance of wine flowing between the men. I think that even to their own standards, they all got pretty drunk. Anyway, at a certain point, Attalus, now father-in-law of his king, proposed a toast to the bride and groom, wishing them a legitimate Macedonian heir. It is not difficult to picture Alexander’s reaction, who felt deeply hurt by the insinuation that Attalus (and who knows who else) considered him a bastard! A fiery argument broke out, and the king tried to intervene but had probably been drinking too much himself as he took sides with Attalus and demanded excuses from Alexander. As we can expect, Alexander refused. He left the room, picked up his mother, and took her to her brother in Epirus. He himself sought refuge in Illyria. 

Now, there is a theory by which Olympias tried to convince her brother to revolt against Philip, while Alexander might have worked the mind of the Illyrians in the same direction, but nothing is proven. Eventually, Philip hired an actor (as was customary to settle differences), Demaratus of Corinth, who managed to bring Alexander back to Pella. Yet this must have left quite a bitter aftertaste on both sides.

It is rather clear that Alexander was accepted as Philip’s heir at the age of fourteen when Aristotle became his tutor. There is no trace to include, for instance, Amyntas, the son of Perdiccas III and true heir to the throne that Philip now occupied, in Aristotle’s lessons, yet when Alexander became king, he had Amyntas executed. It is also a fact that Alexander took over the regency of Macedonia at sixteen while his father was campaigning, and at eighteen, Philip trusted him to lead the cavalry at Chaeronea. But despite all that, Philip was still father and king and did not tolerate anyone, even his own son, to act against his will. A clear example is that of the Pixodarus affair.

Pixodarus was the ruler of Caria (the area of Bodrum) who had kicked his sister Ada, the widow of the previous ruler, from the throne while remaining submissive to the Persian King. But Persia was in turmoil after eunuch Bagoas murdered Artaxerxes III and, in the ensuing confusion, Pixodarus thought it wise to seek support from Philip, an interesting consideration that fitted Philip’s plans to march east. Pixodarus offered his daughter, Ada, in marriage, and Philip, in exchange, presented the retarded Arrhidaeus. The pact was accepted. But Alexander felt his father had left him out and decided to act on his own, offering himself as a marital candidate to Pixodarus, who, of course, could not have asked for a better deal! When Philip got vent of this maneuver behind his back, we can imagine how infuriated he became. The entire agreement with Pixodarus was called off, and Philip seriously reprimanded his son by exiling several of his closest friends from Pella. That must have been quite a blow for Alexander!

These events clearly illustrate that all was not running smoothly between father and son, which may have led to the conclusions about the true murderers of Philip the next year.

Click here to read the full story about Philip II from the beginning