First contacts with China

It is generally not mentioned that in the wake of Alexander's expansion, an opening towards China, or Seres as Strabo called the country, was created to the east of Central Asia. After all, in 329 BC, the king founded the city of Alexandria Eschate (very appropriately being Alexandria the Furthest), the later Khojend in modern Tajikistan, where he stopped his march eastwards. 

His Greek settlers in Central Asia were there to stay for the next three hundred years as Seleucos established his Empire, which later became the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom. Over time, their kings steadily expanded their power further to the east, and the main force appeared to be King Euthydemus (230-200 BC). This Euthydemus was born in Magnesia, Asia Minor as the son of the Greek general Apollodotus. By 209 BC, as Graeco-Bactria king, he withstood the three-year-long siege of Bactra led by the Seleucid ruler Antiochus III. In the end, Antiochus offered one of his daughters in marriage to Demetrius, son of Euthydemus, in exchange for which he received several Indian war elephants. 

Once well settled, Euthydemus went to the lands beyond Alexandria Eschate. As reported by Strabo, he even reached Kashgar in the region of Xinjiang. This may date the first Western and China exchanges to around 200 BC. 

How China looked at the West is a much lesser-known story. Not unlike the Greeks, the Chinese held that they were the center of world civilization and that all other countries were tributaries of China. This implies that the campaign of Euthydemus may have been a significant turning point (see also: Alexander's influence reached all the way to China?)

Around 130 BC, embassies of the Han Dynasty traveled to Central Asia as the Chinese emperor Wudi was interested in the sophisticated civilizations of Ferghana, Bactria, and Parthia, respectively known to the Chinese as Dayuan, Daxia, and Anxi. Since then, numerous embassies left every year to these countries, where they found people living in fixed homes and interested in the rich produce of China. Chinese records reveal that more than ten such missions were dispatched into Parthia, Seleucid Syria (known as Lijian), Chaldea (Tiaozhi), and north-western India (Tianzhu). Allegedly, they even visited Emperor Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD), and it seems hard to imagine Chinese envoys walking in the streets of Rome! 

Roman soldiers also made their way east, although not out of their free will. It has been documented that soldiers captured by the Parthians were dispatched to defend their eastern borders. In 54 BC, Pliny mentioned that after the battle of Carrhae in 53 BC (see: Harran, better known under its Roman name Carrhae), the Parthians sent some 10,000 prisoners to Margiana to man the frontier. Chinese sources report that these soldiers had blond hair and blue eyes. Eventually, these troops were captured by the Chinese to founding the city of Liqian or Li-Chien – a transliteration of Alexandria - it seems, in the region of Gansu in western China. Several inscriptions discovered in the Kara-Kamar caves on the border between eastern Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan were written in Bactrian, Greek, Arabic, and Latin. The latter was composed of three lines and was left by the Roman soldiers of the Pannonian Legio XV Apollinaris around the 2^nd century AD. Notably, this cave complex showed remarkable similarities with temples dedicated to the god Mithras, who was featured in killing the bull. This secret male cult started about the 1^st century AD and soon spread with the legionnaires over the entire Roman Empire. 

By the first century BC, Rome started showing serious interest in the precious silk it received through trade with the Parthians. Wearing silk soon exploded, but it was not met with overall approval. Seneca (3 BC-65 AD) complained that silk did not hide the body, not "even one's decency." This led the Senate to issue an edict prohibiting silk-wearing, which the wealthy Roman elite liked to ignore. Besides the moral ground, this edict also had an economic reason, as importing silk caused a massive outflow of gold. 

Yet, business is business, and the trade prospered. Over land, using the Silk Road was a tedious and expensive operation, which was soon to be supplanted by a newly found maritime route. The ships would sail from China, stopping at ports in modern Vietnam, India, and Sri Lanka controlled by the Chinese emperors. The western end of this business route, with stopovers in Egypt and the Nabataean territories, was controlled by Rome. Their merchants traveled on Roman, Indian, and even Chinese ships. 

Best known from this period is the campaign led by the Chinese general Ban Chao, who in 97 AD crossed the Pamir Mountains with an army of 70,000 men to fight the Xiongnu, generally the people living in Central Asia. He even reached the Caspian Sea and the lands occupied by the Parthians. From here, the general sent an envoy to Dagin (Rome). Ultimately, this was Gan Ying, who stopped in Mesopotamia although he intended to sail to Rome via the Black Sea. The Parthian merchants wishing to safeguard their profitable position as the middleman between Rome and China, told Gan Ying that his planned trip would take him two years. In reality, this was two months. This is why the envoy decided to abandon his mission and return home. His merit, to a certain extent at least, was his account of Rome and Emperor Nerva, which he obviously based on second-hand information. However, he correctly reported that Rome was the leading economic power at the western end of Eurasia. The Chinese army settled for an alliance with the Parthians. 

The earliest documented Roman embassy to arrive in China dates to 166 AD. Chinese sources mention that it came from Antun (Antoninus Pius), king of Dagin (Rome). This information must be clarified since Antoninus Pius died five years before, in 161 AD. It is suggested that they meant Marcus Aurelius, who added the name of his predecessor to his own; he came to power in 166 AD. 

This Roman delegation probably arrived by sea and carried presents of rhinoceros horns, ivory, and tortoise shells originating from Southern Asia. More important, however, is that the Chinese acquired a treatise on astronomy. Roman cartographers knew of the existence of China since the country was mentioned on the map by Claudius Ptolemy in about 150 AD. The booming trade across the Indian Ocean in the 2^nd century AD enabled the identification of Roman outposts in India and Sri Lanka. 

After a lacuna about further exchanges, the next documented account emerged in the 3^rd century AD when the Roman Emperor (possibly Alexander Severus) sent presents of colored glass to Emperor Taitsu of the Kingdom of Wei (reigned 227-239 AD) in Northern China. The last record about an embassy from Rome dates from 284 AD when the envoys of presumably Emperor Carus (282-283 AD) brought "tribute" to the Chinese Empire. 

To summarize, contact between our western world and China lasted at least six hundred years after Alexander opened access to Central Asia. In all its aspects, the Silk Road sank into oblivion until Marco Polo revived this part of history in the 13^th century, i.e., one thousand years later!

Restoration plans for the lighthouse of Patara

It seems that at last, the plans to restore the unique lighthouse of Patara are going to be materialized. The remains of this lighthouse that was built under Emperor Nero in 64 AD were exposed a few years ago, and the inscription to that purpose reads “I am Emperor Nero. I built this lighthouse to greet sailors”. It was said to be written in bronze, but the more recent article published by The Archaeology News Network mentions that the letters were made of gold.

[Picture from The Archaeology News Network]

Standing at the mouth of the Xanthos River, the tower proper was approximately 26.5 meters tall with a diameter of six meters; it rested on a square podium. Inside the tower, two interlocking cylindrical structures were connected by a spiral-shaped ladder. As mentioned in an earlier blog (see: The oldest lighthouse in the world at Patara), this lighthouse is the oldest in the world ever recovered.

The plans are to actually rebuild the lighthouse to its original height and guide modern sailors with its light.

We’ll remember that Patara surrendered to Alexander the Great in 333 BC, and we may wonder what kind of beacon guided the ships up the river in his days.

Antiochus III captured Patara in 196 BC, and the city was annexed by the Roman Empire in 43 AD. Since Patara and its harbor were an important hub on the ancient trade routes, they kept their importance till far into the Byzantine times.

[Updated in December 2023]

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.

Pella and Gadara, two more settlements for Alexander’s veterans

When Alexander returned from Egypt in 331 BC, he marched along the coast of the eastern Mediterranean. How close to the coast may be subject to debate, but the fact remains that he had to send foraging parties into the hinterland. Alexander must have depleted much of the local provisions when he marched his troops through the region the year before, as did the fleet that supported him and his troops on their way to Egypt, especially when crossing the Sinai. This being said, it is very plausible that his foraging parties had to move further inland when he returned. To that purpose, they must have exploited the lands east of the Dead Sea, Jordan River, and the Sea of Galilee, and that is exactly where we find cities like Gerasa, Pella, and Gadara, which are said to be founded by Alexander.

The founding of Gerasa has been treated in an earlier blog (see:  Alexander founder of Gerasa). Some 45 kilometers north of that city lies the town of Pella (previously Pihilum) known to be named in honor of the city where Alexander was born. Pella flourished in Hellenistic times as it became a regional power in the maze of trade routes running through the city. It has been established that Pella was largely populated in Hellenistic times as it was a hub for merchants crossing the region (see: Apamea, heritage of Alexander). Under the rule of Seleucos, the city was renamed Apamea after his wife Apame.

After the death of Alexander, Gerasa and the neighboring territories were annexed by the Ptolemies in 301 BC. At some time during the third and second centuries BC, the Seleucids took hold of the area and undertook a thorough Hellenization till by 64-63 BC, it became a Roman province. The Romans, to properly govern Judea and Syria, created a Decapolis (see: Alexander, founder of Gerasa), a group of ten cities that shared the same language, commercial relations, and political status. Each city enjoyed a certain degree of autonomy with its own Semitic, Nabataean, Aramean, and Jewish culture. The members were according to Pliny:  Damascus (in Syria), Philadelphia (modern Amman in Jordan), Gerasa (now Jerash in Jordan), Scythopolis (now Beisan in the Jordan Valley, North Israel), Gadara (modern Umm Qays in Jordan) and once the capital of this Decapolis, Hippos (on the banks of Lake Tiberias in Israel), Dion (probably near Irbid in Jordan, but not yet discovered), Pella (in the Jordan Valley, northwest of Amman in Jordan), Canatha (now Qanawat in Syria) and Raphana (probably north of Umm Qays in Jordan, but not yet discovered either). As part of the Decapolis, these cities shared the common political, cultural, and commercial interests of the other members and enjoyed their Golden Age that lasted for about 150 years.

The Romans left their usual buildings, like theaters and temples, along familiar colonnaded streets in Apamea. It is hard to imagine in today’s desert-like landscape that these cities were blessed with fertile soil and plenty of water, making them favorite stops on the busy trade routes between Europe and Asia. Let us not forget that besides goods and agricultural skills, Greek culture and language widely spread.

Another 30 kilometers onward, we find the town of Gadara, today’s Umm Qays, near the northern border of Jordan with Israel and Syria in the hills above the Jordan Valley. Since Gadara emerged in the wake of Alexander the Great, as well as Pella and Gerasa, it shares most of its history. It became part of the kingdom of the Seleucids, and we know from Polybius that Antiochus III ruled here in 218 BC and that Gadara was coveted by both the Ptolemies and the Seleucids, who captured and recaptured it time and again, confirming the role it played on the trade routes with the east. The Seleucid kings renamed the city Antiochia or Antiochia Semiramis and even another Seleucia, as they turned the city into a center of Greek culture.

Gadara boomed under the Romans after Pompey conquered it in 63 BC. At that time, the reputation of the local poet Meleagros (131-61 BC) had already spread far and wide. He was a much-admired Hellenistic author who wrote an anthology of other poets – a true statement of the city’s high cultural level. Gadara certainly deserved its surname of “Athens of the East” when in the 2^nd and 3^rd centuries AD it became a center for philosophy, literature, and theater.

The ruins of Gadara are far less impressive than those of Gerasa, mainly since most of the city still lies underneath the old Ottoman village from the 18^th-19^th century that has been vacated in recent decades. The spooky streets and buildings are hiding the Roman living quarters. This settlement leans closely to the crumbling walls and has inherited its medieval name of Umm Qays. 

The very top of the hill has been carefully excavated and exposes many of the official buildings. It is always a delight to enter an ancient city over the Cardo, which here is paved with large blocks of black basalt. The Roman Theater on the right almost immediately calls for attention. It is entirely built of black basalt as well and offers seating for 3,000 people. This is generally called the West Theater, as there are remains of another theater on the north side of town, which has largely been dismantled by the locals and recycled for their own contemporary constructions, leaving an overgrown field. Unlike the usual eastern-oriented theaters, this theater is looking to the west so that the theater-goers would be sheltered from the strong eastern wind! The remains date generally from the first and second centuries AD and are overall in good condition. From the top tiers, one has a most wonderful view over this biblical land on the eastern bank of the Jordan River, where the Golan Heights and the Sea of Galilee shimmer on the horizon.

Back on the Cardo, one notices several vaulted spaces underneath the skene where once shops were set up. Even in antiquity, theater-goers could be tempted by food and drinks or other entertainment commodities!

Then the Cardo reaches the Decumanus, which has been well cleared and runs on for at least two kilometers to the west. Its black basalt pavement stands in sharp contrast with the white Corinthian limestone columns that separate the road from the sidewalk lined with shops of all kinds. The deep ruts in the pavement testify to the heavy traffic of carts with goods that were transported along the edge of this high plateau to nearby cities like Pella. In its heyday, this road ran all the way to the Mediterranean coast. Halfway there is an unknown sanctuary and a Nymphaeum next to still overgrown public baths from the 4^th century.

Turning back, one encounters another large and very impressive Nymphaeum set in the same black-and-white stone combination as found on the Decumanus. To the right is an area called the Terrace Church, dating from the 6^th century. This is a strange mixture of all kinds of Roman remains from the 2^nd century, enhanced with columns from Byzantine and early Islamic times. It is not easy to figure out the pattern and discover a central square framing an octagonal space. Each corner of this octagon is marked by a black basalt column, and it is believed to have been an unusual inner sanctum. On the west side, there is a large entrance hall, and on the north side, another open space that looks like an atrium. This may have been a pilgrimage site for some important martyr, although no hard proof has been found so far. Like so many buildings in Gadara, this church was destroyed by the severe earthquake of 747 AD, after which the city was abandoned.

The Decumanus loses itself further east past well-preserved city walls embracing the skeleton remains of the Ottoman houses and their crumbling walls. There must be a hippodrome and a stadium out there somewhere, as well as an aqueduct, but apparently, not much has been exposed.

It is nearly impossible to look at Gadara or Gerasa beyond the Roman influence, for these cities originally did not have any Greek roots. Since they were founded by Alexander, they should be seen as a pure Macedonian concept. It is here that the first seeds of later Hellenism were planted, and this makes me wonder how much of the Macedonian influence went into the Alexandrias founded later on during Alexander’s campaigns.

Was Chandragupta inspired by Alexander?

Chandragupta went down in history as King of India, founder of the Maurya Empire, and ruled from 321 to 297 BC; he was the first to unify India as we know it today. His Greek name was Sandracottus or Sandrokottos, as is reported by Megasthenes, the Greek envoy of Seleucos Nicator, Alexander’s successor in that part of the world.

Yet Chandragupta’s appearance in history started much earlier when, as a youngster, he spent time at Alexander’s camp either as a fugitive or as an exile. He was born in 340 BC, making him only sixteen years younger than Alexander. How and under what circumstances both men met is told in different ways. Some say that after his victory over Porus, Alexander had been approached by Chandragupta to help him overthrow the neighboring Nanda Kingdom, which extended from Punjab to the Bay of Bengal and whose capital was Pataliputra (the Greek Palimbothra), modern Patna. Another theory presented by Plutarch is that Chandragupta, being of lower birth on his mother’s side, sneered at the base origin of his King Xandrames of the Nanda Empire, whose father was a barber. The pot calls the kettle black! Dad had murdered his king to marry the queen with whom he was romantically involved, although Curtius claims that the queen killed her husband with her own hands. Well, if his father did indeed murder the king, this led evidently to the exile of Chandragupta. Whatever version is true, Chandragupta ended up spending time at Alexander’s camp. He must have been 14 or 15 years old at the time, which means that he was about the same age as Philip, Alexander’s father, when he was taken to Thebes as a hostage – in other words, the right age to be influenced to accomplish great deeds (and Chandragupta did not need much conviction, it seems!)   

The fact is that the last king of the Nanda Dynasty was Mahapadma Nanda, and that the collapse of his empire, just east of Porus’ realm, was imminent. It seems that Alexander was informed of this situation while he was at the Hyphasis River (modern Beas). The prospect of including this important and powerful country in his conquest may have been the true reason for Alexander’s decision to march further east and not his dream to reach the end of the world, as is generally assumed. The mutiny of his army changed the course of history. This is, however, where Chandragupta takes over. As soon as Alexander left India, Chandragupta managed to unify the northern tribes and assemble a formidable force, and since Alexander had not overthrown the Nanda Dynasty, he decided to do it himself.

When Alexander died in 323 BC, Chandragupta seized his chance and set out to throw the Macedonians out and successfully conquer Punjab. The Macedonian successors were too busy and too late to realize that they had neglected India in their cutting up of Alexander’s empire at the Partition of Babylon. Besides, Antigonus Monophthalmus, as a self-proclaimed master of Asia, showed little interest in the eastern part of his empire and left it pretty much to rule itself.

Chandragupta needs no further encouragement to dethrone the Nanda king, and he exterminates every member of his family. As a result, he became the first king of the Mauryan Empire in 322 BC. He inherits Nanda’s huge army, which, increased with his own forces, brings it to a total force of 30,000 cavalry, 600,000 infantry, 9,000 elephants, and a multitude of chariots. By now, there is nothing to stop Chandragupta from further expansion, which is favored by the conference of Triparadeisus held by the Diadochi in 321 BC, where they once again failed to make clear provisions for the Indian satrapies. By 317 BC, Chandragupta effectively controlled all of northern India, reaching from the Khyber Pass to the Ganges delta, and he then concentrated on further expansion, becoming eventually the absolute ruler of this new empire that reached from the Himalayas down to the Arabian Sea.

In 309 BC, Seleucos entered a pitched battle with the 70-year-old Antigonus Monophthalmus, who was defeated and withdrew to Syria, leaving Seleucos as the sole ruler of Bactria, Sogdia, and India. Four years later, Seleucos attempts to reconquer the territories west of the Indus, which Alexander had occupied some twenty years before, but he obviously lacks the time and the resources. The best he could do was to reach a diplomatic agreement with Chandragupta, along the same line as the settlement he had previously reached with the Sogdians. This happened after both parties faced each other in a fierce battle in 304 BC, from which Chandragupta emerged victoriously, and where Seleucos ceded the provinces of Arachosia, Gandaris, Paropamisadae, as well as parts of Areia and Gedrosia in exchange for 500 war elephants and their handlers; a marriage alliance completed the compromise.

This settlement of 303 BC could well be inspired by Alexander’s earlier agreement with Porus, and since Antiochus the Great renewed this very treaty a century later, it indicates that it was the most practical solution for all parties involved. It is important to note that the treaty included a guarantee of connubial rights, meaning that the rights of those children born from mixed marriages of Greeks with natives were protected – a small detail but an important one.

None of Alexander’s easternmost territories were ever recovered by any of the Diadochi, and after Seleucos attempted to that end, nobody ever contemplated it again, and all Seleucid kings from Seleucos Nicator I to Antiochus III simply accepted India as semi-independent. This may, in fact, be exactly what Alexander had in mind when he left Porus to rule his own territory and more. Besides, we should not forget the role played by the substantial number of Greek colonists who had to live alongside the native population. The growth of Mauryan power did not mean the Greek settlers were exterminated or expelled. It was a matter of simple judgment; they either adapted to local conditions and native rules to become independent from Macedonia and part of India, or they saw themselves purged.

At this point, the Hindu Kush Mountains, the Greek Paropanisos, became Chandragupta’s western frontier, an inglorious end to Alexander’s eastern conquest, it may seem. Yet all those who ever fought at Alexander’s side had learned his lessons very thoroughly. Seleucos was one of his outstanding pupils, and immediately after the conclusion of the treaty, he sent an envoy to the court of Chandragupta. This was Megasthenes, who spent many years at Palimbothra, the capital of the Mauryan Empire. We owe him some excellent reports about the geography, products, and institutions of India, for he was a unique source of information from that part of the world. His work on Chandragupta’s civil and military administration is considered to be accurate and trustworthy, although only fragments have survived. Strabo interestingly tells us that Megasthenes said we should not believe the old stories about the Indians simply because they never invaded any country outside India, and no foreign army ever invaded India till Alexander. Megasthenes must have been a fine diplomat, for he not only had to comply with Chandragupta but also with his capable advisor and minister Kautilya (also named Chanakya), who wrote down the very first laws and the constitution of the Maurya Empire, which were strictly enforced. This handbook for effectively running an empire, the Arthashastra, contained extensive information about diplomacy and military strategy, but also careful recommendations on taxation, irrigation, coinage, agriculture and mining, manufacturing and trade, and many other useful topics.

It was this Kautilya who was responsible for the administration of Palimbothra, which was headed by a Municipal Commission divided into six boards or committees of five members each, entrusted with specific duties. The administration of the distant provinces was, in turn, placed in the hands of viceroys, usually members of the royal family. The matter of land irrigation was extremely important in India, and Chandragupta made sure that everyone got their fair share, and a special department was created to oversee the land measurements and the sluice regulations. The roads were well-maintained, and milestones were set up at regular intervals of ten stadia; a royal road is said to connect the northwest frontier with Pataliputra, 10,000 stadia long! The general honesty of the people was high on the list of duties of every citizen, and Megasthenes tells us that crimes like theft or giving false evidence were severely punished. Arrian already reported that elephants, horses, and camels were only used by the king, the wealthy, and those of the king’s entourage. All in all, an organization that is very different from that known in the West or even in Persia.

At the summit of his power, Chandragupta had eliminated all his opponents and ruled over an empire larger than what British India ever would be! He owed his power and empire to his enormous army, which was organized and equipped in such a way that it became extremely efficient. Not unlike Alexander’s forces, it was a standing army where each man was on a regular payroll, and the government provided horses, arms, and other equipment. From his Nanda campaign, Chandragupta acquired 8,000 cavalry, 200,000 infantry, 8,000 chariots, and 6,000 elephants. Just imagine what Alexander would have done with such an army force that exceeded his own by far. He definitely could have marched to the end of the earth!

The reality was that the impressive number of troops from the Nanda Dynasty increased Chandragupta’s own troops, totaling his infantry to 600,000, some 30,000 cavalry, and a staggering 9,000 elephants, besides an unspecified number of chariots. His men were very well-equipped, and sources tell us that each cavalry carried two lances (saunia) and a small shield (buckler). All infantrymen were equipped with a broadsword and would additionally have javelins or a bow and arrows. Each elephant, beside its mahout, would typically be manned by three archers, implying a force of 36,000 men. Each chariot, as we have seen during Alexander’s fight at the Hydaspes (see: The Battle of the Hydaspes and the Genius of Alexander), would accommodate two soldiers next to the driver, requiring 24,000 men. If we add up all these numbers, Chandragupta’s army would have reached at least 690,000 men, and that is without counting its followers in the baggage train.

It is obvious that no battle could or would be fought involving the whole of this huge army, but portions of it must have been distributed all over the many provinces of Chandragupta’s newly conquered empire.

Despite such a great achievement, or maybe just because of it, Chandragupta decided to spend his final years in religious devotion as a follower of Jainism. In 298 BC, after a reign of 24 years, he left his throne to his son Bindusara. Chandragupta died shortly afterward as he starved himself to death; his empire, however, would live on for more than a century.

History or legend has it that Chandragupta liked to tell his Greek guests, “I watched Alexander when I was still a young man. Alexander had been within an ace of seizing India because its king was so hated and despised, both for his character and his low birth”. Yes, Alexander might have strolled through Palimbothra’s gardens, admiring its fish ponds, which were not far from the silt-brown fields along the Ganges River. Alexander was only three months away from taking all of India, but his soldiers refused to follow him, not realizing how much this would have meant to their king and eventually to their own conquests.

[Picture credits and links: 
Young Chandragupta from JatLand.org
Map of Nanda Empire
Head of Seleucos from Pompeii
Statue of Chandragupta from Wikimedia
Map of Maurya Empire
Place where Chandragupta died]

A Dedication of Philip III Arrhidaeus and Alexander IV

Strolling through the temporary exhibition about Samothrace at the New Acropolis Museum in Athens, I was surprised to find two odd-looking objects labeled as Dedications of Philip III and Alexander IV.

When Alexander the Great died in 323 BC, there was no heir to the throne of the King of Asia, and his generals had a rough time agreeing on a successor. Alexander’s son with Roxane had not been born yet, and his earlier son with Barsine was never recognized by Alexander. After many flaring discussions, it was decided that Alexander’s simple-minded half-brother Arrhidaeus would share the throne with Roxane’s baby boy under the respective names of Philip III Arrhidaeus and Alexander IV. Neither was to rule as king, at least not at this very early stage.

Here at the museum, this is the first time I have seen artifacts tied to both kings, and I wonder whether these are the only ones. The Dedication dates from between 323, when their co-kingship was implemented, and 317 BC, the year in which Philip III Arrhidaeus was brutally murdered by Olympias.

Samothrace is, of course, the place where Philip II and Olympias, Alexander’s parents, met during an initiation ceremony to the sacred rites of the most secret Mysteries, but why is this island so important that even young Alexander IV and his simple-minded uncle honor it with a dedication of their own?

According to Diodorus, initiation at the Sanctuary of the Great Gods promised an opportunity to “become a better and more pious person.” Divine forces of earth, sky, and sea played a fundamental role in the mysteries that shrouded (and are still shrouding) the island. From as early as the 7^th century BC all the way down to the 4^th century AD, the Sanctuary provided insight into spiritual, political, and cultural life. The intense activity is shown through the host of monuments erected here since they are all set in selective locations throughout the landscape to enhance the initiates’ experience.

     

 

The marble Doric building where the Dedication of Philip III Arrhidaeus and Alexander IV was found would have been the first significant construction the visitor saw when entering the Sanctuary. It stood nine meters high and welcomed the pilgrims with the dedicatory inscription reading “King Philip [and] Alexander to the Great Gods,” a proof – if needed – that both kings ruled equally. I did not find the inscription at the museum; only a fragment of a monumental eagle’s head and a wing bit from the two large eagles that once adorned the construction, probably as acroteria. The Dedication monument was the work of local craftsmen who used two different kinds of marble. For the façade, which counted six columns, Pentelic marble from Attica had the preference, while the sides and back marble came from the nearby island of Thasos, as was common elsewhere in Samothrace. The open chamber is said to have preserved its mosaic floor with a central panel unusually made of rhomboid marble tesserae, which I have not seen at the museum but may still be in situ.

The construction of such a significant monument by the two kings or whoever acted on their behalf was meant to reinforce their rightful succession to Alexander the Great. Using Pentelic marble for its façade was an iconic reference to other great monuments in Athens and to Athenian dedications in other locations. To the visitors of those days, this Dedication would also be seen as Macedonia’s claim to power over mainland Greece.

After this exciting discovery, I spent more time investigating the other artifacts to learn more about Samothrace. The most valuable tools are an excellent reconstruction of the site and a clear map of all the pertaining buildings.

I find another intriguing testimony of Alexander’s heritage in one of the showcases: a tiny gold applique of a lion of Achaemenid origin, once inlaid with precious stones. It has been dated to the 4^th century BC and may be a trophy one of his soldiers brought back from Persia.

There is also the top part of a stele containing a dedication of King Lysimachos of Thrace from between 288 and 281 BC. Based on the surviving first fifteen lines, Lysimachos is honored for restoring sacred lands on the mainland initially granted to Samothrace by either Philip II and Alexander the Great or Philip Arrhidaeus III and Alexander IV. Boundary stones for said sacred land have been found near Alexandroupolis in Greece. Lysimachos is also honored as a friend and benefactor of Samothrace, hence his title of Lysimachus Euergetes as inscribed on the altar erected in his honor and used during annual festivals.

Just a few years later, between 285 and 281 BC, Ptolemy II built a Propylon, one of the most lavishly decorated entrance buildings from Hellenistic times. This must have been an impressive monument since the metopes were an elegant succession of alternating 100 rosettes and 104 garlanded bucrania or ox skulls. It makes you wonder about the richness of the other details.

To remain with the Ptolemaic dynasty, Arsinoe II built a splendid Rotunda at the Sanctuary. It is not clear, however, whether this Rotunda was made while she was married to Lysimachos of Thrace, mentioned above, and her first husband (288-281 BC) or after she became the wife of her brother Ptolemy II, her third husband (273-270 BC). The meaning of the Dedication thus varies accordingly. If the Rotunda was built during her marriage with Lysimachos, it might stand for the alliance of Egypt with Thrace and the northern Aegean. If erected when she married her brother, it could mean to thank Samothrace for sheltering her after fleeing from her second husband, Ptolemy Keraunas. This Rotunda was also decorated with reliefs of alternating rosettes and bucrania, a favorite theme. A lovely rosette and a strange-looking, round and flat tile from the roof are exhibited here.

Much more recent is the Dedication to the Great Gods of Samothrace by the Thessalian League from 170-140 BC. It tells us that their embassy was led by Damothoinos, son of Leontomenes and a member of a prominent family from Pherae; he was the leader of the league in 161/160 BC. This Dedication shows the importance of the Thessalian League after being freed from Macedonian rule.

The best-known sculpture from Samothrace is the famous Nike, now at the Louvre and recently restored and cleaned for the pleasure of our eyes! It has been dated to the 2^nd century BC and was a gift from the people of Rhodes to thank the gods who protected seafarers and granted them victory in war, maybe in commemoration of the Battle of Myonnissos or the victory over Antiochus III at Side in 190 BC.

Yet the Athens exhibition shows another Nike statue, less flashy than this famous one, which is said to be one of four that stood at each corner of the Hieron built between 325 and 150 BC.

Another piece that caught my attention was this lovely frieze of dancing girls. It was found in an imposing building of 34x23 meters that is neither a temenos nor a propylon and thus has been labeled as the Hall of Choral Dancers after the frieze that was discovered inside. Dating from the middle of the 4^th century BC, this Hall is the first marble structure of the Sanctuary, maybe even the oldest and the largest one. The frieze we see here is only a small section of the continuous row of hundreds of dancing maidens running around the entire building. Besides the dancing figures, female musicians also accompanied the long procession. The wealth exposed in this monument leads experts to believe that it was commissioned by an influential donor and that the name of Philip II, Alexander’s father, has fallen since it was here that he met Queen Olympias.

Because of Philip’s and Olympia’s early presence and the splendid monumental dedications made during the later Hellenistic period, it is generally believed that Samothrace played a crucial role in Macedonia’s legacy. I would even add a pivotal role to Alexander’s legacy!