The case of Alexander of Lyncestis

The name Alexander is already very popular in the days of Alexander the Great and may lead to confusion. 

For a start, there was King Alexander of Epirus, Olympias’ brother and Alexander’s uncle. I usually refer to him as Alexandros to make the difference. He is the one who married Alexander’s sister Cleopatra in 336 BC, the day King Philip of Macedonia was assassinated. 

[Expansion of Macedonia from Wikipedia]

Then there is Alexander of Lyncestis, in Upper Macedonia, son of Aeropus and son-in-law of the general and later regent Antipater. He had two brothers, Heromenes and Arrhabaeus, who were soon accused of plotting the murder of Philip II and put to death. Brother Alexander is said to have been the first to proclaim Alexander of Macedonia as king and thus avoided punishment, for now at least. 

In Alexander’s campaign, the Lyncestian was soon appointed to command the Thracian detachment and later the Thessalian cavalry. However, two years later, Parmenion, who was spending the winter near Gordion, caught a messenger carrying a secret letter from the Persian King Darius for Alexander of Lyncestis. It revealed that Darius promised to pay him a thousand talents of gold to kill Alexander and would proclaim him King of Macedonia instead! Parmenion sent the messenger with a trusted escort to Alexander, where the man repeated the same story. 

This was an extremely serious matter that Alexander put before his assembled Companions in order to make the appropriate decision. It was agreed to send a trusted man, a brother of Craterus, to Parmenion. He would travel incognito, dressed as a local and accompanied by guides from Perge, and deliver his message verbally, as it was thought better not to write down anything on a matter of this importance. Alexander’s envoy reached Parmenion without being detected and reported the instructions he was carrying. Alexander of Lyncestis was arrested and put in chains. He was tried for plotting against his king and put in prison. Being the son-in-law of Antipater, acting as the king’s Regent in Macedonia, was an important factor in his favor. 

The Lyncestian was dragged around for about three years, when in 330 BC, in the wake of Philotas’ trial and execution for a similar plot, the Macedonians demanded that he should be tried and punished accordingly as well. When he was brought in from confinement to plead his case, he was faltering and nervous, and found no words to reply and defend himself. This was perceived as a guilty conscience, and the bystanders ran him through with their spears. 

It should be noted that Queen Eurydice I, Alexander’s paternal grandmother, was born in Lyncestis. She married King Amynthas III of Macedonia, the father of Philip II, in 390 BC to consolidate the relations between the two countries.

Saving documents and books in antiquity

Nowadays, saving our documents and information on our computers is very obvious. Before the digital era, we relied on typewriters and printers to distribute our pamphlets, advertisements, letters, and books. 

It is hard to imagine that in antiquity nothing of the kind existed, but then the needs were entirely different. Public information, laws, decrees, and other important notices were inscribed on stone slabs or posted on walls in conspicuous places throughout the city, and eventually shared with other cities.  

Exchanging documents and letters over longer distances, as during Alexander’s campaigns, required writing on papyrus, a lightweight material that could be easily transported. His correspondence with Antipater, Olympias, Aristotle, Sisygambis, governors, and generals all over his ever-growing empire required an active exchange of news and information.

Eumenes and Callisthenes, serving as Alexander’s secretaries, must have been very busy and very organized. We tend to forget that they also kept copies of Alexander’s correspondence, official documents, and perhaps private letters as well. This becomes apparent when Eumenes’ tent went up in flames after a conflict that arose as Nearchus was preparing the fleet to sail the Southern Sea. 

Alexander had exhausted his own treasury and had to borrow money from his friends, including Eumenes, to finance Nearchus’ expedition. His secretary was to contribute 300 talents, but being stingy, he gave only 100 talents. Alexander did not accept Eumenes’ excuse that it was not without difficulty and decided to set his friend’s tent on fire. He expected Eumenes to rush his money out, and thus admit he had been lying. The plan went wrong, and the tent burned down entirely, leaving a clump of smelted gold and silver worth one thousand talents. In the process, Alexander’s archives were reduced to ashes. It is Plutarch who tells us that Alexander asked several governors and generals to send Eumenes copies of the papers that had been destroyed. This proves that Alexander did indeed keep a record of his correspondence! 

We so often read of papers and books that have only partially survived or are only known second-hand or not at all, except for the title. This situation is inherent to the mindset of the time and to the degradation of the natural support used (papyrus). 

Papyrus is a vegetal product and a very practical writing support, but it is also fragile. It has been calculated that papyrus documents had a lifespan of a maximum of one hundred years. This may have suited the needs at the time, but the chances of having them still around two thousand years later are very slim. 

Chances of survival were greater if there were many copies of a text, like, for instance, for theater plays. Yet, professional writers were expensive, and the costs were borne by the author. In Roman times, wealthy citizens could afford to have certain scrolls copied for their own use, but they would hardly survive after the Fall of the Roman Empire. 

Under exceptional conditions, some scrolls or bits of papyrus, however, reached us. The most telling example is the scrolls that survived the fire in Herculaneum after the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Only recently have we been able to decipher their content without having to unroll the brittle carbonized scrolls (see: Reading the papyrus scrolls from Herculaneum). 

Another situation developed in Egypt. The garbage dump in Oxyrhynchus that served as fuel to the local population in the 19^th century appeared to contain a huge amount of hitherto unknown papyrus texts ranging from the Ptolemaic era to the Muslim conquests in the 7^th century AD. The papyri consist of private letters and public documents, such as a variety of official correspondence, theater plays, records, sales, wills, and inventories. The deciphering of the papyri is ongoing, as only a handful of scholars are capable of recognizing where the bit of papyrus text belongs. 

When parchment was introduced in the 2^nd century BC, documents stood a better chance of survival, although even animal skins had their limits. However, parchment was extremely expensive to make. 

With the passage of time, interest and taste evolved and changed. Treatises, studies, analyses, and even books and poems went out of fashion and vanished altogether. 

As the writing supports were decaying, it is not surprising that documenting Alexander’s life is a nearly impossible task, despite the second-hand recordings by Arrian, Diodorus, Curtius, and Plutarch, who could still access some original documents (see: Eyewitness accounts of Alexander’s life).

[Top picture Derveni papyrus 340 BC, Thessaloniki Museum.
Bottom picture from Archaeology News, Digs & Discoveries] 

“To the strongest”

“To the strongest” are the last words Alexander pronounced on his deathbed in Babylon when pressed to name his successor. 

His Companions and generals were obviously panicking at the thought of being left behind so many miles away from Macedonia without their king to guide them. They desperately needed him. 

Ever since he became king in 336 BC Alexander had shown his commanders the way and led his men by example. He certainly did not expect to die at the age of 33 and not in his bed. How could he have foreseen to be incapacitated and unable to be his own self? 

The only person who had always been at his side and enjoyed his full confidence had died the previous year. Hephaistion had been officially appointed as his Chiliarch, his second in command. The sudden death of his dearest friend left him in total disarray and maddened by grief. He was truly alone at a time when he had to make the hardest decision of his life and elect a successor. “Who, Alexander? Tell us who!” are the words Oliver Stone put in the mouth of Ptolemy. How appropriate! 

“To the strongest” has often been understood as a weak and evasive statement, although, in reality, Alexander’s last words are one final proof of his genius! Had he not been so much afflicted by his illness and impaired by the high fever, he would have found the strength to elaborate a solution to the Succession with his close Companions. He would likely have appointed Perdiccas. Even so, Alexander’s decision may have lost its power two years onward, and the commanders would have taken the matter into their own hands anyway.

Of course, everyone around the king’s deathbed still hoped to be appointed and hear his name called out. However, matters were not as straightforward as one might think. On the one hand, he had to name an heir since, as King, he needed a successor, and on the other hand, as commander in chief of his army, he had to appoint a capable military leader. 

At this point, his most experienced generals were Craterus and Perdiccas. Yet, Craterus was in Cilicia taking 10,000 veterans back to Macedonia with Alexander’s instructions to replace Antipater as Regent in Pella. Perdiccas was in Babylon and took the king’s succession into his hands. 

Roxane was pregnant, but the child had not been born yet, and there was no guarantee it would be a boy. Alexander had never recognized Heracles, his son by Barsine. In any case, Roxane’s son and Heracles were too young to rule, and the generals would have to choose a Regent pending their coming of age. The next best option was to push Arrhideus forward. He was Alexander’s simple-minded half-brother and not capable of becoming the de facto ruler. As a result, Perdiccas was elected Regent at the Partition of Babylon. 

This implied, however, that he would rule over Alexander’s Companions and generals. Perdiccas’ success was short-lived, though, and in 321 BC he was sidelined at Triparadeisus as the commanders decided to divide the kingdom among themselves. When Perdiccas escorted Alexander’s remains to be buried in Macedonia, Ptolemy hijacked the mummified body and took it to Egypt. In a desperate attempt to recover his king’s remains, Perdiccas failed totally to march his men across the Nile. His losses were so excessive that his soldiers revolted and killed him. 

These were uncertain times for all the parties involved in the Succession Wars. They all had the ambition to rule over Alexander’s Empire and felt equally qualified to do so, but none shared Alexander’s vision. Ultimately, they eliminated each other until the empire was divided between Ptolemy, Seleucos, Antigonus, and Cassander (see: Dividing the Spoils. The War for Alexander’s Empire by Robin Waterfield).

None of the great men who fought alongside Alexander for almost twelve years emerged as the strongest. They all had learned a lot, but none could come close to Alexander’s charisma and exceptional genius.

Remembering Alexander’s birthday

We can be certain that Alexander never expected a hoard of tetradrachms with his effigy to be found and cherished nearly 2,500 years after his death. If that is not a worthy birthday gift, what is? 

This find dates from 2017, when a farmer recovered the coins from his land near Batman, on the confluence of the Tigris River and the Batman River in southeastern Turkey. The coins were all Alexander tetradrachms minted in the period between 332 and 322 BC. 

The coins fell into the hands of a Turkish collector, who said the hoard was complete, although no container was recorded. Since then, all the coins have been sold and disappeared from the radar. This means we only have the collector’s word for the information that has transpired. 

The coins were minted in several of the 25 known locations, such as Amphipolis, Aradus (Syria), Side, Sidon, and to a larger extent (one-third) in Babylonia. 

The Amphipolis mint was very active during the regency of Antipater, although the silver did not originate from local mines. The majority of the precious metal came from looting, and by far the largest amounts were collected by Alexander from the Achaemenid Treasuries in Babylon, Persepolis, Pasargadae, and Ecbatana (see: Harpalos’ mismanagement or is it Alexander’s?). We will remember that the king borrowed money when he started his invasion of Asia and took the bullion from the cities as he conquered them. 

The Batman hoard may have belonged to one of the Greek and/or Balkan mercenaries Alexander disbanded in late 325 or early 324 BC, or to one of his Macedonian veterans he sent home after the mutiny at Opis in 324 BC. This last group of 10,000 veterans, led by Craterus, was moving slowly through Cilicia when the news of Alexander’s death reached them. In antiquity, the Batman region was on the border between the satrapies of Armenia and Mesopotamia, not far from Cilicia. For that reason, it makes sense to link the hoard to the demobilized soldiers commanded by Craterus. 

It is important to realize that the Alexander coins were minted according to the standard Attic drachma of 4.3 grams. It has been estimated that between 333 and 290 BC, approximately 60 million tetradrachms were produced (see: A few words about Alexander mints and coins). More importantly, every soldier, veteran, and foreigner was totally familiar with Alexander’s picture and trusted the value of the coin bearing his image. For a long time, coins with Alexander's image kept circulating because his veteran soldiers were used to receiving their pay in tetradrachms!  

It remains questionable whether or how many of the 60,000,000 tetradrachms will ever be found. As the coins keep surfacing, we have to thank Alexander for his long-lasting legacy. By wishing him “Many Happy Returns,” we truly pay tribute to the timeless legacy he has left us. 

The roaring times of the Antigonid dynasty

The Wars of the Diadochi broke out after Alexander’s death in 323 BC and his huge Empire went to “the strongest” as he may have intended to say on his deathbed in Babylon. However, it did not go to one single ruler as none of his generals had his vision or charisma. 

After endless battles, intermarriages, and lots of intrigues, Alexander’s generals eliminated each other and, in the end, started four distinct dynasties. Ptolemy initiated the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt, and Seleucos the Seleucid dynasty in Asia. Cassander, the son of Antipater, founded the Antipatrid dynasty (the ancient Kingdom of Macedonia). In 306 BC, Antigonus Monophthalmus (the One-Eyed) declared himself and his son Demetrios kings. By doing so, the Antigonid dynasty replaced the Antipatrid dynasty. 

Antigonus may well have served under Philip II and lost an eye during the Siege of Perinthus in 340 BC. He later joined Alexander on his Persian campaign and was promoted to satrap of Phrygia in 334 BC. His main duty was to maintain Alexander’s line of communication and supply. As a result of the Partition of Babylon following Alexander’s death, he also received Pamphylia and Lycia. 

During the Wars of the Diadochi, Antigonus picked up momentum and managed to rule over all of Asia Minor, Greece, Syria, Phoenicia, and northern Mesopotamia. Fearing his increasing power, Seleucos, Ptolemy, Lysimachos, and Cassander joined forces against him. Antigonus was defeated and killed at the Battle of Ipsus in 301 BC after which his realm was split between Lysimachos and Seleucos. 

However, Antigonus’ son Demetrios Poliorcetes, by now having earned his stripes as Besieger survived said battle and took control of Macedonia in 294 BC. Cassander died in 297 BC without a successor as his sons had eliminated each other, paving the way for Demetrios to become King of Macedonia. Not for long because in 288 BC he was driven out by Pyrrhus and Lysimachos, and died as a prisoner of Seleucos. 

It was not until 277 BC that Demetrios’ son, Antigonus II Gonatas, regained the title of King of Macedonia. He ruled till about 239 BC, to be succeeded by Demetrios II Aetolicus, followed by Antigonus III Doson ten years later. 

Meanwhile, Rome became the rising power in the eastern Mediterranean, and soon the first conflicts with Antigonid Macedonia led by King Philip V (221-179 BC) erupted. His successor, Perseus, put up a fierce resistance against the expanding Roman Empire that coveted Macedonia’s wealth. The Romans conquered Antigonid Macedonia in 168 BC at the Battle of Pydna, turning Alexander’s homeland into a mere Roman Province. 

Although very eventful, the Antigonid dynasty was short-lived and lasted less than 150 years. 

Macedonia’s grand palaces of Aegae, Pella, Bylazora, and Dimitrias were thoroughly looted, and the houses of the wealthy Macedonians were plundered. Statues, paintings, jewelry, and other wonderful, precious artifacts from Greece and Asia were up for grabs. Roman generals and common soldiers alike took as much as they could carry. Only the gods know what happened to the collection of Macedonia’s precious libraries.

Zopyrion, governor of Thracia in Macedonian service

Thracia had been annexed by Philip II in his efforts to extend the power of the Macedonian kingdom and to safeguard its borders. After his death, Alexander had to stamp his authority and his rule over the many tribes once again, all the way to the mighty Danube River to protect his back before setting out to Asia. 

One would expect the northern tribes to live happily ever after, especially since Alexander took a substantial contingent of Thracians with him as far as India and back under the command of their general Sitalces (see: Sitalces, commander of the Thracians). 

However, the many Thracian tribes never united and kept fighting among themselves, putting their individual interests above all. It was one of Antipater’s tasks, as Regent of Macedonia, to enforce the peace. 

[Helmet from Zopyrion's army, found in Olanesti, Moldova]

Ancient historians have left us very little information about what happened in Alexander’s homeland while he moved further east. One governor of Thrace is known as Zopyrion. His name caught my attention after seeing the picture of a helmet found in Olanesti, Moldova, that is linked to Zopyrion’s army. 

Unfortunately, the only reliable source of Zopyrion comes from Curtius. He simply stated that the governor made an expedition against the Getae and that his army was overwhelmed by sudden tempests and gales. He allegedly lost 30,000 men - a figure that is probably exaggerated. At that time, about 324 BC, Alexander was in Persia, facing the misconduct of many satraps he had left in charge before moving on to Central Asia. 

However, another, much less trustworthy story is told by Justin. This one circulates widely on the internet, mostly repeating the content of the Wikipedia page. 

Justin, in full Marcus Junianus Justinus, probably lived in the 2nd/3rd century AD and got hold of the 44 books called the Philippic Histories by Pompeius Trogus that are now lost. Justin decided that Trogus’ history was far too voluminous, and he wrote his own abridged version. Sadly, accuracy was not Justin’s strong point, and he was not very concerned about his sources or the chronology of the events, already a weak point in Trogus’ account. 

As a result, the vivid description found on Wikipedia and the like is fraudulent with pitfalls. Here, Zopyrion is said to have assembled an army of 30,000 men. He started his march along the southern banks of the Black Sea and laid siege on Olbia, a colony of Miletus. At that time, Miletus was already incorporated into Alexander’s Empire, but Olbia was not. Left on its own, the city managed to survive the siege by granting freedom to its slave population and citizenship to the foreigners living there. An alliance with the Scythians counteracted Zopyrion’s ambition even further, and he ran out of resources. At this point, he ended his siege of Olbia and started to retreat. At the same time, his navy was apparently hit by a severe storm, devastating his fleet. In Justin’s account, Zopyrion’s campaign was short-lived, and he died with his troops at the end of 331 BC. He also reports that Antipater, as regent of Macedonia, conveyed the news to Alexander in a letter that also informed him that his uncle and brother-in-law, Alexander of Epirus, was killed in Italy. 

While it is correct that Alexander of Epirus was killed in Italy in 331 BC, the ambitious campaign of Zopyrion took place seven years later, in 324 BC. In the end, the details based on Justin’s account may contain some truth, but it is hard to filter them out. 

Seuthes III, king of Thracia

Seuthes III, King of Thracia or, more precisely, of the Odrysian tribe, caught my attention after seeing pictures of his splendid bronze head. The work is of such high quality that it could easily fit the heyday of Hellenism or the Renaissance. Some scholars claim that it was made by Lysippos or in his style. It emanates a sense of power as the face stares back with alabaster and glass-paste-inlaid eyes glancing from under the eyelashes and brows made of copper strips. 

The head of Seuthes was found in his tomb, not far from Kazanlak in modern Bulgaria. The gravesite is one of the many in the Valley of the Thracian Kings and not far from the so-called Tomb of Kazanlak (see: Valley of the Thracian Kings), initially attributed to King Seuthes. 

Seuthes’ rule is roughly dated to 331-300 BC. The news of his ascent to the throne reached Alexander after he set out for Asia in 334 BC. Antipater certainly informed him of this new power on his northern borders. The King of Thracia outlived Alexander (see: Thracian Tombs at Doxipara, Greece) and got involved in the War of the Diadochi. 

Seuthes rebelled against the arrival of Lysimachos, who inherited Thrace after Alexander’s death. In the early stage, Lysimachos occupied only the coastal region, but soon his ambition brought him to conquer the hinterland. He faced Seuthes in combat twice, and eventually, Lysimachos established his authority, and they signed a peace treaty. 

Seuthes has preserved his autonomy, although history does not focus much on him after 310 BC. Coins reveal that he still ruled in 297 BC when Cassander of Macedonia died. Another source is the inscription from Seuthopolis, tentatively dated between the 290s and the 280s BC. It mentions Seuthes III, his wife or widow Berenice (possibly a member of Lysimachos’ family), and their sons, Hebryzelmis, Teres, Satocus, and Sadalas, treating with King Spartocus of Cabyle. Cabyle had been conquered by Philip II in 341 BC and populated with rebellious Macedonians. 

King Seuthes built his capital of Seuthopolis around 320 BC (see: Philip’s Macedonia also included today’s Bulgaria). It was a well-planned city whose remains were flooded after the construction of a dam on the Tundzha River in 1956. 

Initially, the king’s tomb was part of a monumental temple inside the Kosmatka Mound, one of the largest in Thrace. The mound from the second half of the 5th century BC is approximately 20 meters high with a diameter of 90 meters! It contains a corridor, a circular domed room, and a small chamber made of granite blocks. The space may have been used as a sanctuary for Orphic rites. Shortly before the death of Seuthes, the construction was entirely renovated, and the small chamber was converted into a funerary room. It was closed with a two-folding marble door, not unlike what we know from Macedonian tombs. After Seuthes’ funeral, access to the circular room and the grave chamber was walled; the corridor was filled with stones and soil. The very façade had been carefully buried under the mound. 

Seuthes’ tomb was discovered in 2004 and yielded an impressive number of artifacts. In the passageway, archaeologists found the skeleton of a horse. Inside the funerary chamber was a full suit of armor: a bronze helmet showing a picture of Nike, a pair of greaves, remains of a leather breastplate, two iron swords, and ten spearheads. Also in the room were two iron strigils, gold and silver kylices, a bronze and a silver phial, a pair of scissors (how unique!), a silver and two alabaster jugs, a box with silver and bronze jewels, and three wine amphorae from Thasos, one of which was still sealed. Smaller items were also recovered, such as golden horse trappings with pictures of humans, animals, and plants, and sword sheath decorations. On the funeral bed, they found a golden oak wreath, otherwise known from Macedonian graves. 

It is noteworthy that the helmet and some of the silver objects carried the inscription ΣΕΥΘΟΥ, connecting the tomb to King Seuthes III – also confirmed by the gold coins and the bronze bust of the owner found some seven meters in front of the façade. 

We can only dream about the wealth still hidden inside the many mounds of Bugaria’s Valley of the Thracian Kings.

[Top picture from Wikipedia, Natl Museum of Sofia. 
Second picture from Wikipedia, Rossitza Ohridska-Olson. 
Bottom picture from http://www.kroraina.com/thracia/gk/index.html]

Lysimachos in the wake of Alexander – Part I

Lysimachos was in Babylon at the time of Alexander’s death in 323 BC. Almost immediately, anarchy erupted as the king had no successor. Every single one of his generals felt entitled to succeed Alexander pending the coming of age of his yet unborn son. 

The War of the Diadochi had begun and would last for the next forty years or so. The generals took sides, changed sides, and made peace treaties but coveted each other’s possessions soon after. Their lust for power led them to conquer ever more land. They eliminated each other systematically until around 280 BC; four contenders remained: Ptolemy in Egypt, Seleucos in Asia, Antipater / Cassander in Macedonia/Greece, and Lysimachos in Thrace. 

Lysimachos’ origin is obscure, and the best guess is that he was born around 361 BC to Thessalian parents living in Pella. He was educated at the court of Philip and was probably one of his Bodyguards. He was only a few years older than Alexander, and we can safely assume that he joined the young prince in Mieza to attend Aristotle’s teaching with the other selected young men. 

Historians hardly mention Lysimachos in Alexander’s early campaigns, although he was present throughout the king’s conquests of Persia as one of his trusted Bodyguards. This lack of information does not imply that Lysimachos was not a valued element in Alexander’s organization. Many positions beyond that of a general were of the utmost importance. Take, for instance, the logistics of the entire enterprise, or the scouting parties to locate otherwise hidden enemies or find the appropriate location for the following camping site, or escorting Queen Sisygambis and her retinue till their arrival at Susa, and many other tasks. 

Lysimachos joined the ranks of the Companion Cavalry, maybe after several of Alexander’s masterly reshuffling of the army according to his needs. 

Except for him being mauled by a lion in Syria, he was not documented until 328 BC, when Alexander crossed the Hydaspes River. There is no further information. 

Lysimachos participated in the siege of Sangala (see: The siege of Sangala). Alexander lost less than one hundred men in this fierce fight, but an excessive number of 1200 soldiers were wounded, including Lysimachos. 

He was evidently present at the Susa Wedding in 324 BC, but we don’t know the name of his bride. Since she is not mentioned when he moves to Thracia, we may conclude that he left her behind after Alexander’s death, at which time he became ruler of Thracia. 

The position of Thracia was strategically crucial as the land extended to the Black Sea and the Hellespont, both major links with Asia. Upon arrival, Lysimachos faced the rebellious Thracian tribes fighting each other. Their most powerful dynasty was the Seuthes. However, Lysimachos was quickly able to establish his authority. 

As the War of Alexander’s Successors raged on with the other generals fighting among themselves, Lysimachos managed to stay away from their intrigues. 

In 321 BC, to stabilize his position further, he decided to marry Nicaea, Antipater’s daughter, after Perdiccas had refused her hand. This alliance secured his position vis-à-vis both Antipater and Cassander. The couple would have three children: one son, Agathocles, and two daughters. 

In 315 BC, a revolt broke out among the cities on the Black Sea. Antigonus Monophthalmus, who reigned over most of Asia Minor, saw an opportunity to annex Thrace to his own territory and stirred up the local tribes against their king. Once again, Lysimachos managed to suppress the revolt and consolidate his power. Peace was reached in 311 BC. 

This revolt drew him into the Succession Wars, and he sided with Cassander, Ptolemy, and Seleucos against Antigonus Monophthalmus. In 309 BC, to secure the Hellespont, he built a new city, Lysimachia, in a commanding location on the Chersonese peninsula. 

By 305 BC, all the contestants in the Wars of the Diadochi adopted the title of king and Lysimachos followed suit by assuming the royal title as well. He was now an equal player in the succession game of the thrones. 

In 302 BC, Lysimachos again joined forces with Cassander to conquer Asia Minor from Antigonus Monophthalmus. As winter approached, he set up camp in Herakleia Pontus, where he met Amastris, granddaughter of Queen Sisygambis, who had been given as wife to Craterus at the Susa Wedding. She left her husband after he took Arsinoe of Egypt as his wife, who became the widowed Queen of Herakleia. So, Lysimachos married Amastris, but this marriage didn’t last long, for soon afterward, he decided to take as spouse Arsinoe, daughter of Ptolemy. Consequently, Amastris left Lysimachos and returned to Herakleia Pontus (see: Time to reconnect with Princess Amastris). 

In fact, with his marriages, Lysimachos was in line with the other Successors or contenders who still aimed at re-establishing Alexander’s empire. Marriage was much cheaper than war to conquer more land.

 [continued in Part II]

Who is Alexander? Part II

[Continued from Part 1 - Who is Alexander?]

Alexander heads for Asia at twenty-two, leaving Macedonia in the hands of his father’s trusted general Antipater as Regent. He sets out with an army of about 40,000 infantry and 5,000 cavalry. The gods are with him all the way. The first opposition happens in a tiny corner of Asia Minor, on the banks of the Granicus River. Darius III, King of Persia, King of Kings, believes that his presence is not required and merely delegates the confrontation to a mercenary in his service, a Greek on top of that, called Memnon. Well, Memnon, although a highly skilled general and Alexander’s most formidable opponent, is defeated. Nothing can stop Alexander now from taking one city after another, one port after another, all along the west coast of today’s Turkey. 

A year later, Alexander will face King Darius in person at the Pinarus River near Issus. The Persian army was huge compared to the Macedonian, but it was outmaneuvered during the first minutes of the battle. King Darius panics and flees into the backcountry. By leaving the battlefield, Alexander automatically emerges victorious. 

Both kings meet again, two years onwards, in a decisive confrontation on Persian soil near Arbela, a place better known as Gaugamela. It is a fight worthy of David and Goliath, where Alexander, with his 50,000 men, stands up against Darius’ troops, which may be 250,000 and has been exaggerated to 500,000. Whatever the numbers, his opponent counted many times more soldiers than his own force! From the tactical point of view, the battle proves to be such prowess that it is still taught at the Military Academy of West Point today. Alexander attacked an empire that was ten times bigger than his! 

Alexander’s accomplishments reached far beyond winning battles. He took on the organization of the entire enterprise, working out the logistics, relentlessly inspiring his army, and caring for all involved. Everyone looked up at him for guidance. 

Alexander’s empire extended from Greece to India and from Uzbekistan to Egypt at the height of his power. His army and baggage train in Asia must have counted at least one hundred thousand men. This mass of people inevitably included merchants, peddlers, blacksmiths, tailors, stone cutters, shipbuilders, entertainers, carpenters, cooks, architects, masons, road builders, and whores. Alexander managed to take his dismantled ships and catapult towers with him on the road so he could assemble them whenever needed. The word prefab was invented only eons later. 

The king moved all these people through the scorching deserts of the Karakum and the Gedrosian. He took them over the snow-capped mountains of the Zagros and the Hindu Kush. Also across swift-running rivers such as the Euphrates and Tigris, Oxus and Jaxartes, Indus, and entire Punjab. Just try to picture that crowd of soldiers, horses, followers, and equipment trudging through uncharted territories. It is dazzling! 

Alexander organized a government adapted to each and every land and tribe he conquered. He founded cities at strategic trade-road crossings, many of which still exist today. His task was absolutely colossal, and Alexander always was the driving force. Alexander also was a visionary, one we would love to have around today. He welded the world into one country.

Neither his Macedonians nor the Greeks were ready to comprehend the grandeur of his conquests, their vastness or scale. He made excellent use of the accumulated treasuries kept in the Royal Persian vaults, minting vast amounts of gold, silver, and bronze coins. The coins had Alexander’s image stamped on them, which was a somewhat new concept for until then, only gods were worthy of such a favor. The Alexander coins were known and accepted all over the empire. It was the euro of antiquity! 

Finally, there is Alexander’s legacy, i.e., the impact of Greek fashion, culture, and art on the occupied territories – a phenomenon that went down into history as Hellenism. From Athens to the Indus, the official language was Greek and remained so for nearly one thousand years until Islam took over with the use of Arabic. We owe it to Hellenism that the first statues of Buddha were made, that the first Library of Alexandria in Egypt was created, and that the Romans rose to power. Christianity spread so smoothly thanks to the usage of Greek, and the Renaissance is nothing less than a renewed connection with Hellenism. 

All of Alexander’s cities were built according to the Hippodamian plan with right-angled streets, including familiar buildings like temples, gymnasiums, agoras, theaters, and stadiums. Alexander’s love for games, sports competitions, and theatre contests with playwriters and actors traveling thousands of miles is another tradition that was continued for centuries deep into Central Asia and India. 

Our world would not be what it is today had it not been for Alexander. No other man in history impacted the world as much as Alexander the Great. Nobody conquered and ruled at the level of Alexander’s high standards, and nobody ever will.

Please consult my book for the full story of his conquests and achievements: "Alexander the Greatwas here, and so was I.”