A still sealed Etruscan tomb

A sealed and thus unlooted tomb always calls for a celebration. This time, our attention goes to an Etruscan tomb from the 7^th century BC. Although well before Alexander’s days, we should keep in mind that time passed more slowly then. Life in the 7^th century BC was not so different from what it was 300 years later. 

The discovery was made in San Giuliano, some 70 kilometers northwest of Rome. 

[Picture from Popular Mechanics. Hans-Georg Roth//Getty Images]

Archaeological excavations have exposed about 600 tombs since 2016, but all had been looted at one time or another. Moreover, no other tomb of this age has ever been excavated using modern techniques. 

Inside this sealed tomb, archaeologists uncovered four skeletons, possibly two couples, resting on carved stone beds. They were surrounded by at least 100 grave goods, varying from ceramic vases and iron weapons to bronze and silver ornaments. Further study and analysis will eventually provide more detailed information. 

Most of Etruscan history remains shrouded in mystery. The Etruscans built their fortune from their extensive trade with the Celts in the north and Magna Graecia in the south. Their richly decorated and furnished tombs are proof of their success. They left us practically no literature, and we have to rely on second-hand reports and comments by Greek and Latin authors. 

Under what circumstances the Etruscans were incorporated into the Roman Empire towards the end of the 4^th century BC is still unclear. The present settlement somehow survived the Roman occupation and medieval knighthood, to be finally abandoned towards 1300 AD.

Alexander’s missed voyage to conquer the West

Alexander always planned ahead, far ahead even. He was a true genius juggling many problems, projects, and strategies (see: Eyewitness accounts of Alexander's life). 

His most significant projects, or at least their outlines, were put on paper, as we may conclude from the to-do list the king left upon his death, as mentioned by Diodorus. We have no reason to believe Alexander’s ambition was a utopian dream. After all, conquering the then-known world in less than ten years is a superhuman achievement. Nobody before or after Alexander succeeded. Nothing could stop Alexander – except his own death. 

It has been generally accepted that Alexander aimed to conquer the western Mediterranean, and the idea is consistent with his character. However, Diodorus’ text may be a list of ideas rather than real plans, as we all would imagine. 

Besides his plan to build colossal temples and a mausoleum for his father, there was the project to build a thousand warships, larger than triremes, in Phoenicia, Syria, Cilicia, and Cyprus. This construction had already started while Alexander was in Babylon and alive. He planned to conquer Carthage. On the way, along the coast of Libya, he would create a string of safe havens and shipyards. Eventually, this strategy would lead him to Iberia and Magna Graecia, including Sicily, where many Greek colonists had established themselves centuries earlier. 

In the end, the Romans attacked the Carthaginians in Sicily in the First Punic War, 60 years after Alexander’s death. A second war shifted their terrain to Iberia, which was largely occupied by the Carthaginians (see: Carthage Antique, des origines jusqu’à l’invasion Vandale). We can only guess how Alexander would have handled the confrontation, especially since the power of Carthage was different in his days. 

On his way to Carthage, Alexander would need to secure the hinterland to protect his newly built harbors along the North African coast. To this effect, he conceived the construction of a road as far as the Pillars of Heracles (Gibraltar). The project materialized 2,500 years later when Mussolini built a 2,000 km-long highway, the Litoranea, running from Tunisia all the way to the Egyptian border (see: Cyrene, founded by the Greeks). We may wonder whether this was Alexander’s megalomania or far-sightedness. 

Greek immigrants searching for fertile lands and a better life had already colonized a significant part of the western Mediterranean. Around 600 BC, the Phocaeans (from modern Foça), who fled Asia Minor after a siege by the Persians, established themselves in southern France, where they founded the city of Massalia, modern Marseille. By 575 BC, these settlers founded regional colonies in Agde (Agathe Tyche), Antibes, Nice (Niké), and Monaco. 

With time, these colonists went further inland and spread all over Provence. The city of Arelate, modern Arles, occupied a strategic position where goods traveled up and down the River Rhone after they had been transhipped from Massalia. Most of those settlements are best known by their Roman names: Orange, Vaison-la-Romaine, and Glanum, although their origin was much older. 

A photographer friend of mine, Andrew Squires, explored Provence. His vision was to create images of the region, including Glanum, that translate the remains into what it once was. He published a splendid work of art as an iBook (with Apple) under the name Provence Mysterious. 

The Phoceans from Massalia, about the same time as they expanded in Provence, created circa 550 BC the trading post of Emporion, Roman Ampurias, and Rhoda, modern Rossas in Spain. Both cities, connected by a long sandy beach, served as stopover ports in the Greek expansion in the western Mediterranean. Geographically speaking, Emporion occupies the southwestern end of the Golfe de Lion, opposite Massalia. 

The first colonization of Magna Graecia happened earlier than elsewhere in that part of the Mediterranean. It started in Cumae, founded around 740 BC by emigrants from Chalcis and Kyme. Spartans emigrated to Taras, later named Tarentum. It was soon followed by new colonies established by the Achaeans in Metapontum, Sybaris, and Croton. In 733 BC, Greek settlers from Corinth arrived on the small island of Ortygia and founded Syracuse.

In the 6th century BC, Athenian settlers founded Thurii. Around 580 BC, colonists from Gela (Sicily), Crete, and Rhodes founded Akragas (Agrigento). 

Many of these initially Greek colonies became influential cities in their own right, creating their own towns. A good example is Sicily, where the new colonies fought the Carthaginians, the Romans, and each other, seeking their own ideals (see: Syracuse rivaled Athens to be the most powerful city). 

In 535 BC, Phocaean refugees established the colony of Elea, home of the Eleatic School created by the philosopher Parmenides (see: Magna Graecia, the forgotten Greek legacy). In 433 BC, the colony of Tarentum founded Herakleia, and the Achaeans founded Poseidonia, Roman Paestum. 

These relentless fluxes of Greek emigrants were no secret to Alexander and his contemporaries, meaning he was well aware and informed about the western Mediterranean – something we tend to forget! 

An excellent example of the high skills and wealth in the western Mediterranean is the so-called Riace bronzes retrieved off the coast of Calabria ( see: More about Magna Graecia: a testimony from Calabria). Archaeologists disagree on whether they represent warriors, athletes, or gods. Consequently, they are called “Riace A,” created between 460 and 450 BC, and “Riace B,” between 430 and 420 BC. Let’s keep in mind that these statues are the kind of artwork that existed a century before Alexander. 

Although extensive, the above-mentioned list of Greek colonists in the western Mediterranean is far from complete but long enough to prove their impressive presence. They often were caught in the expansionist attacks of the Carthaginians and, alternatively, of the Romans. Alexander would have to face both sooner or later. With his seasoned Macedonians, he would have created a Greek/Hellenistic world instead of the Latin one that Rome imposed on Western Europe. How different our world would have been!

Two more temples excavated in Paestum

The site of Paestum in southern Italy and once part of Magna Graecia is known for its three well-preserved temples. One is dedicated to Poseidon (hence the city’s Greek name of Poseidonia), the second to Athena although originally attributed to Ceres, and the third one to Hera. The last one is the oldest of the three and counts an uneven number of columns. At the time of my first visit in the 1970s, it was defined as a Basilica (see: Experiencing the perfection of a Greek temple). 

[Picture from Italy Mama Mia!]

Meanwhile, two more Doric temples have been located close to the ancient city walls. The best-preserved one from the 5th century BC has kept its stylobate or temple floor measuring 11.5x7.5 meters with outlines of the cella. The cella or noas would have held the statue of the divinity to which the temple was dedicated. The remains of Doric capitals were very similar to those belonging to the Temple of Hera mentioned above. 

The second temple apparently was older and probably collapsed during the 6th century BC. Some architectural elements have been salvaged and reused for the construction of the first temple. 

Archaeological excavations are still ongoing in Paestum as documented in an earlier blogpost Luxurious Greek villa revealed in Paestum.

An introduction to Pyrrhus of Epirus

It was quite a surprise to stand face-to-face with Pyrrhus in Albania. It happened at the entrance to the Skanderberg Museum in Kruje, where his life-sized bust stood right next to the imposing relief figure of Skanderbeg, Albania’s hero. 

Pyrrhus of Epirus was a great-nephew of Olympias and cousin of Alexander the Great – not a small introduction. He was born in c.319 BC – not the right time to be the heir to the Molossian throne of Epirus. He got caught up in the fiery dispute between the sons of Cassander and Thessalonica, and, reigning briefly as a minor, he had to flee his homeland. He joined the court of Demetrios I (Poliorketes) as an exile, and in 301 BC, aged 18, he fought at the Battle of Ipsus. 

As a pawn in the War of the Diadochi, Demetrios, to befriend Ptolemy, gave him Pyrrhus as a hostage. That’s how Pyrrhus arrived in Alexandria. Well, it was not the worst place to grow up, and Pyrrhus most certainly took advantage of the situation, not unlike what Philip II had done at the court of Thebes. He made his way in Egypt and eventually married one of Ptolemy’s daughters, Antigone. 

Four years later, in 297 BC, with Ptolemy’s support, Pyrrhus returned to Epirus and began taking control of his own life. He started expanding his kingdom by annexing Illyria. His ambitions were not small, for when Antigone died, Pyrrhus made three diplomatic marriages to live peacefully with his neighbors. His first wife was Lanassa, the daughter of Agathocles, tyrant of Syracuse. Her dowry was the islands of Leucas and Corcyra (modern Corfu). The next bride was the daughter of King Audoleon of the Paeonians living north of Macedonia. His third marriage was to Bircenna, daughter of the Illyrian King Bardylis II. Demetrios Poliorcetes as king of Macedonia, it should be said, had married Pyrrhus’ sister. 

By 288 BC, Pyrrhus turned against Demetrios and succeeded in getting the Macedonian army on his side. With Lysimachos as his new ally, they jointly ruled over Macedonia. Only for a while, though, since Lysimachos still had his mind set on all of Macedonia and expelled Pyrrhus. 

Once more, Demetrios and Pyrrhus made peace, which was again short-lived. When in 286 BC, Demetrios invaded Asia Minor, ruled by Lysimachos, the latter asked Pyrrhus to invade Thessaly to attack Demetrios from Greece. Pyrrhus soon defeated Antigonus Gonatas, Demetrios’ son, who surrendered Thessaly to him to make peace. 

Pyrrhus’ empire now included half of Macedonia, larger Epirus, and Thessaly. Yet, he still wanted more and eyed Magna Graecia, including the wealth of Sicily. His opportunity arose when Taras (modern Taranto) called for his help to repel an imminent Roman attack. Pyrrhus led his army across the Adriatic Sea, including 20 war elephants. He was victorious at Heraclea (modern Policoro, southwest of Metaponto) in 280 BC and a year later at Ausculum (modern Ascoli Satriano south of Foggia). 

At this point, Pyrrhus decided to stay in Italy, offering his help to Syracuse. He successfully lifted the Carthaginians’ siege in 278 BC and, in return, was proclaimed King of Sicily. The Medagliere, the strongbox room at Syracuse’s Museum, proudly exhibits coins of King Pyrrhus. 

His moment of glory would not last either because of the renewed threat from Carthage, ending Pyrrhus’ siege of Lilybaeum (modern Marsala) in a disaster. The people of Syracuse then decided not to continue the war. The Carthaginians defeated Pyrrhus in 275 BC on his return to Syracuse. 

At the end of that same year, Pyrrhus sailed back to Epirus, which, in his mind, offered new opportunities as his son, Ptolemy, tried to expand the kingdom. The next campaign took Pyrrhus to Argos in the Peloponnesus, where caught in a narrow street, he was killed by a woman who threw a tile from the housetop. 

This was not the death a man like Pyrrhus would have planned. He had fought in so many battles, always leading his men. He had been schooled by Demetrios Poliorketes, who had walked in the footsteps of Alexander and his father, Philip. He was not meant to die such an inglorious death. 

In the 2nd century AD, Pausanias witnessed a memorial to King Pyrrhus at Argos, integrating a panorama ‘carved in relief.’ The king was buried in his capital, Ambracia (a colony of Corinth in Epirus). 

Pyrrhus may have led a glorious life, but the Macedonians resented him because he let his Gauls plunder the tombs of the Macedonian kings at Aegae – an unforgivable crime!

More mysteries surround the Riace bronzes

The Riace bronzes have kept scientists and archaeologists busy ever since the statues were fished from the sea at the southern tip of Italy in 1972. 

Of course, they have been cleaned and studied from every possible angle to find a prominent place in the National Museum of Reggio Calabria (see: More about Magna Graecia: a testimony from Calabria and More antiquities in blasting color). 

One would assume that all the questions about these magnificent statues have been answered, but there still is a long way to go. 

For instance, we don’t know whether we have a pair of bronzes, and, if so, who are they? Based on their appearance, scholars are pretty sure they were created in Attica or in Argolis. However, as they are both nudes, they could represent heroes or gods. Studies have, so far, pointed towards Agamemnon and Ajax, Tydeus and Amphiaraus, or Achilles and Patroclus. 

Dating these masterpieces is another challenge, although it is generally accepted that they belong to the fifth century BC.

[Picture from Bensozia]

How the principles of Pythagoras and Buddha met

As a result of his campaigns, Alexander created a true revolution in world culture. His influence often reached far beyond what we might imagine or hope for today. 

Take, for instance, vegetarianism, which has become popular in recent years and has been presented as a new aspect of our eating habits. It may be shocking to learn this very concept goes back to the days of Buddha and Pythagoras. 

The Greek philosopher lived in the late 6th century BC and is best known for his theorem and teaching that our soul is immortal. Buddha was an ascetic and religious teacher from the 6th-5th century BC. Both men could have met were it not that Pythagoras spent most of his life in Magna Graecia and Buddha in Nepal and India – two opposite poles of the then known world! 

Surprisingly, they both promoted a vegetarian diet, although for different reasons.

Pythagoras was a purist stating that we should avoid eating fish, fowl, and meat to live a healthy life. However, Buddha’s reason for abstaining from eating fish or meat is based on his concept of rebirth, i.e., reincarnation. 

We owe it to Alexander’s conquests that, eventually, both concepts met. The followers of Pythagoras added a more spiritual doctrine to their vegetarian meals. On the other hand, the adepts of Buddha would reinforce their diet ideas with the scientific foundation of Pythagoras. 

Over the centuries, these two concepts led many people to concentrate their diet on fruits and vegetables, which, in turn, spread the broader exchange of varieties from east and west.

Imagine Alexander being confronted with Etruscan art

After his eastern campaign, Alexander returned to Babylon and started his preparations to conquer the West. His plans included Arabia, Northern Africa focusing on Carthage, and the Italic peninsula where Rome was building up its power. 

The Etruscan civilization had reached its apogee around 750 BC and flourished in three city confederations: Etruria, which covered modern Tuscany, Latium and Umbria; the Po Valley with the eastern part of the Alps; and Campania. Their culture was influenced by that of the ancient Greeks who started to found colonies in southern Italy to become the later Magna Graecia. 

[A pair of terracotta winged horses from the Temple of the Ara della Regina, Tarquinia. Etruscan, c. 350 BC (National Archaeological Museum, Tarquinia, Italy. Picture from World History]

In Alexander’s days, the Etruscans had started to be assimilated by the Romans – a process that ended in 27 BC when they were totally incorporated into the Roman Empire. Their art, however, had been heavily influenced by Greece’s Classical period of the 5^th and 4^th centuries BC, which was familiar to Alexander. 

This very idea hit me after looking at an article in World History, in which a gallery of 25 top pieces from Etruscan art is being presented. Overall, this art is best known from the frescoed walls inside the many tombs, such as those centered in the necropolises of Tarquinia and Cerveteri. But scrolling through the images from the above-mentioned gallery, there are also very telling terracotta figures, unique friezes, and fine bronze statues. 

I like to think that Alexander would have felt very much at home walking among these images. The  Etruscans did not shy away from other forms of art and readily acquired foreign artifacts (even from the East!) to embellish their houses and tombs. It is surprising to learn that they sculpted the first nude women, way before the Greek culture accepted the very idea (see: Was Alexander the Great aware of Cnidos?) 

It is worth flipping through the pictures in the gallery presented by Word History to get a comprehensive view of this particular civilization that enjoyed life so much! 

It would have been interesting to know Alexander’s reaction if confronted with the Etruscans and their rich culture.

Alexander, from hero to saint

Alexander was never forgotten in history. After his death, many tales and legends started to circulate. Many of those found their way to the widespread versions of the Alexander Romance.

His pictures, statues, paintings, and mosaics circulated in the countries he had conquered and beyond. A great deal of the artwork we know today are copies made in the Roman era. During Hellenistic times, we can find his pictures from Italy, Egypt, the Near East, to Central Asia, and India. Every ruler liked to present himself with a certain likeness to Alexander. This makes it often difficult to distinguish Alexander from later kings.

When the Byzantine Empire and early Christianity spread throughout the eastern part of the world, Alexander was no longer seen as a Greek hero and made his entry into the Orthodox church. His ascension into Heaven became a recurrent theme. Although he clearly remained a mortal, the great conqueror extended his empire to the heavens.

By the 12^th century, the clergy often depicted Alexander as he rose into Paradise rather than being left among the dead. The best-known such picture is found on the floor mosaic in the church of Otranto in Southern Italy (see: Alexander's presence in Magna Graecia). Recently, one of my friends located a similar relief showing Alexander in precisely the same position in the Church of S. Demetrius in Vladimir, Russian Kiev. In fact, some 2,000 km further east! Alexander is depicted sitting on a throne, holding a bait of meat in each hand. Hungry griffons pick on the flesh, and by doing so, they are pulling him up into Heaven.

Around the 15^th and 16^th centuries, Alexander became a symbol of vanity. Several churches in Greece contain frescoes depicting monks who meditate on vanity while gazing down on Alexander's body at their feet. If we pay close attention, we find several such examples, for instance, in the church of St John the Baptist in the Peloponnese or at the Monastery of the Holy Trinity at the Meteora.

Peculiar history of Pharos (modern Hvar)

It is common knowledge that from the 8th century BC onward, the Greeks set out to establish colonies or trading ports around the Mediterranean Sea.

Magna Graecia (see: Magna Graecia, the forgotten Greek legacy), which includes southern Italy and Sicily, may be one of the most striking examples, but we tend to forget the lands on the eastern side of the Adriatic Sea, which eventually were also absorbed by the Roman Empire.

[Picture from Visit World Heritage]

One such rare and little-known colony is Pharos, situated on the modern island of Hvar off the coast of Croatia. These Greek settlers came from the island of Paros, and Diodorus tells us that this occurred in 384 BC. Dionysios, the tyrant of Syracuse in Sicily, lent a helping hand if only to increase his influence further north. 

Unlike other Greek settlements on the Dalmatian coast like Dubrovnik and Zadar, Pharos survived the centuries in a most peculiar shape in the plains surrounding modern Stari Grad. 

At first glance, we see fields of olive trees, vines, and other crops in parcels separated by low walls or streets and paths. Yet, the attentive eye will notice that all these fields are drawn in a correct grit pattern that seems inspired by the Hippodamian plan of ancient cities. Careful measurements reveal that this flat plain which covers an area of approximately 6 x 3.5 kilometers, counts 75 units each in a constant size of 181m x 905m. Each such plot was in turn subdivided in five square parcels of 181m x 181m, corresponding to a field that could be tended by a single family. Interestingly the basic unit of 181 meters equals the length of a Greek stadium of about 180 meters, which, based on the limited excavations of these lands, links the foundation to Greek Pharos in 384 BC. 

It is pretty amazing to find that today’s farmers in this part of Croatia still respect the old boundaries and plow the same land as their ancestors did nearly 2,500 years ago. It transpires that the Greek system was so efficient that it did not require any change or adaptation over the centuries and never fell out of use.

Underscoring the Greek ownership is a boundary stone from the 4th or 3rd century BC that was recovered in the area, carrying the inscription “Oros Mathios Pytheo,” in other words, “border [of the land of] Mathios [son of] Pytheas.” Another record containing a redistribution of lands dates from shortly after the Roman conquest in 218 BC. 

The Greek colonization has been repeatedly discussed in previous blogs besides the abovementioned one about Magna Graecia. More examples can be found at The many colonies of Miletus treating mainly about the area around the Black Sea, and Egypt, the land of the free for ancient Greeks focusing on the Greek city of Naucratis.

The many colonies of Miletus

The colonization by the Greeks, either from mainland Greece or from Asia Minor remains a fascinating subject. I touched on the topic before when discussing Magna Graecia (see: Magna Graecia, the forgotten Greek legacy) and this time I will concentrate on the shores of the Black Sea, the Pontus Euxinus of antiquity.

The first settlers arrived in the second half of the 7^th century BC mainly from Ionia but by far the most prominent group came from Miletus. Ancient authors go as far as claiming that the city possessed between 75 and 90 colonies but this number does not immediately refer to cities founded and populated by Miletus since they did not have enough manpower to occupy so many settlements. In fact, Miletus acted as their organizer and the initial true number of colonies was about 25.

The reason for people from Asia Minor to emigrate is complex but one of the main causes to relocate was the westward expansion of the Persian Empire which even attacked Greece itself. The Ionians were facing a simple choice to either submit to the Persians with the risk of being killed or enslaved or to leave their homeland for new horizons.

The Actual Archaeology Magazine of May 2011 published a very interesting article, “Greek Colonisation of the Black Sea” written by Gosha R. Tsetskhladze about the origins of a great number of settlements on the shores of the Back Sea including both sides of the Cimmerian Bosporus.

Among the first settlements, we find Berezan (modern Borysthenites) founded in the third quarter of the 7th century BC, and Tangarog (on the Sea of Azov) in the last third of the 7^th century BC (completely destroyed by the sea). Other colonies were located on the western shore of the Black Sea like Histria (at the mouth of the Danube) in ca. 630 BC, Apollonia Pontica (modern Sozopol in Bulgaria) in ca. 610 BC, and Tomis (modern Constanta in Romania) at the end of the first quarter of the 6^th century BC. On the southern shoreline, we find Sinope (modern Sinop in Turkey) from the late 7^th century BC and Amisos (modern Samsun in Turkey) from ca. 564 BC. Olbia (in modern Ukraine) was settled on the northern side of the Black Sea by the end of the first quarter of the 6^th century BC.

Between 580 and 560 BC, Miletus colonized new territories on the Kerch peninsula (the western side of the Cimmerian Bosporus) and the Taman peninsula (the eastern side of the Cimmerian Bosporus). On the European side of the straight, we find cities like Panticapaeum, Nymphaeum, Theodosia, Myrmekion, and Tyritake (all on the Crimean peninsula); and on the Asian side, we name Kepoi, Patraeus, Corocondame (destroyed by the sea) and Hermonassa (joined colony of Miletus and Mytilene).

In the wake of Cyrus’ westwards conquests during which he took the stronghold of Sardes in 546 BC, the Black Sea area was once again flooded by a new wave of Ionians – this time by people not exclusively from Miletus. The Megarians and the Boeotians founded Heraklea in 554 BC on the south shores, and Miletus founded Odessos (modern Varna in Bulgaria) on the western shore. In turn, those colonies that had settled around the Black Sea created many small settlements of their own.

Around that same time, new cities like Tyras and Nikonian appeared together with some fifty rural settlements under their control. Non-Milesians founded Gorgippia (modern Anapa in Russia), Toricos (near modern Gelendzhik in Russia), Akra (in Russia, destroyed by the sea), Porthmeus (in Russia), and several other colonies on the Cimmerian Bosporus, and around 542 BC the Teians established the colony of Phanagoria on the Taman Peninsula (as well as the city of Abdera in Thracia).

Ionians settled even further north along the Black Sea coast, and by 422/1 BC, Herakleia Pontus founded a small town that would become the later Chersonesus (near modern Sevastopol in Crimea). The Milesians, once again, founded Colchis (modern western Georgia), who in turn established the cities of Phasis, Gyenos, and Dioscuria, and two more settlements, Pichvnari and Tsikhisdziri. The last wave arrived when the Ionians were defeated in their revolt against Persia. Mesambria (modern Nessebar in Bulgaria) was founded on the western shore of the Black Sea by the Chalkedonians and Byzantines, and in western Crimea, the Ionians established Kerkinitis and Kalos Limen, which later became part of Chersonesus.

[Picture from Bosporan Kingdom growth map-pt.svg:] 

In the days of Alexander and even during the reign of his father Philip, we read about ships bringing corn from the Black Sea to Athens. This leads us to believe that this traffic existed already in earlier centuries. It has been established, however, that the earliest ships loaded with corn circulated at the end of the 5^th/beginning of the 4^th century BC, and that they were not meant for Athens but for the island of Aegina and the Peloponnese instead. Except in case of emergency, it appears – according to the abovementioned article - Athens was perfectly capable of feeding its citizens.

With so many sites spread over so many countries around the Black Sea (from Turkey to Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia), one can wonder how much of these colonies still exist or have been excavated and, if so, to what extent. Yet the fact remains that this geographical knowledge was part of Alexander’s baggage and his Companions. The ancient world was much and much larger than what we like to believe!

The heavy colonization shows that emigration is not a modern phenomenon but existed in eons past. Famine may have been a major reason for people to leave hearth and home, but generally, it was and is a war that triggers the displacement of entire populations. In any case, it is quite amazing to see how many peoples were on the move between the 7^th and the 5^th century BC. In my opinion, these three centuries of constant emigration explain - at least in part – the general Greek resentment against the Persians. Their occupation of Greece and the burning of the Acropolis is, of course, another valid reason for their grudge.