Alexander head found near the Black Sea

As strange as it may seem, a head of Alexander was found in Konuralp, close to the Black Sea. In antiquity, the city was named Kieros and was part of Herakleia Pontus. 

[Picture from Duzce Municipality]

The historian Memnon of Herakleia (1^st century AD) tells us that King Prusias I of Bithynia captured the city end 3^rd/beginning 2^nd century BC and renamed it Prusias. It was strategically situated on the road between Nicomedia (modern Izmit) and the Pontus region. 

The Romans, who conquered Bithynia around 74 AD, changed the name again to Prusias ad Hypium. The city was important enough to be visited by the emperors Hadrian, Caracalla, and Elagabalus. 

Although most of the ancient city is still buried under modern Konuralp, recent archaeological excavations have exposed remains of the city walls and a gate, a theater, an aqueduct, and a Roman bridge. Inscriptions mention the presence of a gymnasium and an agora. However, there is not enough information to establish the layout of Prusias ad Hypium, and crucially there is nothing to indicate the reason for Alexander’s presence at this location. 

The marble head attributed to Alexander was discovered at the top of the theater. It is 23 cm tall and has been dated to the 2^nd century AD. This is not much information to go by but hopefully, more news will follow.

Previous excavations also exposed a head of Apollo and Medusa.

What do we know about Arrian of Nicomedia?

Although Arrian is quoted repeatedly by many historians, ancient and modern alike, we don’t know precisely when he was born or died. He lived during the reign of two great emperors, Trajan and Hadrian, when the Roman Empire experienced its most remarkable expansion.

He was a versatile man and prolific writer, but he was a historian most of all. How he found the time to pen down his many books besides pursuing a military career, holding public offices, and becoming a famous philosopher is commendable. 

Arrian, whose full name was Lucius Flavius Arrianus, was born in Nicomedia (modern Izmit, Turkey), a province of Bithynia ruled by Rome. Consequently, he was probably a Roman citizen. He grew up in an aristocratic family, was well-educated, and held the post of governor of Cappadocia from approximately 131 until 137 AD. Since the culture in Asia Minor was still very Greek, he grew up with this dual identity, making him a true Graeco-Roman. 

Arrian was the perfect person to write about Alexander the Great, having such a background. With his upbringing in Nicomedia, he realized that Alexander left behind so much Greek culture (he didn’t use the word Hellenistic!) He absorbed it all, even though he looked at it from a Roman perspective several centuries later. 

As a young man, c.108 AD, he moved to Nicopolis, Greece (earlier in Epirus), to stay with Epictetus. Epictetus considered philosophy a way of life, meaning that whatever happened was beyond our control, and we should accept events as they unfolded. His main philosophy was self-knowledge, similar to the Delphic maxim, know thyself. These wise words were visible in the pronaos of the Temple of Apollo in Delphi and were spread by Aeschylus, Socrates, and Plato. It is unknown whether Epictetus based his thoughts on this inscription, as no writings from his hand have survived. It was Arrian who wrote down Epictetus’ lectures in his Discourses of Epictetus and Enchiridion. 

The philosopher considerably influenced Arrian’s education and introduced him to important political people. The most notable figure probably was the later Emperor Hadrian – himself a pupil of Epictetus - whom he befriended in 126 AD. Hadrian appointed Arrian to the Roman Senate around 130 AD and promoted him to the governor of Cappadocia about a year later. During his governorate, he successfully stopped the invasion of the Alani in 135 AD. This was when Arrian documented his victory by writing his Ectaxis contra Alanos (Order of Battle against the Alans), which provides us with a unique insight into the Roman army in action that still bore “the stamp of Macedon.” Aware of the difference between the Macedonian and Roman phalanx, Arrian drew parallels between them. He underscored that the phalanx was not something of the past but still an active weapon in the contemporary military. His military career took him to many countries away from his native Bithynia, where he saw very different animals and plants from his familiar homeland. 

Arrian’s military career probably started earlier as he led an army to the Caspian Gates during Emperor Trajan's rule (98-117 AD). As governor of Cappadocia, Arrian commanded two Roman legions, which was when he wrote his Ars Tactica (The Tactical Arts). Experiencing the strategies and maneuvers firsthand, he described cavalry tactics and praised military innovations. In both Ectasis and Tactica, he mixed Greek and Roman military theories.

Arrian has a great interest in geography and a keen eye for details. Under Hadrian, he wrote the Periplus of the Euxine Sea (Sailing around the Black Sea) to inform the emperor about the region he considered exploring. Besides helpful information about ports, rivers, and cities, he included specific details about the viability and landscapes. In his Cynegeticus, which is an addition to Xenophon’s work, he stated, for instance, that Mysia (northwest Turkey), Dacia (mainly all of present Romania), Scythia, and Illyricum (the greater Balkans) had plains that were “adapted for riding.” 

Clearly, our historian started writing at a very young age. However, many of his works are lost or only survive fragmentarily, leaving us with titles alone. Besides the titles already mentioned above, he wrote:

- Biographies like Lives of Dion, Timoleon, and Tillorobus

- several volumes dedicated to his homeland, the Bithyniaca

- a history of the Parthians, the Parthica

- a history of the Alans, Historia Alanica

- an essay on maneuvers, On Infantry Exercises

- an essay about astronomy, On Nature, Composition, and Appearances of Comets

- And, most interestingly, a volume focusing on the events after the death of Alexander, The History of the Successors – sadly lost to humanity forever! Imagine the twists history could take if we had this book!

When or where exactly Arrian wrote his famous Anabasis or The History of the Wars and Conquests of Alexander the Great remains obscure. It is generally accepted as his most outstanding work, together with the Indica addendum about India. With these two books, Arrian is, to this day, our most precious and reliable source about Alexander. The historian could project his own military experiences and campaigns into his vision of Alexander. Arrian also had a profound fascination with Persia and Persian customs, which he lavishly shares in his Anabasis. 

Notably, he could rely on several sources, from first-rank witnesses to Alexander’s campaigns. These were generals and close Companions who had access to Alexander’s Royal Journal – men like Ptolemy, Nearchus, and Megasthenes. Another precious source was Eratosthenes, a librarian at the rich Library of Alexandria. Aristobulus also served under Alexander and later wrote a history of Alexander, including careful observations on geography, ethnography, and natural science. Aristobulus’ notes about which plants grew in specific regions of the lands Alexander conquered were vital because it gives us a glimpse of Alexander’s knowledge of plants and animals based on Aristotle’s lessons. 

It is still being determined what happened to Arrian at the end of his governorship in Cappadocia in 137 AD. Still enjoying the favors of Hadrian, he most probably became governor of Syria between 135 and 150 AD.

Towards the end of his life, he moved to Athens, where he became archon, probably in 145 or 146 AD. Other sources, however, state that Arrian retired to Nicomedia, where he was appointed priest to Demeter and Persephone. 

Arrian died some time during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, 121-180 AD, who was the last of the so-called good emperors. 

Witnessing how meticulous and objective Arrian proceeds in his Anabasis to describe Alexander’s campaigns, not only the sieges and the battlefields but also the geography and the nature and habits of the people, it is easy to realize how much information is lost in his other works.

Wartime looting in antiquity

Wartime looting is something we associate with today’s unstable political situations in North Africa and the Middle East, but looking back into history, this is certainly not new, although the reasons and the drives were entirely different then from what we are facing now.

Looting can be triggered by warfare in which we have the urge to annihilate the enemy, and that includes everything he treasures and cherishes. When it comes to religious wars, like, for instance, those fought by the Crusaders, looting is translated into the destruction of religious convictions and what they stand for. Looting may also be simple greed, the envy to possess what no one else has, either because it is unique or because it is so valuable.

One of the first examples that comes to my mind is the statues of Harmodius and Aristogeiton, two Athenian heroes who stood for the origin of Athenian democracy in 514 BC, and whose images were erected in the Agora. They were stolen by the Persians in 480 BC and moved to Susa, where they were recovered by Alexander the Great in 331 BC, who sent them back to Athens.

Yet most widespread or best-documented lootings happened in Roman times when great Greek works of art were carried home as trophies or as simple spoils of war.

After the sack of Corinth by L. Mummius in 146 BC, many statues were brought to Rome, while others were sold to the King of Pergamum, who was building up a remarkable collection. Among the statues that arrived in Rome was one of Philip II that was mistakenly labeled as that of Zeus.

Better known for all kinds of not-too-glorious reasons was L. Cornelius Sulla, who launched a well-remembered attack on Athens and Piraeus. He used the trees from Plato’s Academy and Aristotle’s Lyceum to build his siege towers. When Athens fell in 86 BC, he removed choice pieces from the Temple of Zeus, hardly built a century before, and these fragments later surfaced in the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus in Rome. At the same time, an unknown number of manuscripts, paintings, and other precious objects were shipped to Rome. Further, to pay for his expensive wars, he levied heavy contributions on the wealthiest cities to acquire the treasures of Epidaurus, Olympia, and Delphi – a true sacrilege at the time!

Following Sulla’s example, L. Licinius Lucullus collected works taken from Sinope by L. Aemilius Paullus. Sinope was a great admirer of Greek art and took his time to tour the country to find the most appealing pieces, like an Athena by Phidias that he dedicated to Rome, leaving, however, (luckily) the gigantic Zeus of Olympia untouched.

Julius Caesar was another great “collector,” acquiring his objects by plunder and purchase.

The most notorious of all looters definitely was Gaius Verres, governor of Sicily, who in 73 BC seized statues, reliefs, dedications, paintings and jewelry from the Sicilians and from other parts of the Greek world. He started by requisitioning the most beautiful objects from private homes, followed by the despoliation of the island’s sanctuaries. He stole a statue of Ceres from the temple of Catania; a set of gold and ivory doors from the temple of Athena in Syracuse, together with paintings and other effigies of the goddess whose hands supposedly were made of gold; a magnificent bronze statue of Apollo by Myron from the temple of Asclepius at Akragas; and many more. On their way to steal the statue of Heracles from the temple at Akragas, his soldiers were overpowered by furious citizens. Enough is enough! Tensions rose so high that Cicero was called in to defend the Sicilians’ case. He won, and Verres went into exile in Marseille. Unfortunately, none of these works of art was ever recovered.

With the increase of its wealth, Rome developed a kind of refinement where Corinthian bronzes became especially prized (the bronze was of exceptional quality!). Among those connoisseurs was Novius Vindex, who acquired a bronze statuette of Heracles made by nobody less than Lysippos, paintings by Apelles, and many other objects of marble, ivory, and precious metal believed to be the work of Praxiteles, Phidias, and Polycleitus.

Even Emperor Nero is to be found among the admirers of Greece, making him one of the major looters of Greek art to adorn the eternal city. He did not shy away from directing his attention towards Delphi, from where he took 500 bronze statues, and Olympia, where he monopolized an unspecified number of statues. Also on his list is a particularly fine Eros by Lysippos taken from Thespiae that was, later on, destroyed by a fire in Rome. Strangely enough, he left Athens untouched but rampaged through the cities of Asia Minor instead. He concentrated on masterpieces created by artists like Phidias, Praxiteles, and Cephisodotus. Among his masterpieces, the most famous were the Apollo Belvedere, the Borghese Gladiator, and a Venus. With the end of Roman power, the import and looting of Greek art came to a halt.

By this time, the Byzantine Empire had taken over, and Constantine the Great in 324 AD, inverted the inflow of art by bringing all the treasures from Rome to Constantinople. Under one of his successors, the pagan Julian the Apostate, we know that the temple of Apollo at Didyma and the sanctuary of Demeter at Eleusis were restored.

The sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 395 was devastating, and many works of art found their way to Constantinople. The ruthless rampage of the barbarians spread as quickly as wildfire, and it was at this period that the great Chryselephantine statue of Zeus that Phidias made for the temple of Zeus in Olympia was saved at the last moment and transferred to the Palace of Lausus in Constantinople (to be ultimately destroyed by fire in the first half of the 5^th century AD). Soon, more selected gem pieces joined this collection, including the Athena of Lindos from the 4^th century BC, the famous Aphrodite from Cnidos created by Praxiteles, and the Hera from Samos made by Lysippos. Constantine also brought a porphyry column from Delphi to adorn his Forum, while his Senate was enhanced by the statue of Zeus from Dodona and two statues of Pallas Athena. Bellerophon slaying the Chimera was brought in from either Great Antioch or Corinth; the Fortune of the City exchanged the Forum in Rome for Constantinople, together with a statue of the Sun God from Phrygia.

Constantinople’s Hippodrome was outrageously populated by no less than sixty statues imported from Rome, which, except for a statue of Augustus, came from all over the Greek world: Athens, Chios, Crete and Rhodes, Cyzicus, Caesarea, Sardes, Tralles, Tyana, Antioch, Iconium (modern Konya), Smyrna, Nicaea, Nicomedia, and Nicopolis. Just imagine the widespread and cumbersome dragging and lugging of all these artifacts. No wonder we keep recuperating them from the bottom of the Mediterranean!

Today’s visitors to the Hippodrome in Istanbul can still admire the Serpent Column, which is part of a monument that once stood next to the temple of Apollo at Delphi and was dedicated by the cities that defied the Persians at the Battle of Platea in 479 BC. On the same square stands an Egyptian obelisk, originally commissioned by Thutmosis III in the 16^th century BC to commemorate one of his campaigns in Syria. It was shipped to Constantinople towards the end of the 4^th century AD and broke during its transport. What we see now is only the upper part mounted on a marble base showing reliefs of Theodosius I and his family attending races on this very Hippodrome.

This was also home to the life-size group of four horses we know from Saint Mark’s Cathedral in Venice. They were made of gilded bronze, and the horses are said to have been pulling a chariot. It may have been brought in from Chios or given as a present to Nero by the king of Armenia and closely resembles the group created by Lysippos for the temple dedicated to Rhodes in Delphi during the 4^th century BC. According to one theory, these horses are Hellenistic copies, but according to others, it may well be the original that traveled from Delphi to Chios to Constantinople and eventually to Venice.

Time-wise, we now reach the construction of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, where today’s visitors can still find many columns, doors, and other decorative elements that were taken from different cities all over Asia Minor.

For many centuries, Constantinople was a safe haven for many works of art from antiquity but during the ensuing invasions, first by the Arabs in the 7^th and 8^th centuries and by the Bulgarians in the 9^th and 10^th centuries, the city was thoroughly sacked in 1204 when the members of the Fourth Crusade rampaged through the streets of this once so glorious city. Most saddening is maybe the final destruction of so many documents that had survived from antiquity and that are since lost forever. 

In our 21^st century, we praise ourselves as lucky to have museums to shelter and protect our greatest and most magnificent works of art, although, at times, even the museums are no longer a safe haven for our culture. We are all aware of the dilapidated museums of Kabul and Bagdad, for instance, and we still don’t know what has happened to the Museum of Damascus and so many others in the Middle East. Looting was and still is omnipresent, most unfortunately.

[Picture of Harmodius and Aristogeiton is from Ancient Rome]