King Philip, one year later - Macedonia forged by Philip II - 3

King Philip, one year later (358 BC)

But, returning to 358 BC after one full year of kingship, Philip had to secure his border with the Paeonians again and trounced them. As a result, Paeonia became a sort of buffer zone between Macedonia and the tribes of the Danube to the north, which was the trade route up the Axios Valley and beyond. Philip’s army now numbered 10,000 infantry and 600 cavalry, no small achievement if you consider that only a year or two earlier, the Illyrians had defeated nearly the entire Macedonian army. He was confident about marching into Illyria and bluntly refused to accept old King Bardylis’ terms. Both armies met near today’s Lake Ochrid, maybe close to the town of Heraklea Lyncestis, and by the end of the day, the Macedonians had killed 7,000 Illyrian soldiers.

Philip seemed to have it all planned. He demanded that the Illyrians pull out of Upper Macedonia north to Lake Lychnitis, including the tribes of Orestis, which until now were controlled by the Molossian King of Epirus. This way, he had an open route into Epirus to the south and Orestis in the east. A surprising fact is that Parmenion, one of the Paeonian chieftains, was made a general soon after coming over to Philip’s side – an interesting background for this man who served both Philip and Alexander for many years. At this stage, Philip started training recruits from these newly conquered territories, the non-nobles as infantrymen and the nobles as cavalry. This practice stayed in place far into our 20^th century!

This latest victory also meant that Macedonia virtually doubled in size, that the size of Philip’s army increased substantially in only one year, and that Upper and Lower Macedonia were united as never before. Philip, still married to the Illyrian princess Audata, found it wise to change her name to Eurydice to mask her origin. Their daughter Cynane later married Amyntas, the original heir to the Macedonian throne.

Let us switch our attention to the southern borders with Thessaly and two of its cities in particular, Pherae, with its harbor, Pagasae, controlling the coastal states, and Larissa, which controls the inland states. Strangely enough, both cities were bitter enemies. It so happened that Larissa turned to the king for an alliance against Pherae. Philip agreed, be it for his own reasons, i.e., to incorporate the expert Thessalian cavalry into his new army (estimated to be 3-6,000) and to consolidate Macedonia’s southern borders. This alliance was cemented by Philip’s (third) marriage to Philinna from Larissa. She was to bear him a son, Arrhidaeus, the following year.

After these events in 358-357 BC, Philip planned to include Epirus to consolidate his borders. Three large tribes dominated that country: the Thesprotians, the Chaonians, and the Molossians, who spoke a kind of Greek dialect and were the most powerful and prosperous. Since Epirus had also suffered from the Illyrians, a treaty with Philip was relatively easy, and it was sealed by his marriage to Princess Olympias, Philip’s fourth wife. So in 357 BC, Philip’s borders were mainly secure, but there were still two significant enemies to deal with: Athens and the Chalcidian League, who, luckily, were not on friendly terms with each other!

The Chalcidian League had a powerful army, counting 10,000 infantrymen and no less than 1,000 cavalry. We should remember that the Chalcidice owed its economic importance to the mines of the Crenides. The Athenians, meanwhile, had established settlements at Potidaea (on the neck of the Kassandra peninsula), close to Olynthus, and had captured Torone at the tip of the middle finger of the Chalcidice. And, of course, they still had an eye on Amphipolis, a most important crossing on the trading route with Thrace, including the rich mines of Crenides, the waterway to the Strymon River, and the Danube beyond. To send help to Amphipolis, Athens needed a nearby base for their fleet, and it eventually found one on the island of Thasos.

Philip’s attack on Amphipolis was quickly settled, and the city capitulated in the late summer of 357 BC. He also attacked Athens’ ally Pydna, which promptly fell to him. As a reminder, we should not forget that Philip was only 26 years old then.

Tensions between Philip and Athens ran high at this point, and both parties sought an alliance with Olynthus because of the forces it could muster. Olynthus apparently was blinded by Philip’s promises, and a treaty was made in the winter of 357-356 BC. Copies were set up in Delphi, at the Temple of Zeus in Olympia, in Dion, and at the Temple of Artemis in Olynthus. As a consequence, Philip besieged Potidaea and occupied the city.

He had no time to take a break, for now, the king of eastern Thracia besieged the strategic and precious city of Crenides. It was only about 40 miles east of Amphipolis, right above the port of Neapolis (today’s Kavala), a valuable naval base in the region. Philip immediately marched in and defeated the Thracian forces despite their sudden coalition with Illyria and Paeonia. Philip was determined to stay and to put his stamp on this place; he changed its name to Philippi. He fortified the city walls and towers and increased the output of silver coinage. The marshy plain was drained and cultivated, meaning another boost for the local economy.

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

Start of Philip's reign - Macedonia forged by Philip II - 2

Start of Philip’s reign (359 BC)

At twenty-four, Philip II became king of Macedonia. That is only four years older than Alexander was when he succeeded his father, but the Macedonia he inherited was a coherent one whereas Philip was facing a formidable and nearly impossible task. He had to set his priorities, and quickly too.

The most urgent threat came from the Illyrians who had just defeated his brother, and it seems that Philip managed some treaty which may have included his marriage with Audata (Philip’s second wife), King Bardelys’ granddaughter. He then turned towards the Paeonians, whom he corrupted with gifts and generous promises to reach a peace agreement. Athens with Argaeus was a far more serious problem and Philip tricked them into believing he was giving up any claim on Amphipolis by withdrawing his Macedonian soldiers. The Athenians took the bait and their commander stayed in Methone with his troops. Argaeus, meanwhile tried to gain support for his cause from Aegae, the Macedonian capital but left unsuccessfully for Methone also. En route, Philip and a small force surprised him and Argaeus disappeared from the scene. To settle this matter, a peace treaty was signed with Athens, stipulating clearly that Amphipolis no longer would be claimed by Macedonia. Another potential danger however was coming from the Chalcidians who sent an embassy from the main city of Olynthus to Athens for support against Philip, but now that Athens had made peace with Philip they rejected this request.

Within a year, Philip had accomplished the miracle of putting an end to the four major threats that had led to his accession to the throne. The means he used became his trademark: diplomacy, deceit, bribery, and political marriage as well as the lightning speed of his actions. He must have known however that these arrangements were only buying him time. His priority now was to get his kingdom and his army organized.

Philip began by switching the main attacking force of his army from infantry to cavalry as had always been the common practice. He had the cavalry attack the flanks of the enemy lines where his infantry would push down in the centre. He also equipped his infantry with the new sarissa, a long pike of about 4.25 to 5.50 meters long made of cornel wood. The shape of the head was designed in such a way that it would penetrate the armor and the body of the enemy as the previous conventional pikes were meant only to wound the opponent. The cavalry on the other hand was set up in a wedge formation instead of the usual frontal charge lines, which Philip had copied from the Thracians and Scythians. Thus the Macedonian soldiers became highly trained and learned to carry their own arms, equipment, and food – ensuring them to be self-sufficient at all times. Instead of poorly trained farmers and unreliable mercenaries, Philip put in place a full-time army in which the soldiers received regular pay for the first time in history.

Philip was also keen to introduce new war machines. Where he originally used the mechanically drawn catapults (see Olynthus in 348 BC and Perinthus in 340 BC), he used a new type of siegecraft, the torsion catapult that was far more powerful than the other catapults as proven during the siege of Byzantium in 340 BC.

In addition, he created the new body of Royal Pages, i.e., boys (at least two hundred of them) who entered service at the age of fourteen for four years. They were the personal attendants to the king, meaning that they prepared his horse, accompanied him on his hunting or warring expeditions, and watched over him at night. It was an enviable position which at the same time meant that the boys lived and were educated at the Macedonian court and served as hostages to ensure the loyalty of their families.

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

Philip's Boyhood - Macedonia forged by Philip II - 1

Philip’s boyhood (383-382BC)

Although we have a pretty good idea of what Macedonia looked like when Alexander succeeded his father in 336 BC, we have only a vague vision of this country when Philip became king some twenty years earlier. Since it was Philip who put Macedonia on the map to start with (something we generally tend to forget), I decided to investigate this chapter of history. Without his relentless efforts and strong ambition, he would not have succeeded – and let’s not forget his excellent judgment of characters and his evaluation of political and military situations, which have largely contributed to achieving his goal.

Macedonia was hardly a country to be reckoned with, and the only envy of the surrounding enemy tribes was its fertile lowlands. Greece as such did not exist yet, only leading city-states and dispersed bands of tribes constantly at war with one another. And Macedonia was no exception. However, the situation was going to change dramatically after the death of King Perdiccas III in 359 BC.

At that time, Macedonia covered a rather restricted area that started north of Mount Olympus and was squeezed between the valleys of the rivers Haliakmon in the west and Axios in the east, where they flow into the Thermaic Gulf. The most fertile part and the very heart of Macedonia was, of course, this rich coastal plain, also called Lower Macedonia, whereas Upper Macedonia stretched vaguely to the west into the remote cantons of the Illyrians. The Illyrians envied the good agricultural land and lush grasslands of the Macedonian floodplains and invaded the country on a more or less regular basis. It was during such an attack by the Illyrian King Bardylis that Perdiccas III was killed, and with him 4,000 brave Macedonian soldiers. This incursion left the door open for further invasions, for not only could the Illyrians push all the way down to the Thermaic Gulf, but neighboring tribes like the Paeonians from the north and the Thracians from the east could also seize this opportunity. And we shouldn’t forget Thebes, which was the dominant military power at that time, and Athens, which had an eye on several harbors up north serving as safe havens for their wheat ships on their way home from the Pontus Euxinus.

  

The situation in Macedonia at this point was rather dramatic. The borders were open game; its manpower was very much depleted with so many men killed in action, and to make things worse, they had lost their King and leader. Perdiccas’ son Amyntas, the heir to the throne, was only an infant, so all eyes were turned toward Philip, Perdiccas’ youngest brother, who, according to the ruling laws, should be named regent until Amyntas’ coming of age. However, hard decisions had to be made very quickly. Instead of being called to the regency, Philip, then 24 years of age, was proclaimed King by the Macedonian Assembly. King Philip II of Macedonia made his entry on the stage of history.

Now, who was this Philip? Philip was born in 383 or 382 as the third son of King Amyntas III and Queen Eurydice. The eldest son, Alexander II, lost the battle against mighty Thebes, which demanded the surrender of 50 sons of noble Macedonians as hostages, including his youngest brother Philip. Philip must have been about 13 years old at that time, just a year or so older than Alexander when he tamed Bucephalus when he was led to Thebes. He must have spent about 3 years there at the house of Pammenes, a leading general and statesman during the days that Thebes was the dominant power in Greece. According to Justin, Philip learned much about military strategy from Pammenes’ friend Epaminondas, especially when it came to the use of shock tactics and the combined attack from infantry and cavalry. He must have watched when the famous Sacred Band was training, the elite corps made of 300 Theban soldiers – supposedly 150 pairs of lovers who would fight to the death to defend their partner in battle. Epaminondas, despite Thebes being so far inland, also had solid plans to build a naval force to face mighty Athens in due time, a tactically important prowess that certainly was not lost on Philip. And there was the fact that Thebes was a polis, a true city with its benefits and shortcomings, something that was not known in Macedonia yet.

Although Philip was only a teenager, we should not forget that Macedonian princes learned by example. From an early age, they were trained in warfare, to admire courage and to aspire to excellence, schooled in the great battles of the Iliad, no doubt. Philip was no exception. We will remember how the story goes that Alexander, at the age of seven, inquired with the Persian envoys about their communication routes and their army. Philip would not have done less.

Living the daily life of a city like Thebes, Philip had witnessed the importance of military power, and although this was essential, he was also aware that a state needed to be unified and able to keep actual and potential opponents from uniting with others against him. Securing its borders was an important component of this complex pattern.

After the death of Alexander II (who was killed by his mother’s lover, Ptolemy), his brother Perdiccas III took over after murdering this Ptolemy, and during this time, Philip apparently returned to Macedonia. From the little that is known from that period, it seems that Perdiccas gave his brother part of his kingdom, probably not to rule in his place but merely to rule on his behalf. According to speculations, he would be entrusted with the territory of Amphaxitis, a strategic stretch of land between the Axios River and the Thermaic Gulf. At this time, Philip married his first wife, Phila, the daughter of Derdas II of Elimeia, probably a diplomatic alliance arranged by Perdiccas, as was his right as king. Macedonia was in turmoil, and Philip may have done his share in the fights to secure its borders, especially with the Paeonians and the Thracians. It is not impossible that he experimented with some of the military tactics he had picked up in Thebes.

So, when in 360/59 BC Perdiccas III was killed in a battle against the invading Illyrians, as mentioned above, Macedonia was faced with several threats to the kingdom’s security. And there was also the matter of succession to the throne since the dead king’s son, Amyntas, was still a youngster. The Athenians tried to interfere, pushing forward a certain Argaeus and the Thracians with a certain Pausanias who already marched towards the capital city of Pella. Given all these threats, the Macedonian Assembly unexpectedly proclaimed Philip as King, and the people swore their oath of allegiance to him. There is no question (according to Ian Worthington) that Philip was more experienced in military and administrative affairs than either the infant Amyntas or Philip’s three half-brothers (the sons of Gygaea), whose interference, if any, was inconsequential. It is possible that at this point Philip had his oldest half-brother, Archelaus, killed as a warning to the others who found shelter at Olynthus, which Philip besieged later on.

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

Alexander the Great. The Brief Life and Towering Exploits …

Alexander the Great. The Brief Life and Towering Exploits of History’s Greatest Conqueror as told by his Original Biographers. By Brenda Jackson and Ronald L. McDonald. Edited by Tania Gergel. Introduction by Michael Wood. ISBN 0 14 20.0140 6

Just what I wanted, Alexander’s life story “as told by his original biographers” and since it included a foreword by Michael Wood, whom I hold in high esteem, I thought this would be the purchase of my life!

Although it is a noteworthy book where classic authors like Arrian, Plutarch and Curtius Rufus, are skillfully tied together in a pleasant narrative, I ended up feeling that the most interesting section was actually Michael Wood’s introduction. He at least knows how to kindle that sparkle that makes a book interesting and fascinating to read. Brenda Jackson and Ronald L. McDonald's story is more a flat statement of facts and figures from a past that seems even more remote than it already is.

I’ll hang on to Michael Wood’s last introductory sentence where he is quoting Arrian “… It is my belief that … never in the world was there another like him [Alexander]”.

A thought for Roxane, Alexander’s Bactrian wife

At times my mind travels in strange ways or I may simply get carried away by the emotions of the moment as happened recently went I attended a singing performance from Samarkand by a lady called Monajat Yulchieva.

With her velvet voice and natural grace, she was meant to become an opera singer but turned instead to the old tradition of shashmâquam, the typical songs from Uzbekistan. She found inspiration in Sufi texts that matched harmoniously with the string and percussion instruments of her native country. This is how she was announced in the media and somehow I felt I needed to see and hear her on stage (Bozar, Brussels, Sept 2009). This turned out to be quite a revelation, I can assure you! 

Unfortunately, I couldn’t understand a word of what she was singing, so it was all pure emotion that came to me. The first three songs were adaptations from folk songs, but then the sound and expression took an entirely different turn. At times, the tunes reminded me of some Chinese songs; in other parts, the melodies reflected the emptiness of the steppe where the notes were suspended in the thin desert air.

Monajat Yulchieva has a fine appearance, someone you do justice by calling her a lady. Utterly gracious and although no longer in her youngest years, you’ll easily qualify her as very handsome. It was almost evident that my thoughts went to the women Alexander would have met on his journey through that part of Asia, and in particular to Roxane. If she was as beautiful as some ancient writers pretend, she might have looked something like Monajat in her teens. Why not?

Unfortunately, no image of Roxane has come to us and the only way I can visualize her is through Oliver Stone’s movie Alexander but that is as remote as Pietro Antonio Rotari’s painting that was shown recently at the Hermitage Museum in Amsterdam (see: Immortal Alexander the Great). So I feel entitled to having my own image of Roxane.

Those who are truly interested in sharing this very special musical experience can watch Monajat Yulchieva on video here. Let me know if I’m right, yes?

Alexander de Grote, Macht als Noodlot by Peter Bamm

This book, written by Peter Bamm, is rarely mentioned in any literature about Alexander the Great. Yet I think this is a must for any novice willing to learn the basics about the person and the campaigns of Alexander.  ASIN: B0000COC3F

It was my very first substantial book I read about Alexander and I was hooked for the rest of my life! It was published in 1968 and may seem out of date here and there (the Macedonian city of Aegae is still believed to be in Edessa) with its black and white illustrations, but the photographs perfectly reflect the desolation of the eastern landscapes he was confronted with, the high mountain ranges, the wide wild rivers and unforgiving deserts. The illustrations are engraved in my memory forever and the vivid descriptions of Peter Bamm really make Alexander come alive.

Peter Bamm takes you by the hand as the story unfolds and leads you through a first-hand experience.

Amidst Shrapnel in Afghanistan

A near miracle, I dare say, to see archaeologists at work in Afghanistan while the fighting between the Taliban and the Western forces is still an ongoing business. An article from Reuters, meaning that we can consider the information as trustworthy, reports on 17 August 2010 about Buddhist remains that are being discovered south of Kabul.

Mohammad Nader Rasouli, head of the Afghan Archaeological Department, mentions that two statues were found, respectively seven and nine meters high, and some coins. They also uncovered a temple, some stupas, and rooms decorated with colorful frescoes and gold. Some of the finds have been dated to the 5th century, but there may be artifacts dating from the BC era.

[Picture from Fox News]

The site is located in the Aynak region of the Logar province, close to the area where the Chinese have recently started mining copper ore. The mine exploitation is not harming the excavations, but looters and smugglers are. They were there even before the government could start excavation work last year. Always a pity when those things happen.

The situation is grim, as can be expected, for we all remember how the radical Taliban destroyed the giant Buddha statues at Bamyan at the end of the last decade; many more antiquities and historical sites were destroyed or pillaged in the process.

Rasouli says that they don’t have the resources to move the relics to a safe place, but he hopes to build a museum there instead, adding, "We need foreign assistance to preserve these and their expertise to help us with further excavations."

Safeguarding a country’s archaeological heritage is never easy, but in war zones it is always worse. Let’s hope that a reasonable solution can be found for Afghanistan, which, in my eyes, is part of the land conquered by Alexander the Great. There must be an enormous wealth of archaeological treasures from his days and from Hellenistic times still hidden out there … somewhere…

All Alexander’s Women. Sisygambis’ Letters by Robbert Bosschart

The title alone made me stop in my tracks: Sisygambis' Letters (ISBN 1439272018)! I got “hooked” on this subject after attending a lecture by Robbert Bosschart at the Zenobia Congress 2010 when I heard his thorough investigation of the women in the life of Alexander the Great for the first time. Besides this book, which is a historic novel, he also wrote another one, All Alexander’s Women, that records his in-depth study of the matter, and I have to admit that I find this quite exciting.

How Bosschart dared talk about “all his women” made me raise my eyebrows at first for Alexander didn’t have that many wives or concubines. But Bosschart is not exactly talking about spouses and mistresses, but rather about the mother figures in Alexander’s life: his own mother Olympias, of course; Queen Ada of Caria; and most of all about Sisygambis, the Queen Mother of Persia. Alexander’s sister Cleopatra also enters the picture, although we know very little about her and most is pure speculation.

This novel gives us a kind of detective story in which a Swiss archaeologist with the significant name of Barsine gets hold of several secret papyri which she is able to decode. These documents turn out to be the private correspondence between Queen Ada and Queen Sisygambis mostly, but there are also a few coded messages written by Alexander personally. This is evidently a very utopian happening, but all in all, through these documents, we are able to shed an entirely new light on the Persian world in which Alexander had to move as a King.

New to me, and this is no fiction, is to hear that women in the East (which includes Persia) were very much emancipated. They occupied high positions, could exercise a profession, and were considered the equals of men! Once you manage to let that knowledge sink in, it is quite amazing and even more unbelievable to realize that thanks to the Romans and the Christian belief we needed more than two thousand years to start the process of emancipation all over again!

Keeping this concept of emancipation in mind, the person of Olympias –whose forefathers came from Troy – is to be seen in an entirely different light. The role of Barsine, the widow of Memnon and mistress of Alexander (she gave him a son, Heracles) cannot be neglected either, particularly if you remember that she spoke Greek and was able to converse with Alexander. Through her, he would have been aware of the protocol at the Persian Court, meaning that when he went to Sisygambis’ tent after the Battle of Issus, he must have known how to carry himself and how to handle this situation with the correct procedure. And let us not forget Queen Ada, who was put back on the throne of Caria by Alexander himself after the siege of Halicarnassus. She was not a queen by name only, but one who had full power to rule. Remember that unlike in other cities, Alexander did not leave a Macedonian garrison behind to have a finger in the pie. That is no small matter!

We are used to looking at Alexander as a conqueror, a fighter, and maybe even as a politician, but rarely as a human being and certainly not in a world where a woman had as much to say as a man. It is an intoxicating thought to even consider what our world would have looked like had Alexander lived long enough to organize his empire, taking this aspect into account! We certainly would not have known a Roman Empire, and Christianity would not have spread (or would have spread differently) in a world of religious tolerance and equality between men and women. I am sure the Greeks and more so the Macedonians will have taken great care to leave that knowledge out of their records!

A subject for deep reflection and lengthy discussions, no doubt! This very book, although it is a historic novel, is no less exciting and makes highly entertaining and intriguing reading!

The Iliad by Homer

The Iliad by Homer ISBN-10: 0140447946. It took me quite a while before I finally managed to read The Iliad, and I got hooked on it! I started this book at least ten or fifteen times before, but I never could manage more than just a few pages. As a matter of fact, I was always curious to find out why Alexander the Great thought so highly of Achilles, and this book, keeping a copy of it with annotations by Aristotle under his pillow all throughout his life. Achilles, the hero of the Iliad, fascinated him to the point that he wanted to emulate his very acts – all in all, reason enough for me to read it.

Lately, I watched the movie Troy with Brad Pitt once again. This picture upset me very much, for the sun is rising in the morning over Troy while this old city is facing straight West. The more I see of this movie, the more confused I get! How can they make a historic movie with so many errors or mistakes? For instance, there is Patroclus being introduced as being Achilles’ cousin, which he is not, just an attendant who grew up with him. There is Briseis, presented as a cousin of Hector’s and a priestess of Apollo. She was neither, only Achilles’ booty, which Agamemnon took away from him because his own girl, Chryseis, priestess of Apollo, had to be returned to her father in exchange for a lavish ransom. And then I am not even talking about the famous horse that never could be rolled over the sandy beach shown in the picture, etc. Well, so much for the movie, but it pushed me to dig out the full and true story about Troy once and for all. What better source than Homer’s Iliad?

The Iliad is generally attributed to Homer, who may have written it or not, or may simply have assembled old tales to create the Iliad at some time around 700 or 800 BC, although even these dates are subject to discussion. My book is a Penguin Classics publication, translated by E.V. Rieu, revised and updated by his son D.C.H. Rieu and by Peter Jones to make it pleasant reading material without dreary old-fashioned phrasing.

To simplify the complex story, I skipped most of the interference by all the gods and goddesses, and I was amazed to find such thrilling reading material! To my surprise, I learnt that four-fifths of the action in the Iliad occurs during a mere four days and nights, while one third of the book covers just a twenty-four hours’ period! Such a short period of time, when you know that the Trojan War lasted for about ten years. That never occurred to me!

In any case, The Iliad is written in the same way a storyteller would present his tale to the general public as he traveled from one village to the next, repeating certain phrases and facts to make sure his audience would understand the essence to the fullest. Yet it is also filled with unexpected details. One such detail is when Patroclus is preparing the meat for Achilles’ guests and adds salt! Isn’t it amazing that this was already common practice three thousand years ago and maybe even before that, in the days of Troy? Then there is the description of Agamemnon’s body armor that was made of strips, ten dark-blue inlays, twelve of gold,  and twenty of tin, on either side of which three blue snakes rose up towards the opening of the neck. That must have been a breathtaking sight by itself, not to mention the other fancy parts of his outfit that are being described with the tiniest details!

And then, last but not least, there is the making of Achilles’ shield by Hephaistos, the god of Fire! That description alone covers five full pages! What a superb piece of art this must have been, made of five full layers of imperishable bronze and some tin, and precious gold and silver on which he applied all sorts of decorations! It had a silver shoulder strap, nothing less! No wonder Alexander the Great exchanged shields when he saw this one at the Temple of Apollo after setting foot on Asian soil!

Well, I couldn’t believe how excited I got, for besides the story itself,  it is so detailed in many ways. Another example is the in-depth description of the Funeral Games for Achilles’ dearest friend Patroclus: the kind of games, who was competing against whom, what the prizes were, how the games were played, etc. I just heard recently that the Iliad is our only source when it comes to finding out about games in antiquity, so the more for Funeral Games!

And all of this interesting material and all these wonderful descriptions have been sleeping on my bookshelf for years! What a waste!

The Macedonian « kausia »

No, I’m not starting a lesson in Greek, but certain words simply cannot be translated. The kausia is a typical flat Macedonian hat that was particularly popular during the Hellenistic period, perhaps even before the days of Alexander the Great. For myself I can easily picture Alexander wearing this pancake hat, certainly after seeing this small terracotta statue of a young boy at the British Museum in London. But this is, of course, my personal opinion.

According to certain studies, the so-called lion hunt mosaic from Pella shows Alexander wearing such a kausia, but this appears to be a much flatter hat, maybe even made of straw. This form is more closely related to what the Bactrian Kings have been wearing during the centuries following Alexander’s conquest of their land as shown on their coins. Personally I like to refer to that headdress as a colonial sun helmet.

Anyway, I can tell you that the best story comes from Afghanistan! The men there still take pride in wearing a kind of wide woolen beret entirely inspired on the Macedonian kausia, which they call pakul, the traditional national headdress. In fact it is worn by specific tribes in a much wider area reaching all the way to Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan as well.

Yet another piece of Alexander’s heritage. He'll never stop amazing me!