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 update from Getty during the Los Angeles fires

The Getty President & CEO Katherine E. Fleming just shared an update on the fires in their Newsletter. Given the particular circumstances, I copied its content hereafter.

Dear Friends,

On behalf of everyone at Getty, I extend our heartfelt sympathy to all who are affected by the unprecedented fires that continue to rage around us. A tragedy is unfolding, one with enormous impact on the beloved city we share.

 

We are especially mindful of those many friends and neighbors whose lives have been upended by evacuations or the loss of their homes, schools, and workplaces.

 

Thank you for the outpouring of concern and support for the Getty Villa Museum in Pacific Palisades. I am pleased to report that the Villa remains safe and intact. While trees and vegetation on the property have burned, Getty structures have been unaffected, and the staff and collections are safe.

 

We are deeply grateful for the tireless work and dedication of the Los Angeles Fire Department, Los Angeles County Fire Department, and other agencies, as well as key Getty staff who have remained on-site at the Villa supporting emergency response efforts. Below is a news link for those wishing more information:

 

LA Times - Getty Villa safe

 

In order to alleviate traffic and aid with recovery efforts, the Getty Center will be closed to the public at least through next Monday, January 20. The Getty Villa will remain closed to the public until further notice.

 

You'll find the next issue of Get Inspired in your mailbox on Thursday, January 23.

 

We will continue to monitor fire conditions and work with local agencies to ensure the safety of our people and collections.

 

The safety and well-being of our community is our greatest concern. Please know that Getty is committed to being a creative and effective resource as the wider Los Angeles community recovers.

 

We’ll send further updates as conditions and plans evolve. In the meantime, we hope you and yours are well. I look forward to a time when we can all celebrate art and beauty together again.

 

Sincerely,

 

Katherine E. Fleming

President & CEO

An article about Fighting Fire at the Getty Villa Museum has been published by Getty on 31 January 2025.

Fire threatening the Getty Villa in Malibu

Doomsday pictures fill the screens of our computers, televisions, and portable phones. Fierce fires fueled by stormy Santa Ana winds rage over the Los Angeles area in Southern California. Names of famous areas such as Pacific Palisades, Sunset Boulevard, Pasadena, and Malibu appear intermittently. Familiar beaches along the Pacific Coast Highway are almost unrecognizable. 

[Outer Peristyle of the Villa dei Papiri in Malibu]

Many homes and businesses are in ruins and I wondered what was happening to the Getty Villa in Malibu with its priceless art collection from Etruscan, Greek, and Roman antiquity – more than 40,000 artifacts (see: The renovated Getty Villa in Malibu). 

Although the fire came very close to the Getty Villa burning some trees and vegetation, the museum housed inside the reconstructed Villa dei Papiri from Herculaneum is still safe (see: The Getty Villa, an invitation to Roman life). 

The golden rule for homeowners in southern California is to regularly clear the brush around their property. It appears that Getty had made great efforts to clear the immediate perimeter. They had also implemented additional prevention measures such as on-site water storage and in-house irrigation systems. 

Luckily, the art galleries and the library archives could be efficiently sealed off from the smoke and safely relied on a double-walled construction. 

Let us hope all the means deployed by Getty will suffice to protect the invaluable treasures held within their walls.

Updating the location of the Granicus Battlefield

We like to believe that archaeologists merely scratch the soil to expose some remains of times past and ideally discover some gold and silver treasure. That is a very idealistic picture, far from the truth. 

Many people forget that excavations can take up to a lifetime to yield some results. Famous examples are men like Heinrich Schliemann in Troy, Arthur Evans in Crete, and more recently Prof. Marc Waelkens in Sagalassos and Manolis Andronicos in Vergina. However, the historical picture they created has been revised since. Schliemann erroneously dated the layers of Troy, Evans partially fabricated Crete by wishful thinking, and the occupant of Vergina’s Tomb is still disputed. 

[Picture from Arkeonews]

The Granicus Battlefield is no exception. Based on excavations and observations since the 19th century, the site of the battle had been identified north of the village of Çınarköprü on the River Biga, which in antiquity was known as the Granicus. That was the site I visited in 2007 (see: The Battle of the Granicus). It lies about 100 kilometers east of Çanakkale on the river that empties into the Propontis, modern Sea of Marmara. 

For the past 20 years or so, Prof. Reyhan Korpe, historian from Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University (ÇOMÜ), led the team that shed new light on the location of the battlefield. It is obvious that I have to revise my standpoint. 

His recent excavations using modern techniques, including geomorphological surveys, exposed new evidence. For instance, the city of Hermaion, which Arrian calls Hermoton, was located on Alexander’s route to the Granicus. It could also be determined that the hitherto assumed site of the battle was a marsh in antiquity, making it unsuitable for an army to move, and that the course of the Granicus River had not changed much in the past two thousand years. Further investigation led to a hill to the east of the battlefield that has now been established near Gümüşçay, i.e., further south than previously reported. Said hill matches the spot where Greek mercenaries in Persian service were positioned, as documented in ancient sources. 

Now, 18 years after my last visit to the Granicus, the area of the battlefield has shifted further south. In my eyes, this new enlarged location makes more sense since there is more space on the wide plain for both armies to maneuver. I hope the river banks are not as steep as near Çınarköprü, where I wondered how the phalanx was able to stay in formation during the crossing. I may well have to return to the Granicus soon! 

                                                  [Picture from Arkeolojikhaber]

It is interesting to read Prof. Reyhan Korpe’s analysis of this part of the Troad region, where he has identified nine ancient cities. We tend to forget that this area was one of the richest in the Persian Empire – hence the numerous tumuli that dot the landscape. No wonder the Persians meant to stop Alexander’s advance immediately after he landed in Asia Minor.

It is worth mentioning that the overall landscape of the Granicus Battlefield has retained much of the appearance it would have had in Alexander’s days, as the agricultural activities have not led to any substantial destruction. 

Ongoing excavation of Aizanoi

Information about the continuous excavations in Aizanoi is very scant and the information is very scrappy. 

[Picture from Arkeonews]

The description of the findings remains vague. The latest is about the heads of Aphrodite and Dionysus but without the location where they were found or in what context. Down the line, I read that two Aphrodite and three Dionysus statue heads were discovered. No idea where or what happened to them. Also, a statue of Heracles has been found. 

In fact, except for these two heads, there is nothing to be added to my blog The magical site of Aizanoi posted in October 2021. 

Aizanoi has a lot to offer but it is sad that the news about ongoing excavations is not treated with more care.

The wondrous Nymphaeum of Kibyra

Slowly but surely, Kibyra is rising from its ashes as excavation and reconstruction works steadily expose more of its precious monuments. After the unique Bouleuterion/Odeon with its Medusa mosaic floor, the great Stadium that could seat 10,000 people, and the impressive theater that offers a wide view over the landscape, the round Nymphaeum is another magnificent structure (see: The tempting site of Kibyra). 

The Nymphaeum was built at a time when the city of Kibyra was reconstructed in three distinctive steps following the earthquake of 23 AD. The border of the circular central pool was decorated with reliefs. On its edge rested six columns alternating with sculptures supporting a conical roof that collapsed in the earthquake of 417 AD. In the last quarter of the 2^nd century AD, a second surrounding pool was arranged around the existing one. It has been determined that twelve bronze statues were added as testified by the imprints of the feet on the supporting pedestals. 

The Nymphaeum was 7.5 meters high and had a diameter of 15 meters. Notwithstanding repeated modifications and additions, the fountain was used well into the 7^th century AD. 

Presently, the Nymphaeum is restored to its former glory and the water supply has returned from the original ancient source. Water flows into the central pool from the stone figures stretched between the columns, two of which have been attributed to Herakles and Dionysus. The originals have been moved to the Museum of Burdur and replaced with limestone copies. 

It must be a sight for sore eyes as the water brings the city back to life, just like in the Antonine Nymphaeum of Sagalassos (see: Sagalassos in Alexander’s campaign).

[Pictures from TRT Haber]

The Carian language

What a surprise, there was a Carian language! 

So far, I have encountered inscriptions in the Lycian language and in Pamphylian, and even a rare bit in the language of Side but until now, Carian has eluded me. 

A chance revelation came from the Turkish site of Zero Books advertising for this new book “Kaunos Kbid 1966-2021” by Baki Öğün, Cengiz Işık (ISBN-ISSN: 9786256212046).

The front cover displays a very sharp image of a bilingual text from the 4^th century BC, written in Carian and Ancient Greek. A parallel can be made with Lycian which used the Greek alphabet but added extra letters for the sounds that do not exist in Greek. Carian applied the same rule. Useless to say that this bilingual document contributed widely to deciphering the Carian language. 

It is noteworthy that the Carian inscription does not use the Greek city’s name Kaunos or Caunos but Kbid as known by the Carian people. 

The Introduction of the book on Zero Books reads as follows: 

While the numerous inscriptions unearthed at archaeological sites throughout the Eastern Mediterranean help to understand many aspects of the ancient world and its peoples, bilingual ones (Bilingue) are very special and valuable to linguists in deciphering ancient languages and understanding their structures.
The Kaunos Bilingue, written in Carian and Ancient Greek in the 4th century BCE, made a great contribution to the understanding of the Carian language. Although the Carian alphabet superficially resembles the Ancient Greek alphabet, it differs in that some similar-looking letters take on different sounds in the language and there are a few letters specific to Carian. Moreover, the most striking part of this Bilingue, long before the use of Greek name Kaunos, is the use of the original name of the city, KBID, given to their city by the Carians, the indigenous people of Anatolia. 

More information about the unique city of Caunos can be found in my earlier blog post, The surprise of Caunos.

Alexandria’s Graeco-Roman Museum finally reopens

We are all familiar with the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, which holds many treasures from the Egyptian dynasties, including the world-famous gold mask of Tutankhamun. 

However, few people are aware of the Graeco-Roman Museum with its 40,000 artifacts from the Greek and Roman eras. It has been closed since 2005 for renovation and finally reopened. It covers artwork from before the foundation of Alexandria by Alexander in 331 BC, the ensuing Ptolemaic Dynasty that ended with Cleopatra in 30 BC, and the Roman occupation up to the Muslim conquest of 641 AD. 

The newly arranged collection is presented in an up-to-date manner, as shown in this short video.

The most recent statues and artifacts to enter this museum are those recovered by Franck Goddio and his team during underwater excavations in the broad Nile estuary, particularly from Thonis-Heracleion. 

Noteworthy is, for instance, the stele discovered at Thonis-Heracleion in 2000, displayed next to its twin, uncovered in Naucratis in 1899. It is quite unique to find two identical inscriptions holding a decree of Nectanebo I. They state that the pharaoh raised subsidies for the temple using the taxes levied from Greek trade and manufacturing in Thonis and Naucratis. The steles also confirm that Thonis and Heracleion were respectively the Egyptian and the Greek names for the same town “at the entrance of the sea of the Greeks”. 

Another striking addition from Thonis-Heracleion is the statue of a Ptolemaic queen, 2.20 meters high, made of black granodiorite and dated to the 2^nd century BC. It is attributed to either Cleopatra Selene II (185-180) or Cleopatra III (116-115 BC) and is executed in a mix of Greek and Egyptian styles. Alternatively, it could represent Cleopatra Thea, the queen consort of three Syrian kings of the Seleucid Empire between 150 and 125 BC. 

A new acquisition of the Graeco-Roman Museum is the so-called Neilos-bust, an astonishingly well-preserved rendition of the god of the Nile in greywacke (a variety of hard sandstone). It was found in the temple area of the Nile’s Canopus. 

In-depth research by Franck Goddio revealed that Graeco-Egyptian statues in this dark Egyptian stone were probably made in specialist workshops in Alexandria. The Nile bust is of particularly high-quality greywacke. 

Of an entirely different order is the Naos of the Decades, a small chapel-like shrine for statues of the divinities at the most sacred place of the temple. During Franck Goddio’s underwater exploration of the Bay of Abukir, he discovered walls of this exceptional naos, parts of which were already at the Graeco-Roman Museum in Alexandria and the Louvre in Paris. 

The Naos of the Decades was a shrine to Shu, the god of air, which predated the Ptolemaic era by more than fifty years. The most remarkable feature may well be the calendar engraved on the outside surfaces of its walls. The Egyptians divided the year into sections of ten days or decades, 36 in all - represented here by 36 squares - making a total of 360 days. A 37^th square was added for the five days to complete the year. Each square showed a text of an astrological nature about the influence of the stars and Shu on daily life during the specific period of ten days. One such text tells how Shu created the sky and the stars and placed himself between the sky and the earth to separate them. 

The Greek sphere of influence did not die with Alexander. In the first stage, it lived on as Hellenism from the Mediterranean to India, after which Greek art and customs gradually fused and mixed with those of the newly formed kingdoms and civilizations. In Egypt, Hellenism officially ended with the death of Cleopatra, when many concepts and ideas were continued by the Romans. The Parthian and Bactrian Kings did the same in the East. Greek remained the lingua franca in antiquity and helped to spread Christianity until the Islamic conquest in the 7^th century AD took over.

[Pictures from Franck Goddio's site]

Owner of the Tomb of Vergina still questioned

Historical events are gladly twisted and turned to make an interesting or commercially profitable story. Some or even many of these tales can stay alive for years, even centuries. 

The most absurd theory is about Alexander being buried in Macedonia and not in Egypt. The other recurring discussion is about the Tomb in Vergina that has been attributed to Philip II, Alexander’s father, by Manolis Andronicos in 1977 (see: Vergina, The Royal Tombs by Manolis Andronicos).

[Picture Credit: A. Bartsiokas]

The next best candidate for the Tomb of Vergina is Philip III Arrhideus, as discussed in my post Questioning the Tomb of King Philip II, father of Alexander the Great, in November 2009, and Philip’s Tomb at Vergina, is it or is it not in January 2016. This last one is based on studies by Antonis Bartsiokas, Democritus, University of Thrace, Komotini, who worked on the Vergina tombs. 

Only recently, a sacred purple-dyed cotton chiton of Alexander has been discovered in the golden larnax of Tomb II, thought to be Philip’s. 

This garment is most remarkable because cotton was first introduced to the Macedonians when they reached India in 327 BC. According to Antonis Bartsiokas, the tunic matches the description of a ceremonial outfit, a sarapis, as worn by King Darius and later adopted by Alexander. A closer analysis revealed the presence of huntite, a bright white mineral uncommon in Greece but used in ancient Persia, between the layers of cotton. These white stripes are also seen in Alexander’s outfit as depicted in the fresco above the entrance door of what is supposedly Philip’s tomb. This, the author says, strengthens his theory that this sarapis is “the same one that Alexander would have worn in official ceremonies”. 

[Picture Credit: A. Bartsiokas]

Why this fabric suddenly appears inside the larnax is puzzling, to say the least, since the cremated bones and a large gold wreath of oak leaves and acorns were removed years ago.

Why the chiton is linked to the image of a juvenile Alexander in the fresco of the tomb is not exactly in line with Alexander as King of Persia wearing a cotton chiton with traces of huntite.

And why can we be sure this sarapis is the one Alexander wore and not Philip III Arrhideus, as he too became King of Kings? 

Presently, Antonis Bartsiokas also states “that many objects found in Tomb II actually belonged to Alexander the Great,” including a golden diadem, a scepter, and the earlier mentioned oak wreath. Here, Philip II is not even mentioned! This would imply that Andronicos had it all wrong. Of course, this is history in the making, and new discoveries and interpretations surface time and again. 

We’ll see…