Ptolemaic Phalangite

JP Vieira's Portfolio

This is a Ptolemaic Soldier (late 3rd Century BC). It was first published in issue 1 of "Ancient Warfare" magazine June/July 2007

The depiction of equipment details around the main figure and the small figurine (in black) to give the scale of the spear (sarissa) helped to improve the efect of the illustration.

Author: JP Vieira

Click on the illustration to see in full size!

Our Young Folks, Plutarch (1884)

"Our Young Folks, Plutarch" by Rosalie Kaufman, 1884.

ALEXANDER

"The loss on the Persian side was very heavy, whiletheir conqueror had no more than sixty horse andthirty foot-soldiers killed.Among these were twenty-five of Alexander's personalfriends, and to do honor to their memory he erected abrass statue to each. The Grecians got a share of thespoils, particularly the Athenians, to whom he sentthree hundred bucklers. Upon the rest he ordered thisinscription to be placed: "Alexander, the son ofPhilip, and the Grecians, except the Lacedæmonians, wonthese from the barbarians who inhabit Asia..."

"Alexander was so elated with this victory that he didnot rest until he had freed all the Greek cities inAsia Minor from the Persian yoke..."

"Alexander made a long speech to the Greeks, whoanswered with loud shouts and begged him to lead themon. Then, raising his right hand towards heaven, heexclaimed, "If I be really the son of Jupiter, defendand strengthen the Greeks, ye gods!..."

"Alexander seated on the throne of Darius was agratifying spectacle to the Greeks, but from that timethe warrior's glory grew dim, for no sooner was hemaster of the greatest empire in the world than hebegan to indulge his passions, and gave himself up toall sorts of dissipation..."

"Once a party of barbarians fell upon some Macedonianswho had Bucephalus in charge, and captured him.Alexander was so provoked at this that he sent aherald to tell them that if they did not immediatelyreturn the horse he would kill every man, woman, andchild in their country. Bucephalus was brought back,and the barbarians surrendered their cities, but theywere treated with great kindness."

"...Thecompany drank freely, and became quite lively as themeal proceeded; but towards its close one Pranicusbegan to sing a song that had been written in ridiculeof the Macedonian officers, who had recently beenbeaten by the barbarians..."

"Seventy Greek towns were founded by Alexander as hemarched along, and he was so elated by success that heresolved to go as far as the river Ganges; but his armyrefused to march farther, and he was forced to return..."

DEMETRIUS

"Demetrius was the only son of Antigonus, one of thegenerals who played an important part in public affairsafter the death of Alexander of Macedon, in whose armyhe had served... His surname was Poliorcetes, a Greek wordmeaning "besieger of cities," because in conductingsieges he proved himself a perfect genius..."

"Demetrius went to Athens with a fleet of three hundredships and a large army, and not only drove Cassanderout of Athens, but restored liberty by the terror ofhis arms to the whole of Greece..."

"His remains were sent in a golden urn to Greece, where they were received by his son, Antigonus, who conveyed them to the city of Demetrius..."

PYRRHUS

"Certainly not," said Cineas, "for it is clear that somuch power will enable you to recover Macedonia and todeclare yourself sovereign of all Greece..."

"And yet you tremble at the very nameof Pyrrhus, who all his life has been paying his courtto one of the guards of that same Alexander. He iswandering about Italy not to help the Greeks here, butto avoid his enemies at home..."

FLAMININUS

"...Now, this behavior formed such a contrast to that of the Macedonians, who on entering Thessaly had compelled the people to take shelter in the mountains, burnt their houses, and carried off all they could lay hands on, that several Greek tribes threw open their gates to the Romans, while others actually sent for Flamininus and put themselves under his protection."

[Rosalie Kaufman, Our young folks, Plutarch, London 1884]

Sources: Heritage-History

The Children's Plutarch - F.J. Gould (1910)

"The Children's Plutarch - Tales of the Greeks" by F. J. Gould, 1910.

THE CONQUEROR

"After Philip died Alexander set out to conquer Asia. Already the people of Greece and Macedonia looked upon him as a man of power, for already he had done great deeds in battle. He visited the city of Corinth, where a meeting of Greek captains and statesmen was held..."

"...Persian horsemen rushed down the steep slopes and charged the cavalry of Alexander, and the king's helmet was split by a battle-axe. Just then an officer named Clitus slew the holder of the battle-axe with his spear. Later on in the fight Alexander's horse (not the proud creature of whom I have just told you) was killed under him. The victory lay with the Greeks (for the Macedonians were a kind of Greeks)."

"And now Darius (Da-ry-us), the sultan, or king, of Persia, had come forth with a host of half a million warriors to meet the Greek foe; and he hoped to deal Alexander a deadly blow when he met him in the mountains of Cilicia (Sy-lis-ia)..."

"On the way they attacked a castle which stood on the top of a steep hill. Among the band of Greeks who were to lead the onset was a young fellow named Alexander..."

"Well, before the assault had gone far a group of men came out of the fort and asked to see the Greek king, for they wished to make an offer to surrender the place..."

"Dreadful was the battle which Alexander fought with the Indian Prince Porus. This Indian was very tall, and he rode on the back of a very large elephant. Many of his followers were also mounted on these huge beasts. Greek courage did not flinch before the Indian elephants or the Indian arrows..."

"...Pleased with the Indian's answer, he gave him back all his land, which he was to rule as governor under the chief kingship of Alexander. In the midst, however, of this great triumph, a sadness came upon the Greek king..."

"...Then the Greek warriors tramped a weary march along the shore of the Persian gulf; over sand, dust, stones; under the hot sun; in a region where little food could be got..."

"...He had broken the rule of the proud kings of Persia, who had so often marched armies to the West, and tried to make slaves of the Greeks. And where the Greeks went they took their books and poetry and music, and so gave new ideas and new manners to the folk who were less learned than themselves. But these deeds had puffed up Alexander's soul with pride..."

A SERVANT OF THE CITY

"Poor Athens! This fair city by the sea had many a trouble to bear at this time. It was the time when the Greeks of the north—the stout warriors of Macedonia—were becoming masters of the neighboring lands; the time of King Philip and of Alexander the Great. Phocion did not think the men of Athens were strong enough and wise enough to keep free; he thought it would be better for them to own the Macedonians as their leaders and lords..."

GOLDEN SHOES AND TWO CROWNS

"...While he was yet a very young man he went to and fro in Asia, waging war against the Arabs, from whom he once captured seven hundred camels; or against various Greek princes. For you must know that after the death of Alexander the Great large lands in Asia, Egypt, etc., were shared among his captains, so that there were Greek rulers over many foreign countries"

"It may amuse you to hear how one of the prince's friends took the news of a victory to the old King of Macedon. Demetrius fought with one hundred and eighty ships against one hundred and fifty ships of the King of Egypt (this king was also a Greek)..."

"His body having been burned after the manner of the Greeks, the ashes that remained were put into an urn of gold..."

[F. J. Gould, The Children's Plutarch - Tales of the Greeks, New-York and London 1910]

Sources: Heritage-History

Old World Hero Stories (1909)

"OLD WORLD HERO STORIES" by E. M. Tappan, 1909.

"He led his troops across the Hellespont; and now for the moment he was not a soldier, but an earnest lover of real poetry; and he went first of all to visit Troy. There he offered up sacrifices to Athene and to the spirits of the heroes of the Trojan War. He hung a wreath on the pillar of Achilles's tomb, for he had persuaded himself long before this that he was descended from the Grecian hero."

"...but Alexander won the day. He was generous with the spoils. He had brazen statues made of the men who had fallen, he gave lavish gifts to the Greeks, especially to the Athenians, and he sent home to his mother the purple hangings and the gold and silver dishes found in the tents of the Persians."

[Eva March Tappan, Old world hero stories, Cambridge 1909]

Sources: Heritage-History

The Army of Alexander the Great

THE MACEDONIAN CAVALRY

The army of Alexander the Great could be called Macedonian because it fought for the Macedonian king. Its troops were like many other armies in Antiquity only partly recruited from the kingdom itself. These soldiers from Macedonia proper were supplemented by considerable forces from other territories. The native Macedonians however remained the most important part of the army. These men served both in the cavalry as well as in the infantry. The most prestigious of the mounted troops were the hetairoi or companions. The companion cavalry had its origins in the retainers kept by the Macedonian royal house. At first the members of this elite unit were recruited among the Macedonian nobility. During the reign of king Philippus II its strength had however been raised from approximately 600 horsemen to over 3000 troopers. Only part of these were selected among Macedonian nobles, others were recruited from Thessaly and other parts of the Greek world. These hetairoi were organised in ilai or 'wings' of some 200 men except for the basilikè ilè or agèma, the royal squadron, which had a strength of 300 to 400 cavalrymen. In battle these units of Macedonian hetairoi were generally formed up in a wedge formation. The companion cavalry was equipped with metal helmets and various types of body armour. Some troopers wore linen or leather corselets reinforced with metal scales while others equipped themselves with bronze or iron breastplates. A number of horsemen may even have spurned the use of armour, either for reason of comfort or out of sheer bravado. Shields were probably only reserved for dismounted actions. The hetairoi usually carried a variety of heavy thrusting spears to act as heavy shock cavalry, though they were on occasion armed with javelins. A sword was at all times in use as a secondary weapon. These could be of the hoplite type as well as a curved slashing variety. Heavy cavalry was very effective against opponents with low morale, but it could do little of consequence when confronted with a determined enemy in good order. Horses are by nature prone to flee any danger, though they can be trained to charge straight at a mass of people at great expense of time and effort. Considering the low resistance of equines to hardships it is however difficult to assess to what extent the Macedonian heavy cavalry could be provided with well trained warhorses. On prolonged campaigns it is very likely many horsemen had to make do with whatever mounts were available. In addition to the shock troopers of the hetairoi a small number of light cavalrymen designated prodromoi or scouts were part of the native Macedonian cavalry. These horsemen were usually equipped with javelins when employed on reconnaissance missions, but armed with a cavalry version of the sarissa they served as heavy cavalry sarissophoroi in battle. Normally these Macedonians operated closely with the light Paeonian, Illyrian and Thracian cavalry. Confusingly these mounted Thracians were also known as prodromoi.

THE MACEDONIAN INFANTRY

Beside the cavalry mentioned above there were also infantry units that were recruited in Macedonia. Amongst these the most important were the pezhetairoi or foot companions, of which some were also given the mysterious title of asthetairoi. These pezhetairoi were recruited according to a territorial system in which the various provinces of Macedonia each provided a single taxis or regiment. To reduce the threat of a rebellion at home the army assembled for the Asian campaign was predominantly made up of regiments from the seditious northern districts. Command of the foot companion regiments was usually entrusted to nobles originating from the same area as the men themselves. The various taxeis often carried the name of their commander. Modern studies often assume that each of the foot companion regiments had a strength of some 1500 soldiers, but it is not unlikely that in fact the units as a result of dissimilar losses and replacements had varying numerical strengths. At the start of the campaign six regiments of pezhetairoi were included in the expeditionary army, but during the campaign a seventh taxis was added using reinforcements from Macedonia. It is not known whether this seventh regiment was also territorially recruited or that men from different districts were grouped together.

The pezhetairoi formed the main heavy infantry force of the Macedonian army. The training and armament of these heavy foot soldiers were much more flexible than that of the hoplites in most Greek city states. Equipment and tactics could be adjusted to suit different situations. Armed with the hoplite shield and a spear of normal length the foot companions were capable of deployment in a classical Greek hoplite phalanx. In addition these soldiers could be equipped with a long pike requiring the use of both hands, the famous sarissa, and a different rimless shield hanging from the shoulder to fight in the distinctive Macedonian variant of the phalanx. On a number of occasions these soldiers were also equipped with light javelins instead of spears or pikes. The various sources give different descriptions of the defensive equipment used by the pezhetairoi. It is very probable that this equipment like the offensive weaponry was adapted to suit differing tactical requirements. A helmet appears to have been an item regularly worn by the footcompanions, but additional protection in the guise of metal greaves or a kind of body armour is also mentioned. As worn out armour was burned in India, the body armour was probably constructed of linen, felt or leather. Linen or leather corselets of the same cut as Greek hoplite types are depicted on the socalled Alexander sarcophagus and may have been standard issue. If later Hellenistic practice reflected earlier conditions the officers and NCO's forming the front rank of the formation may have been equipped with metal cuirasses. Body armour of any sort was very uncomfortable in hot weather. On some occasions at least part of the troops may have discarded body armour for this reason. Experiments were also made with armour that offered only frontal protection.

In addition to the pezhetairoi existed an elite formation of hypaspistai or shieldbearers. These men can almost certainly be identified with the socalled argyraspides or silvershields from the later part of Alexander's reign. These soldiers were not recruited on a territorial basis, but selected individually on merit from the taxeis of the pezhetairoi. The hypaspistai numbered three thousand men organised in three subunits of each a thousand soldiers. Although constituting a picked force among the Macedonian infantry one of these battalions, the agema, had a higher prestige than the other two. A modest number of soomatophylakes recruited among the Macedonian nobility was attached to the hypaspistai , which were selected among those of common birth. As these units were not like the taxeis of foot companions depending on replacements originating from a particular district the hypaspistai are likely to have maintained their establishment strength throughout the campaigns of Alexander the Great by constant selection of picked men from the other regiments of Macedonian heavy infantry.

Tactics and equipment of the hypaspistai were probably similar to those of the pezhetairoi, but as an elite formation they were often used for special assignments. In set piece engagements the shieldbearers were generally deployed on the dangerous place of honour at the right flank of the heavy infantry line. Several modern authors assume that these soldiers usually wore lighter equipment in battle than the foot companions, but clear indications for a different armament are absent from the ancient sources. Their frequent use on special duties however meant that the hypaspistai were more likely to carry lighter arms and equipment when not deployed in a set piece battle.

Besides the heavy infantry of foot companions and shieldbearers there was also native Macedonian light infantry enrolled in the army of Alexander. These were made up of javelineers, archers and slingers. Most light infantry was however not recruited in Macedonia proper. The javelin armed Agrianoi stemmed from the neighbouring kingdom of Lagarus. These Agrianoi formed an elite among Alexander's forces and were often employed on dangerous missions. On occasion these troops were used as hamippoi to strengthen the Macedonian cavalry. An additional 7000 strong contingent of Thracians served as peltastai, shieldbearing skirmishers. These Thracians were however not so much selected for their military value, but rather to limit the risk of an uprising in their homelands. The Macedonian archers were supplemented by mercenary bowmen from Crete.

THE MACEDONIAN ALLIES

An important contingent in the army of Alexander the Great was the Thessalian cavalry that served the Macedonian king because he was tagos or military leader of Thessalia as well. These horsemen generally operated in battle as the heavy cavalry wing deployed on the left flank of the army. Eight territorially recruited ilai were selected to join the Asian campaign. The Pharsalian ilè had much the same status amongst these squadrons as the royal ilè among the Macedonian companion cavalry. This particular unit may have had a higher establishment strength than the usual two hundred troopers. In contrast to the wedge deployment used by Macedonian and Thracian horsemen the cavalry of Thessaly usually favoured a rhomboid formation. After the war of revenge on the Persian empire was officially brought to an end those Thessalian cavalrymen that opted not to return home were integrated in the reorganised units of the Macedonian hetairoi.

Detachments of forces were also sent by the city states of the Corinthian league to join the retribution campaign against the Persians. These soldiers belonged in part to the professional soldiers of the small standing armies maintaned by the Greek poleis. It is not known to what extent the armament and equipment of these forces varied, but modern literature on the subject assumes that the majority of these troops served as hoplites. The equipment of these hoplites was probably no longer as light as it had been at the turn of the century. Vase paintings and sculptures seem to point to a renewed widespread use of metal body armour by Greek hoplites. In addition to the infantry troops some city states also sent small numbers of horsemen to join the Macedonian army. The troops sent by the Corinthian league had no significant role in any of the battles fought by Alexander. At the end of the official vengeance campaign against the Achaemenid empire these forces were excused further duty. Although the majority of men returned to their cities, some took service as mercenaries in Alexander's army.

Greek mercenaries were also used in the Macedonian expeditionary army. Though these forces were mostly employed for garrison duty in the conquered provinces part of the mercenaries served in the field army. The infantry was composed of both hoplites and peltastai. A number of small mercenary horsemen played an important role in the field army cavalry. Mercenary troops were also hired among the population of the conquered territories of the Persian empire and India. Some of these indiginous forces consisted of mounted javelineers and horse archers, others served as light infantry skirmishers. At the end of Alexander's reign Asiatic troops were levied and equipped and trained on the Macedonian model.

THE MACEDONIAN COMMAND STRUCTURE

At the head of the Macedonian army chain of command was Alexander the Great himself. The senior officers were partly selected from those that had been brought up with the Macedonian king, though part of the high command consisted of men who had made careers during the reign of Philippus II. Most prominent among the last group was Parmenio, said by Philippus to have been his only general. The relationship between Parmenio and Alexander is traditionally portrayed by the ancient sources to have been plagued by contstant differing of opinions. This image can be corrected by careful reading of the available texts. The course of action advised by Parmenio appears to have adopted by Alexander both before Gaugamela and the battle at the Granicus.

The planning and preparation of battles was of the utmost importance. Because of the very limited means of communicating orders in battle, much depended on the instructions given to subordinate commanders beforehand. The sources indicate the convening of a general staff meeting to discuss plans and preparations. Good reconnaissance and reliable intelligence were vital for proper planning of the engagements ahead. Though a sytem of scouts and spies was employed to furnish Alexander with much needed information, intelligence required the constant personal attention of the commander in chief himself. Before the battle of Gaugamela the Macedonian king went on a reconnaissance foray in person to obtain first hand information.

The officer corps was predominantly structured on territorial divisions. Officers of the various units of hetairoi and pezhetairoi were usually, but not invariably selected from the nobles of the same district as the common soldiers. Junior officers appear to have largely specialised in command of either horse or foot, but senior commanders could be tasked with both infantry and cavalry commands. During the campaigns the importance and prestige of cavalry commands was reinforced. Many officers must have been personally acquainted with their commander in chief through prior service in the paides basilikoi, the royal pages, or the soomatophylakes basilikoi, the royal bodyguards. The selection of senior commanders especially was not always directly related to their military qualities, but was often connected to personal favour, blood ties and political reliability.

The command of an army of many different nationalities posed a number of problems. The various troops spoke different languages and dialects. Officers commanding contingents of foreign forces were probably required to master the use of the Greek language and some rudimentary knowledge of the basic Greek orders may have been thaught to their subordinates. The language barriers were not the only communication problems. Armies in Antiquity lacked effective means of long range communication. Commands by word of mouth had very limited range in the noise of battle. Indications for the use of musical instruments to communicate orders in battle are limited for the army of Alexander. The army also lacked an equivalent of the Roman army standards that could be employed to visually communicate simple orders to the troops. The use of such visual signals was probably very limited anyway because of the enormous clouds of dust raised by the masses of men and horses. Mounted messengers were the main if not fully reliable means of communication on long ranges. Because of these flawed means of communications between the various parts of the battle line the dependance on plans made beforehand and able subordinate commanders was very great. A commander in chief had only effective control over the units in his immediate vicinity and lacked an overall view of the situation. The general staff meetings before an engagement were therefore vital for the coordination of the army's actions.

The battle tactics of the army of Alexander were generally aimed to force a rapid decision. The attack of the Macedonian forces was generally made in an oblique battle formation with an advanced right flank and a refused left wing. A fierce charge of the heavy horse on a small portion of the enemy's forces was intended to break the morale of the enemy and create panic among units not yet engaged in combat. Success depended to a large extent on sapping the morale of an opponent. The use of surprise was an important means to undermine the confidence of the enemy. Unexpected manoeuvres were employed to surprise the opposing forces at the Granicus, Issus and the Hydaspes. It was also important to engage the enemy when his forces were fatigued by long marches or lack of sleep.

Author: Sander van Dorst

Famous men of Greece (1904)

Excerpts from the books - "Famous men of Greece" by John H. Haaren and A. B. Poland, 1904.

PHILIP OF MACEDONIA

"A state, partly Greek and partly barbarian, lying far to the north, suddenly took the lead in the affairs of Greece. It was Macedonia."

"This put an end to the power of Athens and Thebes and made Philip master of all the states of Greece, except Sparta."

"The first thing that Philip proposed to the Council of the States was that all Greece should make war against Persia. The members of the Council were delighted and Philip was invited to be the commander-in-chief of the expedition."

ALEXANDER THE GREAT

"A little later the Greeks met in general council at Corinth and gave him, as they had given Philip, the command of the expedition that was to be undertaken against Persia. Sparta alone refused to agree in the vote."

"Beyond the mountains in southeastern Asia Minor, the "Great King," Darius was waiting for the Greeks with an enormous army. He became impatient and crossed the mountains into Cilicia. A battle was fought at Issus, but the Persians were no match for the Greeks. The battle ended with overwhelming defeat to the army of Darius and he fled from the battle-field. He left not only his baggage and treasure, but his wife and mother and children, all of whom fell into Alexander's hands."

"In October, not far from a place called Arbela, in Persia, the forces of Darius and Alexander met in their last great battle. Darius had done everything he could to insure the defeat of the Greeks. His army was said to number a million men. One division of it had two hundred chariots, to the wheels of which scythes were attached. The scythes went round with the wheels and were expected to mow down the Greeks like grass. In another division of the army were fifteen trained elephants that were intended to rush wildly among the Greeks and trample them down."

DIOGENES

"When the great Council of the States of Greece honored Alexander by asking him to lead their forces against Persia, the young conqueror visited Diogenes. The philosopher was then living at Corinth, in the house of the man who had bought him as a slave. He was in the garden basking in the sun when Alexander visited him."

PTOLEMY

"Ptolemy and his descendants ruled Egypt for more than three hundred and fifty years. They were a great line of sovereigns and did much for the good of the country. We are accustomed to think of them as Egyptians, but really they were Greeks living in Egypt."

[John Haaren, Famous men of Greece, New York - Cincinnati - Chicago 1904]

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Macedonia Documents - F.Y.R.O.M. History (Under Construction)

Great Men and Famous Women - C. Horne

ALEXANDER THE GREAT

(356-323 B.C.)

Alexander the Great, Son of Philip of Macedon and Olympias, daughter of Neoptolemus of Epirus, was born at Pella, 356 B.C. His mind was formed chiefly by Aristotle, who instructed him in every branch of human learning, especially in the art of government. Alexander was sixteen years of age when his father marched against Byzantium, and left the government in his hands during his absence. Two years afterward, he displayed singular courage at the battle of Charonea (338 B.C.), where he overthrew the Sacred Band of the Thebans. "My son," said Philip, as he embraced him after the conflict, "seek for thyself another kingdom, for that which I leave is too small for thee." The father and son quarrelled, however, when the former divorced Olympias. Alexander took part with his mother, and fled to Epirus, to escape his father's vengeance; but receiving his pardon soon afterward, he returned, and accompanied him in an expedition against the Triballi, when he saved his life on the field. Philip, being appointed generalissimo of the Greeks, was preparing for a war with Persia, when he was assassinated (336 B.C.), and Alexander, not yet twenty years of age, ascended the throne.

After punishing his father's murderers, he marched on Corinth, and in a general assembly of the Greeks he caused himself to be appointed to the command of the forces against Persia. On his return to Macedon, he found the Illyrians and Triballi up in arms, whereupon he forced his way through Thrace, and was everywhere victorious. But now the Thebans had been induced, by a report of his death, to take up arms, and the Athenians, stimulated by the eloquence of Demosthenes, were preparing to join them. To prevent this coalition, Alexander rapidly marched against Thebes, which, refusing to surrender, was conquered and razed to the ground. Six thousand of the inhabitants were slain, and 30,000 sold into slavery; the house and descendants of the poet Pindar alone being spared. This severity struck terror into all Greece. The Athenians were treated with more leniency.

Alexander, having appointed Antipater his deputy in Europe, now prepared to prosecute the war with Persia. He crossed the Hellespont in the spring of 334 B.C., with 30,000 foot and 5,000 horse, attacked the Persian satraps at the River Granicus, and gained a complete victory, overthrowing the son-in-law of their king Darius with his own lance. As a result of the battle, most of the cities of Asia Minor at once opened their gates to the conqueror.

Alexander restored democracy in all the Greek cities; and as he passed through Gordium, cut the Gordian-knot, which none should loose but the ruler of Asia. During a dangerous illness at Tarsus, brought on by bathing in the Cydnus, he received a letter insinuating that Philip, his physician, had been bribed by Darius toy poison him. Alexander handed the letter to Philip, and at the same time swallowed the draught which the latter had prepared. As soon as he recovered, he advanced toward the defiles of Cilicia, in which Darius had stationed himself with an army of 600,000 men.

He arrived in November, 333 B.C., in the neighborhood of Issus, where, on the narrow plain between the mountains and the sea, the unwieldy masses of the Persians were thrown into confusion by the charge of the Macedonians, and fled in terror. On the left wing, 30,000 Greek mercenaries held out longer, but they, too, were at length compelled to yield. All the treasures as well as the family of Darius fell into the hands of the conqueror, who treated them with the greatest magnanimity. Overtures for peace, made by Darius on the basis of surrendering to Alexander all Asia west of the Euphrates, were rejected.

Alexander now turned toward Syria and Phœnicia. He occupied Damascus, where he found princely treasures, and secured to himself all the cities along the shores of the Mediterranean. Tyre, confident in its strong position, resisted him, but was conquered and destroyed, after seven months of incredible exertion (332 B.C.). Thence he marched victoriously through Palestine, where all the cities submitted to him except Gaza; it shared the same fate as Tyre. Egypt, weary of the Persian yoke, welcomed him as a deliverer; and in order to strengthen his dominion here, he restored all the old customs and religious institutions of the country, and founded Alexandria in the beginning of 331 B.C. Thence he marched through the Libyan Desert, in order to consult the oracle of Ammon, whose priest saluted him as a son of Zeus; and he returned with the conviction that he was indeed a god.

He then again set out to meet Darius; in October, 331 B.C., a great battle was fought on the plain stretching eastward to Arbela. Notwithstanding the immense superiority of his adversary, who had collected a new army of more than a million men, Alexander was not for a moment doubtful of victory. Heading the cavalry himself, he rushed on the Persians, and put them to flight; then hastened to the assistance of his left wing, which, in the meanwhile, had been sorely pressed. He was anxious to make Darius a prisoner, but Darius escaped on horseback, leaving his baggage and all his treasures a prey to the conqueror. Babylon and Susa, the treasure-houses of the East, opened their gates to Alexander, who next marched toward Persepolis, the capital of Persia, which he entered in triumph.

The marvellous successes of Alexander now began to dazzle his judgment and to inflame his passions. He became a slave to debauchery, and his caprices were as cruel as they were ungrateful. In a fit of drunkenness, and at the instigation of Thais, an Athenian courtesan, he set fire to Persepolis, the wonder of the world, and reduced it to a heap of ashes then, ashamed of the deed, he set out with his cavalry in pursuit of Darius. Learning that Bessus, the Bactrian satrap, held him a prisoner, he hastened his march, in the hope of saving him, but he found him mortally wounded (330 B.C.). He mourned over his fallen enemy, and caused him to be buried with all the customary honors, while he hunted down Bessus, who himself aspired to the throne, chasing him over the Oxus to Sogdiana (Bokhara).

Having discovered a conspiracy in which the son of Parmenio was implicated, he put both father and son to death, though Parmenio himself was innocent of any knowledge of the affair. This cruel injustice excited universal displeasure. In 329 he penetrated to the farthest known limits of Northern Asia, and overthrew the Scythians on the banks of the Jaxartes. In the following year he subdued the whole of Sogdiana, and married Roxana, whom he had taken prisoner. She was the daughter of Oxyartes, one of the enemy's captains, and was said to be the fairest of all the virgins of Asia. The murder of his foster-brother, Clitus, in a drunken brawl, was followed, in 327 B.C., by the discovery of a fresh conspiracy, in which Callisthenes, a nephew of Aristotle, was falsely implicated. For challenging Alexander's divinity, he was cruelly tortured and hanged.

In 327 B.C., proceeding to the conquest of India, hitherto known only by name, Alexander crossed the Indus near to the modern Attock, and pursued his way under the guidance of a native prince to the Hydaspes (Jhelum). He there was opposed by Porus, another native prince, whom he overthrew after a bloody contest, and there he lost his charger Bucephalus; thence he marched as lord of the country, through the Punjab, establishing Greek colonies. He then wished to advance to the Ganges, but the general murmuring of his troops obliged him, at the Hyphasis (modern Sutlej), to commence his retreat. On regaining the Hydaspes, he built a fleet, and sent one division of his army in it down the river, while the other followed along the banks, fighting its way through successive Indian armies. At length, having reached the ocean, he ordered Nearchus, the commander of the fleet, to sail thence to the Persian Gulf, while he himself struck inland with one division of his army, in order to return home through Gedrosia (Beluchistan). During this march his forces suffered fearfully from want of food and water. Of all the troops which had set out with Alexander, little more than a fourth part arrived with him in Persia (325 B.C.).

At Susa he married Stateira, the daughter of Darius, and he bestowed presents on those Macedonians (some ten thousand in number) who had married Persian women, his design being to unite the two nations. He also distributed liberal rewards among his soldiers. Soon afterward he was deprived, by death, of his favorite Hephestion. His grief was unbounded, and he interred the dead man with kingly honors. As he was returning from Ecbatana to Babylon, it is said that the Magi foretold that the latter city would prove fatal to him; but he despised their warnings. On the way, he was met by ambassadors from all parts of the world—Libya, Italy, Carthage, Greece, the Scythians, Celts, and Iberians.

At Babylon he was busy with gigantic plans for the future, both of conquest and civilization, when he was suddenly taken ill after a banquet, and died eleven days later, 323 B.C., in the thirty-second year of his age, and the thirteenth of his reign. His body was deposited in a golden coffin at Alexandria, by Ptolemaus, and divine honors were paid to him, not only in Egypt, but in other countries. He had appointed no heir to his immense dominions; but to the question of his friends, "Who should inherit them?" he replied, "The most worthy." After many disturbances, his generals recognized as Kings the weak-minded Aridæus—a son of Philip by Philinna, the dancer—and Alexander's posthumous son by Roxana, Alexander Ægus, while they shared the provinces among themselves, assuming the title of satraps. Perdiccas, to whom Alexander had, on his death-bed, delivered his ring, became guardian of the kings during their minority. The empire of Alexander soon broke up, and his dominions were divided among his generals.

Alexander discovering the body of Darius

Alexander was more than a conqueror. He diffused the language and civilization of Greece wherever victory led him, and planted Greek kingdoms in Asia, which continued to exist for some centuries. At the very time of his death, he was engaged in devising plans for the drainage of the unhealthy marshes around Babylon, and a better irrigation of the extensive plains. It is even supposed that the fever which he caught there, rather than his famous drinking-bout, was the real cause of his death. To Alexander, the ancient world owed a vast increase of its knowledge in geography, natural history, etc. He taught Europeans the road to India, and gave them the first glimpses of that magnificence and splendor which has dazzled and captivated their imagination for more than two thousand years. See Freeman's "Historical Essays " (2d series, 1873), and Mahaffy's "Alexander's Empire" (1887).

The wonderful element in the campaigns of Alexander, and his tragical death at the height of his power, threw a rare romantic interest around his figure. It is ever the fate of a great name to be enshrined in fable, and Alexander soon became the hero of romantic story, scarcely more wonderful than the actual, but growing from age to age with the mythopœic spirit which can work as freely in fact as fiction. The earliest form of the story which we know is the great romance connected with the name of Callisthenes, which, under the influence of the living popular tradition, arose in Egypt about 200 A.D., and was carried through Latin translations to the West, through Armenian and Syriac versions to the East. It became widely popular during the middle ages, and was worked into poetic form by many writers in French and German. Alberich of Besançon wrote in Middle High German an epic on the subject in the first half of the twelfth century, which was the basis of the German "Pfaffe" Lamprecht's "Alexanderbuch," also of the twelfth century. The French poets Lambert li Court and Alexandre de Bernay composed, between 1180 and 1190, a romance of Alexander, the twelve-syllable metre of which gave rise to the name Alexandrines. The German poem of Rudolf of Ems was based on the Latin epic of Walter of Châtillon, about 1200, which became henceforward the prevailing form of the story. In contrast with it is the thirteenth century Old English epic of Alexander (in vol. i. of Weber's "Metrical Romances," 1810), based on the Callisthenes version. The story appears also in the East, worked up in conjunction with myths of other nationalities, especially the Persian. It appears in Firdusi, and among later writers, in Nizami. From the Persians both the substance of the story and its form in poetical treatment have extended to Turks and other Mohammedans, who have interpreted Alexander as the Dsulkarnein ('two horned') of the Koran, and to the Hindus, which last had preserved no independent traditions of Alexander.

[Charles Francis Horne, Great Men and Famous Women: Soldiers and Sailors (Vol. I), New York 1894]

Source: Heritage-History

Alexander at St. Achilleos Church, Kozani

KOZANI: THE FIGURE OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT AT THE ST. ACHILLEOS, LOWER PENTALOFOS

by P. Gioultsi

The atmosphere in the church of Saint Achilleios in the village of Pentalofos, Kozani is solemn. Inside the church which is all-around painted with frescoes and still resists the passing of time though it was built in 1740, one can ascertain the reason for this church being a benchmark of Hellenism for centuries. There is depicted in the narthex a very familiar figure to all Greeks that has no relation however to the Saints of Orthodoxy. It is Alexander the Great, who was included in the rich murals that adorn the interior of the church by the Chionadites (from the village of Chionades, Konitsa) painters. Thus they expressed their respect to a person who paved the way for the Christian gospel, through the spread of Greek language and culture.

"The mural theme is the hell, the fiery river and the Second Advent. There are shown prelates, martyrs, prophets and apostles, and then Jewish kings and tyrants, as the Persians, Darius, Cyrus and Porus, who are depicted holding swords in their hands. Right next to them is the figure of Alexander the Great, who defeated the Persian kings. He holds in his hands royal scepter and wears a crown in his head. "It is remarkable that these kings are mentioned in the Old Testament, some even by prophets", points to ANA(Athenian News Agency) - MPA (Macedonian News Agency) the painter Argyris Pafilis.

The four kings prophesied by Daniel the Prophet, among whom is Alexander the Great. Saint Achilleos Church in Kozani built in 1740.

"Such depictions do not create doctrinal issues, as these figures appear in the narthex of the church and without halo. The example of the church on the lake of Ioannina is characteristic. There are painted figures of ancient Greek philosophers like Socrates and Plato, on the grounds that each one of them with his work served the purpose of the church in the years that followed", explains to ANA - MPA Bishop Paul of Sisanion and Siatista.

As he characteristically pointed out, the church was never afraid of such depictions, since it attributes to such figures an important role in the plan of Divine Providence. "The Economy of God prepared the salvation of the world through a crowd of people, who typically appear to be unrelated to the church, but are essentially within the plans of God", he adds.

Realizing the historical significance of the temple, the Kozani Prefecture signed a contract of 215,000 euros for its restoration, since the signs of passing time had already begun to appear. The murals were being destroyed, water flew through the roof inside the temple and caused high humidity.

"Important enhancement and fixture works that were required have been carried out, giving first priority to maintain its aesthetic value", says the project architect, Dimitra Kopsacheili and states that the work was completed under the supervision of the 17th Byzantine Antiquities Service of Kozani and the Technical Department of the Prefecture of Kozani.

Speaking about the history of the church,she notes that there is a wall plaque in the eastern side stating that it was built in 1740 and internally decorated in 1774, with frescoes by Chionadites painters. Noteworthy are the wooden temple, the shrines, the bishop's throne and the painted pulpit.

Ms. Kopsacheili does not fail to mention the great love of people for the church, to the point that when they saw it collapsing, offered themselves to assist in the restoration work. "The love, respect and reverence of the inhabitants of the vicinity of Pentalofos for the church is indeed touching”.

There is held a service every year on the feast day of St. Achilleus. ”There was a big surprise for us in the Divine Liturgy of the last year", says bishop Paul and explains: "When I arrived at the church for the service, I found an antimension of 1912, a piece of cloth with a representation of the Pieta which is used in the Holly Services even outside the church. All these years, the antimension was in that specific place and its discovery was the best reward for all the assembled".

Source: ANA-MPA

Translated by: Kapetan Doukas

Alexander the man and the legend

ALEXANDER THE LEGEND: ONE KING, ONE GOD, AND ALEXANDER WAS HIS NAME.

Unknown in the West really until the Middle Ages, Alexander the Great, Sekander, Sikander, Eskander... Son of God, King of Kings, Lord of the World, Light of the World, Greek Orthodox Saint Alexander... Iskander Giuste (Alexander the Accursed One), "Two Horned Alexander," the Third Beast in Revelation's "Book of Daniel," perhaps even The Whore of Babylon or Satan, Alexander has been invoked by many names, down to the present day; in countries we know as Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan.

Alexander, in a way which myth and legend interweave with great historical figures, is thought by some to be a precursor of, or at least an influence on, our understanding of figures in the Old Testament, of the biblical Jesus (certainly the Christ of Constantine, undoubtedly the Militant Christ of the Crusaders), "the Evil One" in the Koran, the Hindu holy men, the Buddha, and Genghis Kahn ("the Scourge of God"). He was an inspiration to Augustus Caesar, Constantine the Great, Napoleon, Lawrence of Arabia and Hitler. And everywhere Alexander went he built cities - nearly a dozen in his name, from Alexandria in Egypt to Kandahar in Afghanistan.

And at the places he paused, before or after each of the 70 battles he fought, clearly in an effort to fulfill his destiny, Alexander consulted oracles, joined arcane cults, and built altars to the gods he had adopted. In the Spring of 324 BC, before he turned back, exhausted from his crusade, north of what is now Karachi in Pakistan, he had altars built to all his gods, twelve in number. One is said to have been a brass obelisk, perhaps 70 meters high, which was inscribed simply: "Alexander stopped here."

He was loved for his generosity and vision; hated, more so with passing years, by those who rejected his multiculturalism, laughed at his occasional blunders, loathed his easy acceptance of other religions and races, derided his attempt to unite his World, and were revolted by his destructive and self-destructive acts. Among his Macedonian followers, however, and to the faithful across all the Subcontinent - for an indeterminate amount of time -- there was but one king, one god, and Alexander was his name.

Within a few years of his death in 323, however, Alexander's Empire had broken up. His Mother Olympias or his splendid generals killed Alexander's wives, his legitimate heirs, and each other. Increasingly, he was remembered only in myth, legend, story or on the face of coins. Alexander was everywhere but nowhere. Despite the letters of Aristotle, the journals of *Callisthenes (Aristotle's nephew, the expedition's official historian, one of "The 12 Companions") and other accounts used by Historians Aristobulis, Arrian, Curtius, and Plutarch, Alexander became something of a mystery. His posthumous fame spread into Northern Europe (contributing to the Legend of King Arthur), took over the imagination of the Renaissance, became a model for the British Grenadiers in the 19th Century, was studied for his tactics by the Generals of World War II, was worshipped in the Nazi SS for his Ayrian mystical qualities, but the mystery of Alexander the man only deepened.

ALEXANDER THE MAN: A HANDSOME, BLOND ENIGMA

Alexander travelled with "The Companions," who were his advisors and generals. In the beginning, twelve of them (a recurring number in our story) were his closest friends. His Companion Cavalry was made up of Macedon's nobility, led by experienced generals like Parmenion or young officers like Black Cleitus, and supported by his late father, the one-eyed Philip II's new model army, featuring six phalanxes, eight deep, bristling with Alexander's innovative secret weapon: newly lengthened 15 foot spears.

As he moved east from Babylon, he adopted the religions and cultures of the peoples he met; polymorphed them back along his lengthening supply lines to the Hellenic States; brought Greek ideas to Central Asia and India; sent goods and food stuffs back to Greece; gathered (with the advice of his mentor, Aristotle) samples of flora, fauna, minerals; intermarried with the royal families he encountered; and incorporated conquered armies, administrators, generals into his own forces.

His basic army of 40,000 included "special forces" with mountain training for "instant response." His engineers dragged "Siege Trains" (the first ever) - towers capable of sheltering archers, catapulting rocks and flinging javelins. And along with his intellectual corps of scientists, botanists, astronomers, philosophers, priests, poets, seers, and official historians, he had an elaborate medical unit, which (adopting such "wonder drugs" as quinine, for instance, in Far Eastern jungles) kept his soldiers alive and fit to fight for the dozen years many of them accompanied him.

In the beginning, besides glory and treasure, the goal of Alexander's preemptive invasions of Central Asia was to bring Greek justice to Darius III of Persia (today's Iran/Iraq). King Darius was blamed by some Macedonians for the assassination of Alexander's Father, and by many as the successor to those who had perpetrated the Peloponnesian War against the Hellenes, but after Darius was found bloodless and rotting in the dirt, and when fabled Babylon had been occupied, the best of historians can't really explain why Alexander drove on.

A partial explanation is that he was very religious, in an eclectic fashion, conscious of a bloodline which connected him to Hercules, Achilles, the mythical Perseus, and like most great leaders he was a bit of an egomaniac. The gods Alexander communed with -- at least several supreme beings a day (including himself, latterly) - told him to continue.

The Gods were speaking to him.

One of the mysteries, a major fascination, is that Alexander could be remarkably generous one day, but capricious, brutal and vengeful (always vengeful) the next; especially toward the end of his brief life, when he was run-down from fevers, infection, alcoholism, wounds, pain and depression; increasingly unstable and less predictable.

An early instance of his capriciousness: When not yet 22, by a diplomacy which would have made his one-eyed Dad proud, or failing that, by use of massive "shock and awe," Alexander unified the Hellenic States. After directing a legion to massacre the insurgent populace of Thebes for their perfidy in earlier aiding Xerxes' Persians, he idiosyncratically reached down and plucked to safety the family of the Classical Poet Pindar, whose work he admired. He did things like that, again and again, over tens of thousands of miles; he would, with equal suddenness, murder several of his best friends and most able companions - such as Cleitus, in the middle of a celebration.

He would be an enigma not easy for Oliver Stone to explain or dramatize to a modern American audience, which wants its heroes to be obvious, of comic book simplicity, and lumps a petty dictator of Iraq with terrorists from Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan. In other words, Alexander lived up to all his names. He could be a saint, he could be a charmer, he could be a military tactician of genius, he could be a butcher, and he was, by most accounts, brilliant if sometimes quixotic in all of those roles.

But he remains a handsome, blond enigma.

Author: macresarf1 (76th in Epinion's list of top authors.)

Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - 1870

"Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine" (Vol. 107), New York 1870.

Discovered by M.P.

History of Philip of Macedon - T. Leland

Thomas Leland (1722 - 1785) was an Irish historian, translator and academic. He is author of the early gothic novel "Longsword, Earl of Salisbury: An Historical Romance", published in 1762. He was born in Dublin and educated at Trinity College, where he became Professor of Oratory in 1763. He translated the Orations of Demosthenes in three volumes. Also he wrote an influential "History of Ireland from the Invasion of Henry II" in 1773. His portrait, by John Dean, is held by the National Portrait Gallery.


"The History of the life and reign of Philip King of Macedon; the Father of Alexander" (Vol. I) by Thomas Leland, London 1758.

Analysis of some important excerpts:

(On pg. 6) - "Caranus, an Argian by birth, and a descendant from Hercules..."

- Legend for Caranus (founder of Macedonian royal house) and his blood connection with ancient Greek hero Hercules. According to this excerpt, Leland stuff was that Macedonian royal house is Hellenic by blood.

(On pg. 7) - "As the head of chosen band of Greeks... In commemoration of this event, Caranus, now the lord of the city, changed its name to Aegae: and goats, which are called by that name among the Greeks... but proved unequal to Caranus and his valiant Greeks... Among the other princes, against whom Caranus was obliged to turn his arms, he attacked Cissaeus, the sovereign of a small territory, south of his new kingdom, and having defeated him, erected a trophy according to the Grecian custom."

- Leland described Caranus as leader of the Greeks and he confirmed his Greek customs.

(On pg. 12) - "... than to the virtues and abilities of Alexander himself, which were known and celebrated through Greece"

- Thomas Leland admits Alexander's I of Macedon celebrity in whole Greece, after episodes of Greco-Persian war, written by Herodotus.

(On pg. 18) - "The prince of Lyncestae, a neighbouring people, then independent on Macedon, Amyntas contrived to attach firmly to his interest, by his espousal of Eurydice, the grand-daughter of that prince, and one of the family of the Bacchidae of the royal race of Corinth."

- Excerpt when Leland admits Greek origin from Corinth of Lyncestian royal house.

(On pg. 91) - "The honour of assisting the Aleuadae, who were descended from the same race with him..."

- Aleuadae were an ancient Thessalian family of Larissa. The Aleuadae were the noblest and most powerful among all the families of Thessaly, whence Herodotus calls its members "rulers" or "kings" (βασιλεῖς). Thomas Leland admits that Aleaudae and Philip II of Macedon were people from same race, as Greeks.

Discovered by M.P.