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  the satrap himself waited to greet him at the bank of the river Choaspes

  with gifts including camels and 12 elephants. Of even greater importance

  than the prestige of capturing another capital of the Achaemenid state was

  the Susa treasury, containing: property of the Great King, whose value the

  sources do not quantify, precious metals worth 40,000 talents and another

  9,000 talents in coins. Although this was only a foretaste of the booty

  Alexander would later capture on the other side of the Zagros Mountains,

  the Susa treasures (1,285 tons of silver) were over ten times the value of

  all the treasures captured in the Greek world in the well documented and

  militarily eventful period from 490 to 336 (116 tons of silver). For the first

  time Alexander had unlimited financial resources, 3,000 talents of which

  he sent to Antipater in Macedonia. Although small in comparison to

  54 Diod., 17.64.6-65.4; Arr., An. , 3.16.10-11; Curt., 5.1.39-2.7. Bosworth 1980, pp.

  319-321; Krasilnikoff 1992; Krasilnikoff 1993, pp. 88-95; Atkinson 1994, pp. 48-

  62; Keegan 1999, pp. 88-89.

  King of Asia

  245

  Alexander’s newfound wealth, this was the equivalent of three years of

  royal revenue in his father’s time and it was no doubt intended to let

  Antipater pay off debts incurred during the war against Agis III as well as

  enhance Macedonian control over Greece. The transporting of this large

  sum to the coast and beyond was entrusted to one of Alexander’s

  bodyguards, Menes, whom he also for a time granted governorship the

  entire Syrian and Cilician coast. Among the other things at Susa that fell

  into Alexander’s hands by right of victory was the house of Bagoas, the

  infamous Persian courtier to the last three Achaemenid rulers, two of

  whom Greek tradition maintains he murdered. This house together with

  the treasures it contained, said to be worth 1,000 talents and therefore as

  much as it cost to build the Parthenon in Athens, was offered by the king

  as gift to Parmenion.55

  The palace treasury also contained items Xerxes had taken from

  Athens in 480 including the bronze statues of the tyrannicides Harmodius

  and Aristogeiton. Alexander, always willing to please Athens, certainly

  promised to return these statues, but the sources are not clear as to whether

  he ever managed to fulfil this promise. It is equally probable that it was

  Seleucus I and Antioch I who eventually realised this pledge. When

  Alexander was shown around the royal palace in Susa, he sat on Darius

  III’s throne, no doubt with this gesture trying to show the Persian

  dignitaries that he was the legal successor of the defeated Achaemenid.

  Unfortunately, on account on the differences in stature between the two

  men, the throne was too high for Alexander and his feet were dangling in

  the air. In order to avoid any uncalled for hilarity a page brought a table on

  which he could rest his feet. On seeing this one of the Great King’s

  eunuchs burst into tears, explaining that this was the table at which his

  monarch had taken meals. Realising this unintended indiscretion,

  Alexander was somewhat troubled, but Philotas and the other

  Macedonians were immensely pleased. A Greek friend of Philip II,

  Demaratus of Corinth, was also crying, but with tears of joy at seeing

  Alexander occupying the Persian throne and thus symbolically avenging

  the crimes committed against Greece. The cultural differences between

  Macedonians and Persians also came to the fore on another occasion in

  Susa when Alexander, wishing to show sympathy and kindness with a

  simple gift, offered the female members of Darius’s family a supply of

  captured purple yarn for them to weave whatever they wished. This was a

  normal occupation for women in Greece and Macedonia even in royal

  55 Arr., An. , 3.16.6-10; Diod., 17.65.5-66.2; Curt., 5.1.43, 5.2.8-12; Plu., Alex. , 39.10; Just., 11.14. Andreotti 1957, p. 127; Seibert 1985, pp. 97-98; Heckel 1992,

  pp. 262-263; Atkinson 1994, pp. 51-53; Holt 1999, p. 30; Heckel 2006, p. 164.

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  families; in Persia, on the other hand, wellborn women always left such

  work to the servants. The feelings of the royal captives were hurt to the

  extent that Alexander considered it important to apologise to Queen

  Sisigambis for this misunderstanding. Before leaving Susa, Alexander had

  to make some essential administrative decisions. He reappointed Abulites

  satrap of Susiana but, as in Babylon, other important posts in the satrapy

  were entrusted to Macedonians. Archelaus was made commander of 3,000

  troops stationed there, whereas Xenophilus, perhaps identical with

  Philoxenus who had negotiated the surrender of Susa, was made

  commandant of the Susa fortress, i.e. royal palace, and a garrison of 1,000

  Macedonian veterans. Such a large garrison in the city and satrapy of Susa

  was no doubt thought necessary on account of the treasures kept there.

  Alexander appointed as treasurer a man called Callicrates, who may have

  been a Greek rather than a Macedonian.56

  The eventful stay in Susa probably did not last long. The next

  destination was Fars – the Achaemenid homeland. On the fourth day after

  leaving Susa the Macedonian army crossed the river Pasitigris (the Karun

  today), most probably at the site of today’s city of Shushtar in the Iranian

  province of Khuzestan. The land beyond the Pasitigris was inhabited by

  the Uxian tribe. The Uxians living between the left bank of the Pasitigris

  and the fertile Mesopotamian Lowland surrendered without a fight.

  However, their compatriots living in the Zagros Mountains decided to

  resist and defend the main road leading to Fars. The highland Uxians were

  shepherds and in Achaemenid times belonged to those tribes not obliged to

  pay tributes. Conversely, it was customary for the Great King to provide

  them with gifts in return for the right to pass through their territory. Now

  the Uxian highlanders were demanding such gifts from Alexander, who

  naturally refused and this led to war. We do not know whether the actions

  of the Uxians were in anyway coordinated with the satrap Ariobarzanes,

  who was amassing forces on last line of defence at the Persian Gate.

  Instead we know that the attack on Alexander’s forces was not

  spontaneous and was commanded by the satrap Madates, a relative of the

  royal family. H. Speck has estimated on the basis of extensive field survey

  that most of the fighting took place in an area between Shushtar and

  Masjed-i Soleiman and reached its climax in a place to the northeast of

  today’s Batvand. In the struggle against the stubborn highlanders

  Alexander selected elite soldiers usually used in difficult terrain:

  56 Curt., 5.2.12-22; Diod., 17.66.3-7; Arr., An. , 3.16.7-10; Plu., Alex. , 36.1, 37.7, 56.2; Plu., mor. , 329d; Plu., Ages. , 15.3; Plin., Nat. , 34.70; Paus., 1.8.5; V. Max., 2.10, ext. 1. Bosworth 1980, pp. 317-320; Atkinson 1994, pp. 65-69; Heckel 2006,

  pp. 75, 272.

  King of Asia

  247

  hypaspists, Agrianians, Thracians supported by archers, 3,000 Greek

  mercenaries and other foot soldiers. At the time the rest of the army

  probably
remained in the Uxian lowland. In the highlands the

  Macedonians plundering several Uxian villages and then fought a battle

  with the enemy’s main forces, after a local guide had escorted Alexander’s

  men along mountain paths around the Uxian positions. Next they besieged

  a large Uxian settlement, which eventually surrendered. Thanks to

  Sisigambis, her relative Madates was pardoned, whereas the Uxians now

  became the subjects of the satrap of Susa and were obliged to pay tributes

  in kind. We do not know whether the Uxians paid this tribute more than

  once for they started regaining their independence already in Alexander’s

  lifetime. Nonetheless, after a short campaign and most probably before the

  end of December 331 the Macedonian army was free to move on.57

  The distance between Susa and Persepolis (500 km as the crow flies)

  could be covered along two routes through the Zagros Mountains: the

  shorter so-called summer route through higher passes and therefore not

  used in the winter, and the longer so-called winter route. The Macedonian

  army split up and used both routes. Leading through what is now the

  wilderness of the Zagros Mountains, these two routes have been only

  recently discovered thanks to the painstaking research of H. Speck. Along

  the winter route, traversed by caravans for centuries in ancient times and

  later, one can still find the ruins of bridges and caravanserais. This was the

  road taken by Parmenion with the baggage train, Thessalian cavalry,

  mercenaries and allied contingents. Alexander, on the other hand, chose to

  take his Companion cavalry, mounted scouts, Macedonian infantry,

  archers and Agrianians along the summer route and thus reach the

  heartland of the Achaemenid state. The two armies most probably parted

  not far to the north east of Haftgel. Parmenion’s route was probably 450

  km long and ran through Bulfaris, Tashan, Bahbahan, the river Fahlian

  valley, Tang-i Laleh, Tang-i Khollar and thence across the c. 1,700-metre

  high Marvdasht Plain to Persepolis. Alexander’s corps marched east

  passing nearby today’s Band Shavar, thence via the Dishmuk valley to

  Abadeh, which is not far from the Susian Gate (today Tang-i Tamoradi).

  Through this pass the Macedonians marched southeast to the Beshar river

  valley and thence through the Persian Gate (not far from today’s Yasuj),

  57 Arr., An. , 3.17; Arr., Ind. , 40.1; Curt., 5.3.1-16; Diod., 17.67, 19.17.3; Str., 11.13.6, 15.3.4; It. Alex. , 66. Seibert 1985, pp. 101-103; Badian 1985, pp. 441-442;

  Atkinson 1994, pp. 69-72; MacDermont, Schippmann 1999, pp. 304-305; Speck

  2002, pp. 23-36, 157; Heckel 2006, p. 156.

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  Chapter V

  which gave them access to the northern part of the Marvdasht Plain and

  Persepolis.58

  Waiting for Alexander’s army at the Persian Gate were Persian forces

  commanded by Ariobarzanes, who had clearly been informed by his

  reconnaissance units that Alexander would be taking the summer route.

  Though differing from one another in details, all the ancient authors

  generally describe the conflict that followed in a way that presents the

  Persian Gate as an Iranian Thermopylae, the last line of defence which

  Alexander now overcame similarly to how Xerxes had succeeded in 480.

  Ariobarzanes’s army – more realistically estimated to be 25,000 troops by

  Curtius than 40,700 according to Arrian and Itinerarium Alexandri – was

  not short of men, but the quality of the Asian infantry, who made up most

  of the satrap’s army, was much inferior to that of the Macedonian army.

  On the other hand, the Persians took up an excellent defensive position.

  They pitched their camp at 1,980 m, i.e. 150 m above the Macedonians,

  and they also built a wall to close off the end of the valley. The first

  Macedonian assault ended with a complete fiasco because the Persians

  bravely defended the wall, rolled boulders down the sides of the valley and

  also caused many loses with fired missiles. Alexander had to order a

  retreat and had a camp pitched at a safe distance from the Persians.

  Fortunately, among the Persian captives there was a Lycian shepherd who

  undertook to lead the Macedonians along a route bypassing the enemy.

  Later in Persepolis Alexander would reward this Lycian shepherd with 30

  talents. That night Alexander followed the Lycian guide taking his best

  detachments of Macedonians and Agrianians. So as not to arouse the

  enemy’s suspicion, Alexander instructed the Macedonian camp’s

  commander, Craterus, to light as many fires as if the entire army was there.

  After a long and arduous march Alexander’s detachments encircled the

  Persians. Before launching the attack, Alexander subdivided his group into

  two so as the make the assault more effective. At the same time Craterus

  on his side also attacked. Ariobarzanes’s soldiers were completely taken

  by surprise. The Persians fought desperately to defend the road into their

  heartland but their brave resistance was futile. Only Ariobarzanes and a

  handful of cavalry managed to escape the slaughter, to perish soon in

  another battle near the Araxes river. Now nothing stood in the way

  between Alexander and Persepolis.59

  58 Arr., An. , 3.18.1-2; Diod., 17.68.1; Curt., 5.3.16-17; Str., 15.3.6 (Curtius and

  Diodorus confuse the Persian and the Susian Gates). Speck 2002, pp. 100-165,

  with reference to earlier works.

  59 Arr., An. , 3.18.2-9; Curt., 5.3.17-4.34, 5.7.12; Diod., 17.68; Plu., Alex. , 37.1-3; Polyaen., 4.3.27; Fron., Str. , 2.5.17; It. Alex. , 67. Heckel 1980; Bosworth 1988, pp.

  King of Asia

  249

  From the Persian Gate Alexander’s corps entered the Marvdasht Plain

  and after marching c. 100 km in a south-easterly direction they reached the

  river Araxes (today the Kor in Fars), most probably somewhere near

  today’s Dorudzan, where there are the remains of a road from the

  Achaemenid era. Macedonian engineers had to build a bridge over that

  river for Alexander’s army to cross to the eastern side. This was just some

  50 km from Persepolis. Before the river was crossed a messenger had

  arrived with a letter from Tiridates, the treasurer ( ganzabara) in Persepolis,

  informing the new ruler of the danger of the city’s inhabitants looting the

  treasury. On receiving this news Alexander took command of the cavalry

  and headed for Persepolis post-haste, leaving the slower infantry to follow

  on behind. Before they reached the capital, the Macedonians encountered a

  crowd of Greek captives – numbering more probably 800 (according to

  Diodorus and Justin) rather than 4,000 (Curtius) people – who the Persians

  had branded or amputated body parts not essential for performing work.

  Alexander offered these unfortunates money and means to return to

  Greece. After consulting the matter, however, the captives declined this

  offer for fear of being rejected by Greek society, which worshiped the

  beauty of the human body. Instead they preferred to remain in the East

  with their Asiatic families. Therefore Alexander instructed that each Greek

  captive should receive a pair of oxen, 50 sheep as well as grain, clothes

  and 3,000 drachms, which was the equivalent of
an average ten years of

  income in Greece.60

  Persepolis comprised a complex of palaces on a terrace measuring 12.5

  hectares as well as a city inhabited among others by courtiers. The city is

  only known from the works of ancient authors but the palaces were

  rediscovered by Europeans in 1620 and archaeologically examined in the

  years 1931-1939. Today the palace complex and the graves of

  Achaemenid monarchs located just a few kilometres away are Iran’s

  greatest tourist attractions. Unlike other Achaemenid capitals which were

  built of sun dried clay bricks, the Persepolis palaces were predominantly

  built of stone, which was found locally and also imported from distant

  parts of the empire. Another distinguishing feature of this palace complex

  is the extraordinarily high artistic quality of the architecture and reliefs as

  well as a unique and deeply thought out iconography that indicates the

  exceptional role it played in the Persian state. Like no other place it

  reflected the Achaemenid ideology and that dynasty’s position in the

  90-91; Atkinson 1994, pp. 98-102; Ashley 1998, pp. 274-277; Speck 2002, pp. 44-

  46, 169-170; Heckel 2006, p. 45, s.v. ‘Ariobarzanes’ [2].

  60 Arr., An. , 3.18.10; Diod., 17.69; Curt., 5.5.2-24; Just., 11.14; Ps.-Callisth., 2.18.

  Atkinson 1994, pp. 104-105; Speck 2002, pp. 162-164.

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  cosmic order of a world created by Ahura Mazda.61 Moreover, this was the

  Achaemenid capital of Fars, the dynasty’s homeland and therefore a

  privileged province in their empire. Alexander’s corps most probably

  reached Persepolis in mid January 330. The Macedonian baggage train and

  troops commanded by Parmenion joined Alexander’s forces

  approximately a week later. Soon after his arrival at Persepolis Alexander

  allowed his soldiers, tired and angry after the fighting at the Persian Gate,

  to sack the city. The terrible slaughter of inhabitants, the rapes, the looting

  and the destruction of homes should not be confused with the burning

 

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