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personally grudge that Alexander had felt towards Philotas ever since the
later had spoken out against him in the Pixodarus affair (Chapter II.4). In
this attack on Philotas Alexander skilfully used the personal animosity felt
towards him by other high-ranking officers. In the near future some of
these officers would also fall victim to a similar game that was played
against Philotas in Phrada. These were successive steps taken by
Alexander on the road to achieving absolute power. The price to be paid
by Alexander was, as E. Badian put it, ‘the loneliness of power’. But for
the time being the current victors collected the spoils: Philotas’s command
of the hetairoi was divided between two hipparchs, Cleitus and
Hephaestion, while Ptolemy replaced the executed Demetrius as
commander of the king’s bodyguards. Alexander commemorated the
whole incident by having Phrada renamed Prophthasia, i.e. ‘Anticipation’
– naturally in reference to the conspiracy. 93 In order to sanction the
overthrowing of two commanders as important as Parmenion and Philotas
Alexander shrewdly employed an assembly of soldiers to counterbalance
the Macedonian nobility. Though very successful on this occasion, this
tactic would with time help convince the ordinary Macedonian rank and
file that they were an important and independent political force able to
make decisions regarding matters of state. This was something Alexander
would learn for himself in India.94
93 Plu., Alex. , 49.1; Plu., mor. , 328f; Arr., An. , 3.27.5; Just., 12.5; Charax, ap. St.
Byz., s.v. Fr£da. Badian 1960; Badian 1964; Badian 2000, pp. 64-69; Lane Fox
1973, pp. 286-291; Goukowsky 1978, pp. 39-40; Bosworth 1980, pp. 366-367;
Bosworth 1988, pp. 102-104; Wirth 1993, p. 179; Fraser 1996, pp. 124-131; Briant
2002, pp. 101-102; Nawotka 2003, p. 97.
94 Errington 1978, p. 114.
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Chapter V
7. The conquest of eastern Iran
Before leaving Prophthasia (Phrada), Alexander made Arsaces satrap of
Areia responsible for Drangiana too. Now the army headed south and after
five days of brisk marching it covered a distance of c.160 km to reach
Ariaspa. In Antiquity this was a prosperous and densely populated
territory, one in which archaeologist have identified the remains of over a
hundred urban settlements. Situated by the lower reaches of the river
Helmand and the Hamun-e Helmand lakes (in today’s south-eastern
Afghanistan and Iranian Sistan), the region owed its agricultural prosperity
to an extensive irrigation system. Ariaspa’a legendary wealth and the
renowned hospitality of its inhabitants had once saved the army of Cyrus
the Great from starvation; now in the winter of 330/329 it supported the
Macedonian army for 60 days. Alexander’s granting of gifts to the
Ariaspians was the first recorded incident where he openly claimed to be
acting in tradition of the founder of the Persian Empire Cyrus the Great.95
While Alexander was in Ariaspa the province of Gedrosia by the
Arabian Sea (today Baluchistan in Iran and Pakistan) also surrendered to
him. The new satrap of Ariaspa and Gedrosia became either Amedines
(Curtius) or Tiridates (Diodorus). This was an important step in the
subjugation of south-eastern Iran, which Alexander thought to be
strategically necessary before launching his campaign against Bessus
beyond the Hindu Kush Mountains. It was more or less at this time that he
received news of more trouble in Areia: Satibarzanes had started another
revolt with 2,000 horsemen provided for him by Bessus. This time
Alexander did not have to intervene personally for the revolt could be
quelled by the army he had left behind in Ecbatana in the summer of 330,
now commanded by Erigyios and Caranus. They were assisted in this task
by Artabazus and the satrap of Parthia Phrataphernes. In the spring of 329
a force of 6,000 Greek infantry and 600 cavalry as well as unspecified
detachments of Phrataphernes’s Iranian troops entered Areia. After some
minor skirmishes the fighting was resolved in the late spring or early
summer of 329 in a battle, during which Erigyios killed Satibarzanes in a
single combat. The Persian’s head was then sent, in mid summer, to
Alexander as evidence. However, Areia continued to be a troubled
province under the rule of the reputedly unreliable satrap Arsaces.
Therefore in the autumn of 329 Alexander dispatched one of his hetairoi,
95 Curt., 7.3.1-3; Arr., An. , 3.27.4-5; Diod., 17.81.1-2; Str., 15.2.10; Just., 12.5; ME, 4. Engels 1978, pp. 91-93; Bosworth 1980, pp. 365-366; Seibert 1985, p. 122;
Jacobs 1994, p. 85; Fraser 1996, pp. 130-131; Heckel 2006, p. 53, s.v. ‘Arsaces’
[1].
King of Asia
269
the Greek Stasanor of Soli in Cyprus, with instructions to arrest Arsaces
and take over his office as satrap. It took Stasanor and Phrataphernes over
another year to impose full control over Areia and Parthia, which were
finally subjugated in the winter of 328/327.96
Alexander and his army set off from Ariaspa on the campaign against
Bessus before the winter had ended in the mountains, therefore probably in
February 329. They most probably took a route through the valley of the
Arghandab river up to Kandahar and thence north east towards Kabul
through a land which in ancient times was called Paropamisus – a name
that was incidentally also applied to the Hindu Kush mountains. During
this march Alexander changed the status of an Achaemenid fortress on the
site of old Kandahar into that of a city, called by the ancient authors
Alexandria in Arachosia. In the early Hellenistic period this became the
most important centre of Greek civilization in this region. A damaged
inscription that has been found there may have once borne the name of the
cities founder. Unfortunately, all that is left of what A.N. Oikonomides has
interpreted to be the name ‘Alexander’ is the letter ‘A’. According to
Strabo, Curtius and Arrian, the 500-kilometre march from Kandahar to the
Kabul valley lasted from March to April and in that time the Macedonians
were hampered by snow and a lack of provisions. A short stay in the
Kabul valley allowed the stragglers to catch up and the whole army to
gather strength before crossing the Hindu Kush.97 It was during this stay
that Alexander founded another city which he named Alexandria in the
Caucasus (alternatively Alexandria in Paropamisadai). The Caucasus was
frequently a name also applied to the Hindu Kush for in Antiquity the two
mountain ranges were believed to be parts of a single group. The city’s
exact site has not yet been established. Current knowledge allows us to
presume that the most likely location would have been today’s Bagram (c.
40 km to the north of Kabul), which is strategically situated where the
roads north to the Hindu Kush divide. This is also the likely site of the
Achaemenid fortress Kapisa and therefore Alexander may well have again
chosen the site of an already existing community to found a city. Unlike in
the case of Alexandria of Arachosia, however, this time the sources also
; 96 Curt., 7.3.2, 7.4.32-40; Diod., 17.81.3, 17.83.4-6, 18.3.3; Arr., An. , 3.28.2-3,
3.29.5; Str., 14.6.3. Bosworth 1980, p. 374; Bosworth 1988, pp. 104-105; Seibert
1985, pp. 123-124; Harmatta 1999, p. 129; Heckel 2006, pp. 21-22, 235.
97 Arr., An. , 3.28.1; Str., 15.2.10; Curt., 7.3.5-18; Isid. Char., FGrH, 781 F2.19; Ptol., Geog. , 6.20.4; Amm. Marc., 23.6.72; St. Byz., s.v. Alex£ndreiai (12).
Engels 1978, pp. 93-94; Bosworth 1980, pp. 368-369; Oikonomides 1984; Seibert
1985, p. 125; Fraser 1996, pp. 132-140; Karttunen 1997, p. 47; Hamilton 1999, pp.
98-99.
270
Chapter V
record the settlement in this new city of 7,000 natives and 3,000 so-called
volunteers from among Alexander’s mercenaries and camp followers.
Before moving on, the king nominated a Persian called Proexes as satrap
of Paropamisus and left behind a Macedonian garrison under the command
of the hetairos Neiloxenus.98
There are seven valleys and high mountain passes that lead from the
Kabul river valley (1,800 m above sea level) to Bactria – today’s northern
Afghanistan and southern Turkmenistan. The accounts of the ancient
authors do not allow us to know for certain which route was taken by the
Macedonian army. Most historians assume Alexander chose the
easternmost Khawak Pass, but that might not necessarily be true. Such a
route is not only very long but it would also have led the Macedonians
much further east beyond the Hindu Kush than where their subsequent
operations took place. It is therefore plausible that Alexander instead
chose a lower route through the Salang Pass; incidentally the main road
from Kabul to Mazar-e Sharif, which forks out, via Kunduz, to Tajikistan
today runs through this very pass.99 Having offered prescribed sacrifices to
the gods, Alexander resumed the march most probably in May 329. The
over 100-km distance over the Hindu Kush from Alexandria in the
Caucasus to the city of Drapsaka took the Macedonian army 17 days. Such
a slow pace was dictated by the difficult terrain, in places the men and
animals were forced to proceed in single file. Shortcomings in Alexander’s
logistic planning once again resulted in a serious deficiency of provisions,
so much so that some of the pack animals had to be slaughtered for meat.
After crossing the Hindu Kush the problem with provisions deteriorated
further still for Bessus resorted to scorched earth tactics.100
However, this was not enough to stop the Macedonians. With only
7,000 cavalry, Bessus did not dare to confront a numerically superior
enemy, though a determined attack on the tired and malnourished troops
slowly descending from the mountains could have been successful. Instead
the Persian pretender to the throne retreated to Sogdiana on the northern
side of the river Oxus (Amu Darya), which was ruled by his ally,
Spitamenes. The fortress of Aornos (today Khulm) and the oasis capital of
98 Arr., An. , 3.28.4, 4.22.5; Diod., 17.83.2; Curt., 7.3.23; Plu., mor. , 328d-f; Str., 15.2.10; Plin., Nat. , 6.62; It. Alex. , 74. Lane Fox 1973, pp. 294-295; Bosworth 1980, pp. 369-370; Stoneman 1994, pp. 99-102; Fraser 1996, pp. 140-151;
Klinkott 2000, pp. 90, 109; Heckel 2006, pp. 174, 232.
99 Schachermeyr 1973, pp. 336-337, 678-681; Engels 1978, pp. 94-95; Seibert
1985, p. 126; Fraser 1996, pp. 157-158 and n. 103.
100 Arr., An. , 3.28.4-8; Curt., 7.4.22-25; It. Alex. , 75-76. Engels 1978, pp. 95-97; Holt 1993, pp. 595-598.
King of Asia
271
Bactra (today Balkh in northern Afghanistan) were captured without much
resistance and Artabazus was appointed satrap of this province. The fact
that the fortified towns as well as the rural population in Bactria failed to
put up resistance, perhaps as a consequence of his scorched earth tactics,
marked Bessus’s undoing. The only thing holding the Macedonians back
from his capture were 400 stades (72 km) between Bactra and the river
Oxus of arid desert where temperatures in those summer months
frequently reached above 40o C. Alexander ordered his troops to march at
night, when it was much cooler. But that still did not solve the problem
with water. The soldiers were instructed to take wine with them so that
they could mix it with any local water. Unfortunately, some quenched
their thirst by drinking the wine undiluted. This usually resulted in violent
vomiting, in consequence of which their bodies were further dehydrated,
and more often than not this resulted in their deaths. Many other soldiers
in turn died as a result of drinking water too greedily once they reached the
Oxus.101
Before her waters were wasted on pointless irrigation projects in the
Soviet era, Amu Darya was a great fast flowing river which was at its
broadest in the summer months. And indeed it was in the summer that the
Macedonian army reached its shore. Although circumstantial evidence has
been gathered to support the hypothesis that the crossing point was in the
place called Kampyrtepe102, it is still a hypothesis only. We are told by
ancient sources that at that point it was six stades (c. 1,100 m) wide, that it
was too deep to wade across and that Bessus had burnt all the boats.
Alexander therefore resorted to the method he had applied in 335 when
crossing the Danube (Chapter III.2) – he ordered the soldiers to construct
rafts out of leather tents stuffed with hay and on these they crossed the
river. Before the actual crossing, Alexander had relieved Macedonian
soldiers who were too old or otherwise unfit for battle as well as any allied
Thessalian soldiers who wished to return home, 900 men in all. It is
possible that this way Alexander wanted to rid himself of soldiers who had
been closest to Parmenion and therefore those who were the most bitter
about the fate of the old general. Each demobilised foot soldier received
the astounding some of half a talent (the equivalent of ten years’ pay),
whereas each cavalryman received two talents. Thus Alexander achieved
another advantage in turning potential troublemakers into propagators of
101 Arr., An. , 3.28.8-29.1; Curt., 7.4.31, 7.5.1-16; Diod., 17.iq. Lane Fox 1973, pp.
297-299; Engels 1978, pp. 98-102; Bosworth 1980, p. 372; Bosworth 1988, p. 107;
Holt 1988, pp. 47-49; Holt 1993, pp. 588-589. Geography of Bactria: Holt 1988,
pp. 11-32.
102 Rtveladze 2002, pp. 28-66.
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Chapter V
the success of the Persian campaign. It took the entire Macedonian army
five days to cross the river and immediately after that it hastily marched to
the place where the scouts had located Bessus. But again the battle was
averted, though this time because the Bactrian usurper had been arrested
by his erstwhile allies Spitamenes and Dataphernes, who next sent a
messenger to Alexander with the offer of handing Bessus over. Alexander
dispatched Ptolemy, who brought Bessus over naked and in chains.
Bessus’s chief crime was usurpation of the Achaemenid throne, which was
in fact what the Macedonian Alexander had also done. However, the
Bactrian satrap’s involvement in Darius’s murder gave Alexander an
excellent pretext to punish him for regicide. Bessus was
whipped and then
sent to Bactria. Eventually Alexander had Bessus handed over to Darius
III’s brother, Oxyathres, to select an appropriate Persian punishment for
traitors of the state. The execution was carried out before a gathering of
Medes and Persians (presumably influential Iranians) in Ecbatana in 328.
First he was shamefully mutilated by having his nose and ears cut off.
Next he was most probably nailed to a cross. Although both Plutarch and
to a certain extent Diodorus suggest that Bessus was tied to two specially
bound together trees and next ripped apart when the binding was cut, it is
much more likely that the Persians crucified him as this was their
traditional form of execution for rebels and murderers. Applying the type
of execution that had also been used by Darius III would have been
important to Alexander for the sake of legitimising his claim as the rightful
successor of the Achaemenids in the eyes of the Iranians, particularly their
social elites. Unfortunately, we have no record of how the Persians
responded to the way Bessus had been put to death. W. Heckel suggests
that the ruthlessness with which Bessus was punished actually prolonged
resistance in eastern Iran as it dissuaded other Persian rebel leaders from
surrendering.103 It was in 329 that new coins were issued by Alexander:
now instead of just bearing his name Alexandrou they bore the title
basileos Alexandrou, meaning a coin of ‘King Alexander’. We can assume
that after eliminating the last of the pretenders with a legal claim to the
Achaemenid throne, Alexander decided to make absolutely official his
claim as the only rightful king of the Persian Empire.104
103 Arr., An. , 3.29.2-30.4, 4.7; Curt., 7.5.13-28, 7.5.36-43; Diod., 17.83.7-9; Plu.,
Alex. , 43.6; Just., 12.5; Ps.-Callisth., 2.21; It. Alex. , 76-78; ME, 5-6. Lane Fox 1973, pp. 299-300; Green 1974, pp. 353-355; Goukowsky1978, pp. 219-221; Bosworth
1980, pp. 372-377; Bosworth 1988, pp. 107-108; Briant 1994, pp. 286-291; Heckel
1997, p. 209; Hamilton 1999, pp. 114-115.
104 Morawiecki 1975, pp. 108-111.