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  pay for a foot soldier), the second prize was half a talent and third, one

  sixth of a talent. Seeing as in this competition each contestant could drink

  as much of alcohol as they could at the king’s expense, one can assume

  that many soldiers chose to contend. The winner, a certain Promachus,

  drank as many as four choes (11 litres!) of wine. But he did not enjoy his

  prize for long: he died four days after his incredible feat. The competition

  was held in mid winter, which in Fars was particularly cold. That is how

  another 35 Macedonian drunkards froze to death by lying comatose on the

  snow. Another six managed to crawl to their tents but died soon

  afterwards. 25 Therefore, according to Aristobulus, on this occasion the

  Macedonian army suffered greater losses than at the battle of Granicus.

  3. The weddings at Susa

  Winter was not yet over when Alexander’s army set off down the Royal

  Road to Susa, which, according to Onesicritus, they reached in March 324,

  seven months after their departure from Patala. Shortly before getting

  there the army crossed the Pasitigris on a pontoon bridge. Here

  Alexander’s land army and Nearchus’ fleet, which had sailed up that river,

  were finally reunited. This was a symbolic end to the Indian expedition

  celebrated with sacrifices to the gods and games. The officers who had

  24 Chares, ap. Ath., 10.49; V. Max., 1.8. ext. 10; Str., 15.1.68; Arr., An. , 7.3; Diod., 17.107; Plu., Alex. , 69.6-7; Luc., Peregr. , 25; Ael., VH, 5.6. Bosworth 1998, pp.

  174-183.

  25 Chares, ap. Ath., 10.49 (= FGrH, 125 F19); Plu., Alex. , 70.1-2 (also after

  Chares); Ael., VH, 2.41.

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  distinguished themselves the most in the last phase of the expedition

  received gold crowns from their monarch. Nearchus was awarded such a

  crown for bringing the fleet to port without losses and Leonnatus got his

  for the victory over the Oreitans. No doubt it was also on this occasion that

  other officers were given wreaths mentioned by the ancient authors in the

  later context of covering the debts of the rank and file soldiers. Among

  them were Hephaestion, Peucestas, Onesicritus as well as members of the

  royal bodyguards. 26

  The political end to the Indian venture came

  somewhat later in 324 as more news of the disintegration of Macedonian

  control over that country started reaching Alexander. Rebellions among

  the native peoples, especially in southern Punjab, meant that maintaining

  the political state of affairs as they had been in 325 would require another

  armed expedition; on account of his experiences from the first expedition

  and the plans he now had to conquer Arabia, this was something

  Alexander was not prepared to do. Instead he decided to transfer the satrap

  Peithon as well as his European soldiers and settlers to northwest India.

  Nominal authority over the southern Punjab was granted to Alexander’s

  loyal ally Porus thus allowing for the king to have the pretence of

  maintaining control and not giving in to the rebels.27

  The spring of 324 spent by Alexander in Susa abounded in important

  events revealing the intentions, plans and ambitions of the ruler of

  virtually the entire civilized world in the final phase of his life. Shortly

  after reaching Susa one of the most famous wedding celebrations of

  ancient times was held. It was a ceremony that would also become the

  subject of an extraordinary debate in modern historical literature. In the

  spring of 324 Alexander arranged the marriages of Macedonian and Greek

  dignitaries from his circle with Iranian aristocratic women in a wedding

  celebration that lasted five days. He himself set an example by marrying

  Parisatis and Stateira, the daughters of Artaxerxes III and Darius III

  respectively. At the same time he was still married to Rhoxane,

  maintaining both the Macedonian and Persian traditions of the royal

  polygamy. By marrying members of the two lines of the Achaemenid

  dynasty Alexander no doubt intended to strengthen his claim to authority

  in Iran. The eventual sons of these two wives would be the grandsons of

  Great Kings and therefore they would be able to fully rely on the loyalty of

  the Iranian aristocracy. The ancient authors give various figures as to the

  26 Onesicritus, ap. Plin., Nat. , 6.100; Str., 15.3.5 ; Arr., Ind. , 42.7-10; Arr., An. , 7.5.4-6. Hamilton 1973, p. 133; Seibert 1985, pp. 186-187; Bosworth 1988, pp.

  155-156.

  27 Dexipp., ap. Phot., 82 (= FGrH, 100 F8.6); Arr., Succ. , ap. Phot., fr. 1.36; Curt., 9.8.9-10. Bosworth 1983, pp. 38-44.

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  number of marriages that were made during wedding ceremony: 80 or 87

  (Arrian), 90 (Aelian), 92 (Chares) or 100 (Plutarch). Aelian and Plutarch

  may have rounded off the number given by Chares, who, having been the

  marshal at Alexander’s court and therefore in all probability personally

  taken part in the wedding preparations, is naturally the most reliable source.

  Hephaestion had the special distinction of marrying Drypetis, the sister of

  the wife of Alexander, who wished his children to be the cousins of the

  children of his closest friend. Craterus was also married to a member of

  the Achaemenid dynasty, Amastris, a niece of Darius III. The mass

  wedding was conducted according to Persian ritual. Alexander paid for the

  dowries of all the brides and he also paid ordinary soldiers who married

  Asian women. Allegedly as many as 10,000 such marriages were made

  and naturally, whatever the actual number, some of these would have up to

  that moment already been informal partnerships. An insight into how

  much was spent by Alexander on the dowries is the information we have

  on the fortune of Amastris. After her divorce from Craterus she married

  Dionysius, the tyrant of Heraclea, and by her own means she was able to

  buy all the furnishings that had once belonged to the exceptionally wealthy

  tyrants of Syracuse. The wedding celebrations lasted five days and inside

  the giant royal tent the newly weds were provided with richly decorated

  couches. The tent itself had a circumference of four stades (720 m). The

  canopy was propped up by gilded and jewel encrusted columns 20 cubits

  (c. 10 m) high. The wedding guests included numerous ambassadors, other

  foreign guests and officers. The envoys and other foreign guests are said to

  have offered on this occasion gold crowns worth the sum value of 15,000

  talents. Chares also provides a long list of artists employed to entertain the

  banqueters. Knowing Alexander’s generosity we can be certain that the

  very best artists of the day performed.28

  This ceremony and later events, especially Alexander’s prayer on the

  Opis (see Chapter VII.4), as well as Plutarch’s reflection on the subject (in

  the words: ‘He himself, crowned with garlands, was the first to raise the

  marriage hymn as though he were singing a song of truest friendship over

  the union of the two greatest and most mighty peoples; for he, of one maid

  the bridegroom, and at the same time of all the brides the escort, as a

  father and sponsor united them in the bonds of wedlock.’) all gave grounds

  for the
formulation of a controversial academic theory on Alexander

  striving to unite the various peoples of his vast empire. Alexander did not

  28 Chares, ap. Ath., 12.54; Diod., 17.107.6; Arr., An. , 7.4.4-8; Plu., Alex. , 70.3; Plu., mor. , 329d-f; Ael., VH, 8.7; Just., 12.10; Memn., FGrH, 434 F4.5-6. Lane Fox 1973, p. 417; Heckel 1992, pp. 86-87, 125; Hamilton 1973, pp. 133-134; Hamilton

  1999, p. 195; Ogden 2009, pp. 206-207.

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  live long enough to see his great plan fulfilled but it allegedly did come

  closest to realisation in the Hellenistic kingdom in Bactria.29

  Other scholars are right to criticise this theory for the Susa weddings

  only concerned Macedonians, Greeks and Iranians, whereas more recent

  studies regarding Central Asia in Hellenistic period give a far less

  optimistic account of Bactria as a place of supposed union between diverse

  peoples. Another theory argues that the intention was to ‘fuse’ together

  just two nations, the Macedonians and the Persians or at least just their

  social elites.30 But this theory has also been attacked by the minimalists –

  scholars who have reduced the significance of Alexander to an episode in

  military history. These historians stress that Macedonians and Iranians

  were never treated as equals and point out that at meetings the

  Macedonians were always given more privileged positions closer to the

  king. Currently there is a prevailing tendency to interpret the Susa

  weddings as a means for the Macedonians to take over from the Iranian

  elites their dominant position in Persian society. After all, merely a few

  Iranians were co-opted into government. Moreover, all the marriages

  followed the same pattern: the brides were Iranians, which in ancient times

  always meant the weaker side. There are even interpretations that the Susa

  weddings were merely the realisation of the right of conquest, the victors

  took the women of the vanquished to stress their victory over them.31

  In terms of historical criticism of Tarn’s idealistic interpretation of

  events the pendulum has probably swung too far in the opposite direction

  for the ancient sources do not allow us to assume that marriage was forced

  upon the Iranian princesses. Likewise the commonly held view that almost

  all arranged marriages broke up soon after Alexander’s death is only a

  modern-day assumption. In reality we do not know anything about the fate

  of the vast majority of marriages; what is certain is that some ended in

  divorce and two – this between Alexander’s secretary Eumenes and

  Artonis, the daughter of Artabazus and that between Seleucus and Apame,

  the daughter of Spitamenes, the eastern Iranian leader of resistance against

  Alexander – lasted many years. The son of Seleucus and Apame was

  Antioch, the second ruler of the Seleucid dynasty. Marriage of the king’s

  29 Plu., mor. , 329e. Tarn 1948, ii, pp. 399-499; Hammond 1996, pp. 264-265.

  30 Berve 1938; Wilcken 1967, pp. 207-209; Schachermeyr 1973, pp. 479-487;

  Lane Fox 1973, p. 418. Critics of Tarn: Badian 1958a; Wilcken 1967, p. 208;

  Bosworth 1980a. On Bactria: Holt 1988, p. 9.

  31 Bosworth 1980a; Bosworth 1988, pp. 156-157; Stewart 1993, pp. 90-92; Billows

  1994, pp. 30-33; Brosius 2003, pp. 176-178.

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  347

  secretary Eumenes with Artonis ended only with Eumenes’ death.32 The

  marriages in Susa were not a departure from Alexander’s general policy

  towards Iran but a continuation of a series of events intended to establish

  ties between the new monarch and the Persian aristocracy. This was a

  policy that had been practiced since almost the very beginning of the

  campaign and now at Susa it would also included accepting Iranian elites

  into the army (which will be dealt with later in this chapter). Now his

  Greek and Macedonian companions were to marry into the inherited

  privilege and status of Iranian aristocratic families. Even if it was

  impossible for the Macedonian and Iranian elites to merge completely, it is

  clear that Alexander arranged the marriages in Susa to establish blood ties

  between the two most important nations in his empire.33

  It was also during Alexander’s second stay in Susa that he promised to

  settle the individual debts of all soldiers who recorded them on a list.

  Some of the sources mention a similar episode occurring on the Opis but

  they are most probably referring to the same event, only moved forward in

  time. Although this was almost certainly intended to be a gesture of

  friendship and solidarity with brothers in arms, its reception was mixed,

  which illustrated the atmosphere of mistrust that had loomed over the

  Macedonian army ever since the Hyphasis incident. The soldiers were

  reluctant to put their names on the list, fearing that the king simply wanted

  to find out which individuals were living beyond their means. Alexander

  therefore allowed the soldiers to put in claims without having their names

  entered on a list. As a consequence of this decision the treasury was

  inundated with claimants; according to the sources the total sum of money

  paid to the soldiers’ creditors was from 9,870 to 20,000 talents. There can

  be no doubt that normal army pay was not enough to cover the financial

  needs of many soldiers who gambled or spent money on other pleasures,

  but one can doubt that these soldiers could have incurred a debt amounting

  to 20,000 talents, which was the equivalent of three years’ pay for an army

  of 100,000 men. As there was no effective means of verifying the soldiers’

  claims or the authenticity of those presenting themselves as their creditors

  there must have been many cases of abuse and blatant cheating. Plutarch

  writes about a certain Atarrhias, who was actually caught cheating.

  Atarrhias bore the scars of the many battles he had fought, so Alexander

  32 Plu., Eum. , 1.7, 19.2; Nep., Eum. , 13.4. Olbrycht 2004, pp. 47-48; Meeus 2009, pp. 236-237.

  33 Allen 2005, p. 150; Ogden 2009, p. 207.

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  took this opportunity to show magnanimity and pardoned the veteran for

  his misdemeanour.34

  After his return from India the process of orientalization at Alexander’s

  court intensified, which contemporaries interpreted to be a symptom of the

  king’s increasing fondness for excessive luxury. The contemporary

  historian Ephippus of Olynthus wrote Alexander would hold audiences in

  a formal Persian garden ( paradeisos) seated on a gold throne. Another

  Alexander’s contemporary Polycleitus maintains the king slept in a golden

  bed. Ephippus also mentions couches with silver legs, which were, no

  doubt, intended for the hetairoi. At banquets Alexander was dressed in

  purple robes and wore special slippers as well as Ammon’s horns. In

  keeping with Persian custom he travelled in a chariot, dressed in Persian

  attire and used the Great King’s insignia – the sceptre, the bow and the

  spear. To the Greek observer these were the garments and insignia of the

  gods Ammon, Artemis and Hermes. Moreover Alexander would also wear

  a lion skin in imitation of his ancestor, Heracles. In the chambers where he

  resided myrrh and other incens
e was burnt.35

  The royal court was not the only institution to be orientalized. There

  was also a major revolution in the army and it started in its most elite

  formation. The Companion ( hetairoi) cavalry, the traditional preserve of

  the Macedonian aristocracy, suffered serious losses during the march

  across the Makran Mountains. These losses were now made up by

  horsemen from the Iranian elites, including Rhoxane’s brother, Itanes, as

  well as the sons of the satraps Artabazus, Mazaeus and Phrataphernes. The

  Iranian levy must have been quite considerable as a fifth hipparchy was

  formed (previously the number of hipparchies had been reduced from

  eight to four) and put under the command of the Bactrian Hystaspes. To

  many Macedonians these changes came as major shock. R. Lane Fox

  rightly compares this situation to what the Victorian elites would have felt

  if Indian Sepoy had been accepted into Grenadier Guards. The

  Macedonian infantry was also to receive bad news. At more or less the

  same time 30,000 Iranian youths arrived at Susa. They had been recruited

  in 327 and for three years underwent training in how to fight the

  Macedonian way. Now they pitched camp outside the city and demonstrated

  their ability and discipline in using Macedonian arms. Alexander greeted

  them graciously and, what is worse, called them ‘ epigonoi’, in the sense

  that they were the successors to the current phalanx. Worse still, he

  34 Arr., An. , 7.5.1-3; Diod., 17.109.2; Curt., 10.2.9-11; Plu., Alex. , 70.3-6; Plu., mor. , 339b-c; Just., 12.11. Bosworth 1988, p. 158; Hamilton 1999, pp. 195-196;

  Nawotka 2003, p. 125.

  35 Ephippus, ap. Ath., 12.53; Polycleitus, ap. Ath., 12.55.

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  349

  described them as a counterbalance to his Macedonian veterans. No doubt

  at this early stage this was just an expression of future intentions rather

  than a statement of military fact for there are no records of the ‘ epigonoi’

  participating in any battles. Nevertheless, this development touched a raw

 

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