by Jo Graham
“Yes,” I said, and opened my eyes. “I will marry Chloe.”
It ends as all the stories end.
Once there was a slave boy who became a soldier. He served an immortal hero and then a worthy king. He fought in epic battles from one end of the world to the other, through terror and pain and strife, through frozen mountains and haunted deserts. He became a general and he married a princess, twice royal. And in due course of time she bore him two sons and three daughters and they lived together in a white city by the sea.
All the stories end so.
PEOPLE, PLACES,
AND THINGS
Abydos—a city in Egypt between Memphis and Thebes, site of many temples including the Osirion.
Adoratrice of Bastet—the senior priestess of Bastet in Bubastis.
Alexander III of Macedon (the Great)—born in 356 BCE, and rising to the throne of Macedon at the age of twenty upon the assassination of his father, Phillip II. The son of Phillip's queen, Olympias, he embarked on the expedition against the Persian Empire that Phillip had planned. In 334 he fought a major battle at the Granicus River, which gave him control of most of present-day Turkey, and a year later defeated Darius III, Great King of Persia, at the Battle of Issos. Tyre fell before him by siege, and he entered Egypt as a liberator. In 331 he once again defeated Darius decisively at the Battle of Gaugamela, which essentially gave him the entire Persian Empire. Later campaigns included expeditions in Bactria and Sogdiana, present-day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, and into the Indian states now in Pakistan and Kashmir. He died in 323 BCE, just short of his thirty-third birthday, leaving an empire thrown into chaos by his passing.
Alexander IV—son of Alexander the Great and Roxane. He was born in the fall of 323 BCE, a few months after his father's death. He reigned as Great King in name only.
Alexandria (in Egypt)—the most successful of the many cities that Alexander founded in his name. It became one of the great metropolises of the ancient world and has continued to the present day as an important city on the Mediterranean. It was founded in 334 BCE, though most of the actual construction took place a decade later, under Ptolemy I Soter.
Ambhi, Raja—known in Greek as King Omphis, ruler of an Indian kingdom in the northern part of the Pakistani Punjab and the enemy of Raja Puru. He became an ally of Alexander the Great, and was still active as a player in the political scene several years after Alexander's death, though his ultimate fate is unknown.
Amenti—the Egyptian Land of the Dead, ruled by Osiris and Isis.
Amina—a Persian noblewoman who is the first wife of Artashir.
Antipatros—a Macedonian noble and contemporary of Phillip II. He was one of Phillip's most trusted supporters. When Alexander left Macedon, he left Antipatros as Regent despite the constant friction between Antipatros and Alexander's mother, Olympias. He is the father of Cassander, one of the Companions, and Eurydice.
Artashir—a Persian nobleman and Companion, commander of the troop of horse archers that are loyal to Ptolemy. He is the grandson of Artontes, the son of General Mardunaya and his wife Artazostre, the daughter of Darius the Great, and hence a royal kinsman. His wives are Amina and Rania.
Ashkelon—a city under Persian rule in Alexander's time, now Migdol Ashquelon in Israel.
Babylon—a city just south of present-day Baghdad, one of the great cities of the ancient world. Formerly the capital of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, in the fourth century BCE it was a seat of the Persian Empire, and home to perhaps as many as half a million people.
Bagoas—a eunuch courtier of Alexander the Great. He appears to have been a royal favorite of Alexander's as he reputedly had been of Darius’.
Bastet—an Egyptian goddess who often took the form of a cat, goddess of hearth, home, and childbirth.
Berenice—Eurydice's maternal aunt who accompanied her to Alexandria to marry Ptolemy.
Black Land—the part of Egypt touched by the Nile floods or by irrigation, the part that has rich soil deposits from the river and is fertile, also more generally Egypt as a whole.
Bubastis—a medium-size city in the eastern Nile Delta.
Camel's Fort—a small fort on the Bubasite branch of the Nile at a fordable river crossing.
Cassander—one of Alexander's Companions, son of the Regent in Macedon, Antipatros, and brother of Eurydice.
Chiliarch—the Grand Vizier of Alexander's empire, held in his lifetime by Hephaistion and then Perdiccas.
chiton—a basic article of clothing worn by both men and women, like a tunic. Young men usually wore a short chiton, which came to mid-thigh and might be ornamented with embroidery or colored borders. Women and older men might wear a full-length chiton. For women this was usually gathered at the waist and bloused out over a belt. Chitons could be anything from a shift of coarse linen or wool to elaborately decorated silks, depending on the status of the wearer. Even with a short chiton, men did not wear trousers under it, as trousers were seen as effeminate and foreign.
Chloe—Ptolemy and Thais’ oldest daughter, born in late 331 BCE.
Cleomenes—Alexander's governor in Memphis, a friend of Perdiccas.
Companion—one of Alexander's personal friends who have binding oaths to him.
Companion Cavalry—Alexander's elite cavalry units, originally made up entirely of Macedonians who had served with him there, but later including replacements from across the empire. The Companions did not use shields, but fought with spear and sword. Their armor consisted of a breastplate and helmet, and sometimes greaves for the lower legs. They did not use either saddles or stirrups, as neither had been invented yet.
Cyaxara—the daughter of Artashir and Amina, born around 325 BCE.
daimons—spirits between gods and humans, such as minor deities or heroes who are worthy of worship, or guardian spirits of particular places.
Darius III (Great King of Persia)—born circa 380 BCE to a cadet line of the Achaemenid royal house, and rising to the throne in 336 in a period of crisis, after several heirs had been killed successively. After being defeated by Alexander twice, he was deposed by a group of his own nobles led by Bessos, Satrap of Bactria, and killed in 330.
Dead City—the mound known today as Amarna, the city of Akhetaten built by the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten in the fourteenth century BCE. After Akhenaten's death the city was abandoned within a few years.
Drypetis—the younger daughter of Darius III, married to Hephaistion.
Ecbatana—a mountain city in what is now northern Iraq, site of the summer palace of the Persian kings.
eunuch—a castrated man, particularly one castrated before puberty. Eunuchs served as courtiers, servants, priests, and prostitutes in much of the ancient world, in some places constituting a third gender distinct from both men and women.
Eurydice—the daughter of Antipatros, sister of Cassander, later married to Ptolemy.
facing—the direction that an infantry unit is pointing their sarissas. Because the sarissas are very long and heavy, it is a complicated series of drill maneuvers to change a phalanx's facing, i.e., which way they're going.
flying wedge—a cavalry formation created by Phillip II of Macedon and used extensively by Alexander the Great in which cavalry charges in a formation like an arrowhead in order to break through lines of defenders. This classic tactic is still used today with tanks.
Gaugamela—a site near Mosul in modern Iraq where Alexander defeated Darius III for the second and decisive time in 331 BCE.
Gedrosia—a desert in the Persian Empire, in what is now southern Iran.
Ghost Dancer—the horse that Lydias raised, bought from Tehwaz by Hephaistion.
Glaukos—an officer of Hephaistion's Ile in the Companion Cavalry.
Hephaistion (son of Amyntor)—born around 356 BCE and schooled with Alexander, and Alexander's closest friend and probable lover from an early date. A leader among the Companions who supported the pro-assimilation policies, he was also a gifted military commander and eventual Chiliarch, o
r Grand Vizier, of the empire. Married to Drypetis, the younger daughter of Darius III, he died at an early age in Ecbatana in 324. The cause of his death is unknown, and speculation ranges from poison to the more prosaic explanation of typhus.
hetaira—a courtesan, literally “a companion.”
hetairos—a Companion.
Hipparch—the officer in command of an Ile, also later the title of a cavalry general.
Horus—an Egyptian god often portrayed as a falcon or desert hawk, or as a man with a hawk's head. Horus is the son of Isis and Osiris, the prince who redeems Egypt from his uncle's evil rule and restores peace and justice. Pharaoh was often seen as Horus incarnate.
Ile—a cavalry unit consisting of roughly 600–800 men, depending on unit strength.
Inundation—the annual flooding of the Nile that fertilized Egypt and began the growing season.
Isis—an Egyptian goddess, wife of Osiris and mother of Horus, queen of the heavens. Isis was one of the principal gods of the Egyptian pantheon, and in the Hellenistic period became a universal goddess.
Issos—the site of Alexander's first major defeat of Darius III, in 333 BCE, in present-day Turkey.
Jio—Lydias of Miletus’ original boyhood name.
Kalanos—an Indian sage who met Alexander in India and decided to return to Persia with him so that they could continue their conversations. He was advanced in years and died shortly after his arrival.
Khemet—the realm of Egypt.
Krateros—one of Alexander's Companions from schooldays, and a trusted soldier. It is speculated that Alexander intended to leave the Regency to him upon his death, but Krateros was instead ousted by Perdiccas. He died in battle in 321 BCE.
Lagos (1)—a Macedonian noble and adherent of Phillip II who married Arsinoe and was the purported father of Ptolemy.
Lagos (2)—Ptolemy and Thais’ oldest son, born in early 325 BCE and named for Ptolemy's father. Called Bunny by his older sister, he lived to adulthood and won a chariot race in the Arcadian festival in 307, a visit to Greece that coincides with Ptolemy's. It is likely his father came to see him race.
Lake Mareotis—a brackish lake behind the city of Alexandria. Its position relative to Alexandria is very similar to that of Lake Ponchartrain to New Orleans.
Leontiscus—Ptolemy and Thais’ younger son, born in 322 BCE. In 306 he was taken as a prisoner of war during a naval engagement and ransomed by his father for a huge sum.
Lochias Peninsula—a peninsula on the eastern side of the harbor of Alexandria that jutted far out into the sea. Its remains today are known as Silsileh.
Lydias of Miletus—an officer of Hephaistion's Ile in the Companion Cavalry. Unlike many of the men he serves with, Lydias is not Macedonian but Carian.
Magi—the Zoroastrian priests, augers, and astrologers of Persia.
Manetho—an Egyptian priest of Thoth and supporter of Ptolemy. He is best known for his later history of Egypt, in which he provided an overview of three thousand years of history. Modern archaeologists are amazed at the accuracy of his dating, and it is likely that he had access to an unbroken line of documents.
Mardonias (Mardunaya)—the son of Artashir and Amina, born around 330 BCE and named for his great-great-grandfather, who was a general of Xerxes.
Memphis—an Egyptian city at the base of the Nile Delta, near modern-day Cairo.
Miletus—a city on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor, in Hittite times called Millawanda of the mighty walls, more recently under Persian rule.
Nectanebo II—the last Pharaoh of Egypt before the second Persian occupation, reigning 360–343 BCE.
Nisean—an ancient breed of horses from Persia, renowned for their strength and fearlessness. Larger than most contemporary breeds, they were tall and strong enough to fight with a rider in armor. Known for their smooth gait and high-crested neck like a modern Arabian, they came in colors including black, bay, “red,” chestnut, a light palomino color, and white. Their closest modern equivalents may be the Andalusians and Lusitanians.
Nysa—a town in the Punjab where Lydias was stationed during Alexander's Indian campaign.
Olympias—Queen of Macedon and Alexander's mother. She was often at odds with her husband, Phillip II, and with the Regent in Macedon, Antipatros.
Osiris—Egyptian god of the dead, husband of Isis and father of Horus. He is the ruler of Amenti, the Uttermost West where the dead dwell.
Oxathres—younger half brother of Darius III, a Persian noble who became one of Alexander's Companions.
Pelousion—an ancient Egyptian port and fortress near modern-day Port Said, at the easternmost edge of the Nile Delta.
Perdiccas—one of the Companions. He was a close friend of Alexander and a supporter of his later policies of assimilation with conquered peoples. After Hephaistion's death, Perdiccas was named Chiliarch, or Grand Vizier, in his place, though not given Hephaistion's full army commands, which were split between him and Krateros. Upon Alexander's death he emerged as the Regent, and the closest ally of Alexander's wife Roxane.
Persepolis—the Persian capital city, the palace of which was partially burned by Alexander at the urging of Thais the Athenian.
Perseus—Lydias’ horse.
phalanx—an infantry formation consisting of men marching and drilling in close order, in the Hellenistic period usually using sarissas as their primary weapon.
Phillip II of Macedon—born in 382 BCE, and one of the most successful kings of Macedon. During his twenty-three-year reign expanded the kingdom through a series of military campaigns, including the defeat of Athens and Thebes at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338. He had several wives, including Olympias, the Epirote princess who was the mother of his heir, Alexander the Great. He was assassinated shortly before his planned campaign against the Persian Empire was to begin, in 336.
Polemon—a Companion and cavalry veteran loyal to Perdiccas.
Ptolemy (Ptolemy I Soter)—a general and Companion of Alexander the Great, later Satrap of Egypt and then the first Pharaoh of the Ptolemaic dynasty. He may or may not have been the illegitimate son of Phillip II of Macedon, and hence Alexander's half brother. He lived into his eighties, and founded the most stable and lasting of the Successor states. He was also known in ancient times for his memoirs, which were one of the primary sources concerning the campaigns of Alexander.
Puru, Raja—known in Greek as King Porus, king of an Indian state in the Punjab, with his capital near present-day Lahore. He fought against Alexander the Great and Raja Ambhi at the Battle of the Hydaspes River (Jhelum River) and was defeated, but was pardoned by Alexander and became an ally. He was killed in 317 BCE defending Chandragupta Maurya during an assassination attempt.
Rania—an Indian woman who is the second wife of Artashir.
Red Land—the part of Egypt not touched by the yearly Inundation or by irrigation; the desert.
Roxane—the daughter of a Sogdian chieftain in what is now Uzebekistan. She became Alexander the Great's first wife and the mother of his heir, Alexander IV.
Royal Road—one of the highways across the Persian Empire maintained by the Great King for the use of his armies and commerce.
Saqqara—a hillside district west of Memphis, site of several Old Kingdom pyramids as well as an extensive temple and tomb complex, including the tombs of the Apis bulls.
sarissa—the pike used by hoplite infantry in phalanx, roughly thirteen feet long in Alexander's day, and topped with a sharp spear point. A phalanx armed with sarissas was considered unstoppable; however, drill was vitally important for maneuver and combat.
Sati—Lydias’ wife, who was killed in Gedrosia with their son Sikander.
satrap—the Persian title for the governor of a province, adopted by Alexander the Great for his regional governors.
Seleucus—a Companion who supported Perdiccas after Alexander's death.
Sikander—Lydias’ son, killed in Gedrosia at the age of ten months.
Silver Shields—a crack infantry ph
alanx of Alexander's, made up of veterans.
Sisygambis—the queen mother of Persia, mother of Darius III.
Siwah—an oasis in the Egyptian Western Desert where the Oracle of Amon dwells. It was consulted by Alexander the Great when he was in Egypt and held in high esteem by the King.
Sobek—Egyptian crocodile god, ruling over, among other things, justice on earth.
Sothis—Sirius, the dog star. Its heliacal rising marked the beginning of the Inundation in Egypt.
Stateira—the elder daughter of Darius III, wife and queen of Alexander the Great. She was murdered following her husband's death.
Tehwaz—a merchant and horse trader of Miletus who was Jio's master.
Thais the Athenian—a hetaira of renowned beauty. She was Ptolemy's companion for many years, traveling with him on Alexander's campaigns. She is best known for inciting Alexander to burn the palace at Persepolis during a banquet there in revenge for the Persian burning of the acropolis at Athens in the previous century. Thais and Ptolemy had at least three children who grew to adulthood.
Thebes—a former capital of Egypt, in Upper Egypt south of Memphis.
Thoth—the Egyptian god of knowledge and lore.
uraeus—the Egyptian symbol of kingship, a rearing cobra head, usually worn on the front of a headdress or crown.
Zephyr—Hephaistion's warhorse.
FOR FURTHER READING
Many excellent books have been written about Alexander the Great and his times. He has been the subject of exhaustive study from his own lifetime until the present day, a subject of intense fascination to ancient and modern writers alike. Unfortunately, not one single contemporary source survives out of all the old soldiers who wrote memoirs, detractors who wrote polemics, and historians who attempted to record events they were part of.