Alexander Histories and Iranian Reflections Read online

  Brunt in response to this theory rather postulates on Persian desert-

  ers or prisoners supplying Alexander and consequently his historians,

  callisthenes and others, with military information.20 this is plausible and

  seems to be supported by tabari’s history.21 It is possible that the same

  deserters had advised Alexander on some of the cultural matters, while

  others with access to the Achaemenid records and inscriptions had helped

  him with the propaganda campaign that intensified following some mili-

  tary victories.

  13 W. Heckel, “Marsyas of Pella, historian of Macedon”, Hermes 108, 1980, pp. 444–462;

  n.G.L. Hammond, “the sources of Justin on Macedonia to the death of Philip”, The Classi-

  cal Quarterly 41: (ii), 1991, pp. 496–508.

  14 Heckel & Yardley 2004, pp. xxii f.

  15 J.E. Atkinson, A Commentary on Q. Curtius Rufus’ Historiae Alexandri Maqni, Amster-

  dam, 1980, pp. 58 f.; Heckel & Yardley 2004, pp. xxii f.

  16 Heckel & Yardley 2004, p. xxiii.

  17 Plutarch, Lives, trans. B. Perrin, London, 1914, Vol. 1, p. ix.

  18 Bosworth, 1988a, pp. 297 f.

  19 W.W. tarn, Alexander the Great, Vol. 2, Sources and Studies, cambridge, 1948,

  pp. 72–75.

  20 P.A. Brunt, “Persian accounts of Alexander’s campaigns”, The Classical Quarterly,

  n.s. Vol. 12: 1, 1962, pp. 144 f.; cf. P. Briant, Darius dans l’Ombre d’Alexandre, Paris, 2003, pp. 214 f.

  21 See n. 2, above.

  introduction

  5

  Interestingly the vehicle for this process had been in place and pre-

  viously used by the Achaemenid kings to disseminate the message of

  their glory among the populace. the minstrels and poets, the vestiges of

  whose works survive in the Iranian national Epic, the Shāhnāma and also

  accords with the messages related through the Achaemenid sculptural

  reliefs,22 must have become known to Alexander as well. It is assumed

  that this medium is the primary provider of the Alexander Histories with

  the Iranian cultural motifs, having functioned as heralder of Alexander’s

  glory and informing the populace of the righteousness of his claim.

  darius I’s rhetoric, as recorded in his inscriptions, also play a useful

  role in Alexander’s propaganda and direct borrowings from it are seen to

  survive in the histories.

  While this study does not examine the Alexander Romances—especially

  the Persian branch—it is significant to note that in most versions of that

  genre Alexander is portrayed as a legitimate Achaemenid hero/king, being

  related to them by blood.23 the origin of the Alexander Romance is believed

  to go back to a work by a writer known as the Pseudo-callisthenes.24 the

  Persian versions are believed to descend through a Pahlavi translation

  made during the Sasanian period.25 At the same time bearing in mind

  that for that period the dominant literary voice had been that of the

  Zoroastrian clergy whose accounts are hostile to Alexander.26

  Perhaps this process reaches to earlier times when the atmosphere had

  allowed multiple voices. Perhaps the process of Iranization of Alexander27

  goes back to his own time and is undertaken with a purpose. In sup-

  port of this assumption one may cite the possibility of the conflation in

  22 P. Jamzadeh, “An Achaemenid epical poem hypothesized”, Studia Iranica Vol. XX,

  1991, pp. 229–232; Id. , “An Achaemenid motif seen in later epic and art”, Iranica Antiqua

  Vol. XXXV, 2000, pp. 41–56; Id. , “reflections from Persepolis in a Mirror for Princes”, Iranica

  Antiqua Vol. XLI, 2006, pp. 71–78; cf. Id. , “royal rhetoric and minstrel poetry: transmission of formulas from Achaemenid court to Medieval European courts”, Journal of the K.R.

  Cama Oriental Institute, Vol. 64, 2001, pp. 18–26; Id. , “An Assyrian motif in the Shāhnāma”,

  Iranica Antiqua Vol. XXXVIII, 2003, pp. 167–172.

  23 M.S. Southgate, Iskandarnamah, A Persian Medieval Alexander-Romance, new York,

  1978, pp. 9, 169–184.

  24 c.A. robinson, The History of Alexander the Great, Vol. I, Providence, 1953, pp. VIII f.

  25 t. noldeke, “Beitrage zur Geschichte des Alexanderromans”, Denkschriften des Kai-

  serlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch–Historische Klasse, 1890, pp. 11 f.

  26 See the chapter XIV on ‘testimony of Zoroastrian Sources’.

  27 W.L. Hanaway, Persian Popular Romances before the Safavid Period, Ph.d. disserta-

  tion, columbia university, 1970, pp. 90 f.; Id. , “Alexander and the question of Iranian iden-

  tity”, Iranica Varia: Papers in honor of Professor Ehsan Yarshater, Acta Iranica 30, Leiden,

  1990, pp. 93 f.

  6

  introduction

  a Zoroastrian source of the accounts of darius and Alexander, as well as

  tabari’s mention of a Persian tradition on the length of Alexander’s reign,

  repeating the Zoroastrian source’s account.28 Such information would

  seem to indicate the existence of a Persian source on Alexander, predating

  the Zoroastrian tradition and moving parallel to the accounts of darius.

  28 See the chapter XIV on ‘testimony of Zoroastrian Sources’.

  Chapter one

  the plight of the aChaemenid royal Women

  1.  According to Ancestral Custom

  a peculiar feature repeated in practically every history of alexander, at

  one time or another, is darius’ declaration of his debt to him. although

  alexander is the aggressor, who in pursuit of kingship over the achaemenid

  empire and further east, has defeated him in successive battles, has sacked

  and burnt his capital, has captured his treasures and has chased him to

  every corner of his kingdom, yet there are pathetic speeches ascribed to

  him praising alexander’s magnanimity, generosity, honour and above all

  declaring him worthy of achaemenid kingship.1 all this is only and solely

  due to alexander’s benevolent and respectful treatment of darius’ close

  female relatives, captured in battle, when they had accompanied him

  “according to their ancestral custom”.2 darius’ elderly mother, his queen-

  wife, two adult daughters, a young son and 360 or 365 concubines are

  stated in various histories as having gone to battle, according to ancestral

  custom of persians. they are not there as combatants or in any capacity

  related to combat, as far as the histories tell us, but merely as baggage,

  a heavy and cumbersome load that is easily captured3 and provides the

  basis for darius’ pleadings with alexander for their release, concessions of

  territories and the hand in marriage of his captured daughters.4 alexander

  refuses his peace offers, for he aims for the entire empire, and beyond. in

  the meantime treating darius’ family with utmost respect and even better

  capability than the king himself. Because of his gentlemanly behaviour he

  earns darius’ praises and endorsement for kingship.5

  the relationship fostered with darius’ mother plays an important role

  in elevating alexander towards the status of perceived legitimate king of

  1  arrian iV. 19. 6–20. 3; Justin Xi. XV; plutarch, Alexander XXX. 6–7, Xliii. 2; Id., Fortuna

  338; Curtius iV. X. 34.

  2 diodorus XVii. 35. 3; Curtius iii. 8. 12.

  3 diodor
us XVii. 31. 1 f.; plutarch Al, XXi; Justin Xi. iX; Curtius iii. 3. 8–25, iii. 8. 12 f., iii.

  9. 5 f., iii. 11. 19 f.; arrian ii. 12. 4 f.

  4 Justin Xi. Xii; arrian ii. XiV. 1; plutarch Al. XXiX. 4; diodorus XVii. 54; Curtius iV. 1. 7 f.

  5  Cf. Briant 2002, 835 f.

  8

  chapter one

  persia. he treats her as he would his own mother and even addresses her

  as such.6 their feelings are mutual and to the point that even given the

  chance to escape from captivity, she prefers alexander’s prison to darius’

  freedom.7 and on hearing of alexander’s death, she too commits suicide

  and dies.8

  the carefully developed story of this friendship of course has its own

  purposes and reasons. as we shall see further on, it aims at feeding on the

  established prestige and legitimizing powers of queen-mothers, hearken-

  ing back to the role played by atossa in elevating Xerxes to kingship,9 and

  eventually to the tradition of matriarchy that had been prevalent during

  much of the long history of elam in pre-achaemenid iran.10 the primary

  audience of this particular propaganda effort seems to be the iranian peo-

  ple, or rather the foremost subject nations of the empire.

  attention to this facet of the alexander histories also helps reveal the

  scope and depth of the appropriate intricate propaganda that obviously

  would have required the co-operation of those conversant with the lan-

  guages and informed of the traditions. in the histories one often comes

  across alexander’s iranian entourage and courtiers who guide him through

  the protocols of kingship.11 however, whether darius’ close female rela-

  tives were in fact captured at any stage of the siege of the empire is irrel-

  evant. the point of the propaganda is how alexander would have treated

  them in order to qualify.12

  it is also interesting to note that certain information surviving in some

  of the histories seem to reveal the existence of the same type of propa-

  ganda effort in darius’ camp.13 this no doubt adds to the value of the

  histories. making them a useful resource for the iranian history as well.14

  6 diodorus XVii. 37, 6; Curtius V. ii. 20.

  7 Curtius iV. XV. 11; diodorus XVii. 59. 7.

  8 diodorus XVii. 118. 3; Curtius X. 5. 19–25; Justin Xiii. 1.

  9 herodotus Vii. 5; cf. h. Sancisi-Weerdenburg, “exit atossa: images of women in greek

  historiography on persia”, Images of Women in Antiquity eds. a. Cameron & a. Kuhrt,

  detroit, 1983, 20–33; e.d. Carney, “alexander and persian Women”, American Journal of

  Philology 117, 1996, 563–583 for a different view on the evidence.

  10 W. hinz, The Lost World of Elam, new york, 1973, 42 f., 110 f.; i.m. diakonoff, “elam”,

  The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 2, The Median and Achaemenian Periods, ed. i. gershe-

  vitch, Cambridge, 1985, pp. 13, 16 f.

  11 diodorus XVii. 77. 4 f.; Curtius Vi. 6. 1–11; Justin Xii. 3. 8–12; plutarch, Alexander 45, 47.

  12  Cf. arrian ii. 12. 8.

  13 Briant, 2002, p. 771.

  14 See further the following chapters below.

  the plight of the achaemenid royal women

  9

  as stated, a phrase that occurs in some of the histories is that the persians

  took their women folk to combat, according to ancestral custom.15 it is

  possible to examine this comment in its contexts in diodorus and Curtius

  and establish the difficulty with accepting it at face value. according to

  diodorus,16 after the death of memnon darius’ general—a rhodian17—

  there was argument over the necessity or even logic of darius’ own par-

  ticipation in the battle for saving the empire from alexander’s aggression.

  in this process another greek adviser, Charidemus the athenian com-

  mander18 also loses his life, but for speaking his mind and making slurs

  on persians’ lack of manliness.19 finally, not finding any worthy replace-

  ments for memnon, darius himself decides to face alexander in combat.

  he collects his forces in Babylon and from among his friends and relatives

  selects those suitable, giving some commands according to their abilities

  and ordering others to fight at his side as his personal staff.20 With over

  400,000 infantry and 100,000 cavalry, he marches out of Babylon and in

  the direction of Cilicia.21

  at this juncture diodorus suddenly informs us that: “he had with him

  his wife and children—a son and two daughters—and his mother”.22 this

  development may be seen as an odd twist in the momentum of the battle

  strategy of a king who a short while ago was not even certain of his own

  participation in the impending combat. however, his soldiers for no reason

  15 diodorus XVii. 35. 3; Curtius iii. 8. 12; diodorus ii. 34. 3, on the authority of Ctesias

  says that the Sacae women are courageous and share the dangers of war with their hus-

  bands; cf. Xenophon, Cyropaedia iV. ii. 2: “But as the hyrcanians were to march in the very

  rear, they had their wagons also and their families in the rear. for, as we know, most of asi-

  atic peoples take the field accompanied by their entire households”, which may perhaps be

  seen as a general reflection on the asiatics’ lack of judgement, the consequence of which

  is foregrounded in iii. iii. 67: “and the women of the assyrians and their allies, seeing the

  men in flight even inside the camp, raised a cry and ran panic-stricken, both those who

  had children and the younger women as well, while they rent their garments, tore their

  cheeks, and begged all whom they met not to run away and leave them but to defend

  both them and their children and themselves as well.” See also W. heckel, The Conquests

  of Alexander the Great, Cambridge, 2008, pp. 64–65, nos. 39–40, who takes the presence

  of darius’ family in battlefield as fact, drawing parallels with the later practices seen in

  the american Civil War and the Crimean War, during which some battles had served as

  entertainment for the rich, as well, although viewed from a safe distance however.

  16 diodorus XVii. 30. 1 f.

  17 diodorus XVii. 18. 2.

  18 diodorus XVii. 30. 2.

  19 diodorus XVii. 30. 4.

  20 diodorus XVii. 31. 1.

  21 diodorus XVii. 31. 2; cf. Briant, 2002 790 f.

  22 diodorus XVii. 31. 2, and the narrative shifts to alexander musing over memnon’s

  tactics, etc.

  10

  chapter one

  at all—so far—are also joined by a group of old and young women and a

  child. this is a totally out of place information that is neither related to the

  forthcoming battle, nor to any other reason. But it has its own logic and

  serves a purpose in the overall scheme of the history. i believe it is inserted

  in so to provide the background for the drama that is about to unfold.

  Shortly after setting out from Babylon, in order to meet parmenion,

  alexander’s general, in battle, darius decides to make his army mobile

  and diverts his baggage train and the non-combatants to damascus in

  Syria.23 as it turns out, he has to meet alexander himself and the descrip-

  tion of the battle of issus follows which ends in darius’ flight and the

  capture of his treasures, his family, his entire harem, as well as those of the


  entire achaemenid nobility who “had accompanied the army according to

  an ancestral custom of the persians”.24

  it seems that certain problems occur here. in the first place if he has to

  make his army mobile and send the women folk and the baggage to safety,

  why to damascus rather than inner persia or media if Babylon is already

  considered at risk? Bearing in mind that in following diodorus’ account all

  that one ascertains is that he has just left Babylon and is moving towards

  Cilicia. But, on the other hand, we are told that this burdensome out of

  place group has to be there, for it is their custom. at the same time, how-

  ever, it is realized that they do not belong on the battlefield and need to

  be sent away to safety, as if this was the very first time that persians are

  going to war and in practice find out that their customs are defunct. in

  fact Curtius, as we shall see, has darius exclaim exactly such understand-

  ing.25 this very custom is responsible for the tragic scenes that follow, the

  plunder of the vast treasures carried to battle:

  much silver, no little gold and vast numbers of rich dresses from the royal

  treasure, which they took, and likewise a great store of wealth belonging to

  the king’s friends, relatives, and military commanders. not only the ladies

  of the royal house but also those of the king’s relatives and friends, born

  on gilded chariots, had accompanied the army according to an ancestral

  custom of the persians, and each of them had brought with her a store of

  rich furniture and feminine adornment in keeping with their vast wealth

  and luxury.26

  one may add such as brides going to grooms and taking their dowry with

  them.

  23 diodorus XVii. 32. 2.

  24 diodorus XVii. 35. 3.

  25 Curtius V. 1. 6.

  26 diodorus XVii. 35. 2–4.

  the plight of the achaemenid royal women

  11

  diodorus describes their lot after their capture as extremely pathetic

  and states that those who so far had been accustomed to traveling in

  luxurious carriages and exposing no part of their bodies now had burst

  out of the tents wearing only a chiton and rending their garments. they

  called on the gods and fell at the knees of the conquerors. Some had their

  clothes torn, beaten and torn by their hair. “thus outraging the dearest