Travels with Alexander the Great

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Head of the dying Alexander after the Antique

Attributed to Annibale Carracci (1560-1609)

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The Hermitage Immortal Alexander Exhibition - Reviews

“Alexander is a phenomenon. He is immortal. And the exhibition on show at the Hermitage Amsterdam makes this abundantly clear. No other king from antiquity has such a powerful appeal to the imagination as Alexander the Great. No other king has been so often cited and depicted as an example”. - Artdaily

http://www.artdaily.com/index.asp?int_new=40972&int_sec=2

Robin Lane Fox picks out his favourite exhibit:

"An astonishing fragment of a water-clock in black basalt is inscribed in hieroglyphics with the name and figure of a respected 4th-century Egyptian pharaoh and, beneath it, Alexander’s own name, too. I had never even known of this item’s existence, formerly in the Golitsyn family collection, but it shows an incredible rarity, an Egyptian inscription contemporary with Alexander himself."

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e4837bc8-c732-11df-aeb1-00144feab49a.html#axzz1ESpdiJCv

Another blogger enthusiast describes his visit to the exhibition

“This exhibition does credit to its name: The Immortal Alexander the Great. Alexander has truly defied the centuries and 2,300 years after his death he still lives on in our imagination. If that does not mean being “immortal”, what is?

http://makedonia-alexandros.blogspot.com/2010/11/immortal-alexander-great-hermitage.html

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Yet another Alexander blog

I have just discovered another interesting blog covering news and other items of interest about Alexander the Great!

The blogger explains his interest in Alexander.

"Time and again, people ask me: Why are you so interested in Alexander the Great? Why Alexander? What makes him so special? As it sounds very stupid to say, “I don’t know”, I gave the matter some serious thought.                                                       

"As can be expected, the answer is not simple. It is like when being asked, why do you love your wife or why do you love your husband? There is not a clear cut reason, in fact, there are several or several combinations. So too when it comes to my friend, Alexander the Great, for I consider him a friend, someone I know intimately, although he lived two thousand three hundred years ago!

"To say the least, he is a fascinating figure. We know his actions rather well from what has been written by ancient historians but not his personality, which modern historians try to unravel to the bone with sometimes the most absurd assumptions. In my mind, this is however the most intriguing side - one that keeps me digging ever deeper."

Here's the link.

http://travelwithme.web-log.nl/travel/alexander_news/

It's strange but like this blogger I too feel that Alexander does not seem like a far distant historical figure but someone who appears very human and in some way accessible. And sometimes when reading Plutarch and Arrian it seems like it all happened just yesterday.

                                                           

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Two great historians discuss Megalexandros

The conversation continues here:

http://blogs.forbes.com/booked/2011/02/10/alexander-the-great-gay-or-straight/

http://blogs.forbes.com/booked/2011/02/19/what-caused-the-death-of-alexander-the-great/

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Nearchos and the whales

Nearchos was one of the officers in the army of Alexander the Great who was appointed Admiral of the Macedonian fleet. His celebrated voyage from India to Susa after Alexander's expedition in India is preserved in Arrian's account, the Indica.

"Big animals feed in the outer sea and the fish are much bigger there than the interior sea. And Nearchos says when he sailed off Cyiza, by daybreak water was seen jetted upwards from the sea with such a force as from waterspout. Being astonished, he asked the pilots in the navy what this happening was and how it was caused. And when they answered that these massive mammals living in the sea blow water upwards, the sailors were startled that the oars fell from their hands.

"Nearchos went on entreating and encouraging them and whenever he sailed by called them to stage the ships in formation as to give battle and to raise their battle cry in time with the plash of oars with quick strokes and much noise. The sailors were encouraged and sailed together according to the signal. And when they approached the beasts, they shouted with all the strength their heads would possess, while the trumpets would sound and the rowers made the most noise splashing their rows at maximun length.

"So the mammals, now visible at the prow of the ships, being at a loss dived in the deep and not long afterwards they emerged astern and jetted water over a great expanse of sea. And the sailors rejoiced with much noise because of their unexpected deliverance and praised Nearchos for his boldness and wise thinking." From Arrian’s Indica. 30:1-7.

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Nearchos, One of Alexander's Generals, sails from the Indus to the Persian Gulf

See a larger version here:

http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Nearchos-One-of-Alexander-s-Generals-Sails-from-the-Indus-to-the-Persian-Gulf-Posters_i6806364_.htm?aid=95620932&DestType=7&Referrer=http%3A%2F%2Fpersian%2Dgulf%2Epurzuit%2Ecom%2F

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Caligula Crossing the Bay of Baiae

Artist - Roger Payne

According to Suetonius, the Roman Emperor Caligula “frequently wore the dress of a triumphing general, even before embarking on his campaign, and sometimes wore the breast-plate of Alexander the Great, which he had taken from his sarcophagus."

In 39 AD, Caligula performed a spectacular stunt by ordering a temporary floating bridge to be built using ships as pontoons, stretching for over two miles from the resort of Baiae to the neighboring port of PuteoliIt was said that the bridge was to rival that of Persian King Xerxes' crossing of the Hellespont. Caligula, a man who could not swim, then proceeded to ride his favorite horse, Incitatus, across, wearing the breastplate of Alexander the Great. This act was in defiance of a prediction by Tiberius's soothsayer Thrasyllus of Mendes that Caligula had "no more chance of becoming emperor than of riding a horse across the Bay of Baiae”.

NOTE: Caligula had two large ships constructed for himself, which were recovered from the bottom of Lake Nemi during the dictatorship of Mussolini. The ships were among the largest vessels in the ancient world. The smaller ship was designed as a temple dedicated to Diana. The larger ship was essentially an elaborate floating palace that counted marble floors and plumbing among its amenities. Thirteen years after being raised, the ships were burned during an attack in the Second World War, and almost nothing remains of the hulls.

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The sack of Thebes

Illustration by Angus McBride

While Alexander was triumphantly campaigning in the north shortly after his accession to the throne, the citizens of Thebes and Athens rebelled on hearing a rumour that the King had died. Alexander reacted immediately marching his army over 250 miles over the mountains from Pelium to the outskirts of Thebes in less than two weeks.

According to Arrian, with his army in place, Alexander then waited "in order to give the Thebans time to think things over, in case they should change their minds and decide to treat with him." Instead, the Thebans sent a force of light infantry, cavalry and missile fire to attack the Macedonian outposts. Alexander moved his army near the Theban gates and again waited for the Thebans to back down. Inside the city, many wished to do so - but the hard core insisted on war. While Athens had backed down, Thebes decided to resist with the utmost vigor. Finally, the battle was joined.

Alexander prevailed. The allied Greek soldiers in Alexander's army - many of whom had suffered under Thebes' harsh military hand in the past - plundered the town. The city was razed to the ground amid great bloodshed and its territory was divided between the other Boeotian cities. Moreover, the Thebans themselves were sold into slavery and Alexander spared only priests, leaders of the pro-Macedonian party and descendants of Pindar, whose house was the only one left standing. The end of Thebes cowed Athens into submission as well as the rest of Greece allowing Alexander to proceed with his war against the Persian Empire.

Thebes was a city that had reneged on its promises through the Corinthian league and had been a brutal aggressor against other Greeks in the long civil wars. It had refused to negotiate. And it paid the price.

The destruction of Thebes was a sensation throughout Greece. Nothing Alexander could have done would have more firmly frightened and dissuaded the other city-states from attacking him. Immediately, ambassadors set out hotfoot for Alexander's camp to beg forgiveness if they had aided Thebes, or to compliment him for its destruction (the Athenians fell into the latter camp). Athens had done everything except come out openly as an ally of Thebes, and Demosthenes himself boasted that Alexander was either dead in his northern battles or would do nothing.

With a swift change of tune, the Athenian delegation welcomed Alexander safely home from Illyria and "thoroughly approved of his punishment of the Thebans for their revolt." (Arrian, 10) Alexander countered, sternly, demanding that the anti-Macedonian party in Athens be surrendered to him (including Demosthenes), as he held them responsible for the continual friction between the two states. But when the Athenians begged him to relent, he did so, only asking that one Athenian named Charidemus be exiled - which was promptly done.

http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Article/591147

The Greek author Diodorus of Sicily, describes what happened when Alexander’s troops stormed the city of Thebes.

"Now the king in the course of only three days made everything ready for the assault. He divided his forces into three parts and ordered one to attack the palisades which had been erected before the city, the second to face the Theban battle line, and the third as a reserve to support any hard pressed unit of his forces and to enter the battle in its turn.

"For their part, the Thebans stationed the cavalry within the palisades, assigned their enfranchised slaves, along with refugees and resident aliens, to face those who drove at the walls, and themselves made ready to fight before the city with the Macedonian force, which was many times their number. Their children and wives flocked to the temples and implored the gods to rescue the city from its dangers.
 
"When the Macedonians approached and each division encountered the opposing force of Thebans, the trumpets blew the call to arms and the troops on both sides raised the battle cry in unison and hurled their missiles at the enemy. These were soon expended and all turned to the use of the sword at close quarters, and a mighty struggle ensued.
 


Alexander at the sack of Thebes.

Illustration by Charles R. Stanton

"At length Alexander saw that the Thebans were still fighting unflinchingly for their freedom, but that his Macedonians were wearying in the battle, and ordered his reserve division to enter the struggle. As this suddenly struck the tired Thebans, it bore heavily against them and killed many. Still the Thebans did not concede the victory, but on the contrary, inspired by the will to win, despised all dangers. They had the courage to shout that the Macedonians now openly confessed to being their inferiors.

"So the Theban spirit proved unshakable here, but the king took note of a postern gate that had been deserted by its guards and hurried Perdiccas with a large detachment of troops to seize it and penetrate into the city. He quickly carried out the order and the Macedonians slipped through the gate into the city, while the Thebans, having worn down the first assault wave of the Macedonians, stoutly faced the second and still had high hopes of victory.

"When they knew that a section of the city had been taken, however, they began immediately to withdraw within the walls, but in this operation their cavalry galloped along with the infantry into the city and trampled upon and killed many of their own men; they themselves rode into the city in disorder and, encountering a maze of narrow alleys and trenches, lost their footing and fell and were killed by their own weapons. At the same time the Macedonian garrison in the Cadmeia burst out of the citadel, engaged the Thebans, and attacking them in their confusion made a great slaughter among them.



Remains of the Cadmeia or citadel where the Macedonian garrison was stationed.

"In the capture of the city, no Theban was seen begging the Macedonians to spare his life, nor did they in ignoble fashion fall and cling to the knees of their conquerors. But neither did the agony of courage elicit pity from the foe nor did the day's length suffer for the cruelty of their vengeance. All the city was pillaged. Everywhere boys and girls were dragged into captivity as they wailed piteously the names of their mothers.

"In the end, when night finally intervened, the houses had been plundered and children and women and aged persons who had fled into the temples were torn from sanctuary and subjected to outrage without limit. Over 6,000 Thebans perished, more than 30,000 were captured, and the amount of property plundered was unbelievable."

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Hellenistic gold and carnelian intaglio ring in original setting of Alexander the Great in the guise of Herakles
wearing the lion's skin, the jaws pulled up over his head with the paws tied at the neck. Circa 2nd-1st Century B.C.
Estimated worth: £40,000-50,000. Photo: Bonhams.

Larger view here:

http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=45226

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Galerie Hamarkhis of Brussels will present for sale one of four known fragments of an Egyptian basalt water-clock or clepsydra – literally a “water thief” – commissioned around 332-323BC by Alexander the Great, no less, and the only piece remaining in private hands. Alexander is depicted offering wine in front of the goddess Hathor, with Sekhmet standing behind him. This water-clock would have been used in a temple to measure nocturnal time in order to perform rites and sacrifices during the appropriate hour. Twelve columns representing the months of the year were engraved with gradations inside the vase to mark the passing hours (value €150,000)

Other fragments of the water clock can be found in the British Museum (see link below) ...

http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/search_object_details.aspx?objectId=120678&partId=1&orig=%2fresearch%2fsearch_the_collection_database%2fmuseum_no__provenance_search.aspx&numpages=10&idNum=933&currentPage=1

... and in the Golitsyn family collection recently on show at the Immortal Alexander Exhibition at the Hermitage museum in Amesterdam which was much admired by Robin Lane Fox (see recent post above).

NOTE: Problems with observing the sun and stars using shadow clocks (precursors of sun dials) may have been the reason the Egyptians invented the water clock, or "clepsydra" (water thief in Greek). The earliest remaining example survives from the Temple of Karnak is dated to the fifteenth century BCE. Water drips through a small hole in one container to a lower one. Marks on either container can be used to give a record of hours passed. Some Egyptian clepsydras have several sets of marks to be used at different times of the year, to maintain consistency with the seasonal temporal hours. The design of the clepsydra was later adapted and improved by the Greeks.

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Speaking of water clocks reminded me of this snippet of information:

It is not well known that Alexander the Great invented a crude form of the wrist watch. Before each battle, he would have all his generals tear off a strip from their cloaks and soak it in the blood of a horse. When the blood dried it was time to attack. This method worked really well because of the time it takes for horse blood to coagulate. (exactly 17 minutes) the generals would tie this strip around their wrists and wait for it to dry. This became known as Alexander's rag time band.

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Bonhams art auction house will be selling the ring pictured above as well as two sculptured heads of Alexander (see link below).

According to the catalogue "Although a number of images of Alexander were made during his lifetime, most of these Greek originals have not survived. The vast majority of his portraits that have come down to us are Graeco-Roman copies, adaptations, and transformations in all media (bronze and marble sculptures, paintings, mosaics, coins, gemstones) that reflected lost Greek originals. These Graeco-Roman images were produced throughout Rome's empire from about the 2nd Century B.C. until late Roman antiquity because Alexander had captured the imagination of Rome's great military men and statesmen, who wished to emulate Alexander and his deeds in one way or another.

"Some of Alexander's original portraits were even brought back to Rome to adorn the city. There are many examples of Alexander's image being recalled by Rome's leaders including Pompey, Julius Caesar and Caligula who was said to have worn a breastplate that once belonged to Alexander. Other emperors, too, imitated or emulated Alexander in various ways."

The first sculpted head of Alexander the Great for sale is Roman from the Antonine dynasty, circa A.D. 138-161, it is over-lifesize. He is depicted with distinctive wavy hair falling at his furrowed brow and the nape of his neck, his brows carved in relief with notched details, the lidded eyes with incised irises and drilled pupils, his shapely lips above a strong chin. It stands 12½in (31.7cm) high, and is estimated to sell for £150,000-200,000.



The second Alexander in this sale is once again a Roman marble head of Alexander Helios Circa 1st Century B.C.-A.D. The thick wavy hair secured with a fillet with two lines of drill holes for insertion of the radiate headdress, the head tilted slightly to the right, with deep-set almond-shaped eyes and full lips, 7¾in (20cm) high. It is estimated to sell for £7,000-9,000.



http://www.bonhams.com/eur/press/5532/

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Up-to-date research on the coinage of Alexander the Great and his successors.

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In 1971, a team of French archaeologists discovered a sculpture in fragments at a site by the river Oxus in northern Afghanistan. It was restored and placed in the National Museum in Kabul. Then, a decade ago, it was smashed all over again, this time deliberately – by the Taliban, who were also demolishing the colossal Buddhas at Bamiyan, in the centre of the country. Those vast masterpieces of religious art are gone for ever, but this wonder of nudity was luckier. Afghan experts have now pieced it together again – and sent it around the world, to show off the richness of a country the world thinks of only as a vast alien battleground; or, in the subtle words of our defence secretary Liam Fox, "a broken 13th-century country".

The twice-rescued young man greets you at the start of Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World, the British Museum's compelling new show. There's no mistaking the beauty of this alabaster nude, who would be arresting even without his story of survival. The history of Afghanistan, this exhibition hints, is vast, complex and astounding. Its epic nature is shown by the fact that this show covers just a few ancient centuries, ending in the first century AD. But what centuries they were.

One of the most remarkable things about the youth carved in alabaster is the fact that he's an ancient Greek. How did he end up in Afghanistan? Well, he was found at an ancient Greek city discovered near the Oxus by French archaeologists in the 1960s. They partially excavated the city, clearly Hellenic in its art and architecture, until the Soviet invasion drove them away in 1979, leaving the site to be torn apart by looters.

Locals called the city Ai Khamun, Lady Moon, from a legend about a princess who lived in a fortress on the site. The remains of Lady Moon city, on show in this exhibition, are as stupendous as they are delicate. The huge flowery bloom of a Corinthian capital (the decorated top of a column) stands next to leaf-like terracotta ornaments overlooking a sundial shaped into a hollow sphere. A bronze Heracles, musclebound and fierce, is powerful proof that the Greek gods and heroes penetrated this far into Asia.

And only one man could have got them there: Alexander the Great. Consequently, although the original name for this city is not known, it can be guessed – some variant of Alexandria, perhaps. Ai Khamun is physical proof of the hold Alexander the Great has on history. Was he a monster or a genius, a visionary or just a talented general? Whatever, he tore through the borders separating east and west.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/feb/27/afghanistan-crossroads-british-museum

http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/future_exhibitions/afghanistan.aspx

http://blog.britishmuseum.org/category/exhibitions/afghanistan-crossroads-of-the-ancient-world/