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Hello everyone, welcome

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to the history of Persia I'm

2:51

Trevor Culley and this is episode 111

2:55

The man who could walk through empires Alexander

3:00

III Last time, Alexander III

3:02

of Macedon arrived on the plain of

3:04

Gaugemela for a second dramatic

3:07

confrontation with Darius III

3:09

of Persia. Much

3:11

like their previous encounter, it was brutal

3:14

and hard-fought, but ultimately Darius

3:16

was sent fleeing from the battlefield, effectively

3:20

ceding the ancient lands of Mesopotamia

3:23

to Alexander in their entirety.

3:27

The Lord of all Asia took up his new

3:29

residence in the palace at Babylon for

3:31

a month, enjoying the luxuries

3:33

and traditions the city had to offer. Yet,

3:38

in the end, the war would

3:40

not be over until Alexander

3:43

had truly and completely

3:46

defeated his opponent. But

3:48

first, he would take advantage of

3:51

Darius's absence. After

3:54

Gaugemela, Darius went to

3:56

Ekbatana. It was

3:58

a sound choice. He

3:59

thought.

4:01

Elam and Persia were the most loyal

4:03

provinces in the empire by default,

4:06

but Eqbatina was the most defensible

4:09

of the royal capitals now that Babylon

4:11

was gone. There,

4:13

he could lick his wounds and recoup

4:15

the empire's strength as the Macedonians

4:18

fought their way south. So

4:21

he thought. We

4:23

left the Macedonian army just as

4:25

they entered the Zagros Mountains, moving

4:28

along the royal road towards Susa.

4:32

By now, Alexander was in

4:34

something of a race against time.

4:37

It was early November, and winter

4:39

would set in on the mountains quickly.

4:43

The plains of Khuzestan are hot

4:45

at the best of times, but

4:48

the surrounding mountains can still take

4:50

on plenty of snow, more

4:53

so 2300 years ago. It

4:57

was at least a slow trip

4:59

with 40,000 men and a baggage

5:01

train in tow through unfamiliar

5:04

terrain. Immediately

5:07

after the Battle of Galgamela, Alexander

5:09

had sent a single messenger named

5:11

Philoxenos to Susa

5:14

and demanded their surrender, but

5:17

Philoxenos hadn't reported back. They

5:21

were taking a serious risk by continuing

5:24

the campaign right now. Quite

5:27

probably to Alexander's immense surprise,

5:30

he was met on the road by Persian

5:32

horsemen. But not

5:34

a war party. Abulites,

5:37

the satrap of Elam, had

5:39

sent his son, a small capitol regard,

5:42

and Philoxenos to find the Macedonian

5:45

army, deliver his surrender

5:47

to Alexander, and guide

5:49

the conquerors to Susa in a timely

5:52

fashion. They arrived

5:54

at the next accamited capital 20 days

5:56

after leaving the last one. In

6:00

late November, the full army encamped in

6:02

the mustering grounds outside the palace

6:04

of Susa, while Alexander

6:07

and the officer corps entered the

6:09

Grand Palace first built by Darius

6:11

the Great and rebuilt by Darius

6:14

the Second. There

6:16

they found a treasury beyond

6:18

their wildest dreams. 50,000 talents

6:23

of silver bullion, mounds

6:25

of purple cloth, and a collection

6:27

of old Persian war trophies

6:30

stretching at least back to the time

6:32

of Xerxes, because it included

6:35

statues from the Athenian sanctuary

6:38

of Eleusis, taken

6:40

during the Persian invasions of Greece.

6:45

Alexander ordered these statues and much of

6:47

the wealth be prepared for shipping

6:49

and the long journey back to

6:52

Europe. Alexander's

6:55

first evening in Susa yielded one of

6:57

the most famous stories of the Macedonian

7:00

conqueror. They gathered

7:02

for dinner in the Grand Persian throne

7:04

room, though it's unclear if this was

7:06

the palace's small inner courtyard

7:09

or the Apodana rebuilt by Artaxerxes

7:11

the Second. The Macedonian

7:14

nobles and Persian courtiers alike

7:16

were there with Alexander taking

7:19

his seat in the acamended

7:21

throne. Much to the lord

7:23

of all Asia's embarrassment, he was

7:25

noticeably shorter than most of his predecessors,

7:29

and his feet did not touch the ground

7:31

while seated in that throne. One

7:35

of the Macedonian servants grabbed

7:37

a low table, barely above floor

7:40

height, and set it down for Alexander

7:42

to use as a footstool. One

7:45

of the Persian eunuchs present let out

7:48

a sound of audible horror, when

7:50

Alexander set his feet on

7:52

the table. Evidently,

7:55

it had been consecrated for use

7:57

by the king himself while dining reclined.

8:00

on the ground, and it brought great

8:02

feelings of shame seeing it degraded

8:05

in this way. However,

8:07

the Macedonian officer Philotos

8:10

spoke up and told Alexander not to

8:12

feel guilty for this trespass,

8:16

where this table had been consecrated

8:18

and honored as a treasure of Darius.

8:22

It was only fit to be the footstool

8:24

of Alexander. They

8:27

stayed in Susa for most of December,

8:29

while Alexander took a break from conquest

8:32

to rearrange his satraps, and

8:34

the Macedonian governors were considered

8:37

satraps. They also

8:39

waited on fresh reinforcements from Macedon,

8:41

who arrived under the command of Amentus,

8:44

son of Andromenes. Yes,

8:48

I know this is like the seventh Amentus

8:51

we've dealt with, get used to it. The

8:53

Macedonians have fewer names than

8:55

even the Persians. With

8:58

these reinforcements, Alexander

9:00

was ready to depart. He

9:03

went through his now customary process

9:05

of assigning a satrap of Susiana,

9:08

as the province would be known under Greek

9:10

rule, and shuffling his

9:12

officers around as he assigned

9:14

troops to garrison the city. This

9:18

time, rather than simply garrisoning

9:20

his new city, he left behind one

9:22

thousand of his oldest veteran troops, one

9:26

thousand of the men who had been serving Macedon

9:28

since the wars of Philip II. Some

9:32

of these men had been at war

9:34

for nearly thirty years, and

9:37

had seen Macedon go from a hinterland

9:40

kingdom to the most formidable power

9:42

in the world. Their

9:44

king decided it was time

9:46

for them to get some well-earned rest.

9:50

But also, to get these old

9:52

traditionalists out of his army,

9:54

because there was increasing tension

9:56

over the idea of continuing further

9:59

east. With the

10:01

administrative issues settled, it was

10:03

time for the Macedonian Imperial

10:06

Army to move out, marching

10:08

southeast along the Royal Road as the

10:10

land gradually ascended into the

10:12

Zagros Mountains once again. Here,

10:16

in the Elamite Highlands, they encountered

10:18

the other half of Elamite culture.

10:23

More specifically, in this case, a

10:25

group of people called the Uxians.

10:28

They were a pastoralist community

10:31

living in the lands dotted with the remains

10:33

of forgotten eras of Elamite history,

10:36

never properly conquered by the Achaemenids

10:39

per se, but paid off

10:41

well enough to remain loyal towards Darius,

10:45

and they certainly weren't about to let an even more

10:47

foreign invader take their territory

10:49

uncontested. So

10:51

the Uxians prepared in a narrow mountain

10:54

pass remembered by history as

10:56

the Uxian defile. An

10:59

Uxian messenger was sent to negotiate

11:02

with Alexander, demanding that he pay

11:04

them the same protection money that they

11:06

had come to expect from the Persians. But

11:10

the king was done negotiating. He

11:12

rebuffed the emissary and ordered his

11:14

hippospists, a phalanx

11:17

of 8,000 men, and a few

11:19

hundred of his Hitti-roi into formation. They

11:22

marched on the Uxian position at

11:24

speed. One

11:26

of the Persians that had joined them following

11:29

the many preceding surrenders informed

11:31

Alexander that an alternate route

11:33

through the mountains off the main road was

11:35

available. The general Craterus

11:38

took the hippospists to

11:40

a position on the high ground behind

11:43

Uxian lines, the most likely

11:45

fallback location for their army.

11:49

Alexander, meanwhile, went to the

11:51

nearest Uxian village and raised

11:53

it to the ground. This forced

11:56

the Uxians to turn, abandoning

11:58

their position in the defile, who face

12:00

Alexander, who already had

12:02

the numerical advantage. The

12:06

battle is not described in great detail,

12:09

but the Macedonian phalanx overwhelmed

12:11

the native defenders, forcing them to

12:13

retreat straight into the waiting spears

12:16

of Craterus and the Hypospists.

12:19

The Uxians were then trapped between Craterus

12:22

on one side and Alexander on the

12:24

other. With nowhere

12:26

to go, they were butchered on the road.

12:30

The few that survived were forced to negotiate

12:33

terms with Alexander pledging to

12:35

pay tribute to the Macedonians in

12:38

the form of a debilitating share

12:40

of their livestock annually, something

12:43

the Achaemenids had never even bothered

12:45

to force out of their Uxian neighbors. With

12:49

the Uxians defeated, Parmenion

12:51

took the rest of the Macedonians

12:54

down the main road and resumed his

12:56

position behind Craterus, with

12:58

Alexander himself leading the possession

13:01

at the head of the 8,000 strong phalanx. They

13:04

continued on without event until

13:07

they reached the border of Parsa, where

13:09

the royal road ran through another

13:11

narrow pass called the Persian

13:14

gates. It

13:16

should come as no surprise that the Achaemenid

13:18

homeland had no intention of giving

13:20

up without a fight even if the great

13:23

king had fled to Iqbatina. However,

13:26

Darius III had taken the majority

13:28

of their fighting men, meaning

13:31

Satrap Ariobarsenes of Parsa

13:33

was left to make up the defense with the

13:35

leftovers of the Persian military.

13:39

Arian reports that he commanded 40,700 men, but this

13:41

is impossible. That

13:47

would have been a significant force

13:49

for the whole Achaemenid Empire in

13:51

its prime, and would have been

13:53

useless in such a narrow mountain

13:55

pass. Modern

13:57

estimates range from just several 100 Persian

14:01

defenders to around 2000. But

14:04

it would hardly make a difference. Alexander

14:07

really did have upwards of 30,000

14:10

fighting men still in tow. The

14:13

Persians' only real hope was to defend

14:15

the past so successfully that

14:18

Alexander simply couldn't progress, forcing

14:21

the Macedonians to withdraw from Parsa

14:23

and double back to go through

14:26

media where Darius could face

14:28

them once again. Now

14:31

the Persians had a good strategy

14:33

here. I'll post a picture on

14:35

the website, but you can get a pretty good

14:38

sense of the issue from just a

14:40

description. The

14:43

Achaemenids, or even plausibly the Elamites

14:46

before them, had constructed a fort

14:49

on the eastern end of the Persian

14:51

gates. The sheer rocky

14:54

cliffs on either side were barely

14:56

wide enough to accommodate a modern two-lane

14:58

road, and it was late December

15:01

when snow and ice blanketed the terrain.

15:05

It was treacherous, and even a small

15:07

number of well-supplied archers could

15:09

hold off the Macedonians indefinitely.

15:14

That was the idea, and

15:16

initially everything went to plan. Alexander

15:20

chose 17,000 of his

15:23

best infantry to make the initial

15:25

assault, planning to simply

15:27

batter down the gates and force their way

15:30

into Parsa, overwhelming

15:32

the defenders with sheer number. The

15:35

Persians lined the eastern end of the

15:38

hillsides on either side in

15:40

addition to the walls of the fortification,

15:43

and rained arrows down on the Macedonians

15:45

as they advanced. It

15:48

was shooting fish in a barrel and

15:50

taking advantage of the key weakness

15:52

of the Macedonian phalanx. Their

15:56

small hoplon shields couldn't provide

15:58

enough cover to defend from an- attack from

16:01

above. And the head

16:03

of the army was slaughtered so quickly that

16:05

the rear guard was still advancing when

16:07

the vanguard turned around to retreat.

16:11

The invaders started running into one another,

16:13

causing further confusion and disarray

16:16

that created more openings for Persian

16:18

arrows to find their mark. Ariobarsanese

16:22

could go to bed that night thinking he

16:25

would be remembered as the savior of

16:27

Parsa. In fact,

16:30

he went to bed for the next thirty

16:32

nights thinking that. For

16:35

a month, the Macedonians encamped

16:37

in the frigid Persian mountains, trying

16:41

and failing to wear down the defenders

16:43

enough to take the pass by force with

16:45

no avail. Alexander

16:48

refused to relent or to turn back,

16:51

even as his soldiers' bodies started

16:53

piling up in the pass itself, where

16:56

arrows picked off anyone who attempted

16:58

to recover the dead. But

17:02

here's the thing. This army

17:04

was, at its heart, a Greek

17:06

force. If there was one

17:09

historical event that the Greeks could think

17:11

of while fighting the Persians in a narrow

17:13

pass with conquest on the line, it

17:16

was Thermopylae. Ironically,

17:20

their roles were reversed with the outnumbered

17:22

Persians defending themselves from the Greek

17:25

horde. Still, though, the

17:28

tactic to try was obvious.

17:31

Throughout this month-long siege, Alexander

17:34

had scouts searching the mountains

17:36

for an alternate route, whether

17:39

a road, a goat path, or just

17:41

a navigable stretch of wilderness

17:44

through the mountains. Finally,

17:46

they found one. To

17:49

the north of the Persian gates, a narrow

17:51

path ran in a wide arc all

17:53

the way around the mountains, exiting

17:56

just north of the Persian fortifications

17:58

on the other side. So the

18:00

plan was set into motion, and

18:03

the Persians would have their very

18:05

own thermopoli. The

18:08

true action of the Battle of the Persian

18:10

Gates took place on the 20th of

18:12

January 330 BCE,

18:16

when Alexander led the Hippospists

18:18

and his hand-picked phalanx along the

18:20

northern route and ordered Ptolemy

18:23

to lead their main force back into the pass.

18:26

When the Macedonians launched

18:29

another assault, the Persians took up their

18:32

standard positions and began picking

18:34

away at Ptolemy's forces with

18:36

arrows and javelins. That

18:40

is, until Alexander and his troops

18:42

erupted behind their lines. The

18:46

Lord of all Asia had swung out

18:48

in a wide arc to hit the Persian

18:50

camp from its undefended southeastern

18:53

side, with Phleotos taking

18:55

a detachment as soon as they exited

18:58

the footpath to sneak up behind the Persian

19:00

archers on the northern hill. The

19:04

plan worked, with Alexander's men

19:06

swarming into the camp and Phleotos

19:08

storming up behind the archers on one

19:11

side. The remaining

19:13

defenders were thrown into disarray

19:16

as they turned around to try and

19:18

defend themselves from the surprise

19:20

attack, leaving Ptolemy to

19:22

assault the gates in earnest for

19:24

the first time. Many

19:27

of the Persian archers were unprepared

19:29

for the resulting melee, carrying nothing

19:31

but their bows. They were

19:34

forced to grapple with the Macedonians,

19:36

pulling them down to the ground and trying to

19:38

wrestle swords and pikes out of the

19:40

enemy's hands to fight back. The

19:43

ancient accounts differ on the fate

19:45

of Ariobarzanis himself, but

19:48

he's never heard from again, so it doesn't

19:50

really matter if he caught up with Darius,

19:52

fled into exile, or was killed right

19:55

there. Most

19:57

of his men were killed in Alexander's

19:59

assault, and and the remainder were

20:01

sent fleeing up the Persian road toward

20:04

Persepolis. Alexander

20:06

gave orders to pursue rather than rest

20:08

on their laurels, with the gates flung open

20:11

allowing the Macedonian army to continue

20:13

on their way. They marched

20:16

right up to Persepolis, where Ariobarsenes

20:18

men stood in terror outside

20:21

the gates of the palace complex, which

20:24

had been barred shut by Tiradates,

20:27

chief treasurer of Persepolis.

20:30

It turns out that Tiradates had been

20:33

in secret correspondence with Alexander

20:35

for months, and had already

20:37

agreed to surrender if the Macedonians

20:40

made it that far. The

20:43

few soldiers who remained from the Persian

20:45

gates were massacred outside the

20:47

walls of the complex. Now

20:50

Alexander's time in Persepolis is

20:53

one of the most infamous events in his

20:55

life, but before getting into that,

20:57

I want to step back. I

21:16

know it's only October, but

21:18

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21:21

but holiday plans. So

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immersion. Up

21:53

in Ekbatina, Darius III was

21:56

still preparing for his comeback tour

21:58

as King of Kings. But the Battle

22:00

of the Persian Gates does raise an

22:03

interesting question about this podcast.

22:06

Setting aside the fact that it's always

22:09

really been a history of ancient

22:11

Iranian Empire and not Persia

22:14

specifically, who

22:16

do I consider the main character

22:18

king so to speak? Alexander

22:21

now rules Parsa, but

22:24

the Achaemenids are still kicking. The

22:27

next big transition, sometime

22:29

around episode 200 if I

22:32

have to guess, will have

22:34

to work through an extended period

22:36

of two primary dynasties overlapping.

22:41

Fortunately the Achaemenid to Hellenistic

22:43

transition is pretty straightforward.

22:46

However, insofar as I'm

22:49

concerned about which side is actually

22:51

the quote-unquote Persian Empire

22:53

right now, it's still Darius,

22:56

at least for today. The

22:59

great king, king of... kings?

23:02

Maybe? He might not have many vassals

23:04

left. He was still

23:07

hunkered down in Iqbatina at this point,

23:09

even as his empire disintegrated before

23:12

his eyes. The

23:14

Achaemenid still controlled most of Iran

23:16

and Central Asia, and on

23:18

top of that they still had their vassal

23:21

alliances with the Dahi and several

23:23

other Saka groups. However,

23:26

the actual organization of these regions

23:29

makes a full list pretty misleading.

23:32

Darius's primary supporters at

23:35

this point were the Satraps Atropites

23:37

of Media, Orantes of Armenia,

23:41

Vessus of Bactria, and

23:43

Barcaentes of Drangiana. We

23:47

don't know much about Atropites

23:49

before this time, and we've met Orantes

23:52

and Bessus several times before. Barcaentes

23:56

and Drangiana are kind of a new factor

23:58

for this podcast. which is ironic

24:01

considering the state of the Achaemenid Empire.

24:04

Drangiana, which politically included

24:07

the region of Erechosia at this point,

24:09

largely corresponds to southwestern

24:11

Afghanistan today. Known

24:14

as Zrongka in Old Persian, Barseyentes

24:18

ruled the province from a city of the

24:20

same name, which morphed into

24:22

Ziranj, Afghanistan,

24:24

over time. Of the

24:26

major remaining provinces, Drangiana

24:29

seems to have been the least militarily

24:32

exhausted. That's

24:34

understandable given that it was one

24:36

of the furthest from the front and lacked

24:38

the cavalry value and Sokka

24:41

alliances of Bactria, but

24:43

it also means that one of the largest components

24:46

of Darius's Third Army was gathering

24:48

near the city of Zrongka. And

24:51

make no mistake, they were gathering.

24:53

Darius still had every intention of facing

24:56

Alexander. However,

24:58

the fall of Parsa and the betrayal

25:00

of Tiradattis the treasurer threw

25:02

a wrench into the plan. Darius

25:05

had expected more time to prepare,

25:08

meaning that the armies of Bactria and Drangiana

25:11

were still in their respective provinces.

25:14

The Persian rump state was left scrambling

25:17

to come up with a plan D to

25:19

salvage their situation. Back

25:21

in Parsa, you may have noticed

25:24

that the Battle of the Persian Gates seems

25:26

like it should have been a kind of big deal,

25:29

but I didn't provide very many details.

25:32

That's because there aren't many details

25:35

available. And if you read

25:37

the Alexandrian sources, you'll notice

25:39

a distinct tone shift after

25:41

Dalgamela. Battles

25:44

keep happening, including some that

25:46

are described as difficult and brutal

25:48

for the Macedonians, but details

25:51

are kept to a minimum, even by Arian

25:53

and Kurtius. The implication

25:56

from the details we do get is

25:58

that Alexander's forces faced much

26:00

more consistent resistance as they

26:03

moved through Iran than

26:05

they had in the Western Empire. And

26:07

though they were still victorious, they

26:09

were much less glamorous fights. The

26:13

Battle of the Persian Gates in particular

26:16

is thought to have yielded some of the heaviest

26:18

Macedonian casualties in the entire

26:20

war. Fewer

26:23

than 2,000 Persians brought down many

26:26

times their own number in that past,

26:28

dealing a genuine blow to Alexander's

26:30

military capabilities as

26:33

the Macedonians struggled to break

26:35

into the Persian heartland. Though

26:39

it was a tactical loss, in some

26:41

ways it was still a strategic victory

26:43

for Darius, buying the

26:46

Eastern Satraps, especially Bar-Sannes

26:48

and Bessus, enough time

26:50

to raise significant forces even

26:53

if they weren't in Eqbatina yet. But

26:56

now we need to let Alex into Persepolis.

27:00

Alexander the Officer Corps, the traveling

27:02

Macedonian courtiers, both

27:05

Macedonians and various Persians

27:07

and other West Asians who had joined

27:10

them, and some of the favored soldiers

27:12

entered the palace terrace. The

27:15

rest of the army was treated to a speech

27:17

from their king, describing Persepolis

27:19

as the very image and symbol of

27:21

their age-old enemy. Then

27:24

they were set loose on the outer city.

27:28

The commoner encampment and noble

27:30

buildings west of the palace, and

27:32

the massive stone mansions of Persepolis

27:35

south, were free game

27:37

for loot and pillage. The

27:40

inhabitants were assaulted and

27:42

murdered, their possessions taken,

27:44

their decor stripped from the walls,

27:46

and even their very homes stolen

27:49

from them as the soldiers took up residence.

27:53

This was allowed to carry on for

27:55

the next five months. Just

28:00

the outer city before, Persepolis

28:03

West was destroyed in the preparations

28:05

for Muhammad Reza Shah's

28:08

2,500-year celebration in the 1970s,

28:12

and neither Persepolis South nor the outlying

28:14

villages and palaces administered by

28:16

the capital's treasury have

28:19

been thoroughly excavated well enough

28:21

to fully understand the scale of

28:23

the Macedonian plundering. However,

28:26

a sad and gruesome example

28:28

has been found in the bowels of

28:30

the palace complex. In

28:33

August of 2020, a

28:35

group of human and animal

28:37

skeletons were discovered in the irrigation

28:40

tunnels under the palace, which

28:42

would once have irrigated the

28:45

paradise gardens of the Achaemenid

28:47

royalty. These

28:49

poor souls and their livestock apparently

28:52

took refuge from the slaughter by

28:54

hiding in the tunnels, and were

28:56

either hunted down or more likely

28:58

trapped there in the city of Parsa's

29:01

final days. Meanwhile,

29:05

up on top of the terrace, Alexander

29:07

and his closest companions devolved

29:09

into their greatest and worst excesses.

29:14

The king himself had always been known for

29:16

a drunken and violent streak. The

29:19

Macedonians were infamously heavy

29:21

drinkers as a culture, at least by literally

29:24

watered-down Greek standards, and

29:26

I think we've all seen Alexander's

29:28

personal capacity for violence.

29:31

However, since arriving in Babylon,

29:34

Alexander had supposedly reveled more

29:36

and more in the decadence of the Persian

29:38

capitals, and frankly, it's

29:41

kinda hard to blame him for it. Alexander

29:44

was born into a small but growing

29:47

kingdom and raised on imperial

29:49

ambition, but fundamentally

29:51

he was still a product of the poor

29:53

and hard-scrabble states of the ancient

29:55

Balkans. Even the

29:57

wealthiest and most prosperous cities

30:00

of Greece couldn't hold a candle to the

30:02

significantly more ancient and powerful

30:04

places Alexander had conquered.

30:08

And with each passing palace capital,

30:10

the opportunities for debauchery

30:14

and revelry the likes

30:17

of which he had never dreamed grew.

30:21

We should remember that for all his grandeur

30:23

and accomplishment, Alexander was

30:25

only 26 and the only person

30:28

who consistently sang no to him

30:30

was Parmenion. Everybody

30:33

else at least outwardly celebrated

30:35

his every move. I'm

30:38

the same age and as introverted

30:40

as can be, but it's hard to imagine

30:43

not letting that, and the uninterrupted

30:46

string of total victory, go

30:48

to your head. It

30:51

was late January and they knew

30:53

Darius was holed up deep in the

30:55

northern zagros. The

30:57

winter snows would render any attempt

31:00

to continue the campaign useless,

31:03

so they stayed in Persepolis for five

31:05

months of revelry and

31:08

preparation, but mostly

31:10

revelry. By

31:12

now Alexander had quite the assortment

31:14

of hangars on, friends, and paramours.

31:18

Along were his war buddies, his father's old

31:20

friends, childhood friends, and so on.

31:23

Queen Mother Sisigambus and her granddaughters

31:26

were now just as much a part of the royal

31:28

entourage as they were hostages, as

31:31

was Barcine, the daughter of Artebazus.

31:34

In Babylon, one of Darius

31:37

III's masculine concubines, the

31:39

teenage eunuch Bagowus, the younger,

31:41

had caught Alexander's attention

31:44

and Alexander brought Bagowus into

31:46

his own de facto harem of unofficial

31:49

lovers, alongside at least

31:51

Hephaestion. Deodorus

31:54

and Plutarch present an unusual

31:56

for Alexander inclusion in this

31:58

group as well. Seis,

32:01

a Greek courtesan that Alexander

32:04

had taken a liking to. Seis'

32:07

presence stands out against

32:10

near-universal agreement in our sources

32:12

that Alexander had little to no interest

32:15

in women. General

32:17

assumptions that her status as a Hetaira

32:20

or courtesan indicated

32:23

a sexual relationship may

32:25

simply be incorrect. Hetaira

32:28

was not a direct equivalent to

32:30

prostitute or concubine, and

32:33

could merely mean an unmarried

32:35

female courtier in aristocratic

32:37

circles. She may just have

32:39

been someone that Alexander liked. She

32:42

may also be a rare example of

32:45

Alexander being interested in a woman

32:47

at this point in his life, who knows. After

32:51

five months of drinking and partying,

32:53

it was late May. The mountains

32:56

would be reliably thawed out by

32:58

then, and the time was coming for the

33:00

Macedonian Empire to continue

33:02

expanding. But

33:05

the last night in Persepolis descended

33:08

into chaos. Diodorus

33:11

and Plutarch placed the blame on

33:14

Seis for egging on Alexander's

33:16

worst instincts during a literal

33:18

Bacchanal celebrating the

33:20

god Dionysus, encouraging

33:23

Alexander to exact revenge on

33:25

Persia for the burning of her own city

33:28

Athens 150 years earlier. Kirchius

33:32

tells a similar story, but only blames

33:35

the courtesan for encouraging Alexander's

33:37

debauchery, which got out of

33:39

control. Arian

33:42

though says that it was a cold, calculated,

33:45

and sober parting gift to the Persians

33:48

for their resistance. Of

33:51

them, Kirchius is probably

33:53

the most accurate because it wouldn't make

33:56

sense for Alexander or any of

33:58

his court

33:59

to intend

33:59

to intentionally destroy one of their grandest

34:02

prizes. An accident

34:04

just makes more sense. Regardless

34:08

of the true origins of that night's events,

34:11

Persepolis

34:12

burned.

34:13

The fire started in the great palace of

34:15

Xerxes on the southern end of the terrace,

34:19

but almost two hundred years of continuous

34:21

building had led to a series of closely

34:24

grouped buildings with wooden supports

34:26

and awnings spanning between them all

34:29

over the complex. As

34:32

the Macedonians raced to empty as

34:34

much from the treasury as they could, the flames

34:37

lipped and spread from palace

34:39

to palace to audience hall to treasury,

34:42

consuming the greatest monument of the

34:44

Achaemenid dynasty. Persepolis

34:48

was leveled that night in May 330 BCE,

34:52

never to rise again. They

34:54

would pass into myth and legend

34:57

as the seat of a semi-divine

34:59

hero king, Jamsheed, whose

35:02

greater palace was hidden underground

35:04

and would provide refuge for the righteous

35:07

in the end times. But

35:10

for many in Parsa, this did

35:12

appear to be the end times,

35:14

and Alexander's destruction of their greatest

35:17

administrative center would prove

35:19

a disastrous setback for the region

35:21

going forward. However,

35:24

the Macedonians themselves

35:26

paid little thought to this as

35:28

they began marching north. They

35:31

were off to Iqbatina, planning

35:33

to besiege the city and destroy

35:36

Darius III once and for all. At

35:40

this moment, with the Macedonians pouring

35:42

up the royal road, the great

35:44

king had a choice to make. Most

35:48

of his would-be army was still in the east.

35:52

He could stand and fight, risking everything

35:54

in a siege that Alexander could almost

35:56

certainly win, or he could

35:59

abandon meat and the last

36:01

caimanid capital to Alexander,

36:04

head east to Bactria, and

36:07

rally again once his forces had gathered.

36:10

He chose the latter option. King

36:13

Darius escaped from M'Bautina just

36:15

as Alexander approached, fleeing

36:17

toward the Caspian gates and the

36:19

road to the steppe satrapies. Orantes

36:24

of Armenia could not abandon his

36:26

satrapy, nor could Atropides of Medea.

36:29

So Orantes returned home with his native

36:32

forces to dig in at Van. Atropides,

36:35

out of time and out of options, opened the gates

36:38

to the ancient Medean capital and

36:40

gave Alexander control of Eqbatina

36:43

without a fight. And

36:45

that is to me the

36:48

moment where the empire changed

36:50

hands. Not because Alexander

36:53

had captured all capitals like

36:55

some kind of forex strategy game,

36:57

but because Eqbatina is

37:00

the key to the kingdom. We

37:02

have seen and will see again that Eqbatina

37:04

changing hands is the sign that

37:06

the era is coming to an end. The

37:09

Age of Persia began in earnest when

37:11

Cyrus the Great took Eqbatina. The

37:14

Age of Parthia will begin with the fall

37:17

of that city as well. Darius

37:20

III has now abandoned all

37:22

his ancestral centers of power to

37:24

Alexander and is in full

37:26

flight. It only seems

37:29

fitting to see that moment as

37:31

the beginning of the Hellenistic

37:33

Age. And yet,

37:37

the Achaemenid dynasty lives on

37:40

and has every intention of fighting to

37:43

the death. So there will be

37:45

no rest just because the

37:48

writing is very clearly on the wall.

37:51

Next time, Alexander will pursue

37:53

Darius across Northern Iran. Until

37:57

then, if you want more information

37:59

on the information about this podcast,

38:02

you can go to historyofpersiapodcast.com.

38:06

That's where you will find my bibliography,

38:09

the Achaemenid family tree, and plenty

38:12

of other things, including the support page

38:14

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38:17

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