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sort. Please stab responsibly. Hello

2:43

everyone, welcome to the History

2:45

of Persia. I'm Trevor

2:47

Cully, and this is episode 116

2:50

in Stranger Lands. Before

2:55

we get started, I just want

2:58

to make the announcement that I

3:00

will be doing another Ask Me

3:02

Anything Q&A episode for episode 125.

3:06

Or possibly me and a few

3:08

relevant guests, depending on how things

3:10

pan out. So, send

3:13

in questions. Anything

3:15

about me, this podcast,

3:17

podcasting, ancient history,

3:19

and especially any questions about

3:22

Alexander and the Achaemenids. You

3:25

can send those to me through any of

3:27

the usual methods. My

3:29

messages are open on Facebook, Twitter,

3:31

Instagram, and Reddit. And

3:34

you can go to

3:36

the contact page on

3:38

historyofpersiapodcast.com or send an

3:41

email to historyofpersiapodcast.com. Any

3:44

of those will work. Get those

3:46

in by episode 125. That's about

3:48

10 weeks from now. Anyway,

3:53

for the last few weeks, we've been

3:55

dealing with religion. First

3:58

with how Zoroastrians remembered Alexander. Alexander

4:00

the Great's conquest of Iran in

4:02

later antiquity. Then.

4:05

I covered the a vest and

4:07

com wheeze who were eventually remembered

4:09

as the Kayani and Dynasty. The

4:11

kings who kind of supplanted the a

4:13

came in ads in Iran. The

4:15

and memory by this a sonic

4:17

period. Then last

4:19

time I covered the history

4:21

of Ancient India. Particularly.

4:24

The powerful kingdom of Maga.

4:27

Leaving. Off with the expansion of

4:29

the non the empire and be importance

4:31

of Buddhism in their territory. That

4:34

means it's been a while

4:36

since we covered narrative events.

4:39

We. Left off with Alexander the

4:41

Great, executing passes and claiming

4:44

control of bacteria and soccer.

4:46

Deanna. Bringing. An end

4:48

to the attainment had Persians once

4:50

and for all and ushering in

4:53

be audiard Macedonian empire. You'd.

4:56

Think that would be the end of it.

4:59

But. No. For. One

5:01

thing Alexander just was

5:03

an inherently restless and

5:05

war like soul. But.

5:08

More importantly, Empires

5:10

do not die over night.

5:13

Be. Official transfer of power to

5:16

Alexander was just that. Official.

5:20

Of course, most of the

5:22

Empire had been forcefully subjugated,

5:24

and we've been hearing about

5:26

on and off revolts and

5:28

insurgent campaigns behind the Macedonian

5:31

front line for ages. But.

5:33

None of that has happened in the

5:35

North East. Yet.

5:39

So. Brass tacks, Where

5:41

are we now? The.

5:43

Year is three twenty nine Bc

5:45

He. Alexander is the

5:47

uncontested ruler of the empire, the

5:49

Lord of All Asia and the

5:52

odd Ya army. And.

5:54

increasingly diverse agglomeration of

5:57

west asians greeks three

6:00

and Macedonians is

6:02

in the fortress town of Nautaka,

6:05

on the border between Bactria

6:07

and Sogdiana. There

6:09

they were hosted by Spitimenes,

6:11

apparently a Sogdian who until

6:13

just moments before the story

6:16

resumes, had been acting

6:18

as the acamated high park

6:20

of Sogdia. He

6:22

was assisted by his lieutenant,

6:24

Data Pharnes, and Oksiartes, another

6:27

Sogdian leader, evidently some sort

6:29

of local chieftain who gained

6:31

prominence and respect, under

6:34

a camated rule. For

6:36

a moment we will also have

6:38

to dispense with Plutarch and

6:40

Diodorus as useful sources, dwindling

6:43

the detailed options down to

6:45

just Arian and Curtius. Plutarch,

6:48

for some reason, inserts

6:50

the campaign through central

6:52

Iran after Bessus' execution,

6:55

contradicting literally every other source, including

6:57

the ones that he explicitly cites.

7:00

Diodorus just plain skips over the

7:02

next phase of the action and

7:04

goes straight to India. Alexander

7:07

lavished the men responsible for

7:10

apprehending Bessus with gifts as

7:12

a reward for their service

7:14

to the Macedonian Empire. And

7:17

he tasked Oxothres, the late

7:19

Darius III's brother, with transporting

7:21

the usurper back to Bactria

7:24

for his crucifixion. But

7:27

there ain't no rest for the

7:29

accursed, and even as Alex was

7:31

claiming uncontested authority, a group of

7:33

Macedonian scouts were ambushed. They

7:36

had been sent to the Sogdian countryside to

7:38

forge for supplies and get a lay of

7:41

the land, which apparently

7:43

irritated the Sogdians, who,

7:46

to be fair, could not possibly have

7:48

known that the war was over yet. In

7:51

the 4th century BCE, and frankly

7:53

well into the early middle ages,

7:56

Sogdia was the frontier of settled

7:58

society in Cetaphon. Asia. Rural

8:02

Sogdians were, for all intents and

8:04

purposes, mounted steppe nomads just like

8:07

the Saka. Even

8:09

their name, Sugd in their

8:11

own language, was probably just

8:13

the local variant of Saka.

8:16

They killed some of the Macedonian

8:18

scouts and took the rest hostage.

8:22

The few that escaped got

8:24

back to Alexander, who exhibited

8:26

his characteristic restraint. Which

8:28

is to say, he rode out to their hillfort

8:30

and besieged them with an advanced force of Macedonians,

8:34

with the king fighting in the front line where he

8:36

took an arrow in the knee. Upon

8:39

seeing Alexander being pulled off

8:41

the battlefield, these Sogdians

8:44

dispatched emissaries to negotiate

8:46

a peaceful surrender. Alexander

8:49

made a show of it, undoing the

8:51

bandage on his leg to display the

8:53

wound to the messengers. The

8:56

Sogdians, apparently realizing they had

8:59

unintentionally rebelled against their new

9:01

sovereign, apologized profusely and claimed

9:03

that nobody was more saddened

9:05

by the injury than they

9:07

were themselves. Frankly

9:10

that might have been true. When

9:13

this started, they thought they were fighting an

9:15

invader, and now they had

9:17

wounded their own king and were facing

9:19

the expected punishment for that. Alexander

9:22

was surprisingly understanding, accepting their

9:25

surrender on the condition that

9:27

they return the hostages, of

9:29

course, and turn over

9:31

the archer that had fired the offending

9:34

arrow, which they did. This

9:37

had the side effect that Alexander couldn't

9:39

ride a horse or march on foot

9:41

for a few weeks, meaning

9:44

he continued his campaign from

9:46

an open litter, compromising between

9:48

the customary Persian

9:50

and Mesopotamian method of carrying royalty

9:52

on an enclosed platform, and

9:55

Macedonian disdain for that

9:57

particular practice. Of

10:00

course, that didn't mean anything to

10:02

the large number of Macedonians who

10:04

already hated any time that Alexander

10:07

adopted aspects of local culture. The

10:10

stress and tension of five

10:12

plus years on campaign and

10:14

being so far from home

10:16

erupted in an unexpected way.

10:20

Macedonian infantry and cavalry soldiers violently

10:22

brawled with one another over the

10:25

right to carry the litter. The

10:28

cavalry claimed the honor by virtue

10:30

of being the royal companions, and

10:32

the infantry did it because it

10:34

was their duty to carry wounded

10:37

comrades. Alexander,

10:39

you have to assume visibly

10:41

frustrated, just ordered them to

10:44

take turns. With

10:47

Sogdia apparently settled business,

10:50

Alexander decided to move to the

10:52

nearest major city. The

10:54

Greeks apparently missed a syllable when

10:56

writing down its name, uniformly

10:59

calling it Maraconda, but the

11:01

Sogdians, and the rest of

11:04

history, knew it

11:06

as Samarkand. And

11:09

I just want to note something about

11:11

the name Samarkand. In

11:14

Sogdian, Samar means rock,

11:17

and Kond means fort. So

11:20

Samarkand is the rock fort. However,

11:24

the Sogdians of Alexander's time

11:26

tended to describe many of

11:28

their fortresses as the blank

11:30

rock, or the rock of

11:32

whatever. So Samarkand

11:35

was the fortified fortress.

11:38

This was a good opportunity

11:40

for the army to resupply

11:42

from a proper, acamated supply

11:44

depot in the city rather

11:46

than just plundering the countryside.

11:49

And more importantly to acquire some

11:51

new war horses, Since many

11:54

of their mounts had died while

11:56

traversing the Hindu Kush in Arikosia.

12:00

The would good hub to formally

12:02

accept some more surrenders. With.

12:04

The soccer who had previously

12:06

banned attainment it vassals sending

12:08

representatives to reset their treaties

12:10

and alliances with the new

12:13

monarch. While.

12:16

In Sam Pond, Alexander made

12:19

an expedition out to the

12:21

Errol See. Following. The

12:23

course of the Oxus River in

12:25

an incident that really highlights the

12:27

Greeks limited understanding of Central Asia

12:30

and geography. There. Are

12:32

a couple of additional sources

12:34

and fragmented tax that factor

12:36

into this, but that's not

12:38

really the important part. Aristotle

12:40

Alexander's teacher knew that there

12:43

were two large salt lake's

12:45

deep within the Persian Empire.

12:47

But. He didn't know much about them. Today.

12:50

We know that these were the Caspian Sea

12:53

and be arid base and formerly known as

12:55

the Air All see. At

12:57

other points and Alexander's travels,

12:59

the Caspian is identified as

13:01

the Here Kenyans see. But.

13:04

At this point the Alexandria and

13:07

Sources. All uniformly say

13:09

that he was at the

13:11

Caspian. Except he

13:13

couldn't be because everything else li

13:15

ascribe is entirely inaccurate. Alexander.

13:19

And his companions mistakenly thought

13:21

the Adderall. Was. The

13:23

Caspian Sea. They.

13:26

Knew from tradition stretching back to her

13:28

oddities that there was a river in

13:30

city and territory called the Time Nice.

13:33

Which. Flowed into Lake my

13:35

office. Today bees as

13:37

the Don River and the Sea

13:39

of Azov. However, when

13:41

Alexander got to the air all thinking

13:43

it was the Caspian, the local soccer

13:45

told him the river north of the

13:48

Oxus was called the Ten Ice. So.

13:51

The Greeks now thought that this

13:53

was one continuous water system. alexander

13:59

picked out a spot for a

14:01

new Alexandria to act as a

14:03

border outpost and issued

14:05

a warning to the Sokka living beyond

14:07

the Tanites not to cross. He

14:11

then sent messengers back to Europe to

14:13

deliver a message to the European Sokka

14:15

not to cross it either.

14:19

In reality, he was

14:22

standing on the exact same river

14:24

that other Greeks would correctly identify

14:26

as the Jaxartes when they ran

14:28

into the same body of water

14:30

further east. By

14:35

the way, this is like

14:37

the 10th Alexandria between new

14:40

foundations and cities Alexander officially

14:42

renamed. He even

14:44

renamed Samarkand as another Alexandria,

14:46

but that one didn't stick.

14:50

According to courteous, history almost

14:53

took a dramatic turn here,

14:55

with Alexander planning a step campaign

14:58

to link both sides of his

15:00

empire over the Caspian

15:02

and Black Seas. This

15:05

almost certainly would have been

15:08

a disaster, given that

15:10

they didn't seem to realize that

15:12

they were much further away from the

15:14

Black Sea than they thought. However,

15:17

a Sogdian uprising forced

15:19

the Agiad army to turn

15:21

around and head east once

15:24

again. Local

15:26

warbands and militia along the

15:28

Jaxartes and across central Sogdia

15:31

staged a mass rebellion, attacking

15:34

the Macedonian garrisons that had

15:36

just occupied their towns in

15:39

a startlingly organized assault

15:42

over the whole region all at once.

15:45

They were joined in this by many

15:47

of the Saka who had just pledged

15:49

their fealty to Macedon. Apparently,

15:52

Alexander had ordered many of

15:54

the leading nobles in Sogdia

15:56

to meet up at Zariaspa,

15:59

the provincial capital. capital of Hyrcania.

16:03

Based on the plan described

16:05

by Kurtius, this was probably

16:07

a pretty banal meeting to

16:09

establish Macedonian expectations for Sogdia

16:11

and Bactria and plan out

16:13

an expansion into the steppe.

16:16

Arian theorizes that the nobles suspected that

16:18

the neutral and faraway location was a

16:21

strategy to get them all in one

16:23

place and execute them for assisting in

16:25

the murder of Darius III. So

16:29

they, namely Spittimenes,

16:31

Data-Pharnes, and Oxiartes, quietly

16:34

disseminated plans for revolt

16:36

across their country. And

16:39

this was the first stage of their plot. Alexander

16:44

summoned Spittimenes and Catanis, another

16:46

Sogdian warlord, to meet him

16:49

at Samarkand. Not

16:51

to try them for treason, but

16:53

to place them in command of Macedonian

16:55

armies and quell the revolt. The

16:58

Lord of all Asia had no idea

17:00

that the Central Asian nobility had already

17:03

betrayed him. However,

17:05

they understandably assumed that the

17:08

summons meant their betrayal had

17:10

been discovered. So

17:12

instead, the warlords went to Bactria,

17:14

raised up Bessus' old Bactrian cavalry

17:17

units, and went into open

17:19

revolt in the more southern province as well.

17:22

This put Alexander and his forces

17:24

in an odd position. The

17:27

bulk of the Macedonian army was

17:29

now in Samarkand, north-central

17:31

Sogdia. Alexander

17:33

was still recovering from an

17:35

arrow wound deep in Sogdian

17:38

territory, deep in

17:40

Saka territory on the northeastern coast

17:42

of the Aral Sea. Fortunately,

17:45

the rebels were spread out in

17:47

small bands and little hill forts,

17:50

so the army fanned out, with the

17:53

bulk of the forces rallying with Alexander

17:55

to ride along the Jaxartis to

17:58

the town of Gaza. Of

18:01

course, this isn't Gaza, the city

18:03

in southern Palestine that guarded the

18:05

eastern side of the Sinai Desert.

18:08

This was a relatively small Saka town that

18:11

happened to have a similar name. Alexander

18:14

ordered an immediate assault.

18:17

In the grand scale of cities

18:20

conquered by his soldiers, Gaza was

18:22

nothing but short walls and as

18:25

few defenders. They surrounded

18:27

the town and set up ladders to

18:29

scale the walls, little

18:31

more than reinforced earthworks. As

18:35

the infantry approached, Alexander's missile

18:37

troops, now consisting of many

18:39

Persian and Iranian recruits, unleashed

18:42

a hail of javelins, arrows, and

18:45

sling bullets on the defenders. It's

18:48

here, at a relatively

18:50

minor siege, not even the

18:52

most famous battle of Gaza

18:54

in Alexander's career, that we

18:56

see the potential of the

18:58

military machine that Alexander wanted

19:00

to build. The

19:03

brute force effectiveness of the

19:05

Macedonian phalanx was paired with

19:07

the ranged talent of the

19:09

Persian army to overwhelm Gaza.

19:13

Alexander ordered the men executed,

19:16

granted his men, the women

19:19

and children as slaves, and

19:22

allowed them to pillage everything of value

19:24

from the town. Within

19:26

the same day, they had already

19:28

captured the next small village along

19:31

the Jaxartis. While

19:33

the infantry carried out their raiding

19:35

and pillaging, the cavalry was

19:37

sent to the next three towns along

19:39

the river. They

19:42

went to the furthest one, assaulting

19:44

it quickly and burning as much as they

19:46

could. The plume of smoke

19:48

in the east and news that Alexander

19:51

was approaching from the west, spooked

19:53

the inhabitants of the other two

19:55

towns in the middle. Both

19:58

assumed that they were not. next

20:01

and evacuated, planning to

20:03

go to the other for refuge. That

20:06

meant that both populations were caught

20:08

out in the open when the

20:10

Macedonian Hetairoi arrived,

20:16

confused and vulnerable. The

20:19

Macedonians rode them down with

20:21

impunity. Meanwhile,

20:25

Craterus, Melieger, and Perdicus rode

20:27

out from the Samarkand with

20:29

a detachment of the army

20:31

to besiege the city of

20:33

Seropolis, a city

20:35

supposedly founded by and named after

20:38

Cyrus the Great on the eastern

20:40

Jexartes River. Come

20:42

to think of it, I don't know

20:44

if I've mentioned Melieger before. Regardless,

20:47

he's a Macedonian general

20:49

around Alexander's age, and

20:52

for now, he's just an aim to keep somewhere in the

20:54

back of your head. Seropolis

20:56

was the leading city in a

20:58

coalition of towns including Gaza that

21:00

had rebelled along the northern river.

21:04

Craterus began preparing siege lines,

21:06

digging a trench around the

21:08

city walls, and building a

21:10

stockade to house the besiegers.

21:13

Out here in the open plains of

21:15

the steppe, they were vulnerable to attack

21:18

from any direction and couldn't take any

21:20

chances during the attack. The

21:23

hastily constructed wooden fort also

21:25

provided cover from the Sogdian

21:27

arrows while the Macedonian siege

21:29

engines were being assembled. The

21:32

trench prevented the Syropolitans from getting riders

21:35

out of the city to call for

21:37

aid. Once

21:39

the other five towns were defeated,

21:41

Alexander went to rendezvous with Craterus.

21:45

Initially, the king intended to roll out

21:47

the siege engines for a pretty routine

21:49

assault, but then

21:52

the Macedonians noticed an obvious

21:54

weakness in Seropolis's fortifications. In

21:58

the winter, snowfall in the lower east, the elevations

22:00

of the Tian Shan Mountains, created

22:03

enough water to fill a stream that

22:05

ran through the city. But it was

22:07

mid-summer and the gaps in the wall

22:09

that let the stream in were just

22:11

high enough to crawl under. Alexander

22:14

directed Craterus to take command of

22:16

most of the army and concentrate

22:18

the siege engine attack on one

22:20

side of the city, while

22:23

the king personally led a band of

22:25

infantry through the gap on the other

22:27

side. Or at least that's

22:29

how the story goes. The plan

22:31

worked, Seropolis was not densely populated,

22:33

and most of the defenders were

22:36

trying to propel the siege engines.

22:39

Alexander and his infiltration team popped

22:41

up inside the city, looked for

22:43

the nearest gate, and threw it

22:46

open from the inside. Rather

22:48

than surrender, the Syropolitans turned

22:50

around and attacked, leading

22:53

to the chaos of ancient urban

22:55

warfare. Craterus was

22:57

wounded by an arrow in the

23:00

fighting, but Alexander led his forces

23:02

in a bloodbath, clearing the Syropolitan

23:04

defenders from the center of town.

23:07

Ironically sending the rest fleeing out

23:10

of the city. One

23:12

more rebel town had to fall,

23:15

but it was tiny and fell

23:17

to well-established Macedonian tactics. You'd

23:20

think this would be the end of it.

23:23

But no. No sooner had

23:26

Alexander finished with this section of the

23:28

uprising than a Saka tribe arrived from

23:30

the east in the foothills

23:32

of the Tian Shan. Simultaneously,

23:35

reports came in from Samarkand

23:37

that Spittimenes had arrived to

23:39

besiege the Sogdian capital. Alexander,

23:42

fearing a Saka attack in

23:44

the rear, dispatched his commanders

23:46

to relieve Samarkand while he

23:48

oversaw construction of a new

23:50

fortress in preparation for the

23:53

Saka's impending assault. They

23:55

built up the fortifications for almost a

23:57

month with no action. Instead,

24:00

Instead, the Sokka just rode along

24:02

the northern bank of the Jaxartes,

24:04

hooting and hollering, shooting arrows and

24:06

high arcs, only to plop down

24:08

in the river. Alexander eventually

24:10

got sick of this and prepared to

24:12

cross the river for an attack, despite

24:15

bad omens from his seers, and

24:17

warnings that this was the exact

24:19

same tactic that Herodotus ascribed to

24:21

the Scythians when they were

24:23

fighting Darius the Great almost 200 years earlier.

24:27

It was bait, trying to

24:29

lure Alexander into a fruitless

24:32

chase across the steppe that

24:34

would leave his men exhausted

24:36

and vulnerable. Alexander

24:38

ignored the omens, had

24:41

his men construct rafts, and decided

24:43

to get some actual use out

24:45

of his siege engines, still parked

24:47

outside the ruins of Seropolis. The

24:51

catapults and oxibellies were turned toward

24:53

the river and fired their payloads

24:56

at the Sokka horsemen, dispersing

24:58

them from the riverbank as Alexander

25:00

and his men crossed. Upon

25:03

reaching dry land, Alexander ordered

25:05

his podramoi, the light cavalry

25:07

lancers, to mount up and

25:10

immediately charge the Sokka. This

25:13

too was bait. The

25:16

Sokka, thinking this was Alexander's main

25:18

assault, charged in to fight back,

25:21

only to be surrounded by a

25:23

wide ring of Macedonian phalanges and

25:25

missile troops. Supposedly

25:29

1200 Sokka horsemen were killed,

25:31

and over 1800 horses were

25:34

captured from the herd, valuable

25:36

reinforcements for Alexander's own cavalry.

25:41

150 Sokka were also taken as hostages,

25:43

but released without ransom after receiving a

25:45

pledge from the tribe's king to make

25:48

peace. That

25:50

was, frankly, all Alexander needed at

25:52

the moment. He had

25:55

stayed at Seropolis for much longer

25:57

than intended while Samarkand was under

25:59

siege. It

26:01

was time to move on. With

26:04

the battle of the Jaxartis finished, he

26:06

could do that. The

26:09

advance force sent to relieve Samarkand

26:11

had been wiped out almost immediately,

26:13

and the city fell

26:15

into the Sogdian rebels. So

26:17

Alexander raced to the southwest

26:19

as quickly as possible, intent

26:21

on confronting Spittimenes for this

26:23

treason. But before

26:26

he left, he had to name the

26:28

fortress that had housed them while waiting

26:30

to engage the Sokka. This

26:33

became the basis of the city

26:35

of Alexandria Escate. Alexandria

26:38

the farthest. The farthest city

26:41

he expected to found from

26:43

Macedon. However, upon

26:45

reaching the city, Alexander discovered

26:47

that Spittimenes had already fled

26:50

from Samarkand with his rebels.

26:53

So the Macedonians took time to bury

26:55

those who had fallen in the first

26:57

attempt to retake the city, and

27:00

occupied the fortress. Craterus,

27:02

who had been moving slowly with

27:04

the infantry, caught up soon after

27:06

Alexander in the cavalry had occupied

27:08

the city. With

27:10

the full force of the army

27:12

once again gathered at Samarkand, they

27:15

prepared for a campaign of retribution.

27:18

Cretan just kind of breezes

27:20

through this, but Curtius describes

27:22

a rolling massacre across the

27:24

country. Quote, Craterus,

27:27

who had been directed to follow

27:29

the infantry, had now reached the

27:31

king, and so

27:34

that all who had rebelled might share equally

27:36

in the disasters of defeat. Alexander

27:39

split his forces and commanded

27:41

them to raise the countryside

27:43

and execute any men of

27:46

fighting age. When

27:48

this supposed purge of Sogdiana

27:50

was complete, Alexander summoned additional

27:52

troops from the garrisons that

27:55

now dotted his sprawling empire

27:57

and left a general named

27:59

Pukur. Colus in charge as

28:01

the new satrap of Sogdia, while

28:04

the king himself went to Bactria. Along

28:07

the way, they captured many commanders and

28:09

ringleaders in the rebellion, but the headmen,

28:12

Spidomenes, Dataphernes, and Oxiartes,

28:14

continued to evade Alexander's

28:17

wrath. Those

28:19

who were captured were executed.

28:23

Alexander's arrival in Bactria provides a

28:25

nice lull in the military action

28:27

of the story. So

28:30

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considered parody. Hoplmew After

30:18

his purge of the Sogdian rebels, Alexander

30:21

also had to deal with

30:23

some political upheaval. Artabazos,

30:26

formerly Artabazos II, Satrap

30:28

of Hellespontine Phrygia under

30:31

Artaxerxes II, had been

30:33

made Satrap of Bactria

30:36

under Alexander. However,

30:38

in the winter of 329-328 BCE, he fell

30:40

ill and died. Alexander

30:47

replaced him as Satrap with

30:49

one of the Macedonian generals,

30:51

Cletus the Black, as in

30:53

Black-haired. To celebrate

30:55

his inauguration as governor, Alexander

30:58

hosted a grand banquet celebrating

31:00

a festival to the Greek

31:02

god Dionysus in Cletus's

31:05

honor at Samarkand. Well,

31:07

if you know anything about Dionysus,

31:10

it's probably that he is the

31:12

god of wine, and

31:14

as such, any good festival in

31:16

that god's honor is going to

31:19

feature a lot of drinking. And

31:22

being a little too keen

31:24

to drink in general, Alexander

31:27

got absolutely plastered. So

31:30

much so that he made a sacrifice

31:32

to the wrong gods, honoring

31:34

the Dioscuri, twin sons of

31:36

Zeus, before going on an

31:39

extended tirade about sons of

31:41

Zeus and equating himself to

31:43

the hero god Heracles. Now,

31:47

it's important to understand that Cletus

31:50

and Alexander had been friends and

31:52

brothers in arms since they were

31:54

old enough to fight together, despite

31:57

Cletus being 20 years older than

31:59

him. his king. By

32:02

this time, he was becoming

32:04

disillusioned. Cleetus was a

32:06

veteran of Philip II's wars, a

32:09

real Macedonian-Macedonian warrior type.

32:12

He looked on with disgust as

32:15

Alexander tried to strike a delicate

32:17

balance between not

32:19

offending the still largely Greco-Macedonian

32:21

army, nor the Iranian and

32:24

Mesopotamian courtiers and population that

32:26

made up most of his

32:28

new empire. Likewise,

32:31

he looked down on the

32:34

sycophantic adoration and yes-man-ism of

32:36

many of the others in

32:38

Alexander's inner circle. However,

32:41

Cleetus was, at the

32:43

end of the day, a proper

32:46

Macedonian, meaning he too was drunk, and

32:50

after Alexander compared himself to the

32:52

gods, Cleetus stood up. He

32:55

decried this shameful behavior,

32:58

the grossly exaggerated tales of

33:00

Alexander's personal bravery that were

33:03

already spreading as myth and

33:05

legend, none of

33:07

which could have happened without the

33:09

other soldiers, like Cleetus. Alexander,

33:13

predictably, took offense at this.

33:16

Alexander made a mistake as well,

33:18

saying that, in

33:21

comparison to Philip II's conquests,

33:24

you know, the ones that Cleetus helped

33:26

make happen, Alexander

33:28

was pretty impressive. After

33:31

all, just conquering the Greeks and

33:33

Thracians was pretty much nothing in

33:35

comparison to the whole Persian empire.

33:38

Cleetus snapped, throwing

33:41

insults and belittling Alexander's accomplishments

33:43

to the lord of all

33:45

Asia's face. Then

33:48

bringing up how he, Cleetus, had

33:50

personally saved Alexander in the Battle

33:52

of the Granicus. He

34:00

cried holding it out with a

34:03

flourish that saved you Alexander on

34:05

that day Alexander

34:07

could stand no more drunken abuse

34:09

from his friend Angrily

34:11

he leapt from his seat as if to

34:14

strike him, but the others held him back

34:17

Cletus continued to pour out his

34:19

insulting remarks and Alexander called

34:21

for the guard No

34:24

one answered What

34:27

Alexander cried have I nothing left

34:29

of royalty but the name am

34:31

I to be like Darius Dragged

34:33

in chains by Bessus and his

34:35

cronies Now

34:38

nobody could hold him springing

34:40

to his feet Alexander

34:42

snatched a spear from one of

34:45

the attendants and struck

34:47

Cletus dead So

34:49

yes in a drunken screaming match

34:51

Alexander stole one of his bodyguard

34:54

spears and impaled a man who

34:56

had been a friend comrade

34:59

and unofficial uncle to him

35:01

for decades That's

35:04

when the sort of still drunk

35:06

adrenaline fueled sobriety kicked in and

35:08

Alexander realized what he had done

35:12

Reportedly he spent days mourning

35:14

and regretting his actions But

35:17

at the end of the day, he

35:19

was still the god-king of Macedonia Lord

35:22

of all Asia and son of Zeus

35:25

Could he really do any wrong? Well

35:29

Calisthenes of Alynthos a

35:32

Greek from the Thracian coast certainly

35:34

thought so He

35:36

had been raised alongside Alexander as

35:38

one of Aristotle's students in Macedonia

35:41

and He particularly

35:43

loathed the fact that Alexander

35:45

accepted proscenesis from his Eastern

35:47

subjects the practice of prostrating

35:50

oneself before royalty as well

35:52

as the gods He

35:55

openly denied Alexander's supposed

35:57

divine origins At

36:00

some point, another Macedonian

36:02

noble called Anaxarchus

36:04

openly called for a debate

36:06

on Proskinesis in the royal

36:09

court, saying that it

36:11

wasn't right for Alexander to accept

36:13

an act of supplication fit only

36:15

for the gods. He

36:18

raised the valid point that even gods

36:20

who had once been mortals did not

36:22

receive such honor while they were still

36:25

alive. When countered

36:27

with the greatness of the Persian

36:29

kings who had received Proskinesis, Anaxarchus

36:32

pointed out how many of them had

36:34

come to gruesome deaths in the end.

36:37

Alexander, again, predictably did not

36:39

like this veiled threat, but

36:42

he was pretty reasonable. He

36:45

told the assembled courtiers that if

36:47

they felt so strongly, they

36:49

didn't have to do it. However,

36:52

at another banquet for the

36:54

royal court, the Iranian courtiers

36:57

began prostrating themselves and rising

36:59

to receive a ceremonial kiss

37:01

from Alexander. And everyone

37:03

just sort of followed protocol

37:06

until Callisthenes. He

37:08

did not prostrate himself before approaching

37:10

the king. Alexander had

37:12

been distracted, chatting with Hephaestion,

37:14

and didn't actually notice whether

37:16

Callisthenes had bowed or not.

37:20

But when the heir was pointed out, Alexander

37:23

refused the kiss, which was

37:25

part of the Persian tradition,

37:27

not the Macedonian court ceremony.

37:30

Callisthenes quipped about it, but not

37:32

much came in the moment. However,

37:35

he soon got in touch with

37:37

one of Alexander's servant boys, Hermelaus,

37:41

the son of another Macedonian

37:43

noble. Callisthenes convinced

37:45

the boy to intervene during a

37:47

royal hunt and kill a boar

37:49

that had been paroled for Alexander

37:51

to strike the killing blow. Think

37:54

way back to the story of

37:57

Megabysus, the rebel, and Artaxerxes I.

38:00

on a lion hunt in episode 66. Even

38:04

if the King's life was in danger,

38:06

intervening on a hunt was

38:09

offensive. Alexander had

38:11

the boy flogged for his insolence.

38:14

Callisthenes knew what would

38:16

happen, and continued prodding

38:18

Hermelaus, stoking his anger

38:21

at the King. Soon,

38:23

Hermelaus and a cabal of

38:25

teenage attendants were plotting to

38:27

murder Alexander. Unfortunately

38:30

for them, Alexander's alcoholic streak

38:32

was really taking hold by

38:34

now, and the King stayed

38:36

up all night, drinking continuously

38:38

until dawn. So when

38:41

the boys came into Alexander's tent, he

38:43

caught them in the act and had

38:45

them detained. They were

38:47

tortured into exposing the plot, and

38:50

Callisthenes' role as its true

38:52

organizer. He was

38:54

executed, yet another noble loss

38:56

to the disagreements over Alexander's

38:59

ambitions in Asia. While

39:01

in Samarkand, Alexander also received

39:03

emissaries from the surrounding provinces,

39:05

and even according to Arian,

39:08

messengers from the Scythians in Eastern

39:10

Europe who had trekked all the

39:12

way to Sogdia to arrange a

39:15

marriage pact between Alexander and

39:17

one of their own princesses. Alexander,

39:20

still cagey about marrying any woman

39:22

at all, turned it down, but

39:25

sent them back with an offer to arrange a

39:27

marriage with one of his generals. However,

39:30

with tribute and administrative duties

39:32

settled and a few more

39:34

dead nobles, the Macedonian generals

39:36

fanned out across the region

39:39

with various assignments. Melieger

39:41

was one of several sent to

39:43

keep Bactria in line. Hefeistion

39:46

went out to establish garrisons in

39:48

the towns they had recaptured. Koinos

39:52

was dispatched to Sokka territory,

39:55

where it was rumored that Spittemenes

39:57

was hiding out. Alexander was also sent to

39:59

the city of Bactria, led the army

40:01

through the rest of Sogdia to

40:03

quell ongoing rebels. Spidemenes

40:06

had indeed gone to the

40:08

Saka, specifically the

40:10

Dahai, occupying the region between

40:12

the Caspian and Aral Seas.

40:16

Arian identifies them as the Masagatai,

40:18

the tribe that had killed Cyrus

40:20

the Great, but this

40:22

is unlikely, both because it's not

40:24

clear if they even existed anymore,

40:26

and because the Dahai were significantly

40:29

more powerful at the time. Spidemenes

40:32

led 600 Dahai

40:35

horsemen on a daring raid

40:37

clear across Sogdia and into

40:39

Bactria, attacking the outskirts

40:41

of Bactria itself. In

40:44

the surprise attack, the Macedonian

40:46

garrison suffered sizable losses, considering

40:49

the small size of the skirmish,

40:51

before Spidemenes retreated back into the

40:53

steppe. Craterus took

40:55

command of some of the Hittai Roy

40:58

and rode after Spidemenes, catching up with

41:00

the Dahai and defeating them in a

41:02

cavalry skirmish on the northern edge of

41:05

the Kerakum Desert. But

41:07

Spidemenes himself was nowhere to

41:09

be found, though his lieutenant,

41:11

Data Pharnes, was killed in the fighting. After

41:14

receiving reports of these battles, Koynos

41:16

and his troops turned around

41:19

and raced after Spidemenes themselves,

41:21

catching up to him near

41:23

a Dahai fortress called Gabbai

41:25

or Vaghai, depending on

41:28

the source, and engaged in

41:30

a large cavalry battle on the plains.

41:33

When the tide turned in the Macedonians'

41:35

favor, the Bactrian rebels that had been

41:37

riding with Spidemenes for the last year

41:40

and a half deserted him.

41:42

The Dahai fled as well, but

41:44

not before plundering the Bactrian camp,

41:46

and capturing Spidemenes

41:49

as a payment to buy peace

41:51

with the Macedonians. Specifically,

41:54

they paid in blood, decapitating

41:57

the rebel and sending the head to

41:59

Alexander and as a peace offering.

42:02

Which was accepted by the King during

42:04

a meeting of the Macedonian High Command

42:07

at Notaka. With all

42:09

this rebellion and a clear need to

42:11

establish a stronger presence in the Northeast,

42:14

Alexander was shifting his satraps, high

42:17

parks, and generals all over the

42:19

administration. Some were cycled

42:21

out of active duty to take

42:23

over satrapies, some were given new

42:25

assignments, some were fresh appointments to

42:28

make up for all the recently

42:30

executed nobles. However

42:32

there was still one major

42:34

center of Sogdian resistance, simply

42:36

known as the Sogdian Rock,

42:39

ruled by the local

42:41

warlord Aramazis. The

42:44

fortress was deep in the foothills

42:46

of the Tian Shan, functionally on

42:48

a small mountain, and

42:50

packed with provisions to last for two

42:52

years according to Kurtius. He

42:55

also describes it as ludicrously tall,

42:57

5 kilometers in height

42:59

from ground level, not sea level.

43:03

Still, think less hill fort

43:05

and more mountain top castle.

43:08

It was only accessible by

43:10

a narrow footpath and otherwise

43:12

surrounded by steep cliffs. Over

43:16

the course of the campaign, the

43:18

Macedonian army had scaled many walls,

43:20

hill forts, and cliffs. So

43:23

Alexander told his officers to gather

43:25

up the 300 men with the

43:27

most experienced free climbing. Once

43:30

assembled, they were each provided with hammers

43:32

and a set of iron pegs to

43:34

scale the mountain, along with

43:36

promises of massive financial rewards for

43:38

the first 12 men to

43:41

reach the flag that would signal

43:43

to Alexander they were inside. Alexander

43:46

went up to the gates of

43:48

the rock, signaling for negotiations with

43:51

Aramazis. Initially

43:53

the warlords scoffed, until the

43:55

Macedonian mountaineers emerged from their

43:57

hiding spots at the summit.

44:00

Not realizing just how few

44:02

men had actually made the

44:04

climb, the Sogdians assumed that

44:06

their fortress had effectively fallen

44:08

already, and Alexander was allowed

44:10

to negotiate. His

44:12

terms were simple. Unconditional

44:15

surrender. Once again,

44:17

Aramazzi's balked, but Alexander

44:20

leveraged the seemingly impossible feat of

44:22

scaling the mountain in the first

44:24

place to threaten the complete annihilation

44:26

of the Sogdian rebels. Aramazzi's

44:30

relented and was taken captive

44:32

to be executed while other

44:34

nobles in the citadel were

44:36

taken as hostages. These

44:39

nobles included the daughters of

44:42

Oxiartes, one

44:44

of the last major warlords still at

44:46

large. Upon hearing that

44:48

the rock had fallen, Oxiartes raced

44:50

to the fortress in person to

44:52

surrender and save his

44:55

daughters from any potential retribution.

44:57

But something about one of the

45:00

young women struck a chord with

45:02

Alexander that no other woman had

45:04

ever struck before. Save

45:07

for maybe Barcine, probably

45:09

not. This

45:11

was Roxane, and

45:13

though she was probably about a decade

45:16

younger than the Lord of all Asia,

45:19

according to Arian, it was

45:21

love at first sight. This

45:24

is kind of a dubious claim

45:26

given later events, but something certainly

45:28

stood out. It's

45:31

possible that the traditional story is all

45:33

wrong and Oxiartes arrived

45:35

with a threatening army that

45:37

forced Alexander's hand, or

45:39

that the end result only came

45:41

after the final Sogdian siege. But

45:44

neither of those options make a ton of

45:46

sense either. Alexander

45:48

took on the whole Persian Empire

45:51

without cutting deals for victory. It

45:53

seems odd that he would start now. Regardless

45:56

of his exact motivations, Alexander proposed that he

45:59

would start now. a marriage

46:01

pact with Oxiartes. And

46:04

if you're a Sogdian warlord, with

46:06

a Royal Marriage Alliance just falling into

46:08

your lap, you take it. So,

46:11

Alexander and Roxane were engaged

46:14

to the outrage of many

46:16

of Alexander's courtiers, especially

46:19

the Macedonian nobility. This

46:22

marriage would provide negligible political benefits,

46:24

and so far as anybody could

46:26

tell, would put a half-Sogdian prince

46:28

as first in line for the

46:30

throne, rather than a

46:32

Greek, Macedonian, or even a Persian.

46:35

But Alexander was the god-king of the

46:37

world, at least in his own mind.

46:40

And there was nothing anybody could do

46:43

to stop him. Given

46:45

the immense controversy over the

46:47

decision and his general refusal to

46:49

make much more prestigious matches

46:51

up to this point, there

46:53

must have been some sort of

46:56

genuine affection or attraction involved.

46:59

I just can't imagine a different reason for it

47:01

to happen. Still, they

47:04

were not done. One

47:06

more Sogdian warlord was still holding

47:08

out in a fortress near Naltaka,

47:10

threatening one of the most important

47:12

cities in the province. Arian

47:15

calls him Coriannese. Basically

47:17

everyone else calls him Sisymythrae.

47:21

Based on some linguistic analysis not

47:23

worth getting into, Coriannese

47:25

was probably the name of the fortress

47:27

and Sisymythrae is the name of the

47:29

warlord. He occupied

47:31

a fortress surrounded by a narrow

47:34

ravine that would have to be

47:36

filled with dirt and debris before

47:38

the Macedonian siege engines could do

47:40

their work. And

47:42

by now it was late autumn or early

47:44

winter at the end of 328 BCE,

47:48

and freezing temperatures would only

47:50

make excavating the necessary dirt

47:52

harder. Still,

47:54

the Macedonians set to work,

47:56

with Alexander and his generals

47:58

going in ships. to supervise

48:01

the construction project. After

48:03

weeks of backbreaking work, Earthworks

48:05

had risen high enough for

48:08

Alexander's archers and slingers to

48:10

attack the defenders on the

48:12

walls. Realizing

48:14

that the Macedonians simply would not

48:16

allow him to hold out, Sisymethraeus

48:19

offered to negotiate, and Alexander

48:23

sent his soon-to-be father-in-law,

48:25

Oxyartes, inside to

48:27

convince the rebel to stand down.

48:31

It worked, and the Macedonians occupied

48:33

the fortress. Alexander

48:36

and his entourage occupied

48:38

Sisymethrae's own manner within

48:40

the citadel, and

48:42

their servants got to work preparing

48:44

all the festivities needed for a

48:47

grand Macedonian wedding, at least to

48:49

the degree that this far-flung province

48:51

would allow. There,

48:53

in the Rock of Corianes, Alexander

48:56

and Roxane were wed, and for

48:59

the first time in almost a decade, Macedon

49:02

had a queen, albeit

49:05

a Sogdian one. From

49:07

there, Alexander returned once again

49:09

to Bactra, while Craterus was

49:12

sent out with a small army to

49:14

hunt down the few remaining Sogdian rebels

49:16

that were still trying to hold out.

49:19

Craterus handled them easily while Alexander

49:21

and the rest of the High

49:23

Command sat down to hammer out

49:25

a new order for the Northeastern

49:27

Satrapies, and welcome some

49:29

new arrivals. Even

49:32

here in Bactria, more than 5,000 kilometers

49:35

from Macedon overland, Alexander

49:38

was still receiving

49:40

reinforcements. This time,

49:42

Regent Antipater had sent 8,000 Greeks

49:45

to reinforce Alexander. The

49:48

bulk of these were mercenaries hired

49:50

by Antipater after defeating the Spartan

49:52

rebels in the Battle of Megalopolis

49:54

back in Greece. Many

49:57

of them, along with a few

49:59

thousand veterans, who had earned some

50:02

relatively laid-back garrison duties, were

50:04

entrusted to the new satrap of

50:06

Bactria, another Amentus, to

50:09

occupy the region and become the

50:11

first wave of settlers in the

50:13

colony cities that Alexander had established

50:16

along the Jaxartes. Alexander

50:18

then announced to the rest of his army

50:20

that they would be turning south, not

50:23

to head west and go home, but

50:25

to go further east. Alexander

50:28

was determined to invade and

50:30

conquer India. Until

50:33

then, if you

50:35

want more information about

50:37

this podcast, you can

50:39

go to historyofpersapodcast.com. That's

50:43

where you will find my bibliography,

50:45

the Achaemenid Family Tree, and plenty

50:47

of other things including the support

50:50

page to financially support this project.

50:53

There are all sorts of

50:56

ways to do that, but

50:58

most importantly there's patreon.com/historyofpersia. You

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51:23

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Share it on social media

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and everything else that's trying to

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be Twitter. Thank you all so

51:55

much for listening to the History

51:58

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