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data plan offered by T-Mobile and Verizon May 2023. Hello

2:05

everyone! Welcome

2:07

to the History of Persia.

2:11

This is episode 120, King the Conqueror. Just

2:17

a quick reminder, the episode 125 AMA

2:19

is still coming up. Please

2:24

send questions about the

2:26

History of Persia, podcasting,

2:29

me, or technically anything

2:32

else to historyofpersiapodcast.com or

2:34

DM them on social media,

2:37

especially any lingering questions you

2:40

have about Alexander the Great

2:42

and the Achaemenids. Last

2:45

time, we followed the voyage

2:48

of Nearchus and his fleet

2:50

as they explored the southern

2:52

coast of their new empire,

2:54

discovering many strange, exciting, and

2:57

challenging things in the Arabian

2:59

Sea and the Persian Gulf.

3:02

In the episode before that, we

3:04

followed the end of Alexander the

3:06

Great's Indian campaign, his

3:09

near-death experience at the hands of

3:11

the Malians, his disastrous

3:13

crossing of the Gedrosian Desert,

3:16

and his outrage at the

3:19

state of Pessargidae and the

3:21

satrapies of Persis and Susiana

3:23

more generally. Today,

3:26

we are picking up with

3:28

Alexander at Susa. Nearchus

3:31

and company have just returned for

3:34

some much-needed bathing and shaving, and

3:36

the lord of all Asia is

3:38

scheming away. We

3:41

spent a lot of time talking

3:43

about Alexander's conquests, but now those

3:45

are on hold for a bit,

3:48

and the Great Conqueror actually had

3:50

to stop for the first time

3:52

since he became king and try

3:55

his hand at governing an empire.

4:00

Alexander left a trail of more

4:02

or less competent administrators in his

4:04

wake, and he had left and

4:07

Tippett or Back and Mastodon as

4:09

regent. But. Alexander

4:12

himself had been at

4:14

war for his entire

4:16

adult life. From.

4:18

His very first battle at Care

4:20

A Nail when his father was

4:22

still paying of mastodon in Three

4:24

Thirty eight. All. The way

4:26

down to his return from India

4:28

fourteen years later, Alexander

4:31

never actually stopped to rule

4:33

his territory for more than

4:35

a few months at a

4:37

time. He. Was a

4:40

great general. No. Doubt about

4:42

it. But. As an

4:44

administrator, Well.

4:47

He was no doris. One.

4:50

Of the over seems of

4:52

Alexander's rain since the death

4:54

of Darius the third. Was.

4:57

A constant push and pull

4:59

between the Persian icing. Or.

5:02

Even just broadly orientalist influences

5:04

on the king and his

5:06

court. And. The

5:09

traditionalist Macedonian faction.

5:13

Modern. Historians generally agree that

5:15

the extent of Alexander's forced

5:18

person as a sin is

5:20

exaggerated in the ancient accounts.

5:23

And probably mixes with

5:26

more generic self aggrandizement.

5:28

That. Day then blamed on

5:31

person is asian. That.

5:33

They then blamed on Persian

5:35

is Asian? Still,

5:38

The sheer volume of

5:40

stories demonstrates that Alexander

5:42

was pushing hard to

5:44

integrate his original Greco

5:47

Macedonian subjects. With. The

5:49

culture and society of the old A

5:51

came in it realm. To.

5:54

That end, one of Alexander's

5:56

first acts upon returning to

5:58

Souza was to Orcas. Great

6:00

be greatest wedding any of them

6:02

had ever seen. As

6:05

we established back in Episode

6:07

One sixteen, the King himself

6:09

had finally taken a wife

6:11

in the form of Roxana.

6:14

Daughter. Of the Saudi and

6:16

War Lord back in three, Twenty

6:19

Six B C. Now.

6:21

He would have to more wives.

6:24

First. He did the obvious

6:26

thing and married to Tehran. The.

6:29

Elder daughter of the late Great

6:31

King Darius the third. However,

6:34

Alexander also married Paris saw

6:37

this the younger. The. Youngest

6:39

daughter of our desert see

6:41

the third, and presumably the

6:43

last remaining unmarried woman from

6:45

that branch of the A

6:47

came and had family. This.

6:50

Is of course a strategy we

6:52

have seen before. Most.

6:54

Notably with Darius the Great marrying

6:57

all of the female descendants of

6:59

Cyrus the Great. By.

7:02

Forming these unions, Alexander ensured

7:04

that any descendants from the

7:06

most royal branches of the

7:08

A came in at family

7:10

tree. Would. Also be

7:12

his descendants. He

7:14

may even have intended to follow

7:16

in Daria the Greats footsteps. And

7:19

make his first son by one of

7:21

these a came in and women his

7:23

air. From. Their own

7:25

perspectives that would certainly have been

7:28

this latter days to Tehran and

7:30

Perry Sawdust as goal. For.

7:33

One in the person tradition,

7:35

being queen mother meant being

7:37

powerful. But. Perhaps

7:40

more importantly, If

7:42

Alexander succession hinged on having a

7:44

came in and roots. Then.

7:46

Whichever of these women became

7:48

queen mother. Would. Have the

7:51

opportunity to de facto restore

7:53

her dynasty. However,

7:56

Alexander did not go for the full

7:58

a came in at Duke. The hat

8:00

trick. You. See. This.

8:03

Was not only Alexander's

8:05

wedding. Instead.

8:08

Alexander set out to

8:10

arrange marriages between all

8:12

of the most noble

8:14

Macedonian and Greek officers

8:16

and Iranian or Mesopotamian

8:18

wives. Alexander

8:20

had his nearest and dearest

8:22

companion have feisty on married

8:25

repair. This. The. Younger

8:27

daughter of Dari is the third

8:29

because as area and put

8:31

that he wanted to be uncle

8:33

to have feisty ons children. Make.

8:37

Of that. Whatever. You want? This.

8:40

Mass wedding ceremony also

8:42

serves as a convenient

8:44

opportunity for me to

8:46

catalog the major players

8:48

of the young Macedonian

8:50

Empire and do a

8:52

sort of abbreviated tour

8:54

of Alexander's whole domain.

8:58

For. Example. After their

9:00

return to persist Alexander named

9:02

have faced the on kill

9:04

iarc of the entire empire.

9:07

Which. Literally means leader of

9:09

a thousand. But. Had

9:11

come to mean a sort of second

9:14

in command. A

9:16

feisty on was officially Alexander's

9:18

right hand man in all

9:20

things on top of his

9:22

existing role as a general

9:24

and co matter of the

9:26

so mad Afula case. Alexander's

9:29

personal bodyguard of seven

9:32

Macedonian nobles. Crowd.

9:34

Or s long, one of the

9:37

most senior generals and the Macedonian

9:39

army and frequent royal adviser. Was.

9:42

Married to a monstrous. A.

9:44

Nice of Darius the third. He.

9:47

Was also selected to replace

9:49

and tepid her as Alexander's

9:51

regions. Really? More

9:53

of a governor by this point in

9:56

mass dawn and Greece. And.

9:58

Tippett or Would then trade. Places

10:00

with crowd or s and

10:02

join Alexander as a general

10:04

for any future campaigns. Per.

10:07

To kiss a so mad a

10:10

fool lox under have feisty on

10:12

and another of the Empire's premier

10:14

generals was married to a daughter

10:16

of the properties. The. Persian

10:19

Saf wrap who managed to

10:21

retain his position as a

10:23

governor in Media. Of

10:25

course. Not. Everyone could

10:27

marry and a came and it

10:30

princess because they're simply weren't enough

10:32

to go around. But.

10:34

You can start to see how

10:36

Alexander was playing politics here. Crowd.

10:39

Or is was going to rule on the

10:41

home front. So. He got

10:44

the last available duke cease. Per.

10:47

To kiss had be slightly less

10:49

elite task of continuing to be

10:51

a general and a bodyguard. But.

10:54

He was still one of Alexander's

10:56

favorites. So. He was married

10:59

to one of the last remaining

11:01

Persian Sap trouble families. Ptolemy.

11:04

Like per to, Kiss has been a

11:06

recurring general and one of the some

11:08

out a fool a case throughout the

11:10

war. So. He was

11:12

married to our a Comma. Daughter.

11:15

Of our to bar this. Former.

11:18

A came and sat rap of

11:20

headless ponting Phrygian and later Alexandria

11:22

and sat wrap of bacteria. The.

11:26

Latter was an extremely prestigious

11:28

position, at least in Persian

11:30

eyes. So his daughter

11:33

married Ptolemy. You.

11:35

Minis of Cardia technically

11:38

Alexander's personal assistant. Had.

11:41

Developed into a successful commander

11:43

in his own right and

11:45

see was also married to

11:47

a daughter of our to

11:49

bosses, elevating him far beyond

11:51

his original status as a

11:53

private secretary hired by Alexander's

11:55

father. To. Become one of

11:57

the premier nobles in the entire M.

12:01

Nearchus married Barcine,

12:04

daughter of the late Rhodian

12:06

admiral mentor and

12:08

one-time marriage prospect of

12:10

Alexander himself. Barcine,

12:14

noticeably, also had a

12:16

young illegitimate son already,

12:19

and historical rumors identified the

12:21

boy named Heracles as a

12:24

bastard child of Alexander himself.

12:28

Maybe Nearchus was put in that

12:30

match because Alexander really trusted the

12:33

admiral. Or

12:35

maybe he just thought that the

12:37

couple would at least have sailing

12:39

in common. Finally,

12:42

the commander of the

12:44

Hupaspists, Seleucus,

12:47

variously pronounced as Seleucus,

12:51

however you want to say it, I'm

12:53

going to say Seleucus, was

12:56

married to Apama, the daughter of

13:00

the Sogdian warlord Spittimenes. I

13:03

think this is literally the

13:06

first time I have mentioned

13:08

him in all of the

13:10

stories of Alexander's conquest. So

13:13

you may be wondering why he was

13:15

important enough to get mentioned at all.

13:18

Well, as commander of

13:20

the king's shield bearers, Seleucus

13:23

was often in command of

13:25

the most dramatic and crucial

13:28

infantry battles. But

13:31

his overall authority was

13:33

also routinely usurped by

13:35

Alexander himself since

13:37

the Hupaspists were the unit that

13:39

the king would fight with when

13:42

leading infantry. So

13:45

Seleucus inadvertently kind of gets

13:47

glossed over during a lot

13:49

of those battles because

13:51

when his job is important

13:53

to history, Alexander steals

13:56

the spotlight. And

13:58

that only scratches the surface.

14:01

Arian says that 80 other

14:03

officers and nobles married their

14:06

royally designated Eastern matches that

14:08

day, and Alexander directed

14:10

his court to catalog approximately

14:13

10,000 existing

14:15

marriages between Greco-Macedonian

14:17

soldiers and Eastern

14:20

women. But of

14:22

course, not every important noble

14:24

in the Empire was single

14:26

or even available to come

14:28

to Susa and get married.

14:31

Probably one of the

14:34

most important examples was

14:36

Antigonus Monopfoumos, the One-Eyed,

14:39

who we haven't seen since Episode 107. Or

14:41

to put that another way,

14:45

a full decade ago

14:47

when Alexander left him behind

14:49

as the Macedonian satrap of

14:52

Greater Phrygia. From

14:54

his position in central

14:56

Anatolia, Antigonus has been

14:58

busy as the leading

15:00

Macedonian general to put down rebellions

15:02

among the conquered satrapies of the

15:04

North, and

15:07

he was working to extend

15:09

Macedonian influence into regions like

15:12

Bithynia and Armenia. The

15:14

Macedonian army had just kind of

15:17

skipped those parts of the Black

15:19

Sea coast and the

15:21

Caucasus during their conquest. And

15:24

even though the local rulers

15:26

had tentatively submitted to Alexander's

15:29

rule, there was

15:31

no Macedonian military presence in

15:33

those satrapies to speak of.

15:36

Armenia was still under the control

15:38

of a cadet branch of the

15:40

Achaemenid family, and since

15:42

Atropides was their main neighbor in

15:44

the east, it fell

15:47

to Antigonus to exert

15:49

Macedonian influence in

15:51

the Black Sea region. Interesting

15:54

to note that Orantes,

15:56

satrap of Armenia, appears

15:58

to have died while Alexander

16:00

was away and had

16:03

been succeeded by Mithrenes, a

16:06

son or other relative who

16:08

had sided with Alexander just

16:10

before Dalgamela. In

16:14

addition to prestigious marriages, Alexander

16:17

also honored four of his

16:19

followers with golden laurel wreaths

16:21

in honor of their achievements

16:23

in the recent wars. In

16:27

the last episode, I noted how

16:29

Naiarchus and his helmsman, Onesacritus,

16:32

both received this award.

16:36

It was also granted to

16:38

the seven Somata fulaces. We've

16:42

already met Hephaistion, Perdicus, and

16:44

Ptolemy. The Golden

16:46

Wreath was also given to

16:48

Lysimachus, one of the

16:50

eldest remaining officers in Alexander's

16:53

High Command who had previously

16:55

served Philip II in the

16:57

same role, and

16:59

to Paethon, who commanded

17:01

the River Fleet in India

17:03

alongside Naiarchus. Two

17:08

of the Somata fula case were

17:10

even awarded double honors. Leonidas

17:13

was both a bodyguard and

17:15

the general who subdued the

17:18

oray tie and secured Naiarchus's

17:20

wyes in the last episode.

17:23

He was also the younger

17:26

cousin of the treasonous Alexander

17:28

Linkestaios, who nearly

17:30

assassinated King Alexander during the

17:32

siege of Halicarnassus, and

17:35

the officer who calmed the royal

17:37

women when they were captured in

17:39

the Battle of Issus. Finally,

17:43

Peyakestus, who had

17:45

done the most to defend Alexander as

17:47

he was wounded by the Malians, received

17:51

a second Golden Laurel on

17:53

top of his promotion to

17:55

Satrap of Perses. While

17:58

at Susa, Alexander

18:00

also staged a parade

18:02

review of his epigone,

18:05

literally the Inheritors. A

18:09

force of 30,000 young

18:11

men from Persia and the

18:13

rest of Iran who had

18:16

been selected and trained as

18:18

Macedonian-style phalangites after

18:20

the Lord of all Asia conquered their

18:22

homelands. Alexander

18:25

had more than proven the

18:27

efficacy of Macedonian tactics by

18:30

that point, but he recognized

18:32

that he and his... successors

18:37

couldn't just pull troops

18:39

from Macedon forever. Europe

18:42

only had so many men to

18:44

draw on. Training

18:47

the conquered peoples of the Empire

18:49

from a young age would theoretically

18:51

increase the strength of their armies.

18:55

In addition to the epiganoi, Alexander

18:58

allowed his new subjects cavalry

19:00

to integrate and train in

19:03

the style of his Hittai-Roy

19:05

horsemen, drawing from

19:07

all over conquered Iran, and Persian

19:10

nobles who had surrendered and

19:13

joined Alexander's court were appointed

19:15

as officers, including

19:18

Fratifernes, Silvii Satrap

19:20

of Parthia, and

19:23

Histospes, identified as

19:25

a Bactrian and possibly

19:27

the very same who had

19:30

once served Artaxerxes and Darius

19:32

III as Caranos of

19:35

the Northeast. Through

19:37

all of these festivities at

19:40

Susa, Alexander and

19:42

Satrap Pukestus were dressed

19:45

in traditional Persian garb,

19:48

possibly the ornate and ancient

19:51

Elamite robes that the Akkamenids

19:53

had reserved for special occasions,

19:55

but more likely their typical

19:58

trousers and tunic style. Either

20:01

way, all of this was

20:03

a ghastly insult to some

20:06

of the Macedonian traditionalists. Despite

20:09

all their victories, Alexander's celebrations

20:12

made it look like a

20:14

Persian king, and a

20:16

Persian army had simply

20:18

adopted Macedonian warfare, and

20:21

now ruled all of southeastern

20:23

Europe on top of

20:26

their old empire. This

20:29

was an obviously short-sighted

20:31

view. They couldn't

20:33

possibly hope to actually rule

20:36

an empire of this scale

20:38

without integrating some of the

20:40

conquered peoples. But

20:43

Alexander's penchant for Iranian

20:45

aesthetics was aggravating to

20:47

some of his most

20:49

established supporters. Finally,

20:52

before departing Susa,

20:55

Alexander declared a Jubilee, paying

20:57

off the debts for everyone

21:00

present right out of the

21:02

royal treasury. You

21:04

may be thinking, wow, that's

21:06

extremely generous. Or, that's

21:09

one hell of a bribe. Both

21:12

of which would be true,

21:14

but this wasn't actually that

21:16

spectacular in context. Different

21:20

leaders, especially in West Asia,

21:22

had paid off the debts

21:24

of their entourage and army

21:26

after taking power, or

21:28

simply declared all debts to be

21:31

null and void for centuries. If

21:34

anything, Alexander's debt-forgiveness program

21:37

was much more limited than

21:39

some of the kings who

21:41

came before him. Though

21:43

it is still better than the

21:46

US Department of Education. Afterward,

21:49

Alexander dispatched Hephaestion and a

21:52

small army to make way,

21:55

and then sailed after him with

21:57

the corps members of the court, taking

22:00

the Karun River to the coast of

22:02

the Persian Gulf, before

22:04

turning up the Tigris

22:06

and sailing through southeastern

22:08

Mesopotamia. This

22:10

was the last major region of

22:12

the empire he had not visited.

22:16

Following the Battle of Galgamela on the

22:18

northern banks of the Tigris, Alexander

22:20

had crossed diagonally to Babylon

22:23

and then diagonally again to

22:25

march on Susa. Now

22:27

he would make his presence

22:30

felt in southern Mesopotamia and

22:32

the central Tigris. And

22:35

we will follow that journey after

22:38

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24:12

Alexander sailed up the Tigris,

24:14

this Royal River cruise kept

24:17

having to stop and navigate

24:19

over and around Weirs.

24:23

A sort of flowover dam that

24:25

alters the flow of a river.

24:28

You see these all the time

24:30

in sections of river or stream

24:32

that pass through a public park

24:34

or major city. They

24:37

usually look like a small

24:39

artificial waterfall in the

24:41

middle of the current. Often

24:44

they have a mechanism to increase

24:46

the amount of water and make

24:49

it level so boats can pass,

24:51

either in the form of a

24:53

nearby canal, or actually

24:55

moving the weir itself. One

24:58

benefit of a major waterway

25:00

connected to the sea, like

25:03

the Tigris, is

25:05

that a weir prevents boats from

25:07

sailing up river unless

25:09

somebody increases the water flow,

25:12

essentially preventing say, pirates

25:15

or invading navies from

25:18

sailing up the river unopposed.

25:22

Alexander and company identified this

25:24

problem and demanded that all

25:27

the weirs be demolished. Arian

25:30

praises this for allowing the Tigris

25:32

to return to its natural course.

25:37

However, you

25:39

know what weirs do the 99% of the

25:41

time the river isn't being invaded? They

25:47

prevent rapids from damaging boats

25:49

and flooding. Unsurprisingly

25:53

the Mesopotamians appear to

25:55

have reinstalled their barriers

25:57

soon after Alexander's death.

25:59

left. The

26:02

King met back up with Hephaistaeon's

26:04

forward army at the city of

26:07

Opus, north of

26:09

modern Baghdad, where the Tigris

26:11

and Euphrates are closest to

26:13

one another. There,

26:16

Alexander decreed that any man

26:18

who had been disabled by

26:21

combat or disease, and any

26:23

men who had aged beyond

26:26

their required military service, could

26:29

return home to Greece, Macedon, or

26:31

Thrace. They

26:33

could go, be with their families,

26:36

and Craterus would leave them there on

26:38

his way to assume his new position

26:41

as regent in Macedon. Once

26:44

home, Craterus was to make sure

26:47

any widows and orphans from the

26:49

campaign received their deceased husbands or

26:52

father's pay, and see

26:54

to it that they would be cared for. This

26:58

accounted for almost ten thousand of

27:00

the most veteran soldiers in the

27:03

army. After

27:05

they all but mutinied twice

27:07

in Central Asia and India,

27:09

you would think this would

27:12

be cause for celebration. But

27:15

given that these were also the oldest

27:17

men in the army, it's

27:19

no surprise that the men being

27:21

sent off to retirement were

27:24

also traditionalists. They

27:27

began jeering and mocking their

27:29

king, and whispering about how

27:31

Alexander planned to replace them

27:33

with the Apiganoi. Not

27:36

because they were aging middle-aged

27:39

men, but because

27:41

Alexander didn't want real

27:44

Macedonians anymore. By

27:47

the end of what Alexander

27:49

intended to be a heartfelt

27:51

farewell, the army was

27:53

split into loyalists and mutineers,

27:55

actively threatening to come to

27:57

blows. For

28:00

Alexander, he was a

28:02

quick thinker and had lots of

28:05

practice giving inspirational, mollifying

28:07

speeches to these exact

28:09

people. So he

28:12

rose to his feet and began

28:14

shouting praise for all that they

28:16

had accomplished, first under Philip II,

28:19

and then under Alexander, in the

28:21

conquest of Persia. Alexander

28:24

was able to calm them down, meet

28:27

with the leaders of the

28:29

mutiny, and explain that he

28:31

wasn't trying to replace Macedon

28:33

with Persia or Macedonians with

28:36

Persians. He wanted

28:38

to unify Macedonian rule

28:41

over the Persian Empire. There

28:44

was just a lot more

28:46

Persian Empire than Macedon. Regardless

28:49

of background, they were free to

28:52

honor him in Persian or Macedonian

28:54

style so long as they recognized

28:56

him as king. That

28:59

was really the most important part. Tensions

29:02

cooled and Alexander had

29:05

his officers, Greek priests,

29:07

and Iranian magi orchestrate

29:10

a deliberately hybridized

29:12

banquet, mixing

29:14

and matching Eastern and Western

29:16

aesthetics and ceremony to highlight

29:18

how they could coexist. During

29:22

the festivities, several men

29:24

petitioned Alexander not to be sent

29:26

back to Europe, for

29:29

the very simple reason that they had

29:31

been single when they left, but

29:33

had married and even had children

29:35

with women they met somewhere else

29:38

in the Empire. Arian

29:40

presents Alexander permitting them to go

29:43

to their families, wherever

29:45

they happened to be, as

29:47

an extra level of graciousness.

29:51

But personally, I get the sense

29:53

that Alexander was mostly thinking, well

29:56

of course I didn't mean the

29:58

orders that literally. go

30:01

back to whoever your

30:03

wife happens to be. By

30:06

then, Autumn was approaching and

30:09

Alexander wanted to visit Echbatina

30:11

before the frigid mountain winter

30:13

blocked the roads to and

30:15

from the city. So

30:18

they sailed from Opus up the

30:21

Diyala River and then marched through

30:23

Media to the Old Capital. There,

30:27

Alexander held a Greek-style

30:29

festival and games in

30:31

the ancient Iranian fortress

30:34

featuring Olympic-style athletics,

30:36

poetry, rhetoric,

30:38

and drama competitions. However,

30:43

somewhere between Opus and

30:45

Echbatina, Hephaestion,

30:48

Alexander's closest companion

30:52

and probable lover, got

30:54

sick. He

30:56

was, unfortunately, bedridden

30:59

through the first six days of

31:01

the festival. Then,

31:04

on the seventh day, a messenger

31:06

raced up to Alexander while he

31:08

was watching a foot race. Hephaestion

31:13

was dead. Sing,

31:16

O Muse of the Wrath of

31:18

Philip's son, of Alexander,

31:20

the destructive wrath which

31:22

brought countless woes upon

31:25

the Persians. If

31:28

you don't recognize that line, I

31:30

just swapped a couple names out

31:33

from the opening line of the

31:35

Iliad. Even in

31:37

Alexander's time, the most famous and

31:39

revered of Greek epic poems. But

31:43

unlike his heroic mythological

31:45

ancestor Achilles wreaking vengeance

31:47

on the Trojan armies

31:49

for his lost love,

31:51

Patroculus, Alexander could

31:54

not fight against disease.

31:57

Instead, he was thrown into a

32:00

sudden mourning, and as

32:02

Arian puts it, the

32:04

accounts of Alexander's grief at

32:06

this loss are many and

32:08

various. Authors

32:11

who praise Alexander and Hephaestion

32:13

portray the king as sincere

32:16

and emotionally crushed. Hostile

32:20

authors emphasize Alexander's greatest

32:22

excesses during this time.

32:26

Supposedly, he flung himself on Hephaestion's

32:28

corpse and refused to be moved

32:30

for a full day. He

32:34

ordered Hephaestion's doctor executed for

32:36

failure, cut his own

32:38

hair short in emulation of

32:40

Achilles in the Iliad. Alexander

32:44

personally drove the funeral carriage to

32:46

a shrine of the medicine god

32:48

Esclepius, who had cured

32:51

death in myth and then

32:53

burned the shrine down when

32:55

Hephaestion was not revived. One

32:58

of the few accounts agreed upon

33:00

is that Alexander fell into a

33:02

deep, deep depression. Of

33:06

course, that's not the word ancient

33:08

sources used, they had no such

33:11

diagnostic. But he

33:13

refused to eat or maintain

33:15

his personal hygiene for days,

33:17

just crying and grieving. When

33:20

the court finally forced Alexander

33:22

out of this stupor to

33:25

avoid getting trapped in Iqbatina for the

33:27

winter, the king sent

33:29

an emissary all the way to

33:31

the Siwa Oasis in Western Egypt,

33:34

beseeching the hybrid god

33:37

Zeus Ammon to deify

33:39

Hephaestion. They left

33:41

media in a grand funeral procession,

33:44

and traveled all the way to Babylon,

33:46

where Alexander spent 10,000

33:49

talents of silver on the funeral

33:52

pyre and tomb alone, and ordered

33:54

his whole empire to mourn

33:56

with him, as if a king

33:58

or person. Perhaps a royal

34:01

wife had died. He.

34:03

Ordered the priests and architects

34:05

of Babylon to plan grandiose

34:08

tombs, temples, monuments and shrines

34:10

all dedicated to the newly

34:12

day of fide. God have

34:15

feisty gone. But.

34:18

When. It was all said and done. Alexander

34:21

still felt the wrath of the

34:23

Kelly's polling at him. He.

34:26

Wanted. To kill something? Fortunately,

34:30

For the depressed and enraged Lord

34:32

of all Asia, the oak scenes

34:34

and co science of the southern

34:37

zag Rose Mountains had abandoned their

34:39

earlier pledges to pay tribute and

34:42

returned to pillage in caravans that

34:44

passed through their territories. Normally.

34:47

This would have been too small

34:50

and issue for Alexander to. Lead.

34:52

An army in person. But.

34:54

This time the king led his

34:57

forces back into the Zag Gross

34:59

and murdered any of that rebel

35:01

people's that they could find. When.

35:04

He returned to Babylon. Alexander

35:07

finally sat down and

35:09

held court. Really?

35:11

Held court like a proper A

35:13

came in and king in and

35:15

I came in a palace ruling

35:17

the attainment an empire would have.

35:20

He. Received ambassadors, petitioners and

35:22

representatives from many of his

35:25

subject people's from Greece to

35:27

Bacteria and everywhere in between,

35:29

as well as emissaries from

35:32

many of his new neighbors.

35:35

The. New Be and Kingdom

35:37

of Kush send representatives,

35:40

as did several Arab

35:42

tribes and still independent

35:44

Indian states. Alexander

35:47

Commission the infrastructure projects

35:49

in Babylonian. Renovating.

35:52

the esa gila the great temple

35:54

to the babylonian god more duke

35:56

just as cyrus the great one

35:59

part He surveyed

36:01

the site for a new canal

36:03

system and farming estates off the

36:05

Euphrates. He went on

36:08

river cruises and generally

36:10

did kingly things. However,

36:15

he was still Alexander,

36:17

and Alexander was

36:19

first and foremost a

36:22

conqueror. To that

36:24

end, by the end of 324, Alexander

36:27

the Great, king of Macedon and

36:29

lord of all Asia, had

36:32

once again turned his attention to

36:34

the fact that he did not

36:36

dominate all of Asia, and

36:39

began plotting his next war.

36:42

But that will be the topic

36:44

at hand next time. Until

36:47

then! If

36:49

you want more information about

36:51

this podcast, you can go

36:54

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36:57

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