Alexander the Great

ACROPOLIS MUSEUM, ATHENS

Boy Wonder

This portrait of Alexander in his mid-twenties conveys his youthful charisma. It was carved by the celebrated sculptor Leochares, who also cast the life-size bronzes of the Macedonian royal family that were displayed at Olympia, home of the Olympic games.

Early Years

One of the caves of the shrine sacred to the nymphs at Mieza, now in ruins. Here Aristotle taught the teenaged Alexander and his friends. There used to be stone seats and shady walks where the class could talk and study free from interruption.

GETTY MUSEUM, LOS ANGELES

Hephaestion met Alexander when they were both schoolboys in their teens. They became best friends and (very probably) lovers. They were widely regarded as a couple and died within weeks of each other in their thirties. The head was sculpted in marble in the late fourth century B.C. within a few years of Hephaestion’s death.

The city of Thebes erected the statue of a lion, signifying bravery, to mark the burial ground of the Sacred Band, its regiment of lovers, most of whom fell at the battle of Chaeronea. Here King Philip of Macedonia and his eighteen-year-old son Alexander decisively defeated a Greek army. On that day the great city-states of Athens and Thebes lost their freedom. Alexander led the cavalry charge that clinched the victory.

Death at Dawn

The theater at Aegae was built in the mid-fourth century B.C. and was still new when King Philip II of Macedonia was assassinated there in 336. Alexander, together with his terrifying mother, Olympias, may have been implicated in the crime. He certainly benefited from it, instantly seizing the throne and taking over his father’s plan to invade the Persian empire.

MUSEUM OF ROYAL TOMBS OF AEGAE, GREECE

After his assassination Philip was buried in one of the royal tombs at Aegae, which were discovered by archaeologists in 1977. His remains were placed in a golden casket. A gold crown or wreath was also found.

MUSEUM OF ROYAL TOMBS OF AEGAE, GREECE

This facial reconstruction of Alexander’s father, Philip, is based on remains found in the royal tombs, which have been identified as belonging to the king. He was blinded by an arrow at the siege of Methone in 355/54 B.C., one of many injuries incurred during a long military career. Philip laid the foundation of his son’s later achievements.

Evil Empire

The Great King of Persia was, supposedly, the all-powerful ruler of an empire that stretched from Egypt to India. In practice, he presided over a ramshackle collection of semi-independent territories. The transition from one Great King to his successor was often a bloodbath. To secure his place on the throne, Artaxerxes III Ochus, who reigned from 358 to 338 B.C., put to death all male members of the royal family on whom he could lay his hands.

Delegates bring tribute to the Persian court at Persepolis. In return, the Great King guaranteed peace and order. He did not interfere in his subjects’ daily lives and allowed freedom of worship.

Alexander greatly admired Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian empire, who died in 530 B.C. He visited the tomb, near the ancient Persian capital of Pasargadae, more than once and was enraged when it was robbed. Today the monument still stands, but empty of its owner.

MUSEO ARCHEOLOGICO NAZIONALE, NAPLES

Victory!

Alexander leads his Companion cavalry at the battle of Issus and charges straight at the Great King, whose eyes widen in alarm. He is wearing an elaborate linen cuirass, very similar to one found in the royal tombs at Aegae. The image is a mosaic made in the first century B.C. that copied a lost painting by Philoxenus of Eretria.

NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM, ISTANBUL

The battle of Issus, as imagined by the sculptor of a magnificent stone sarcophagus. This reconstruction is shown painted in bright colors, as was the custom in the classical world. The original, carved from high-quality Pentelic marble in the late fourth century B.C., and with traces of the original paint, was found in the royal necropolis of Sidon. It was probably made for king Abdalonymus of Sidon.

NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM, ISTANBUL

Winning the Peace

In this stone relief one of Alexander’s Companions is hunting down a stag. He is heroically nude in the Greek manner. If Macedonians were not killing men in battle, they were killing wild animals at their leisure. Alexander was a keen huntsman and often risked his life in the chase.

Alexander as arsonist. He set fire to Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Persian empire, in revenge for the destruction of Athens when the Persian king Xerxes invaded Greece more than a century previously. For all his efforts, the ruins still impress the visitor and Alexander soon realized he had made a mistake. Without Persian cooperation he would have been unable to administer his vast empire and for the rest of his reign he did his best to conciliate his new subjects.

VILLA FARNESINA, ROME

The marriage of Alexander and Rhoxane in 327 B.C. was celebrated in a painting by the fourth century B.C. Greek artist Aetion. The work itself is lost, but a detailed description survives, the inspiration for this fresco by Sodoma.

Coins were a unique means by which an ancient ruler “spoke” to his subjects. Here on the silver tetradrachm Alexander claims heaven’s endorsement. He wears the lionskin of Heracles and on the reverse, Zeus, king of the Gods, sits enthroned.

Disaster in the Desert

The march through the Gedrosian desert (today’s the Makran) lasted two months and was the greatest disaster in Alexander’s career. Of more than 30,000 men only a quarter survived.