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Before this Arrian has twice told us that Alexander advanced to the right or "more" to the right (3.13.1&2). Here, near to the "crisis" of the battle, Alexander is described as still leading his men in column - that is, troop behind troop. This seems quite odd: an engagement...

I own a cast of the Alexander head from the British Museum. I can't imagine the Getty marble beside it, but the bronze head would be a perfect match. Chris, I missed this sentence before. Where did you get the cast, if I might ask? I've never seen one, even in the BM. its this one http://commons.wi...

Alcibiades was depicted clean shave with anastole and wild hair too, (from a named Roman copy, pictured on a thread here somewhere); the head of Lysimachos from Ephesos-Gocek looks more like Alexander to me, my avatar is meant to be Lysimachos; it is all quite subjective. I'm not sure about "s...

To be fair Shrep is a doctor and the effects of hellebore were tested on an artificial human (no ,not Paris Hilton) and the symptoms did seem similar. His article isn't on PubMed. If he tried to publish it, no medical journal thought it was worth the paper it's written on. since there is insufficie...

For those who provided us with information on our Gaugamela project (a 1:16 scale model of Alexander's army at Gaugamela using 6mm wargaming figures), here's an update: We've painted about 1000 figures so far, roughly 1/3 of the model. They include the right flank and right wing up to and including ...

a) Oliver Stone b) Vulgate sources: Antipater aided by Cassander and Iollas to administer the waters of the Styx c) Bosworth: the Royal Journals were doctored by Eumenes or Antipater to make Alexander’s death look natural d) Mayer and Hayes (2010): the waters of the Styx were bacterially contaminat...

I ought to perhaps point out that that picture is one I created messing about with Photoshop and that the original bronze is damaged. The Prado bronze has only been identified as Hephaestion in the last 10 years or so. You certainly did a very good job. Did you see the original in the Prado? I'd lo...

Thank you for posting this. It is a remarkable sculpture. I believe it was named "Hephaestion" due to its relative resemblance to the Getty Museum head (which was thusly named for simply being discovered along with Alexander's head) This bronze sculpture is also often referred to as depic...

I am planning a trip to Greece in the summer for further research on my novel. Interesting project. I suppose it depends on what you want to get out of it. Do you want to get a feel for landscapes and a way of life? Understand how walking / horse riding affected logistics? See museums & artefac...

Chris, thank you very much for your interesting observations. A few of mine are below big snip on choosing to tell story through the eyes of a minor character. AIUI, we agree that in Renault's Persian Boy Alexander doesn't change as a character. Mary Renault is thus using Bagoas to tell the story o...

We need to look at the translation ... Hail King Paralus! (1) who actually exercise royal authority over them (2) several of whom have even reigned over that country! In the context (snipped for brevity) it's pretty clear what's meant. You really have to be an OCPD to find a way of nitpicking this ...

First, remember that you are applying modern "morality" when you say this. Alexander did not question the morality of what he was doing, because as far as he was concerned he was doing what was right for him to do. I don't disagree with you, basically, but just to clarify! Two very subtle...

Alexias, you might be interested in this website. Although it is titled "Eunuchs, In the Old Testament", it is a very interesting paper on all ancient eunuchs. Follow the links at the bottom for the rest of the article - well worth a read, in my opinion. thanks for the pointer, I'll have ...

the author doesn't understand enough about story mechanics & dramatic structure to fully grasp why "The Persian Boy" worked as a story where Oliver Stone's script failed. This is probably off-topic, but the essay doesn't give a literary critique of the novel. I'd be interested in your...

So, i came to this forum, because i want to hear opinion from a lot of people who had read the book. I want to know how many people agree with Andrwe Chugg. Or for the people who did not read the book yet, i want to know how many people think that Bagoas is important to Alexander. As Alexia pointed...