pothos.org

Let us turn to whether the Chiliarchy was command of the cavalry, as previously held by Philotas ... I'm no longer sure I follow who is saying what here, never mind why. AIUI, you've shown that at Alexander's court, a) the ciliarchy was a cavalry command, but is was not the same post Philotas held ...

It's irrelevant what Photius' summary has done to 5 books. What matters is what it did to the paragraphs in question. Of course it's relevant. How can reducing 5 books to some 600 or more words not be? If you're prepared to discard Justin, Diodorus and large sections of Plutarch because they are ab...

We cannot claim to know exactly what "Arrian wrote" in his Successors; we can claim only to know what Photius' reduced to dot point summary. Photius has summarised five books into something just over 600 words (in the English translation). One can only imagine what this will have done to ...

the model is coming on steadily, most of the right flank and the right wing up to the hypaspists are complete. before deciding how to mount each unit, a question about Alexander's approach to the battlefield: did he a) approach the Persian line head-ony, stoppped his army when he reached striking di...

Unfortunately I didn't get to see that - I don't have TV at the moment. Was it the new villa at Wroxeter, which I know they've just opened? I've seen pictures of it, and it looks great. did you mean this one? the first 2 episodes are available on youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DMPeX3hxDs&...

On murdering rivals: And we might say the same of all the other marshals: how many did Craterus murder? Perdiccas? Ptolemy? By the looks of it very few, if any. Always thought that was an intriguing factlet. The "trial" of Philotas seemingly does not count as "intrigue" which res...

Hi to everyone, Something in Chris' post really caught my eye. I've wondered where exactly, and how did Hephaistion garner such an unpopular image? :? Indeed. One reason is homosexuality. The moral attitude to homosexuality changed, but the fascination with Alexander remained, so he had to be airbr...

Now, it has occurred to me that extreme discretion would also be the best way to protect Hephaistion's reputation from jibes that Hephaistion had earned his position by his performance in Alexander's bed. the word "discretion" doesn't seem to fit to what Alexander actually did: in 334, he...

Does anyone have any information, schematics, know of any websites, layouts, etc., of ancient Pella as it would have been around Alexander's time, roughly? I had one at one time and lost it. http://www.awesomestories.com/flicks/alexander-great/alexanders-hometown http://www.panoramio.com/photo/1899...

Arrian clearly states that those chariots which made it through the phalanx (i.e., the hypaspists) were cleaned up by the rear ranks of the hypaspists and the grooms ( hippokomoi ). So it would appear that the grooms were in attendance in the rear. That grooms were in attendance at the rear of the ...

Far from making the army monochrome the lack of uniformity would make it very colourful; these peasants have had three years to dress in fancier duds than their local homespun. Diodoros mentions polemikois hoplois as cited by Paralus, ie warlike arms, this surely cannot be stretched to include tuni...

We know from Curtius VII i 15ff that the companions provided their own spare mounts but that the King's officials - Secretaries of the Horse - could force their distribution to other men. There is no reported instance of troopers recieving remounts in battle, and the process would lead to chaos. Ar...

On the amount of room the Agrianians, archers and javelin men would take up, such troops, according to the Tacticians, when you say Tacticians, I assume you mean Aeneas / Asclepidotus & Arrian's Ars Tactica? ... were organised by lochos (file) eight deep which were grouped into a syntaxis (or u...

{quote]The left wing was held by the Bactrian cavalry, the Dahae and the Arachosians; the Persians were posted next (their cavalry and infantry mixed together) [...] In front of the left wing facing Alexander's right stood the Scythian cavalry, nearly a thousand Bactrians and a hundred scythe-beari...

So the consensus is "no dress code prior to Gaugamela". it's going to look a lot more monochrome than I thought. As to the arrangements of Agrianians, archers & Balacrus javelin men around the cavalry, I'm increasingly confused: do we agree that there were 5 groups 2* half of the Agria...