Search found 1105 matches

by Alexias
Fri Jan 29, 2010 11:27 pm
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: When and why did Antipater dispatch Cassander to Alexander?
Replies: 6
Views: 3095

Re: When and why did Antipater dispatch Cassander to Alexander?

A couple of points: 1. Robin Lane Fox says that couriers on the Royal Road could reach Sardis from Susa in 7 days (it took 90 days on foot, presumably less on horseback or chariot (if used)). So I think you might be looking at 2-3 weeks for letters to reach Alexander or Antipater, not months. 2. The...
by Alexias
Thu Jan 28, 2010 11:10 pm
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: When and why did Antipater dispatch Cassander to Alexander?
Replies: 6
Views: 3095

Re: When and why did Antipater dispatch Cassander to Alexander?

I've just finished reading Dr Jeanne Reames chapter 'The Cult of Hephaestion' in 'Responses to Oliver Stone's Alexander' in which she suggests that as part of Alexander's 'recorganisation' on his return from India, Hephaestion was appointed chiliarch at the weddings at Susa (March 324). She also imp...
by Alexias
Mon Dec 28, 2009 11:43 pm
Forum: Book reviews
Topic: Books I got for Christmas
Replies: 7
Views: 3780

Re: Books I got for Christmas

Would you mind posting a review of 'Responses' when you've read it please? I didn't know if it would be worth getting.
by Alexias
Sat Nov 28, 2009 10:04 pm
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Macedonian Queens
Replies: 15
Views: 7436

Re: Macedonian Queens

Persian royal women seem to have been players in their own right during the Achaemenid times. If not Roxanne, then Strateira/Barsine and Drypetis would have likely had influence in the happenings after Aleaxander's death had they been not murdered (pure speculation here :) ). Thank you, yes, it's i...
by Alexias
Sat Nov 28, 2009 9:54 pm
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Macedonian Queens
Replies: 15
Views: 7436

Re: Macedonian Queens

As for the girls staying in Susa - they were to be educated in the "Greek" way, and they couldn't be expected to travel around with the army while Alexander was still chasing after their father. Better to have kept them safe and protected/guarded in an area that had already submitted. Com...
by Alexias
Sat Nov 28, 2009 9:49 pm
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Macedonian Queens
Replies: 15
Views: 7436

Re: Macedonian Queens

athenas owl wrote: he didn't foresee getting bogged down in upper Iran as long as he did. Six years or so until he returned to Susa.
Yes, I think Cleitus' murder had a lot to do with sheer frustration. Alexander, I suspect, got impatient when things didn't happen quickly.
by Alexias
Fri Nov 27, 2009 10:06 pm
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Macedonian Queens
Replies: 15
Views: 7436

Re: Macedonian Queens

Hello, I think Stateira certainly would have outranked Roxane once she produced a Persian heir. However, I am of the opinion that the reason Alexander didn’t marry Stateira after Issus was that she and Drypetis were still children. I believe they were left behind after the weddings at Susa, which ma...
by Alexias
Fri Nov 27, 2009 7:31 pm
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Macedonian Queens
Replies: 15
Views: 7436

Re: Macedonian Queens

Thank you. I think what I was trying to get at was whether there was a pre-determined role granted to Olympias, automatically giving her prestige and precedence over Philip’s other wives, rather than what accrued to her as the mother of the heir presumptive and what she appropriated to herself throu...
by Alexias
Thu Nov 26, 2009 8:20 pm
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Macedonian Queens
Replies: 15
Views: 7436

Re: Macedonian Queens

Thank you. I think it was Nicholas Hammond who proposed the idea that the insult offered to Olympias on Philip’s marriage to Cleopatra was her re-naming as Eurydike (as Philip’s mother), so perhaps a royal name was more important in terms of rank and the title of queen wasn’t relevant in Macedonian ...
by Alexias
Thu Nov 26, 2009 12:46 pm
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Macedonian Queens
Replies: 15
Views: 7436

Macedonian Queens

Does anyone know please if there is any contemporaneous reference to Olympias as Philip’s queen? (I don’t mean the Alexander sources which might be corrupted by Roman ideas on monogamy.) Or was she simply ‘first wife’ by virtue of being the mother of the heir? Or did her royal background make her th...