Search found 125 matches

by derek
Mon Jun 23, 2008 4:04 pm
Forum: Alexander's contemporaries
Topic: Why the marriage with Roxane?
Replies: 15
Views: 10949

Roxane was an unusual choice for a royal bride, so who knows, it may have been a love match. What’s certain is that Alexander gained substantially by it. The northeast frontier had been in regular revolt against the Persian empire for hundreds of years beforehand (Cyrus and Zoroaster were killed the...
by derek
Mon Jun 23, 2008 4:02 pm
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: Psychological Warfare
Replies: 7
Views: 3297

I thought of a couple more incidents over the weekend, though neither fit the BBC description. At Corinth, Alexander produced an Ephesian who made an impassioned plea for the league to invade and liberate the Troad. Handy that. At Telmessus, he used dancing girls to drug the guards and open the gate...
by derek
Fri Jun 20, 2008 2:51 pm
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: Psychological Warfare
Replies: 7
Views: 3297

Psychological Warfare

The BBC website has an article today about psychological warfare, and states this: “Military historians date psy-ops back to the days of Alexander the Great and Ghenghis Khan, who would both deliberately spread rumours and misinformation ahead of battles to help subdue their enemies.” Adopting Persi...
by derek
Tue Apr 29, 2008 3:29 pm
Forum: Philip and Alexander's predecessors
Topic: Recent Media Attention: Tombs at Vergina
Replies: 12
Views: 8988

Yes, my mistake. I was thinking tomb I was the one ascribed to Philip. Makes sense now. I’d heard the arguments against Philip in the past but I’d always wanted it to be his tomb and his scarred skull and his breastplate, because – a bit like the Lochness Monster and the Yeti - wouldn’t that be grea...
by derek
Tue Apr 29, 2008 2:12 pm
Forum: Philip and Alexander's predecessors
Topic: Recent Media Attention: Tombs at Vergina
Replies: 12
Views: 8988

Maybe I'm being dumb, but I've read and reread the National Geographic article, and it starts off by saying that Philip's not in the tomb after all, but that it's Arridaeus and therefore the items belong to Alexander. Then you read on, and it's conclusion seems to be that Philip is in tomb I, Arrida...
by derek
Thu Mar 27, 2008 8:09 pm
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: Alexander poisoned with Arsenic.
Replies: 55
Views: 18009

The fact that Alexander’s death didn’t prompt outrage and accusations, for me, points to it being a natural death. He was a young man and died suddenly in an age when they still believed in curses and burned witches, yet the only controversy immediately following his death was over who should succee...
by derek
Wed Feb 27, 2008 9:33 pm
Forum: 'Off-topic' forum
Topic: visiting greece, what should i see?
Replies: 8
Views: 4427

Alejandro, It's a bit off the beaten path, but I'd recommend a visit to Olynthus. It was leveled by Philip, literally, and they've excavated a huge grid plan of streets and houses. It's where xxx (I forget his name) invented urban planning, and there's row after row of almost identical houses reachi...
by derek
Fri Jan 25, 2008 5:57 pm
Forum: Book reviews
Topic: Persian Responses - New Book on Persian History
Replies: 7
Views: 3724

Marcus, I'm jealous. Persepolis has been top of my list for a long time, way up there with Shangri-la. If I still lived in England, I'd be all for going, but those American immigration officers are scary at the best of times. Green card or not, I can imagine trying to get back in with an Iranian sta...
by derek
Fri Jan 25, 2008 5:46 pm
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: Why did Alexander send Thessalus to Pixodarus?
Replies: 3
Views: 2331

Also, to have formally approached the ambassador would have meant Philip would hear about it. But Pixodarus would have been unaware until the ambassador returned or sent a messenger, and you can bet Philip would have solved the problem by swiftly arranging an unfortunate accident before he had the c...
by derek
Wed Jan 16, 2008 5:30 pm
Forum: Alexander the Great in the Media
Topic: Alexander the Great: A Two Part Movie?
Replies: 37
Views: 16632

In defence of Oliver Stone

With Alexander, any movie is going to have the same problems Stone encountered. How do you tell such an involved story without boring the pants off the average movie-going audience? It’s easy to say, “Make half a dozen films”, but they’ve got to be paid for, and Alexander doesn’t have the same level...
by derek
Sat Jan 12, 2008 5:25 pm
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: Should Alexander's body be found?
Replies: 21
Views: 9386

Gooch, You've just joined and have only made the one post, so we haven't had the chance to know anything about you. You could be a raving nutter for all we know, but equally, you could be some Indiana Jones type or whatever, and involved in something quite stupendous. If true, what you've said is th...
by derek
Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:56 pm
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: what is the origin of this proverb
Replies: 11
Views: 55692

Yes, the quote was "Lions led by Donkeys", because of the stupidity of the British generals. They were incapable of original thought and tried to fight a mechanized war the same way they'd won Waterloo. Their solution to every problem was to throw men at machine guns.

Derek
by derek
Mon Dec 17, 2007 6:51 pm
Forum: Book reviews
Topic: Alexander the Great Failure- John D Grainger
Replies: 76
Views: 31672

I used to have my doubts about a tent large enough for a hundred couches, and then my company had a garden fete thing to celebrate the opening of a new building, and they hired a marquee. It was huge, and I could imagine Alexander's pavilion looking the same. A hundred couches with room out the back...
by derek
Wed Dec 05, 2007 3:57 pm
Forum: Book reviews
Topic: Novel preparation
Replies: 7
Views: 3700

Efsthasios, Good luck with the novel, and definitely write it in your own language. Then you can devote your mind solely to creative writing, rather than forever tinkering with sentence construction in a foreign language. I found that just converting from British English to US English was bad enough...
by derek
Wed Nov 14, 2007 9:51 pm
Forum: Discuss Alexander the Great
Topic: Noise About King Tut
Replies: 18
Views: 8242

King Tut Exhibition

If anyone in England's going to the Tutankhamen exhibition at the Millenium dome, I saw it in Chicago last year. It's very good and well worth seeing, but the name's a bit misleading. It should be King Tut & Family, because there are only a couple of items that were his. The rest belonged to his...