The Passion of Alexander

[John.]

Hi i,What about the "torture of the trees." Plutarch:"And when, at a later time, he found Bessus, he had him rent asunder. Two straight trees were bent together and a part of his body fastened to each; then when each was released and sprang vigorously back, the part of the body that was attached to it followed after."I read somewhere that Alexander came up with this form of torture from his own creativity. -- Then, again, maybe it was the creativity of one of Alexander's historians. Who knows?John

[S]

Greetings John,All of which only goes to show that even the extant sources had now-extinct sources that tried to out-do each other... one can see the feeding frenzy of oneupsmanship (laughing)"Well in *my* book he's going to...." (Joking here)Regards,
Sikander

[s]

You know it, John. You're smart enough.
Those Romans were in need of something i still don't know what could have been.... ;)Do you know -- Augustus wore a ring with Alex's figure carved on it? And Julius Caesar made a very good use of Alex's birthdate so that he could say he was born in July?I like the Romance, though. It's so improbable that comes to be highly possible [that's very Wildean ].cheers!

[Jeanne]

John -- You might want to look into the work of Dandamaev and Lukonin, regarding Achaemenid Persia and Persian practices. It's useful to be aware of the larger cultural context.As for your questions about Alexander and Hephaistion, I believe that's off the topic of this thread. Nonetheless, I'll direct you to my published article on the topic:"An Atypical Affair? Alexander the Great, Hephaistion, and the Nature of Their Relationship," The Ancient History Bulletin 13.3 (1999) 81-96.Evidence, arguments and discussion can all be found there, in detail. Unfortunately, from the tone of your challenge, it sounds to me as if your mind is already made up and you're not open to hearing anything to the contrary. But if you do read the article and wish to discuss it, you know where to find me. ;>Dr. Jeanne Reames-Zimmerman;
287-K ASH, Dept. of History;
University of Nebraska at Omaha;
Omaha, NE 68182, 402/554-2489

[marcus]

Hi Jeanne,I don't suppose those (presumably Russian) authors are available in English, though, are they?My interest has been piqued about what the *actual* practice was in Persia concerning the punishment of traitors/regicides. But I'm not really sure where I can find the proper information. (I seem to have Assyrian and Babylonian stuff coming out of my ears, because I did so much on them at university, but I never did Achaemenid Persia.)All the bestMarcus

[Dr. Pal]

While it is true that the Assyrians had a tradition of punishing treason quite harshly this isnt quite true about the Iranians (some of whom were actually Indians in what is now called Iran). I feel Kurash-II, was quite humane. Also Ashurbanipal was surely not as vicious as Tiglathpilesar, Sargon II and Sennacherib. In this regard I wonder why no one mentioned Nebuchadressar whose treatment of his captives was exemplary. He was greatly respected by Alexander.Regards,
Dr. Pal

[S]

Greetings Dr. Pal,I sometimes feel that the Persian kings are not mentioned as much due to a lack of information in "western history" which seems to pre-dominate boards.Many of the heroic, progressive and great-in-their-own right persons of Persian, Indian, Asian etc history are little known in the west. That is beginning to change, slowly. Perhaps in time we will have a more rounded view of human history and what the "east" has contributed to the story of humankind. At least the names of Ashoka, Siddhartha and Suriyothai have made it into mainstream movies shown in the US and Europe. That's a start, albeit a small one.. (smile)Regards,
Sikander

[Jeanne]

Oh, yes, they are indeed available in English! The book you want to get your hands on is:Dandemaev, M.A. and Lukonin, V.G. (1989) The Culture and Social Institutions of Ancient Iran, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.GREAT little book. Depending on what university library is near you, though, you may have to get it through ILL. It's *expensive*. Even I don't own a personal copy, given the price-tag. 8} But I've consulted it MANY times. :-)Jeanne