If We could time travel

[iskander_32]

Companiopns HiIm sure if there were the option of time travel we would all like to take a small peak at Alexandere.I know none pof us could spend 12 years or more looking over his life. But I ask the members where would you go to look at him.I would choose the last month of his life just to see what happened with his dimise, For the rest I would visit Pothos for what you all learned.Kenny

[nick]

Hi Kenny ---Believe it or not, we appear to be related souls. I remember asking this very same question to Forum members at the occasion of Alexander's 2300-something'th birthday in 2000 or 2001. My top 3 of 'moments' to visit Alexander if I had a time machine remains basically the same.1. The Hydaspes Battle in 326 BC. How much I would like to meet my personal 'hero' Darius III, still I could not resist the temptation to be there in the Indian monsoon mud and witness what really happened during this mysterious battle.2. The death scene of Darius in July 330 BC - Alexander arriving to inspect Darius' body. Was he really as dead as the official sources say? Or did they share his last words after all?3. In Bactria during Alexander's meeting with Roxane. Not only to solve the mystery if he really fell in love at first sight. But also to see Alexander's seasoned forces operating at the edges of the inhabitable earth.Regards ---Nick

[nick]

Dear Kenny ---Sorry, a second thought crossed my mind.Can I still swop my nr. 2 (Death of Darius) for another, better occasion... ?2. Prior to Gaugamela, 332 BC or (?) 331 BC (?) --- to see if Queen Statira, wife of Darius III, really died in childbirth --- and when! To solve the great mystery if the pregnancy was caused by Alexander after all. Yes, that definitely would be my # 2.Regards ---Nick

[jona]

The death of Darius has my vote too, provided, of course, that we can find a way to solve the puzzle without violating the man's right to an undisturbed death.I would also like to find out what happened during that night in Persepolis; I'm curious about this Thais, who incited the young officers to burn down the palaces. She must have been quite a lady!My third vote would be a visit to Babylon, just because I want to know what it looked like back then.Jona

[xxx]

It was more likely a fibroid and she bled to death.

[nick]

Hi Tre ---Please help me. I have been checking all the sources on this one. What is your source? It would be a great help.Regards ---Nick

[xxx]

Knowledge of medicine

[jona]

Plutarch 30.1Jona

[nick]

Ha Jona ---But my Plutarch (trans. Scott-Kilvert) reads: "However, not long after, when Darius' wife died in childbirth..."And the Dryden translation reads: "But the death of Darius' wife in childbirth..."Am I missing something? Jona, I wonder if the original Greek text is ambiguous? Is "childbirth" indeed the correct translation, or could her death also be caused by e.g. a fibroid as Tre argues?Thanks for the help!Regards ---Nick

[susan]

Curtius (4:10) has more detail : that she fell ill due to dejection and the rigours of travelling. I think that it was, possibly, originally described as a 'woman's ailment' or some such term, and this was read by later writers as being due to pregnancy, where it may just have been a general illness of the reproductive system.Susan

[jona]

Hi NickI don't have a Greek Plutarch over here; perhaps I can visit the library Tuesday.Jona

[nick]

Hi Susan ---Thanks. But, yes, the footnote by Waldemar Heckel in my Curtius translation exactly points towards my question: Plut. & Justin say that she died in childbirth... But in 331 she could not have been carrying Darius' child. Her death is therefore dated by Berve to 332 BC. However, all sources place her death in 331 BC. (That is what Heckel says.)All I'm saying is: we have a controversy here. If I had a time machine, I would like to go there and check what really happened. (If we want to solve this controversy by claiming it was not a pregnancy but a fibroid, then we must declare Plutarch and Justin to be unreliable sources on this matter. So???)Regards ---Nick

[jan]

Kenny, That is an interesting statement so that it is a good thing that I read all the responses before jumping in. As some know, I have had the luxury of seeing Alexander but I don't call it a time travel thing, as I don't know what to call it honestly. I was thinking about how much time that I have spent on the subject of Alexander, a person who if I didn't have the time travel awareness of his personality and character would not give a hoot about. At first glance, Alexander is just another in a long list of kings and queens who have exerted an influence on civilization. I constantly wonder why it is that people are interested in him at all.Alexander is confined mostly to the Greek and Macedonian nations, and to the vast empire which he eventually conquered through his travels and wanderlust. I understand why Queen Elizabeth I excites the imagination because she had a profound influence on America itself. But Alexander as a subject of study does always amaze me.Since I have had the luxury of the time travel method, sometimes spontaneously, and without direction, I have come to know my version of Alexander and want my images to be reproduced somehow. And so I will share one of my favorite recollections with you which will not stir any excitement but gives an understanding of Alexander's emotional quality. I once went into a memory of carrying a ram in my arms, taking him to sacrifice, and he leaned against me in full trust and safety, believing in me, and I could feel his soft wooly coat, hear his bleat, and I thought about all the men who I knew would sacrifice their lives for my cause. I had to protect tham as best I could, and it grieved me to think of what lie before us in the upcoming battle. For me, it was touching. Alexander is a deeper person in his care for his army than is generally known.

[xxx]

Definitely the mass weddings. Would have been something to see.

[S]

Greetings,Interesting question. My choices would be somewhat against the grain but:1) Seven days after Alexander's death( allowing the shock to wear off and factions to settle out)2) The second meeting of Olympiada and Philip3) The initial meeting between Philip and his last bride when she came of age to marry4) One week before Philip took the throneNot as exciting as a battle, but I see these as pivotal events also. And I would want at least 1 hour to spend at each event, talking to those present. There are more but I would settle for these.Regards,
Sikander