Corpse

[Laura]

When Alexander died, he was mummified and a huge hearse built from gold took him in style to his resting ground in Egypt. What has actually happened to the body of Alexander?

[agesilaos]

It was itended that the body return to Macedonia and rest in a pyramid (Diodoros) Ptolemy Lagou hijacked the hearse and deposited the body in Memphis until a shrine could be completed in Alexandria, where his body rested in a glass coffin a la Lenin until Roman times, Augustus saw it and Gaius Caligula stole his armour!

[barry]

Posted by: Laura Posted on: Sunday, 3rd November 2002 Message:
When Alexander died, he was mummified and a huge hearse built from gold took him in style to his resting ground in Egypt. What has actually happened to the body of Alexander?
Laura - Are you asking the biological process of human remains as in how the decaying process works after someone is mummified? Alexander the Great is dead and possibly buried somewhere. (Time and Space) I'm miffed on the question as to the relativity to his immortalizing existence. In my opinion Alexander the Great is buried in all of us who have studied and learned from him.

[davej]

What a great story, Caligula riding across his street lit bridge across the bay of Naple in Alexander's armour. Of there is no more reason to believe that the armour was Alexander's then there was to beleive that Alexander actualy got Archilles armour. It would have been nearly 400 years old by the time Gaius got it and about 1500 to 1700 years old if it was Archilles' armour. Not bad for a bronze breast plate.Ps. Does anybody believe he was really mad.

[ruthaki]

What a great answer! And because of the likes of us, he actually has never died and won't any time soon.

[Laura]

Thanks... I was interested to know what happened to his remains. Typical that Caligula stole his armour. I wonder what then happened to his coffin/mummified remains? I suppose that as with all things the answer is an inglorious final resting place, at least we have history to tell us of his story.Is there any record of what Augustus said when he saw his body?

[laura]

... well, get miffed as much as you like! Of course Alexander lives on (although if he lives on in all of us is debateable) but I think it is a perfectly reasonable question as to where his final resting place was regardless of space, and umm, time.

[xxx]

All we know is his remains, be there any left, are somewhere in Alexandria, Egypt even if the King had no intentions of ending up a mummy, in a temple, or for that matter in Macedonia.

[agesilaos]

Augustus was asked by the priests if he wished to see the remains of the other Pharoahs and is said to have replied that he came to see the King not to gawp at corpses, this is in Suetonius' life of Augustus

[c.benjamin-tracy]

A few friends of mine, devout philalexandros-megalos,tell me that it is *probable* that Alexander lies beneath a mosque in Alexandria. Perhaps he is there, and perhaps he is not. Unless the Fates direct the archaeologists to it, we may never know .

[barry]

Laura - Relax, You might want to rephrase your question from: what happened to his body to: does anyone know the whereabouts of Alexander the Great's burial location ... I'm still
confused what that information would do for you ... BUT ... What ever rocks your boat ... There are numerous facets to Alexander the Great that seem much more fascinating to explore ... to dwell on his death and burial location seems a discredit to everything he achieved while he roamed this planet for a menial 32 years ... Think about what this man accomplished in his short reign on this planet and you should see, he certainly wasn't a man that used time and space unwisely..........

[ruthaki]

Now here's pause for thought. I once had this wild theory that because whoever held his body held the power (as they believed) that the Romans stole it from Alexandria, took it back to Rome with them, and it lies somewhere hidden in the vaults of the Vatican. Wild? Why not. (Though probably below the mosque in Alexander is good, or perhaps under the sea somewhere near where they've found Cleopatra's palace.)

[marcus]

Was Caligula really mad? We could start a whole new forum on that question, Dave.Interestingly enough, one of the best seminars I attended throughout my 3 years at university, was one where the tutor spent an hour convincing us that every 'mad' thing that Caligula did was a carefully planned political stunt. For example, the whole business about making his horse a senator was Caligula's way of pointing out where the real power lay: that he could make and break senators according to his whim. I have to say that a lot of it made sense and, when you consider that Suetonius and Tacitus were writing at a time when it was politic to denigrate certain emperors, you can see how they put a certain spin on facts.Having said that, I do believe that he was a bit bonkers. After all, he still murdered a lot of people for very arbitrary reasons, and was ultimately assassinated because of his misdeeds. But not everything we are told that usually marks him out as a lunatic was actually a 'sign of madness'.All the bestMarcus

[susan]

Yes, along the lines of George III's reply to his advisers about general Wolfe "Well if he is mad then I wish he'd bite some more of my generals."
Caligula survived for long enough to not be completely mad.

[susan]

Yes, the mosque is Nabi Daniel and my son said his Friday prayers there last week on his way back from Siwah. He's now in Damascus after being drugged and robbed - there are some benefits in armchair travelling it seems.Susan