A Punitive Expedition.

[dean]

Hello,Straight after Hephaestion's death Alexander, after grieving his death, goes straight back to warring against the Cosseans(?)- as a kind of sacrifice like Achilles did with the ten Trojan children sacrificed on the tomb of Patroclus.I believe that Sisygambis intervenes for this tribe asks Alexander to grant them back the right to live on their ancestral lands.I suppose when speaking about punitive expeditions- or acts, Thebes comes to mind too. These type of extreme punishments were used as a terrifying warning I suppose to the whole of Greece.Are there any other expeditions/campaigns that Alexander set out on, which were unnecessary/illogical from a strategic point of view and should we interpret them in a similar way to what happened in Thebes- as a powerful warning to other neighbouring tribes/cities?Best wishes,
Dean.

[yiannis]

First thing that comes to mind is the Indian campaign. It was reduced from glorius battles to mere slaughter and terror.
A lesson to the Indians not to oppose him...

[ruthaki]

I don't recall reading about the Trojan children being sacrificed although I do remember that Xerxes sacrificed 9 boy and girls at the Nine Ways Crossing at Amphipolis. Where is the story of the Trojan children found? ruthaki

[yiannis]

Hi Ruth,It's in the Iliad:"Rest in peace, Patroclus, though you're in Hades' house.
For I'm now completing everything I promised you before. Flames will burn twelve noble sons of great-hearted Trojans,all cremated with you. But as for Hector, Priam's son, I'll not feed him to the fire, but to the dogs."And further down:
"Then, with his bronze, he butchered those twelve noble sons of the courageous Trojans,
his feelings grimly set on this atrocity."http://www.mala.bc.ca/~johnstoi/homer/iliad23.htm

[Kit]

Hi Dean,I seem to recall Alexander giving the Scythians a good 'bashing' in 329BC simply for turning up! You could argue that it was a demonstration of force to cower the neighbouring nomads, but it's likely it was simply because they were in the neigbourhood when Alexander was!regards,Kit

[ruthaki]

Thanks. I've read the Iliad I don't know how many times but for some reason didn't recall that passage. Just saw "Andromache" (Euripides)last weekend. A brilliant performance (in English). Interesting to connect the lineage from Achilles to the Molossians (Olympias's ancestors).

[marcus]

Well, to be fair, the Scythians had been taunting him from across the Jaxartes for a while (sort of like the French soldiers in Monty Python and the Holy Grail ).I reckon someone of Alexander's personality couldn't let them get away with *that*, so he had to teach them a lesson. Interesting that, once he had given them a bit of a kicking he came back across to his side of the river - which convinces me that it was a demonstration, purely and simply, just to ensure they didn't think of coming across and invading his territory.All the bestMarcus

[Tre]

Hi Marcus:The King or at least what was left of him was carried back to camp, so one could say Alexander could no longer attend his own party.Regards,Tre

[marcus]

He he! Yes, that would be one way of looking at it.Alexander must have been in pretty ropy shape at that time: he'd been wounded in the leg at Cyropolis, had previously been hit in the neck with a stone when avenging the attack on his foraging party, and he got struck down with a violent stomach bug while chasing the Scythians.All in all, it's amazing he still managed to beat off those marauding Scyths...All the bestMarcus

[marcus]

Oops, got that wrong - the arrow wound was at the other hill fort, and the wound in the neck from the stone was at Cyropolis.Marcus