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Alexander didn't take kindly to rival kings of kings.I find it interesting that Mel Gibson dropped his 10-part HBO Alexander mini-series, and focused on the torture of Jesus.But what happened to Jesus was a picnic compared to what Alexander had done to Bessus, who was the rival king of kings to Alexander...After having Bessus whipped, he had his nose and ears cut off (Arrian). Then Alexander had him crucified, and while he was on the cross arrows shot into him (Curtius). Before he could die, Alexander had his body tied to two trees that were drawn together with ropes. When the ropes were cut, Bessus was torn in half (Plutarch). Then Bessus' corpse was cut into little pieces and scattered about (Diodorus). There was no rising from the dead of Bessus' pieces.Now THAT's passion!John

True, but that was the Persian custom for the punishment of traitors, so it was not Alexander's idea.

Hello,I see your point regarding Mel Gibson- his gamble has obviously paid off big time for him.On the other hand, I was under the impression regarding Bessus, and without wishing to defend Alexander at all costs, that Bessus was not condemned by Alexander exclusively but by a series of other judges and of course the actual circumstances of his death remain unknown- whether crucified or rent by two trees- either way, like you say, he went through hell before he died.He was tortured and treated Persian style as any man would have been who had injured the Great King.Dean.

A word of caution.First, when we get such conflicting reports about details of events the solution is not to conflate them (roll them together), but to recognize that what exactly WAS done is in doubt. Whether ALL these things were done to Bessus was dubious.Second, Persians and others from the ANE and AME (ancient near east and ancient middle east) had a tradition of punishing treason quite harshly. The Assyrians, for instance, were particularly vicious (Tiglathpilesar, Sargon II, Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal all had quite the reputation). But impalement, crucifixion and mutilation were all traditional forms of retribution for rebellion or attempted coup d'etat. It was better to be killed in the fray than survive to be captured.Dr. Jeanne Reames-Zimmerman
287-K ASH, Dept. of History
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Omaha, NE 68182
402/554-2489

Yes, that kind of torture was common in Persia. I don't believe the Macedonians went to quite those extremes. .

John, Read Homer's Contest by Nietche -May need to re read it a few times before it makes sense Here is the site link http://www.geocities.com/thenietzschechannel/hc.htm The key phrase isIF we approach them with the FLABBY concept of MODERN "HUMANITY Trying to judge ancient peoples with modern concepts of morality is usually leads to a skewed picture. Best Regards , Dimitri

Hi Ruth, Alexander is reliving the acts of his lengendary direct noble ancestor Achilles.From Homers Contest Fredrich NiezcheWhen Alexander has the feet of Batis, the brave defender of Gaza, pierced, and ties him, alive, to his carriage, to drag him about while his soldiers mock, that is a revolting caricature of Achilles, who maltreats Hector's corpse in a similar fashion at night; and even this trait is offensive to us and makes us shudder. Best regards, Dimitrios

Then Bessus' corpse was cut into little pieces and scattered about -Perfect example of Dishonoring a corpse Yannis , this is not only Homeric but comes right from the Illiad.Though the methods were Persian for betrayal the concept of dishonoring a corpse would have been consistent with his morality. Other examples are his treatment of Batsis in Gaza ,Achilles dissing Hectors corpse are other examples. Alexandros was a man of high morality and deeply religious (In a Homeric not a JudeoChristian sense)and with a inner mission focused on his role as the direct decendent of legendary Achilles.Thus ATG was acting consistent with his own morality despite the fact that he murderred Bessus in a Persian manner the act of dissing the corpse would have been not that strange at all.

Absolutely. Also, if I recall correctly, one of the things that set 'barbarians' apart from 'Greeks' was their predeliction for cruelty. It might well be that the more lurid options were given a bit of spin by the primary sources (and copied by the secondary, if not given the spin by those themselves) in order to emphasise the 'barbarity' of the barbarians...All the bestMarcus

The subject of Bessus always fascinates me thanks to association. I recall when the astronauts were killed in their descent back to earth on February 1 last year, and that has always reminded me of when Bessus is flying through the air as well. It is truly a catastrophic kind of death! But it was the Persian method, as I recall reading that Alexander had permitted the Persians to mete out their form of justice which is what is supposed to happen with Saddam Hussein today as well.

I really like the idea. Try putting yourself in another's shoes is a great way of teaching!

Hi..
First of all, you can't compare what Jesus suffered with what happened to Bessus.
Secondly, Bessus really died with the worst way but Alexander isn't guilty for his death. A persian cut Bessus' nose and ears off ; his name was Oxathres. Then, his death was decided by the army and not by Alexander. Alexander wanted a different death for someone so brave as Bessus but he couldn't ignore what the soldiers wanted.
that's all..

Dear John,
Bessos was treated so severely possibly because he had killed a Darius, a kind of a Priest-King. The title of Darius was probably sought by Xerexes but this was denied to him by the priests of E-Sagila. I think that the fact that Cyrus-II is called Darius in the Bible may not be a mistake as is usually thought.
Regards,
Dr. Pal

It sounds like you're trying to make excuses for Alexander's cruelty here. Arrian certainly didn't:"For my part, I do not approve of this excessive punishment of Bessus; I regard the mutilation of the extremeties as barbaric, and I agree that Alexander was carried away..." [Arrian. Anabasis IV. 4]As for you getting on my case for using too many ancient sources, I have the opposite complaint about you. Have you ever used a single shred from an ancient source that backs up your claim that Alexander had a sexual "passion" for Hephaistion?If so, I'd be interested to look into it.John

Alexander gave Bessos the Persian punishment, because he killed a King by stealthy and treacherously. Do you think that fellow deserved less? Remember Alex went and payed his homage to Darius corpse? He did not want Darius to be murdered. He wouldn't do it himself. He punished Bessos using Bessos' own people's ways.
Fair enough, as most of the time with Alexander.cheers
susa