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Dear allI was reading a quite old article (M. Cary, GÇ£The Greeks and Ancient Trade with the AtlanticGÇ¥, The Journal of Hellenistic Studies, Vol 44, part 2 (1924), 166-179) when I stumbled upon a shocking statement (at least to me!).While discussing the Sea route connecting Greece and Britain (page 170, last paragraph), the author writes:GÇ£Towards the end of the sixth century the Carthaginians closed the Atlantic gates to the Greeks, and the Phocaeans, far from following up MidacritusGÇÖ success, were cut off even from Tartessus. Two centuries elapsed before the Carthaginian blockade of the Straits was broken. But in the days of Alexander the Great the Massiliote explorer Pytheas got safe past Gades and went farthest north of all ancient Mediterranean seamenGÇ¥At this point thereGÇÖs a footnote that reads as follows:GÇ£As has often been pointed out, PytheasGÇÖ cruise was unknown to Aristotle (d. 322BC) and known to Dicaearchus (d. 285BC). PROBABLY IT WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY ALEXANDERGÇÖS PREPARATIONS FOR A CAMPAIGN AGAINST CARTHAGE, which gave the Carthaginians some more urgent work than to picket the Spanish Main. The date of the cruise would thus be about 325-323BCGÇ¥Blimey! If this is true, then thereGÇÖs a significantly strong argument in favor of the historicity of AlexanderGÇÖs plans! That is, it can be considered as almost irrefutable evidence that Carthaginians (who had no interest in condescending to PerdikkasGÇÖ political intrigues, especially if it meant giving up their very profitable monopolistic position in Gibraltar) had reliable information about the high probability of a Western campaign to be undertaken by ATG in the near future.I donGÇÖt remember having read anything like this when I read some articles about the historicity of those plans, so maybe this is just a mistake. I wouldnGÇÖt expect such an important fact to be overlooked by the Tarns, Badians, and so on, especially since this article was written some 80 years ago.Do you have any extra information about it? Whether true or not, it opens an interesting avenue for the possibility of testing whether AlexGÇÖs plans existed or not, namely, the analysis of how the alleged next victims of Alexander behaved in the years around 323BC. Is there any historical source mentioning, say, Carthaginian preparations for defense, or diplomatic operations in order to ally with Cyrene?Truly curiousAlejandro

Hi Alejandro,That is interesting.It reads to me as if, having established the date, the writer has come to a believable conclusion. As no-one has ever produced any additional evidence to support it, I would guess that it doesn't exist. However, after the destruction of Tyre the Carthaginians will have been perfectly aware of Alexander's nature - there were Carth. envoys at Tyre, if you remember - so I find it very plausible. While he was away in Bactria and India they probably didn't give him too much thought... but once they heard about his return from India they very conceivable started to get a bit worried.So I think it's very plausible, although I doubt anyone will be able to provide more proof to support the assertion.All the bestMarcus

Hi Miguel,I suspect your right also, furthermore, perhaps the invasion West and even North had begun as early as the beginning of the asiatic campaign.We know that Alexander of Epirus, ATG's brother
in law/uncle had engaged in an expedition to the West and Zopyrion to the North against the Scythians and remoter Thracian tribes. My suggestion would be, these were indeed prelimanary expeditionary forces testing the waters, so to speak, for future Macedonian expansion .just my thoughts.cheers!

Good point about Alex of Ep.Whether or not he was 'instructed' to go to Italy, as I have seen at least one modern academic state (on what grounds I don't know, unless I've missed something in the sources), the appearance of Alexander's brother-in-law in Italy, while Al himself was running riot all over Asia - and so successfully - must have put the wind up the Carthaginians' sails. After all, they were really the only major power left (none of the Italian tribes being a 'major' power by that time, of course).I'm quite excited by that theory, non-earth-shattering though it is.All the bestMarcus

The trouble here is that between 323 and 285 the Carthaginians fought a very real and documented war with Agathokles of Syracuse at one stage being confined to Africa which would be a better place for Pytheas voyage.The best evidence for Alexander's plans would be the number of vessels available to the early diadochs, and this does pointy to a massive ship-building effort in the Lebanon in Alexander's last days.

Hi KarlI had no idea about the war you mention, and certainly that time looks as a suitable moment to attempt the voyage.Regarding the vessels, where they constructed before or after Alexander died?Kind regardsAlejandro