pothos.org

Hello everyone, I would like some information on the tents that were used in the campaigns. Is there information about the style, the furnishings, and the means by which they are carried available on the internet? There are two paintings in Pierre Briant's book Alexander, Man of Action, and I would like to know more about the interiors as is possible. Thanks, Jan

The text from Polyaenus at http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/a ... r_t70.html describes Alexander's Persian tent, but this is probably not what you were looking for. Yet, it is an interesting story, so I thought I'd put it online anyhow.Jona

Hi Jan,What an interesting question. I wish I could give you an answer, but I can't. If I get the chance I shall try to find out; but in the meantime I look forward with a great deal of interest to any help others can give you.All the bestMarcus

I had never seen this description from Polyaenus before. Thanks. It is almost identical to that which is written in Athanaeus - only the wording is changed very slightly. And Aelian has the same description though it is somewhat abbreviated. Does this mean that they all used the same source, or could they have copied one from another?Best regards,Linda Ann

Thanks, Jona, so much. I really appreciate that description. I did notice the Persian tents used at the Battle of Thermopylae this time when I watched it last night on History Channel. In Steve Pressfield's book, he describes the tent of Xerxes, and also I noticed that tents were used as flotation devices in one of Alexander's efforts to cross a river. It is said that these were leather.