New-Discovered Achaemenid city of Liduma

[Cyrus Shahmiri]

According to the Persepolis Fortification tablets, Liduma was one of the largest Achaemenid cities, last year Iranian and Australian archaeologists under a joint team discovered this city on the Royal Road connecting Persepolis (Achaemenid ceremonial capital in Fars province) to Susa (Achaemenid winter and political capital in Khuzestan province) during their excavations in the plain of Fahlian, Fars province.



However historians have not mentioned Liduma but I think it is obivous that after Susa, Alexander himslef conquered this city and then he decided to divide the Macedonian army, Please read this great article: ALEXANDER’S MARCH FROM SUSA TO PERSEPOLIS

As you read there, "The obvious place, in fact, for the division of the army is the plain of Fahlian, where the traveller has to decide whether to climb the high range of mountains confronting him or go round it;"

There are good reasons in this article which prove Parmenion stayed at Liduma for more days and why Alexander chose a dangerous road through the Zagros mountains to reach Persepolis, "It would have been no advantage to Alexander to bring a much larger force up to the Persian Gates, but if he did happen to require reinforcements they could have been sent up to him, since Parmenion would still have been in the Fahlian area at the time of the attack on the Gates. On the other hand, if he were repulsed at the Gates he could fall back on Parmenion's intact forces."


Marble staircase of Achaemenid palace of Lidma (the fourth largest Achaemenid palace after the palaces of Persepolis, Susa and Pasargadae)

Pics of New-Discovered Achaemenid city of Liduma: http://www.chnphoto.ir/gallery.php?gall ... 68&lang=en

[marcus]

According to the Persepolis Fortification tablets, Liduma was one of the largest Achaemenid cities

I'll take your word for that!

However historians have not mentioned Liduma but I think it is obivous that after Susa, Alexander himslef conquered this city and then he decided to divide the Macedonian army, Please read this great article: ALEXANDER’S MARCH FROM SUSA TO PERSEPOLIS

As you read there, "The obvious place, in fact, for the division of the army is the plain of Fahlian, where the traveller has to decide whether to climb the high range of mountains confronting him or go round it;"

Thanks for the link to the article. If the city is indeed between Susa and Persepolis then I would think it extremely likely that Alexander stopped there, despite the failure of any sources to mention it. I assume therefore that, although it might have been large, it didn't have the same religious or state cachet that the other cities had.

It is also, therefore, very feasible that it was here that Alexander divided his army; although we must be careful to distinguish between possibility, or even probability, and established fact - we cannot say he did divide his army here, but we can suggest that it is very possible.

ATB

[Cyrus Shahmiri]

More info about his city: http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=163957