Macedonian Alexander the Great II

There were also conservatives in the Macedonian vassal states of the king who opposed Alexander the Great's strange vision of co governance and cultural integration. Although many of these opponents have been eliminated, one is still in power: he is Old Antipater, who is already in his 70s. With the help of his son Cassander, who was the same age as Alexander the Great, he faithfully guarded the rear of Macedonia for twelve years as Alexander the Great's deputy. However, the king decided to deprive Antipater of his power by retiring him or in more extreme ways. When Alexander the Great ordered him to leave his post and report to Babylon, the old general stayed in Macedonia for some reason and designated his son to replace him. As is well known, Cassander did not like Alexander the Great, and he also showed contempt for the new Asiatic court customs. He had just arrived in Babylon before Alexander the Great fell ill. Did he and his father conspire to kill their king out of hatred towards Alexander the Great or out of concern for their own safety?

Many Greeks and Macedonians answered these questions in a positive tone, especially regarding the latter. After the death of Alexander the Great, there were rumors that Aristotle collected a deadly beverage from a spring that was said to be the source of the Styx. Cassander, at the request of his father, brought it to Babylon. According to these rumors, this frozen and anesthetic poison was transported using the hooves of mules, as it is said that this poison is capable of corroding any container, even hard steel. Then the poison was put into Alexander the Great's cup by the then king's sommelier, Cassander's brother Olaus. From the motives, methods, and even timing of the conspiracy, this statement has certain validity. It is generally believed that Alexander the Great's mother later dug up the buried bones of Olaus and scattered them all over the ground, as a punishment for his involvement in the conspiracy.

The credibility of these rumors is currently unknown. Those who still supported Alexander the Great in his final days will continue to embellish his image, compete for his power, and tamper with the public record of his death for their own purposes. They even spread false records to implicate competitors. The story recorded in the so-called "Book of Death" - a sensational narrative claiming to expose Alexander the Great's poisoning conspiracy - seems to have emerged as a result. In the years after 323 BC, the question of who killed Alexander the Great and whether he died from natural causes will be repeatedly distorted by various political interests, making it difficult to restore the truth.

There is a historical material that makes today's readers find particularly difficult. Although the Palace Diary has long been lost, Plutarch and Arian both cited it when recounting the last days of Alexander the Great. According to the Palace Magazine, Alexander the Great died slowly during a long period of high fever, and there was no such rapid and violent state of death as typical poisoned people. Moreover, the Palace Diary did not mention a suspicious detail recorded in other documents: Alexander the Great shouted out from a sharp pain in his back after drinking a large glass of wine. This document is believed to have been written by Eumenes, the Greek clerk of Alexander the Great, who was also a witness to the events recorded in the document, so in the eyes of some, this record has a certain degree of authority. However, it is also possible that it was forged, or that Eumenes himself tampered with the literature to cover up some conspiracy. What makes the whole problem even more complex is that Arian and Plutarch have differences in their summaries of the Palace Magazine, with some areas even noticeably different. Undoubtedly, one of the two authors saw a tampered version - or only the tampered text.

The debate among Alexander the Great's contemporaries about his cause of death makes it difficult to accept any surface evidence. This is a world like a mirror hall. The more convincing the records here are, the more likely it is that they were created by a cunning assassin to cover up his crimes. However, historical research must start from one place; If there is no credible material, we will have no knowledge of history. The events described here are based on Arian's summary of the Palace Diary; However, we must recognize that none of the information we rely on is absolutely true.

After the meeting on June 3rd, Alexander the Great had a high fever for another night, but the next day he managed to preside over the morning sacrifice and received his senior officers. On June 4th, Alexander the Great's health deteriorated, but the next day he met with his senior commander again to continue planning an expedition to Arabia. So far, Alexander the Great has refused to acknowledge that his illness may endanger his career. In the past, he used military actions as a remedy for recovery. After the death of his closest friend Hephaestion plunged him into a long period of depression, Alexander the Great finally regained his composure and rushed into the Midi Mountains, crossing the thick snow and launching an attack on the tenacious Cosians who lived there. Plutarch wrote, "He used war to soothe his grief, just like hunting to rest - except that the target of hunting was humanity."

At the same time, in the private rooms of the palace, there should be at least one woman helping to take care of the sick Alexander the Great - if any sources of information about her are credible. Alexander the Great's wife, Roxana, or in her mother tongue, Roxana Ko (meaning "shining little star"), was much younger than Alexander the Great. At that time, she may not have been in her heyday, and her cultural differences with Alexander the Great were like the cultural differences between Fate in the Wind and Captain John Smith. She comes from the rugged mountainous area known as Bactria in Greek. Alexander's army encountered guerrilla attacks there and marched for two difficult years. Roxana's father, Oxytas, was one of the most stubborn enemies he faced. After making him surrender, Alexander the Great became allies with him and consolidated the alliance by marrying his daughter.

Roxana became pregnant less than a year after marrying Alexander the Great, but she either miscarried or her baby died prematurely. In June 323 BC, she was in the late stage of her second pregnancy. What happened to her and her critically ill husband during their illness, apart from the bizarre and touching stories of the couple recorded in The Book of the Dead and The Legend of Alexander, is almost completely unknown and contains many unreliable historical materials. These stories are undoubtedly fabricated, but they may be based on some real events. According to its records, one night when Roxana entered the king's ward, she found no one on the bed. She discovered an open secret channel, so she slipped out of court to pursue her husband. When Alexander the Great weakly climbed up the Euphrates River, Roxana caught up with him. The two embraced there, and Roxana realized that her husband wanted to drown her, so she wept bitterly and advised him to give up the original plan. Alexander the Great had no choice but to obediently return to the palace and lament, "You have caused me to lose eternal life." Alexander the Great had been trying to make his body disappear, so that his followers could believe that he was truly a god.

Apart from Roxanne, there are two other women who must be anxiously watching Alexander the Great's situation, because like Roxanne, their status and even personal safety depend entirely on Alexander the Great. They were the daughters of the last two Persian kings, Starra and Paresa, and became the second and third wives of Alexander the Great about a year ago. It is unclear whether these two princesses stayed in Babylon with their husbands or in Susa, one of the Persian capitals. Alexander the Great imprisoned them here since 331 BC and married them in 324 BC. However, even if they were in Susa, they could still receive news within one or two days after Alexander the Great fell ill. These messages will quickly spread between the two cities through the Persian postal system and beacon communication.

Alexander married two Persian princesses as part of his efforts to unite the leadership of his army with Asian elites and create a mixed ruling class for his three continental empires. He held a collective wedding in Susa and married dozens of his friends brides from noble families in Persia and Bactria. He carefully adjusted the choices of each bride to match the favor he hoped to give to the groom. He gave Hephaestian the greatest compliment - his own bride Stella's sister - so that his child and Hephaestian's child became cousins. Alexander the Great also specially selected other people to give them the highest honor of integrating into the big family. Arkus, Eumenes, and Ptolemy have already married relatives of Balsin. Balsin was the mistress of Alexander the Great and the mother of his only living son Heracles. Another high-ranking general of Alexander the Great, Kratus, married Amastris, the cousin of Statra. Like other royal women, she was captured in 331 BC. Since then, she has become a prisoner, studying noble classical Greek under the guidance of a mentor designated by Alexander the Great.

However, Kratus was not satisfied with his bride. He is older than the other members of the King's core group. He is over age, not just talking while standing but also suffering from lower back pain. His traditionalism made him incompatible with Alexander the Great's Eurasian integration strategy. Although Kratus respected his king and remained loyal to him, he still felt entitled to repeatedly warn Alexander the Great that he had gone too far in accepting Persian customs. Alexander the Great expressed dissatisfaction with such interference, especially as this admonition led heroes, ordinary soldiers, former farmers, and farmers who followed the example of Kratus to still see Persians as defeated enemies rather than ruling partners. However, Alexander the Great attached great importance to the talent of Cthullus and did not punish him for his dissent. Alexander the Great demanded that he marry the noble Amastris, perhaps in the hope of making a final effort to involve Cthullus in the cause he deeply doubted.

The collective wedding was held at the Susa Palace. Nearly a hundred beautifully crafted long sofas were lined up in the hall of the palace, with friends leaning against them, each holding a glass of wine. Everyone raised their glasses and toasted. Then, in a carefully arranged process, Asian brides entered one after another, with each bride sitting next to the groom. According to Persian wedding customs, Alexander held the hands of his two brides and kissed their lips; This seems to be a suggestion, so the other companions followed suit. The grand banquet began, and then each groom escorted his bride to the prepared sleeping spot in the palace. As for how Alexander arranged his wedding night with the two brides, our historical records have never revealed.

Subsequently, there was a five-day celebration and grand ceremony, during which Alexander the Great presented a golden wreath to outstanding figures fighting on the Indian Peninsula. Leonardo and Pusetas, in a rebellious town, rescued Alexander the Great from the arrows of enemy archers and won this shining symbol of honor. Greek Admiral Arkus, who led the fleet through a dangerous voyage, was recognized for his hardships and received a golden wreath. Ptolemy also wore a golden wreath. As an old friend of the king, he proved himself capable of being a combat officer on the Indian Peninsula, and this wreath is a recognition of him. However, the loyal and brave Kratus may not have been awarded a wreath at this ceremony, as he often opposed Alexander the Great's integration plans. Eumenes didn't either, because when he was on the Indian Peninsula, he was mainly a clerk, not a fighter.

As the first week of June approached its end, the Macedonian army outside Babylon became increasingly uneasy. People haven't seen their king for a long time, after sacrificing to Alexander the Great on his chariot on the last morning. It is extremely unusual for the king to remain out of public view for such a long time, especially as he will soon lead his court to launch a military operation. Nevertheless, they are still preparing weapons and equipment for the Arab War.

Most of the soldiers in these units use an infantry spear called Sarisha, as well as daggers and shields for combat. Alexander the Great's father Philip II introduced the Sarissa spear at the beginning of his reign - a spear with an 18 foot long solid wooden pole and a 2-pound metal blade at the top - and recruited strong young men to practice, creating a brand new infantry formation that seemed to change the face of combat overnight. Now, these new recruits trained by Philip II are over fifty years old but still fighting on the front lines. When they advance towards the enemy, they will stab Salisha's spear with both hands, while their shields are hung around their necks. The discipline honed through decades of military career in various terrains and tactical conditions will make these veterans invincible to any opponent, unless they encounter another army of the same kind, they will soon realize this.

In addition, Philip II also created an elite infantry unit called the Shield Guard, which carried lighter equipment and moved faster than infantry formation soldiers. Three thousand soldiers armed with shields stood out for their strength, endurance, and loyalty to the king. They were the first to be summoned in difficult military operations or when Alexander the Great's own safety was threatened. They can walk 40 miles a day on rugged terrain. They will climb up the cliff and attack the city walls with raindrops of stones. They can also maintain good morale on hot deserts and frozen mountain roads. Whether on or off the battlefield, Alexander the Great relied heavily on these soldiers and maintained close contact with them. When he was on the Indian Peninsula, the Shield Guard withstood the greatest hardships to date. In recognition of these soldiers, Alexander the Great plated the equipment of this unit with silver, giving it a new name - the Silver Shield Soldiers.

However, recently, the relationship between the king and his veterans has become tense. Alexander the Great recruited Persians and Bactrians, trained them in Macedonian tactics, and even recruited them to join his most elite troops. This behavior not only damages the self-esteem of our compatriots, but also deepens their prejudice against foreigners. They reluctantly accepted Alexander the Great's appointment of Persians as high-ranking officials. Alexander the Great adopted Persian attire and court etiquette, and even his own king and high-ranking officials married Asian women. However, the integration of armed forces is a more serious issue. When Alexander the Great announced at a military rally in the Persian city of Oedipus that he would send 10000 Macedonian soldiers back to their homeland and arrange for Persians to take over their positions, the soldiers firmly refused.

During the mutiny rally in Opis, things quickly spiraled out of control. These people began to express their disdain, mocking their king for not needing any of their soldiers because his "father" would help him through the difficulties - a mockery of Alexander the Great's background in Amon. Alexander the Great was furious and rushed into the crowd under the escort of his followers. He arrested several of the most outspoken opponents and executed them on the spot. Then Alexander the Great retreated to his residence, rejecting the audience of his compatriots and allowing Persian officers to enter. He immediately took measures to replace his entire army with troops recruited from Asia, even Holy Silver Shield soldiers. He allowed his newly appointed Persian courtiers to kiss his lips to greet him - an intimate act that the Persian king allowed his servants to take. He agrees with what the Macedonian soldiers say, and he will make it clear that he doesn't need any of them.

Compared to the earlier mutiny on the Indian Peninsula, the rift between the king and the soldiers is even more severe this time. Alexander the Great had no choice but to compromise, as he had no other army to drive him away. However, the center of the Persian Empire now regards Alexander the Great as its legitimate ruler, and the Asian leaders who once fought for Darius III are always ready to fight for him. Alexander the Great was no longer at the mercy of the army, as he and his soldiers were well aware of. So the army resisted for three days. When the soldiers could no longer bear to break up with the king, they collectively came to Alexander the Great's tent and threw weapons at the tent door, begging the king to take them back in order to win the king's favor. Like abandoned lovers, they lamented that Alexander the Great allowed his Persian courtiers to offer kisses, which Macedonians had never received before.

This regret is enough to satisfy Alexander the Great. He walked out of the tent to welcome his compatriots and invited them to kiss him like Persians. Alexander the Great said he would restore his favor towards them and become their leader again. These Macedonians were relieved and overjoyed. After kissing their lips, they sang the song of victory and returned to the camp. Alexander the Great held a grand banquet to celebrate reconciliation and his victory. Then, he dispatched 10000 veterans as planned and appointed Kratruth to lead them home. The returning soldiers also included the Silver Shield soldiers, who had long been trusted by Alexander the Great for their bravery and loyalty. However, after the mutinies on the Hipparsi River and Oedipus, they were all seen by Alexander the Great as troublemakers.

Every soldier who returns to Europe will receive 1 tarant of silver as a bonus for leaving the army - calculated at standard rates equivalent to several years of salary. And the remaining people may have 6000 infantry, with salaries several times higher than the initial level. The salary increase is to prevent more possible rebellions and compensate for the humiliation suffered by the army fighting alongside the barbarians. This is also a way for Alexander the Great to acknowledge that the mission of his army has changed. His army had been fighting everywhere as early as twelve years ago, and now they are required to maintain the rule of an empire. These people gradually transformed into a permanent military class, a humanoid infrastructure that supported the Alexander World Empire. Even if these soldiers were willing, they would never be able to return to the sheepfold and farm, and after twelve years of military conquest, few of them would choose to do so. They, like mercenaries, sold their lives, so Alexander the Great felt that they deserved high rewards.

So the Macedonian infantry who stayed in Babylon to prepare for the Arab invasion became a privileged class. In addition to their high salary and leading position in the new "mixed race" formation, they also formed the most respected Wang Jiawei team among the Chinese people, directly under the command of the king. According to Macedonia's long-standing tradition, the Wong Kar Wai team has the right to gather together and make decisions through oral voting, including their most important responsibility of recognizing the new heir to the throne. As Alexander the Great faded out of public view for a week or more, some of them began to doubt whether they would soon be required to carry out this solemn mission.

The guards gathered in the Babylonian Summer Palace found it difficult to maintain the illusion that Alexander the Great would soon recover. The king's condition did not improve, and every time he presided over a morning sacrifice, he still had to be carried in a sedan chair. However, he continued to hold war conferences to discuss the upcoming battles.

After more than a week of seclusion, Alexander the Great prepared to return to the Southern Palace by boat along the Euphrates River and called on all armies and military commanders to prepare there. Perhaps he was looking forward to announcing the start of military action to conquer the Arabs. His current situation is not optimistic, it is hard to believe that he intends to board a warship and set foot in the little-known waters of the Persian Gulf. However, his energy and endurance exceeded people's imagination. For example, just a few months after he was punctured in the lungs and managed to escape, he struggled to cross the Gedrosia Desert. Alternatively, in reality, he may have realized that he was not far from death and summoned the officers to listen to his instructions for the upcoming handover of power.

No matter what orders Alexander the Great had planned to issue, in the end, all of these were in vain. Because by the next day, Alexander the Great had lost his ability to speak. He has been suffering from a high fever. A ship carried him along the Euphrates River to the center of Babylon. Without a doubt, his guards brought him back to the palace where he left a week ago.

June 10th to 11th is a gloomy day for the Macedonians in Babylon. At this point, Alexander the Great was no longer able to move or speak. Some friends even desperately help their king in supernatural ways. After asking the gods if they should take Alexander the Great to the temple, they directly moved into the temple of the local gods. That night, they got the answer in their dream: Alexander the Great was better off staying put. Later, after the death of Alexander the Great, this oracle was interpreted as saying that in the eyes of the gods, death is a "better" result than recovery.

The guards closely guarded the passage close to the king, and the soldiers began to become anxious and uneasy. There are rumors that the king has passed away due to illness, but the top commanders are hiding this fact. The doubts that soldiers once showed on the Indian Peninsula are now beginning to reappear, and their emotions have become gloomy and irritable. A group of soldiers gathered outside the palace demanding entry, even threatening the guards with force, or according to a record, they broke through the city wall and broke the blockade on them. Finally, these senior generals had to compromise and allow all soldiers to enter the king's bedroom.

Soldiers and friends in the growing army were at the forefront of dying figures, and Alexander the Great made every effort to greet everyone by rolling his eyes or shaking his head. Obviously, the arrival of death is inevitable. This will be their final farewell, unless, as Karanos hinted before self immolation, they may embrace again in some world after death.

The last moment occurred on the evening of June 11th. On that day, an anonymous Babylonian clerk left a record in his astronomical diary, much like a prophet's record linking political events to celestial movements. He used wedge-shaped engraving strokes to write on clay tablets - fragments of which are now housed in the British Museum - creating the most mundane record in Alexander's history, but also the most powerful record in some aspects. According to the Babylonian calendar, this day is the 29th day of the month of Ayalu. He wrote in the entry of the day, "The king has passed away," and then simply added "there are clouds" when explaining why it is not possible to observe the starry sky.

About three and a half centuries ago, another Macedonian king, the founder of Alexander the Great, also lay in a hospital bed and issued instructions to his son regarding his funeral. A son named Agis is about to be crowned king. His father told him to build a royal tomb in Igy, which was the city where he lived at the time. Agius's father warned him that all the kings of Macedonia must be buried here, because if someone were buried elsewhere, their dynasty would come to an end.

Gaicheng was the location of the Macedonian royal court at that time. The name of this city reveals the origins of the less prominent Macedonians, as the word is quite similar to the Greek word "goat". For most of history, Macedonians made a living through animal husbandry, but it was these people who miraculously became soldiers and conquerors under the rule of Philip II and Alexander the Great. According to a legend recorded by Roman historian Justine, it is believed that this transformation had already been foreseen by the gods, even if it was not an obvious fate. An ancient oracle declared that the goat would lead the Macedonians to establish a great empire. An early Macedonian king recalled this oracle when he discovered a group of wild goats in Igy, so he always held a flag with goats painted on it and led his soldiers to battle. So, the name Igei is more like representing the imperial fate of this nation's ability to conquer the world, rather than just referring to their past of herding sheep.

The name of King Agius also had a mythical influence on the Macedonians, as it seems to date back to the Greek city-state of Argos. Legend has it that Agius' father was an exile of Argos, who seized control of Macedonia by force and established the Greek royal family in non Greek regions. In the Greek world, no one knows whether they should believe this myth, and modern scholars tend to use this myth as propaganda. However, the Macedonian king took pride in the connection with Argos implied by the name Agis; They also have an older ancestor named Agius, who is said to be the grandson of Zeus. So the royal family used a collective term "Agid" to refer to themselves, emphasizing their connection with this ancestor and even the Argos Greeks.

In the three and a half centuries before the rise of Alexander the Great, the Agid family gradually became the core of Macedonian political life. Because all relevant appointments and government positions are determined by the king, they are the only legitimate government. On this land divided into several regions due to geographical reasons, the royal family defined ethnic cognition: if a person is ruled by the Agid family, then that person is a Macedonian. In the eyes of the princes of the kingdom, monarchy has become a sacred system, which is also their main way to understand their own identity. They formed a concentric circle around the reigning king; The nobles proclaimed themselves as "friends" and "companions" of the king. They raised their glasses and drank with the king at a noisy banquet, hunted wild boars with the king, and sent their young son into the palace to become the king's attendants.

Although the Agid family is highly respected, it does not mean that they can be slaughtered by others. Due to the lack of a system for selecting successors, they are prone to falling into self destructive wars or always resolving dynastic disputes through civil wars. Their polygamy has created multiple family lineages, and these families also compete with each other for the throne, sometimes even in vicious competition. The winners of such competitions often exterminate their opponents: Alexander the Great did so when inheriting the throne from his father Philip II, leading to the collapse of the royal family due to a lack of necessary successors. In the end, the members of Agid who can win the throne can stabilize the throne. At the ceremony where armed soldiers gathered, people cheered to welcome their new ruler.

For three and a half centuries, this feuding family has ruled over the Kingdom of Macedonia and buried the dead in the city of Igy according to Agius's instructions. Afterwards, even if the royal court moved to the more extroverted and easier to go to sea in Pera, the ancient capital was still a site of royal tombs. It seems that this family believed the prophecy Agius heard from his father, firmly believing that their dynasty could only survive by preserving the royal tombs. The Ajid family upholds this tradition and remains steadfast in their determination.

However, Alexander the Great chose to break this shackle. In his final series of instructions, he requested that his body be buried in western Egypt, which is close to the temple of Amun in the desert. Eight years ago, Alexander the Great visited this temple and asked the gods about his background. It is said that someone told him that he was the son of Amon, not the son of Philip II. No matter what he heard there, he decided to sleep in the rarely visited place in the world - now the Siwa Oasis. His body will be placed in a beautiful quarantine area - surrounded by a desolate and terrifying desert - instead of being buried with his ancestors in the tomb of Igi city. It seems that Alexander the Great only wanted one god as his kin.

On the evening of June 11th, one of the many issues faced by his guards was whether to agree to Alexander the Great's peculiar request. People are temporarily unable to solve this problem because there will soon be more urgent issues that require their attention. In two years, this issue will be resolved in a way that neither they nor Alexander the Great could have foreseen. Alexander's body, like his dynasty and empire, is about to embark on an unprecedented dangerous journey.