+

PLUTARCH'S AGE OF ALEXANDER

We must remember that Plutarch was a writer looking back to a golden age. He was a lover of tradition. He lived in the 1st - 2nd centuries AD. He came from Charonea in Greece. He saw the lives of the great as an inspiration to statesmen of his own day. He wrote only of men of action. He is a good judge of human character but is not especially critical in his sifting of evidence or in relating the facts. What he wanted was not so much facts as an inspiring portrait so the events had to be sketchy with the aim of emphasising Alexander's moderation and self-control. Plutarch tends to see events in personal terms. It is interesting that in writing his "lives" Plutarch wrote of Alexander and Julius Caesar together. He begins by saying "I am writing biography, not history". In other words he wants to tell us of the character of his subject, not just the facts of his career, his campaigns, battles... etc. He begins with the stories of Alexander's birth. There were several, one that Philip saw Olympias in bed with a serpent (a god), and that Olympias dreamt of a thunderbolt striking her womb, also that he was born on the day that the temple of Artemis at Ephesus was burnt down (Artemis was the goddess of childbirth) and that the eastern Magi had foretold terrible calamity for Asia on that day, and that Philip was told on that day to worship the god Ammon above all others. Plutarch reports that Alexander's skin was always fragrant, perhaps due to his heated nature (which also led him to drink and bouts of rage). He says that from an early age Alex was concerned with fame and glory. He worried that Philip was achieving so much that there would be nothing left for him to do. He did not care for pleasure or wealth only for glory. He tells the story of the horse Bucephalas. When he arrived he was wild and uncontrollable but Alex asked for a chance to tame him and he did. Philip is said to have commented "My son you must find a kingdom big enough for your ambitions, Macedonia is too small for you". Philip saw how willful he was and gave him as one of his tutors Aristotle, the most famous philosopher of his day. Aristotle is supposed to have given him secret advice and Alex wrote to him angrily later on when he heard that Aristotle had published it. Aristotle explained that his

advice would be of no use to the ignorant anyway. Aristotle also made him interested in healing. Alex loved the Iliad and "regarded it as a handbook of the art of war". By the age of sixteen he had acted as regent and had led the cavalry at the Battle of Charonea. After the drunken quarrel with Philip at his wedding to Cleopatra Alexander went to Illyria. But late in 337 BC he was recalled by Philip. There was almost another incident when Alex was afraid that his half brother Arrhidaeus was going to be married to a Carian princess. It was soon after this that Pausanias murdered Philip, perhaps at the prompting of Olympias who is said to have had Cleopatra and her infant son roasted alive. 2 Plutarch says that when he succeeded Philip, Alex was advised not to use force against the Greek states and to deal gently with the barbarian tribes. But he did the opposite. He saw that hesitation would mean disaster. So he crushed the rebels as far as the Danube in 335 BC and when he heard of the revolt of Thebes he marched south and demanded the leaders' surrender. This was refused so Thebes was totally destroyed. Why? Probably as an example to other Greek cities. At Thebes it is said that Timocleia, a noble woman was raped by a Thracian soldier. When he asked where her money was she said it was at the bottom of a well and when he went to look, she pushed him down and killed him. Alex freed her as she had been wronged. In contrast to Thebes Alex was kind to the Athenians and told them to look after their affairs well since they could yet be leaders of Greece again. It is said that in later years Alex regretted his treatment of the Thebans and thought that Dionysus might have been angry with him about it. (This is linked to the Cleitus episode). Around this time Alex visited Corinth where the philosopher Diogenes lived in a barrel.Diogenes was stretched out in the sun and when Alex approached and asked him what favour he wanted Diogenes just asked him to move to one side as he

was blocking the sun. Alex said "If I were not Alexander, I would be Diogenes". At this time he visited the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi but it was a day when the priestess was not speaking. So he tried to drag her to the temple and when she said "You are invincible my son" he was satisfied. When he set out for Persia it seems that he had about 43,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry but very few resources and somewhat in debt. When leaving he shared most of his possessions amongst the cavalry companions and said that he would keep "his hopes for himself". Some, led by Perdicass refused the gifts and said that they would share his hopes. There was some talk before the Granicus that battle should be avoided as it was the traditional harvest month in Macedonia and bad luck to fight. Alex just changed the name of the month. Plutarch says of the Granicus crossing that "it seemed like the act of a desperate madman rather than of a prudent commander". It is here that Cleitus saves Alex's life.

3 Alex at this point had two options. One was to secure the coastline and the other was to pursue Darius. He decided to do the former. At one point the sea was said to have receded to make way for him. Plutarch says of the Battle of Issus that "Fortune certainly presented Alex with the ideal terrain for battle but it was his own generalship which did most to win victory". After Issus when Alex went into the tent of Darius and saw the great wealth and luxury he said "So this it seems is what it is to be a king". Like Arrian, Plutarch commends Alex for his restraint in his treatment of the

Persian women. He also commends his refusal of beautiful young boys offered to him by a slave merchant and says that he was never interested in eating luxurious food. Plutarch also claims that Alex was more moderate in his drinking than was generally supposed. He says that he stayed up late a lot because he enjoyed good conversation. But he does admit that he could be arrogant and boastful and was at times led on by flatterers. It is said that during the siege of Tyre Alex on an expedition to the mountains saved the life of his old tutor, Lysimachus. The two men got separated from the company and it was cold. Alex sneaked in to an enemy camp, stole a firebrand and brought it back. After the Siege of Gaza he is reported to have sent enormous loads of frankincense and myrrh to his old tutor Leonidas who had once given out to him for throwing handfuls of it on the fire. Due to his great determination and proud spirit he was eventually able to overcome not only his enemies but also even places and seasons of the year. On his belief in his own divinity, Plutarch says that he did not allow himself to become vain or conceited but used his "divinity" to assert his authority over others. He tells the story of Alex wounded, when a soldier exclaimed that there was ichor (supposed to flow in the veins of immortals) rather than blood flowing out, Alex replied "It is blood". It is important to note that Plutarch never states that Alex was not the son of Zeus. Plutarch tells the story of the messenger reporting to Darius the death of his wife Stateira, captured by Alex. When Darius doubts that she was well treated the messenger assures him that Alex "is as gentle after victory as he is terrible in battle". Darius then prays that if he has to lose his kingdom it will be to Alex.

4 Plutarch makes clear why Alex will not fight at night at Gaugamela, he wants Darius to be decisively beaten so he can have no excuse to fight again. He also says that Alex was sound asleep on the morning of the battle and had to be woken up. Plutarch suggests that relations between Parmenio and Alex were strained at Gaugamela and that perhaps Parmenio resented the pomp and authority of Alex's style. He says that going into fight at Gaugamela, Alex called on the Gods to protect the Greeks if he really was the son of Zeus and that an eagle hovered over his head (Zeus's symbol). At Persepolis, Alex is supposed to have seen a statue of Xerxes ( the Persian emperor who invaded Greece in the 5th century BC), it had fallen on the ground, Alex debated whether or not to raise it but left it lying there in the end. Damaratus, a Corinthian, wept for joy when he saw Alex sitting on Darius's throne in Persepolis. Plutarch explains the wrecking of the palace at Persepolis by a drunken banquet at which Thais, the beautiful mistress of Ptolemy suggested the idea. Plutarch gives many egs of Alex's generosity and courtesy. He drinks Ariston's health for an act of bravery and gives him the magnificent gold cup; he sees a man carrying a load of his gold when a mule had collapsed and tells him he can keep it; he was playing a ball game with a friend to whom he had given no presents and when the friend never passed the ball to him he asked why. The friend replied that he had never asked for it. Alex laughed and gave him lots of presents. Back in Macedonia there was an ongoing feud between Olympias and Antipater, the general left to look after the place. Plutarch constant commends Alex's loyalty to his friends, his letter-writing and his concern for their well

being. But he does say that although early on Alex tried to be fair and unbiased in hearing cases that he became harsh later on and listened to false charges. He says he was especially merciless to any one who had spoken ill of him. Plutarch's comment on Alex's adoption of Persian dress is important, he says "He may have done this from a desire to adapt himself to local habits because he understood that the sharing of race and of customs is a great step towards the softening of men's hearts. Alternatively this may have been an experiment aimed at introducing obeisance among the Macedonians". He does say that Alex was anxious to gain Persian obedience from goodwill rather than from force. He was very much supported in this by Hephaestion. Craterus on the other hand clung to Macedonian ways and there was tension between the two generals. 5 Plutarch seems to disapprove very much of Alex having Parmenio killed as he had served him loyally. He says it made him very much feared.Not long after this was the shocking death of Cleitus. Plutarch describes this as "misfortune rather than a deliberate act". He says the occasion was a mocking song about some Macedonians who had been beaten by barbarians and that Cleitus took offence. He recited a line from Euripides, "Alas what evil customs reign in Greece". Plutarch blames Anaxarchus for flattering Alex now and for persuading him that only he alone should decide on law and justice. There was great antagonism between Anaxarchus and Callisthenes who was very popular but could be too blunt at times. He was a brilliant speaker but as his uncle Aristotle said of him "He possessed great eloquence but lacked common sense". He seems to have persuaded Alex not to expect proskynesis from the Macedonians but to have destroyed himself in the process and was implicated in the Pages' Plot. The story was that he persuaded Hermolaus that to kill Alex would be one way to become famous but according to Plutarch none of the pages actually denounced Callisthenes. Alex's diplomacy is shown in his treatment of Taxiles whose territory he wanted to conquer. Taxiles said he did not want to be outdone by Alex and said he would come to an agreement but Alex said he was determined to outdo him, and did so in his generous gifts to Taxiles.

Plutarch mentions a dishonourable thing done by Alex which was to conclude a truce with some Indian mercenaries and then attacked them while they were on the march and killed them. He calls this a "blot on his career as a soldier". Alex gathered together 10 Indian philosophers in the area who were stirring up trouble. He said he would ask them questions and kill the first one to answer a question wrongly (see handout). He sent for another, Calanus who put a piece of dry hide on the ground and stood on it showing how it was impossible to keep each part of it on the ground, the only hope was to stand in the centre. This was an allegory for ALex's government of his empire, to govern from its centre. Plutarch has a much more vivid and colourful description of the festivities at Camarina with Alex carried on a high platform, carts covered in canopies, flowers, wine, pipes, flutes...etc. He says that Alex took part in a massive drinking contest in which 41 men died. the winner drank about 12 quarts of wine.

6 After the death of Hephaestion Alex went out and massacred a whole tribe as a sacrifice to his spirit. He commissioned a great sculptor, Stasicrates to make his tomb. This sculptor offered to carve out Alex's likeness on Mount Athos, but Alex said no. Cassander the son of Antipater arrived and laughed when he saw the Persians prostrating themselves before Alex. Alex dashed his head against a wall. (Cassander later became master of Macedonia).

He writes that Alex became increasingly superstitious towards the end.He mentions a rumour that he was poisoned by a man sent by Aristotle and Antipater but he does not believe it.