Hot History - Alexander The (kinda) Great

Episode Date: February 16, 2024

Today we are getting down and dirty with the original G.O.A.T, Alexander. Unpacking his rise to power, the expansion of his empire, his relationship with his male lover and more we answer the question of who Alexander was and whether he was, in fact, great.

Hello and welcome back to a brand new episode of Hot History. I am so excited to have you listening along as we talk about all the things in history that you probably should know but don't. Today, we are deep diving into the life of one of history's OG Goats, the original great Alexander. Class is in session. Very few historical figures pack the hefty punch that Alexander the Great does. After all, you don't get the title for doing niche. but who was he and why was he called the Great? Well, Alexander the Great was the king of Macedonia and Persia

from 336 BCE to 323 BCE. He is widely celebrated as one of the greatest military minds ever to have lived and established the largest empire the ancient world had ever seen. He is also widely remembered as the man who never lost a battle, hence his title as the Great. But is this fact, or just a fabulous piece? of fiction. Alexander was born in Macedonia in 356 BC to King Philip II and Queen Olympias, although legend has it that his father was none other than Zeus,

the ruler of the Greek gods, but that sounds like something from Percy Jackson rather than actual history. Alex's dad, Philip the second, was an impressive military man in his own right and he managed to turn Macedonia into a force to be reckoned with. But his big goal was in conquer the massive and mighty Persian Empire. Now, where his dad was impressive, Alex himself was something else entirely. At age 12, he showed impressive courage

when he tamed a wild horse named Busephalus, an enormous stallion with a furious demean who became his battle companion for most of Alexander's life. But maybe taming cranky horses isn't enough to win him cred in your books. Well, when Alexander was, just 16, Philip went off to battle and left his son in charge of Macedonia. Alex saw this as an opportunity to prove his military worth and decided to lead a massive surprise cavalry charge against

the sacred band of Thebes, a supposedly unbeatable select army made up entirely of male lovers. During this battle, he decimated the sacred band, claiming his first victory, all while his dad was of kinging elsewhere. I guess while the cat's away, the mice will play. But he was not a mouse for long, as in 336 BC, Alex's father was assassinated by one of his bodyguards, and at just 20, Alex claimed the throne. He went about killing many of his rivals who challenged him and quashed rebellions for independence in northern Greece all before he was 21, and he didn't stop there. He set off, to do what his father never did and never could conquer Persia. So he sets off, crossing the Hellespon a narrow straight between the G and C and the Sea of Maramara

and faced Persian and Greek forces at the Granicus River. Victory went to Alexander and the Macedonians, a pretty constant thread throughout his career. From there, Alex headed south and easily took the city of Sarday, but his army encountered resistance in various cities, including Halifax. Alicanarsus. Under siege, yet not beaten, Haliccanarses held out long enough for King Darius III, the newest Persian king, to amass a substantial army. And so Alex headed north to Gordium, home of the favoured Gordian knot, a group of tightly entwined knots tied to an ancient wagon.

Legend had it. Whoever unwound the knots would conquer all of Asia. As the story goes, Alexander took on the challenge, but was unable to be able to be able to to unravel the knots by hand, so instead took his sword and sliced through the knot cleanly, claiming his triumph. Kind of like that scene in Indiana Jones where the swordsman comes out to challenge him and he just shoots him. Not really the rules, but ultimately effective. Feeling pretty good about himself, Alex sets out in 333 BCE to the town of Isis in southern Turkey, where he finds a massive Persian army led by King Daris III and despite being outnumbered, Alex won the battle.

However, once it became clear that Alex was going to win, Darius fled, leaving his wife and family behind. Darius's mother was so disgusted with this that she disowned him and adopted Alexander as her own son. And it soon became clear that Alex was a shrewd, ruthless and brilliant military leader, and he soon adopted the motto, There is nothing impossible to him who will try. And try, he did.

He soon took over some Phoenician cities and rejected a plea from Darius for peace by laying siege to the heavily fortified island of Tyre. With no access to the island, Alex instead instructed his men to build a causeway to reach it. All was going well for Alex and his men, at least until they came within striking distance of the city, who time and time again would thwart Alex's clever attempts to gain entry. So it was here that he realised, If bridges wouldn't do, he would need some boats. So Alex went about amassing a huge fleet of ships, which he used to finally breach the city's walls in July 332 BCE.

A baller move for sure, but once inside, he decided to execute thousands for daring to defy him and for making him get boats, with many of them being sold into slavery. Alex was ruthless, both on and off the battlefield, which is important to remember, when we look at him and often deify him as this great, he wasn't really a good dude. Understanding this very fact, King Darius III of Persia, again asked for another piece with Alexander who once again rejects it

and instead decides to head off for Egypt. He did meet some resistance and was forced to endure yet another siege, but eventually came to Egypt landing and establishing one of the most famous cities throughout human history, Alexandria. Located on the shores of the Mediterranean and the Nile Delta, Alexandria was built with one purpose, to be his new Egyptian dominion and a naval base that will control the Mediterranean. Alexander loved Alexandria, and trained by the scholar and philosopher Aristotle himself, Alex believed in the idea of utopian cities and wished for Alexandria to be the first. But where Alexander was smart and political, he was also deeply superstitious, and on first arriving in Alexandria, traveled deep into the desert to consult the Oracle of Ammon, a god of supposed good counsel.

Legends about what transpired at the Oracle have fueled speculation and gossip for centuries, but Alexander never told a soul what was said, something that fueled further speculation that Alexander was in fact a deity. It's more likely though, he just didn't want to tell anyone. After conquering Egypt and establishing his great city, Alexander faced Darius and his massive Persian troops at Guagamela in October 331 BC. Following fierce fighting and heavy losses on both sides, Darius fled and was finally assassinated by one of his own troops. One would think Alexander would be dancing on his grave, but instead it is said he was incredibly sad when he found Darius's body

and gave him a proper royal burial. Isn't that nice? But moving on, Alexander proceeded to claim himself king of Persia, which pissed off another guy named Beasus, who is the one believed to have actually murdered Darius in the first place. So Alex goes after him, kills him, and claims full control of Persia. But the Persians don't know this guy, and they certainly don't trust him. So to gain credibility, he took on many Persian customs,

including dressing like a Persian, and adopted the practice of bowing down and kissing the hands of others. The Macedonians were less than thrilled with the changes in Alexander in his attempt to be viewed as a deity, which made Alex increasingly paranoid, eventually ordering the death of one of his most esteemed generals. This trend followed with the death of Cletus, another general and close friend of Alexander who had saved the kids' life

during one of his first battles against the Persians years before, Alex was just simply pushed too far and killed Cletus with a spear, a spontaneous act of violence that anguished him. Some historians even believe Alexander killed his general in a fit of drunkenness, a persistent problem that plagued him through much of his life. And his problems didn't stop there. One of the Persian regions known as Sogdya refused to accept Alex as their king and refused to accept his demands of surrender. Not one to take no for an answer, he sent some of his men to scale the rock and take the Sogdians by surprise, which is how we meet Roxanne. As the tale goes, one of those on the rock when scaled was a beautiful young woman named Roxanne who Alexander fell in love with instantly. So much so that he married her despite her heritage and she joined him on his journey into India as his wife.

At this point, Alex's empire is huge, but he wants more. And so he sets out in 327 BCE for India, marching on Punjab. Some tribes surrendered instantly and peacefully. Others did not. And in 326, Alexander met King Porras. Porras's army was less experienced in Alexander's, but they had a secret weapon. And I don't mean secret in the you can't see them kind of way. Poros had elephants.

But elephants were not enough to stop Alexander and after a fierce battle in a raging thunderstorm Porus was defeated. It's key to note here that while Alexander is said to have never lost a battle, he did suffer huge losses in India, comparable to that of Napoleon in Russia, which got him booted from the role as emperor. One such loss in India rocked Alex to his core more than any other, the death of his horse Busephalus. He was so upset that he named an entire city after him. But still, he wanted to press on. His war-weary soldiers, on the other hand, did not and refused to march, with one of his officers

convincing Alex to finally return to Persia. Alex agreed, and let his troops down the Indus River, where they found more hostile troops. The army suffered more losses here, and Alexander himself, was severely wounded during battle. Returning from India in early 342 BCE, Alexander reached the city of Susa in Persia. Wanting to unite the Persians and Macedonians further and create a new race that were loyal only to him, he ordered many of his officers to marry Persian princesses at a mass wedding. Here he also took two new wives for himself, but the Macedonian army resented Alexander's attempts to change their culture,

and many mutinied against him. But after Alexander took a firm stance and replaced Macedonian officers and troops with Persians, his army eventually backed down. To further defuse the situation, Alexander returned their titles and hosted a huge reconciliation banquet. So Alexander, as we have discussed, is a military genius. He's a great leader. He's also a great politician. And at this point, in 323 BCE, was head of an absolutely mammary.

empire. He suffered many losses along the way, including his beloved horse, but none would rock him so deeply as the loss of his friend and lover Ephesian. It's been a long-standing debate as to whether Alexander and Hephaestian were homosexual lovers, and it's key to note that the modern binary of homosexuality and heterosexuality was not applicable to the cultural norms of ancient Greece, in which many men engaged in same-sex relationships without shame. Historian Robin Lane Fox describes their relationship in his award-winning nonfiction book Alexander the Great, stating that effacing was the man whom Alexander loved, and for the rest of their lives, their relationship remained as intimate as it is now irrecoverable. Despite the lack of archaeological evidence to support the relationship, Alexander's lack of interest in women was noted by his peers and his mother, who was concerned that Alexander would never further an heir. regardless of this, the death of a feistian has long been regarded as one of the major turning points in Alexander's life,

and indeed the one great loss that he had to endure. He sets his sights forward, though, thanks to his insatiable urge for world supremacy, and starts planning to conquer Arabia, but he would not live to see it come into fruition. Alexander died in 323 BCE at the age of just 32. Now the circumstances surrounding Alexander's death are fucking bizarre. He first fell ill during a huge party where he complained of back pain after he was dead to down an entire punch bowl or crater of wine and after 10 days of fever, he died. But then something weird happens.

His body does not show any signs of decay for six days. This phenomenon has led modern, scholars to believe that Alexander was perhaps not dead at all, instead suffering from Galane Bar syndrome, an acute autoimmune condition that results in muscle paralysis. In other words, Alexander's body showed no signs of decay because he was, in fact, alive. And if this is the case, then he would have been killed during the embalming process before heading off to his tomb. While some believe this to be true, others believe he did.

did in fact die when first pronounced, and the cause of death ranged from poisoning, assassination, and a number of infectious diseases. One incident, mentioned by Plutarch, may shed light on the cause of Alexander's death, in which a flock of ravens exhibited unusual behaviour and subsequently died at his feet as he entered Babylon. This inexplicable behaviour of ravens is reminiscent of avian illness, leading some to believe he died of West Nidal encephalitis. and others to believe it was simply typhoid, malaria or just plain fever. Regardless of his cause of death,

Alexander's body was embalmed, placed in a golden coffin filled with honey, and taken to its final resting place in Alexandria, where he was interned in a grand mausoleum known as the Soma. However, despite knowing the location of his tomb, it has remained lost for centuries, with natural disasters, urban development and lost documents making its location a complete mystery. But one archaeologist believed she has cracked the case.

Calliopee Papa Costa uncovered a near complete statue of Alex, along with an ancient Roman road in Alexandria a few years ago. Her dig continues, slowed down by natural elements in COVID-19, but we may very well be one step closer to finally finding the tomb of Alexander the Great. As for his empire, it fell as quickly as it grew. Almost immediately after his death, troubles began to erupt. Within roughly 48 hours after his death, vicious unrest had seized Babylon, as the Macedonian soldiers and generals argued over the succession.

The once great empire of Alexander would soon disintegrate into a 40-year period of war and chaos, which would leave his empire eventually settling into the four stable power blocks, The Selucid Empire in the East, the Kingdom of Pergmon, in Asia Minor, Macedon and the Telemic Kingdom of Egypt. Now, if you're thinking that the Telemic Kingdom sounds kind of familiar, it's probably because you listen to the episode on Cleopatra. That's right. Cleopatra is a direct descendant from the line that began at Alexander's death. One of his generals, a man called Ptolemy, was granted the province of Egypt as governor, and very soon after arriving in Egypt in three years, 22 BCE, he had the previous governor killed and began building up his own military.

He hired mercenaries, built up the fences along the River Nile, made diplomatic agreements with nearby kings and expanded his territory. Ptolemy was transforming Egypt into a powerful base of operations, and he soon named himself king or Pharaoh. His line would rule Egypt for 275 years, ending with Cleopatra and the rise of the Roman empire. During this time, Alexandria remained a great symbol of Alexander's military might and statesmanship, with the famous library at Alexandria being built in his honor, and the lighthouse was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. So we've covered about 20 years of history, from Alexander's life to his death, which just so happens to be some of the most

dynamic and famous 20 years in human history. I mean, seriously, the guy's resume was impressive as hell. But who else was kicking around at the time? Well Herodotus, the very first historian, was born 128 years before Alexander. The city of Troy fell about a thousand years before Alexander, and Rome was founded by Romulus nearly 500 years before he was born. Caesar was born 223 years after Alex's death, Cleopatra 254 years, and Jesus 323 years before Alex. As we know, Darius III was kicking around, as was Ptolemy and Aristotle. But it's kind of underwhelming here, because there is really no yardstick that stands taller than Alexander himself. But nevertheless, there you go. So what impact does Alexander have on modern

society? First and foremost, without Alexander spreading Greek culture, we wouldn't have the Hellenistic era, which means that Greek ideas and cultures might well have remained confined to Greece. We also would not have Alexandria of the city, nor would we have the Telemic dynasty, both of which profoundly altered the history of Egypt. Alexander was also a major inspiration for several figures throughout history, including Julius Caesar, who reportedly wept at the feet of a statue of Alexander when contemplating his own career. But perhaps most obvious of all, the impact he has is in his name, the great. But was he really great? Well, I suppose it's comes down to what you think is great in the first place. Growing an empire as large as his in only

13 years is pretty fucking amazing, but he was definitely no saint. Although Alexander was both intelligent and incredibly handsome, he had a darker side. He possessed a ferocious temper and from time to time would arbitrarily murder close advisors and even friends. So as a military might, yes, I think he deserves the title of great. But as a person, person? Not so much. Lastly, how do we remember him in pop culture? Alex makes it into the most famous book on earth, the Bible, as the king of Greece, who conquered the Persians and died young. While he did remain unnamed, it is pretty obvious that we are talking about Alexander. He's also mentioned in the religious works of Middle Persia and in the Quran.

Dante mentions him in the divine comedy. Chikovsky contemplated writing an opera about Alexander and Iron Maiden wrote Alexander the Great on their album somewhere in time. In TV, he was played by William Shatner. He also features in Smallville where Lex Luthor shows Clark Kent the armor Alexander was supposed to have worn, and he also is made mention of in Marvel Studios Moon Night, where his tomb is supposedly found. Most recently, though, as in like two weeks ago or something like that, Netflix released Alexander the making of a god, which stirred controversy for its depiction of Alexander as a homosexual,

with Greek Minister of Culture Lena Menondi coming out to criticise the series as low quality and historically inaccurate. In movies, Richard Burton played Alexander as directed by MGM, and Colin Farrell played Alexander in Alexander, based on the biography of Robin Lane Fox, which was directed by Oliver Stone. The release of this film, actually stopped another film from being made by Baz Luhrmann, which would have starred Leonardo DiCaprio, as Alexander himself. And that brings us to the end of another episode of Hot History. If you'd like to support us,

then you can find us on Spotify and Apple Podcasts as Hot History. Follow us on TikTok at hot dot history and on Instagram at Hot History Club. As always, it is a pleasure getting down and dirty in time with you and tune in next time as we discuss the tumultuous and scandalous life of Queen Marie Antoinette.