#Macedonian soldiers

[illustratus]

The Dying Alexander the Great bids farewell to his Army

by Karl von Piloty

[lightdancer1]

People are like 'our peasant ancestors lived better than we did with fewer working hours and adored weather'

The same people who think pressing a screen on a smart phone is true slavery, and that there was ever a point in life where simply getting food and clothing wasn't great toil with long hours for relatively simple rewards in that 90% of human existence before recorded history and the 5% that's been recorded. They would go feral if asked to live a true peasant's lifestyle without any electronic conveniences, subject to the whim of nature and of the seasons that cannot be controlled, asked to feed and clothe themselves the way most of humanity did for most of its history.

Farming isn't idyllic now, in the 21st Century, with machines and knowledge a smelly lousy peasant didn't have and didn't know how to have. In the days when the cutting edge technology was the ass end of a mule or an ox and where you had to do all that weeding stooping over in a hot sun for the entirety of the working day it was much worse. There's a reason the Bible calls farming a curse!

Our ancestors would weep with joy that their modern descendants live in lives less brutal and horrifying than what they would have taken for granted, if anything. Nostalgia is a liar, at best, and it is seldom at its best.

[balaclava-man]

2001 Macedonia

[ernestdescalsartwok]

EJERCITO-MACEDONIA-ARTE-PINTURA-FALANGE-ALEJANDRO MAGNO-HISTORIA-GRECIA-PINTOR-ERNEST DESCALS por Ernest Descals Por Flickr: EJERCITO-MACEDONIA-ARTE-PINTURA-FALANGE-ALEJANDRO MAGNO-HISTORIA-GRECIA-PINTOR-ERNEST DESCALS- Ejército de Macedonia, al mando del Rey ALEJANDRO MAGNO los hombres forman la FALANGE, la nueva estrategia militar que revolucionó el mundo antiguo en sus guerras, los soldados armados de sus sarisas, lanzas muy largas, forman un erizo que resultaba muy difícil de superar, pintura del artista pintor Ernest Descals sobre papel de acuarela, pintar sobre la historia de Grecia.

[jeannereames]

Re. "wikipedia is not research"-- the wikipedia page on Harpalus says that he was "lame in one leg and therefore exempt from military service." I've only ever seen an unspecified physical disability referenced in nonfiction sources, with the leg being Renault's interpretation. Is there an actual ancient source that specifically states he had a lame leg, or did some fiction slip in there?

I'd have to chase down the reference (may be the Suda?), but he suffered some physical deformity that relegated him to administration. It's generally assumed to be a limp. Like Alexander's blond hair, this assumption has passed down through time, although it's a good guess.

Almost certainly whatever it was involved his limbs (required to hold weapons/march/fight). Yet, famously, the Spartan king Agesilaos (II) was lame, and only escaped infant euthanasia because he was a royal. He was never expected either to rule or to fight. So being lame wouldn't necessarily have prevented Harpalos if he'd been determined. I suspect he was content with a high-level administrative position. He generally has a bad rep for constancy (no kidding) and self-control (again, no kidding), so perhaps he was quite happy to stay out of potentially deadly battle, especially if he was at a disadvantage, physically. Yet some scholars have argued he may have been acting under cover for Alexander (namely Green, First Flight, and Howe, Both Flights); if so, his courage wasn't lacking.

Additionally, the severity of the handicap might have impacted his ability to fight. Agesilaos was lame, but obviously not to an incapacitating degree. Harpalos's could have been more severe. Or perhaps his disability involved his arms/hands, which would have disqualified him from fighting more certainly than being lame. As an aristocrat, he'd have fought from horseback, somewhat nullifying an issue with lameness. But if he were missing a hand or part of an arm, it would be harder. Ironically, he could have fought on foot without a hand more easily than from horseback. The shield could be adapted to be held with just the arm, but to fight on horseback, it took two good hands (one for reins, one for weapons).

In Dancing with the Lion, I just decided to go with the usual interpretation and gave him a club foot.

(Source: Lexicon of Argead Makedonia, Heckel, Heinrichs, Muller, Pownall, eds. Ian Worthington wrote the entry.)

[succulent-pott]

I wish I could write more fluent macedonian but it’d have nobody to talk to (my grammar woud be shit) and people would think I’m literally every other cyrillic language under the sun (x_x)

[planet-gay-comic]

Homosexuality in History: Kings and Their Lovers

Hadrian and Antinous Hadrian and Antinous are famous historical figures who epitomize one of the most well-known homosexual relationships in history. Hadrian, the Roman Emperor from 117 to 138 AD, developed a close friendship with Antinous, a young man from Egypt. This relationship was characterized by deep affection and is often viewed as romantic. There are indications of an erotic component, evident in Hadrian's inconsolable reaction to Antinous's tragic death. Hadrian erected monuments and temples in honor of Antinous, underscoring their special bond.

Alexander the Great and Hephaestion The ancient world was a time when homosexuality was not as taboo in many cultures as it is today. Alexander the Great and Hephaestion are a prominent example of this. Alexander, the Macedonian king from 336 to 323 BC, and Hephaestion were best friends and closest confidants. Their relationship was so close that rumors of a romantic or even erotic connection circulated. After Hephaestion's death, Alexander held a public funeral, indicating their deep emotional bond.

Edward II and Piers Gaveston During the Middle Ages, homosexuality was not as accepted in many cultures as it is today. The relationship between Edward II and Piers Gaveston was marked by rumors and hostilities, demonstrating that homosexuality was not always accepted in the past. Their relationship is believed to have been of a romantic nature, leading to political turmoil and controversies. Gaveston was even appointed Earl of Cornwall by Edward, highlighting their special connection.

Matthias Corvinus and Bálint Balassi In the Renaissance, there was a revival of Greco-Roman culture, leading to increased tolerance of homosexuality. Matthias Corvinus ruled at a time when homosexuality was no longer illegal in Hungary. The relationship between Matthias Corvinus and Bálint Balassi is another example of homosexuality being accepted during this period. Matthias Corvinus had a public relationship with Bálint Balassi, a poet and soldier. Their relationship may have been of a romantic nature, as Balassi was appointed as the court poet, and it had cultural influence.

These relationships between the mentioned kings and their lovers are remarkable examples of the long history of homosexuality in the world. In many cultures of antiquity and the Middle Ages, homosexuality was not as strongly stigmatized, demonstrating that homosexuality was not always rejected in the past.

Text supported by Bard and Chat-GPT 3.5 These images were generated with StableDiffusion v1.5. Faces and background overworked with composing and inpainting.

[worldhistoryfacts]

Among the most elite soldiers in Alexander the Great’s armies were his “companion cavalry.” On the “Alexander Sarcophagus,” created in the 300s BCE — it was somebody else’s sarcophagus, not Alexander’s — artists show scenes from Alexander’s battles against the Persians. Here a Macedonian warrior runs down a trousered Persian; The Persian’s horse crumples to the ground while the Macedonian’s horse rears up, a little crazed.

{Buy me a coffee} {WHF} {Medium} {Looking Through the Past}

Much more on the history of horses at war:

[whencyclopedia]

Ptolemaic Army

The army of Ptolemaic Egypt was a well-organized fighting force trained in Hellenistic warfare. The Ptolemaic dynasty used their considerable wealth to maintain a large standing army of professional soldiers. Some troops were paid in money, and others were given farmland in exchange for service. In wartime, military expenditure could represent more than three-quarters of national spending.

The Ptolemaic army's earliest members were mostly foreigners who immigrated to Egypt to serve the Ptolemaic dynasty. These soldiers and their descendants established Greek, Persian, Thracian, and Jewish communities in Egypt. Over time, their numbers were replenished by Egyptian conscripts trained in Greek tactics.

Origin, Recruitment & Ethnic Composition

Alexander the Great (r. 336-323 BCE) conquered Egypt in 332 BCE as part of his conquest of the Achaemenid Empire. After the death of Alexander the Great, his general Ptolemy I made himself king of Egypt. Other parts of Alexander's empire were divided between the rest of his generals in the Wars of the Diadochi. The army of Ptolemy I was originally composed of 4,000 soldiers left in Egypt by Alexander, along with thousands of mercenaries.

In Asia, of those who had shared in the division of the satrapies, Ptolemy took over Egypt without difficulty and was treating the inhabitants with kindness. Finding eight thousand talents in the treasury, he began to collect mercenaries and to form an army. A multitude of friends also gathered about him on account of his fairness.

(Diodorus Siculus, 18.14.1)

The core of Ptolemy I's original army was Macedonian. Persian and Egyptian troops left over from before Alexander's conquest were absorbed into this army. As the Hellenistic kingdoms waged perennial territorial wars with each other, they replenished their armies with large numbers of soldiers and mercenaries. Seasoned, professional soldiers had an advantage over new conscripts, and could command high wages.

In terms of bargaining power, soldiers were in a strong position vis-a-vis the rulers, since the latter were in a harsh competition for resources and territory in the decades following Alexander's conquest. Each ruler needed both to hire well-trained soldiers and to prevent his rivals from hiring them.

(Fischer-Bovet, 167)

Ptolemaic recruiting officers (xenologoi) traveled throughout the eastern Mediterranean to enlist mercenaries, and captured enemy troops were also sometimes conscripted. After the Battle of Gaza in 312 BCE, 8,000 prisoners of war were sent back to Egypt and given plots of land in exchange for service. However, the surviving evidence indicates that most recruits traveled to Egypt on their own initiative, either by themselves or in small groups. These people were drawn by Egypt's wealth and the possibility of becoming landowners or ranking officials in the Ptolemaic government. From the 3rd century BCE onwards, new recruits were increasingly conscripted from within Ptolemaic territory. These troops were raised in Greece, Cyrene, Egypt, Cyprus and Syria.

Most recruits in the early Ptolemaic army were from Macedon and mainland Greece. Significant numbers of Thracians, Carians, Persians, and Jews served as well, particularly in the cavalry. The descendants of these troops typically continued to serve as soldiers. Egyptians were another major component of the Ptolemaic army, especially in later periods when they were conscripted en masse. The exact ethnic composition of the Ptolemaic army is unknown because ethnic names were sometimes used to denote rank or language instead of ancestral origin. Galatians and Nubians also served in more limited numbers.

Continue reading...

[sixteenseveredhands]

Milunka Savić, the Most Decorated Female Combatant in History: Savić disguised herself as a man in order to join the Serbian army during the Balkan Wars, then served again during WWI, earning medals from Serbia, France, Russia & Britain; she also provided medical support to anti-fascists during WWII and spent 10 months in a Nazi concentration camp

This is a total rewrite of a post that I did last year, with much more detailed information, more photos, and some additional sources.

Milunka Savić is regarded as the most decorated female combatant in history. She fought for the Serbian Army during both of the Balkan Wars, before returning to the battlefield again during WWI. Savić was wounded in battle on 9 separate occasions and survived the Serbian Great Retreat, making the perilous journey across the mountains of Montenegro and Albania through the dead of winter with a serious head injury.

Her military career began during the First Balkan War in 1912, when her younger brother was called up to serve in the Serbian army, and she decided that she would covertly take his place. She cut her hair, wore men's clothing, and presented herself as her brother.

The First Balkan War, 1912: Milunka Savić as a young soldier during the First Balkan War, shortly after joining the Serbian army

She was able to hide her true identity for quite some time. Her skills as a soldier quickly became evident as the war progressed, and she earned her first medal/promotion during the Battle of Bregalnica in 1913. Unfortunately, she was hit by shrapnel from a Bulgarian grenade during her tenth deployment, causing injuries to her chest and abdomen, and those wounds (along with the subsequent medical treatment) ultimately led to the discovery that she had lied about her identity.

In recognition of her accomplishments on the battlefield, her commanding officer decided not to punish her for the initial deception, but informed her that she would not be allowed to return to combat -- as a woman, she could only be transferred to the nursing division instead.

As the story goes:

Savić was called before her commanding officer. They didn't want to punish her, because she had proven a valuable and highly competent soldier, and the military deployment that had resulted in her [sex] being revealed had been her tenth; but neither was it suitable for a young woman to serve in combat. She was offered a transfer to the Nursing division. Savić stood at attention and insisted that she only wanted to fight for her country as a combatant.

The officer said he'd think it over and give her his answer the next day. Still standing at attention, Savić responded, "I will wait." It is said he only made her stand an hour before agreeing to send her back to the infantry.

Savić was able to serve in a combat role throughout the remainder of the Balkan Wars.

The Second Balkan War finally came to an end in 1913, but that peace was short-lived, as World War I erupted just a year later. Savić returned to the military once more, serving in the elite "Iron Regiment" of the Serbian army.

World War I, c.1915-1916: Savić was no longer forced to hide her identity when she returned to battle during WWI, and these images show her posing in uniform with her hair grown out

Savić received the Serbian Karađorđe Star with Swords medal on two separate occasions during WWI; the second medal was given to her after the Battle of Crna Bend in 1916, where she was credited with single-handedly capturing 23 Bulgarian soldiers. She received several other medals throughout the course of her career, including the French Legion of Honor (twice), the French Croix de Guerre, the Russian Cross of St. George, the British Medal of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael, and the Serbian Miloš Obilić.

WWI, c.1915-1916: Milunka Savić as a Corporal in the Iron Regiment

She suffered a serious head injury while fighting along the Macedonian front, and she was still gravely wounded when Austro-Hungarian, German, and Bulgarian forces gained control of Serbia in the winter of 1915. The Serbian army was then ordered to make a full retreat from Serbia; Savić and her fellow soldiers, along with the Serbian government and more than 200,000 civilians, were all forced to flee through the mountains of Montenegro and Albania in the dead of winter, hoping to reach Allied forces along the Adriatic Coast -- a perilous journey that would later be known as the Serbian Great Retreat (or the Albanian Golgotha). Roughly 400,000 people embarked on this journey, and less than 180,000 of them survived, eventually reaching the Allied ships along the Adriatic coast.

Despite her injuries, Milunka Savić was among the survivors. She was sent to an infirmary, where she spent several months recovering from her injuries, before she returned to the battlefield alongside Allied forces.

At the end of the war, the French government offered to provide Savić with a full pension and living accommodations in France, in recognition of her actions while serving alongside the French military during WWI. She ultimately declined the offer and chose to retire back in Serbia instead, where she and her husband settled down to raise their daughter and three other girls that Milunka had adopted. The couple would later separate, however, and Milunka was left to raise her children as a single mother, working at a local bank to make ends meet.

In 1941, Serbia (which was then part of Yugoslavia) fell under Nazi occupation. During this period, Savić was involved in providing medical support to local partisans and anti-fascists who had resisted the Nazi occupation. She was eventually arrested by German officers; there are differing accounts of the events leading up to her arrest, with some sources suggesting that she was arrested as a result of her involvement with the local partisans and other anti-fascist elements, while other sources claim that she was arrested after she offended several Nazi officials by openly refusing to attend a formal banquet that was being held in honor of the German military campaign. In any case, she was imprisoned at the infamous Baljinca Concentration Camp for ten months before finally being released.

She faced other forms of hardship in the aftermath of WWII, as she struggled to support herself and her children. She worked several low-paying jobs over the years, while living in a dilapidated, decaying house in Belgrade. Her name (and her long list of accomplishments) had largely faded into obscurity by then.

Serbia, 1972: Milunka Savić proudly displaying some of her medals in 1972, when her story became more widely known

It wasn't until the early 1970s that her involvement with the military finally began to receive more widespread attention, both in Serbia and abroad. Following the 1972 publication of an article that told her story, her local community in Belgrade quickly rallied to provide her with newer, more suitable living arrangements.

Sadly, she passed away within just a year of the article's publication.

In 2013, Milunka Savić's remains were relocated from the small mausoleum where they had been interred since 1973, and she was reburied in Belgrade's "Alley of the Greats," where some of the most well-known and most widely respected Serbians are laid to rest.

Sources & More Info:

Research Gate: Milunka Savić: the Forgotten Heroine of Serbia

Girl Museum: Milunka Savić

Law and Politics: The Position of Women in the Serbian Army

Medium: The Fearless Woman-Bomber Who Died Proud, Broke, and Forgotten

Wikipedia: Milunka Savić

Mental Floss: The Serbian "Great Retreat" Begins (WWI Centennial)

[illustratus]

Capriccio of Classical Ruins with Alexander the Great Opening the Tomb of Achilles

by Giovanni Niccolo Servandoni

[tyriq-edits]

In the Plain of Nysa

Millions Knives

Nai, the God of War

God of War and Vash’s twin brother

Younger brother of Tesla (Goddess of Victory)

Raised by Rem (Goddess of Wisdom)

Based on Ares and partly Demeter

Respected and rather well liked among the other Olympians (except Meryl)

After the death of his sister at the hands of mortal Soldiers during the Trojan war and Vash losing his left arm to the same soldiers, he became fiercely protective/possessive of his twin brother

Some time after the end of the Trojan War he built a giant "cage” under Mt. Olympus and locked Vash inside it for nearly a Millennium.

When any of the other Olympians asked him regarding Vash’s whereabouts he’d tell them his brother was travelling through the mortal realm, which seemed to shut the majority of the other gods up regarding this issue and the Golden Cage beneath their feet remained a secret only he and Vash knew about.

After Vash managed to escape the the golden Cage with the help of Meryl and Roberto, rather than an eternal Winter like Demeter in the Myth of Persephone & Hades, Nai, overcome with rage, created a giant war that would slowly spread across all of ancient Greece.

For more Information/lore about this AU just look at the in the plain of Nysa tag on my page or just send me an ask in my inbox.

As always thanks to my friend Stephan for helping me with this drawing of Nai and this AU in general. Please check out his art on instagram!

Please do not Tag this AU as Plantcest

[More ramblings about Nai’s design under the cut.]

Nai’s Design as you may have gathered is very much based on your typical Greek Hoplite Soldier

He was supposed to also wear a helmet but i was so proud of how the hair had turned out that I did not want to cover it up haha.

Around the time that this story takes place in, classical greece, bronze armours like these had actually fallen out of fashion in favour of iron ones so I just like to think that Nai, being over 1000 years old, is just very traditional or never fully mentally moved on from the Trojan War so he kept his old Bronze Plate Armour all those years while still adopting the newer Hoplite Warfare system (which used spears and Phalanx formations in comparison to the open battle fields and sword fights of the Mycenean Age/the Trojan War)

As for Nai‘s spear, an actual Dory could be up to 4 meters high, especially in the case of Macedonian ones. But making him run around with one of those would be impractical for many reasons as you may assume. The half-moon shaped spikes right underneath the actual Spear‘s spike is the part I stole from ancient greek hunting spears. The point of them was to keep wild animals like boars at a safe distance from you. Because boars, even if you pierce their skull with the actual spear‘s tip would just keep on running towards you even if it meant impaling their own brain on the entire spear Dracula Style. If you look closely you can kind of see it on the Meleager Sarcophagus.

[siriuslyobsessedwithfiction]

Realizing a widely popular historical fiction/modernist novel (in 20th century) had a political figure fighting for freedom of his people, more influential forces wanting him and his people to lose autonomy, a borderline fanatic head of the church interfering in political affairs, a young woman who has special connection with animals and particularly deer getting caught in-between conflicts, an old spellcaster who has lived many lives with different identities who keeps secrets, and a civil war. Why does this remind me of Shadow and Bone trilogy...🤔

Only in this book, the man who fought for freedom of his people for years is not framed as an absolute villain, even though he led a battle because he wanted to pursue a woman. But rather, the narrative acknowledges he was a brave man who served his people since he was thirteen and fought countless battles for his country. And that such responsibility is heavy, and even he was human, wanting a connection. Although, his actions aren't excused, no one says it was right of him to go to such lengths for a woman and to maim her lover. His end is still tragic. But it doesn't feel like a disservice to his character because people know the good he did and acknowledge it. He showed more mercy at first than his enemies deserved. He had friends who were good people and loved him. Even people who hated him for personal reasons said it was better for him to rule than to start a war and get someone far less competent in charge, which would leave them vulnerable to foreign enemies.

But what does the Darkling from Shadow and Bone get? His centuries of work erased, his name being more demonized than ever and eternity of suffering. LB could either make him an actual villain, or let him be a morally grey tragic character. Instead, he got tossed between both of those and then got blamed for everything that went wrong ever. While the rapist King got a nice retirement and the leader of the witchhunters who was actively committing genocide is spared because he was only the product of the system, apparently.

"Aleksander had marched south with the king’s soldiers, and when they’d faced the Shu in the field, he’d unleashed darkness upon their opponents, blinding them where they stood. Ravka’s forces had won the day. But when Yevgeni had offered Aleksander his reward, he had refused the king’s gold. “There are others like me, Grisha, living in hiding. Give me leave to offer them sanctuary here and I will build you an army the likes of which the world has never seen.”

“He … he said that Darklings are born without souls. That only something truly evil could have created the Shadow Fold.”

"Not everyone thought like Eva or the old serf, but I’d been in the First Army long enough to know that most ordinary soldiers didn’t trust Grisha and felt no allegiance to the Darkling."

"I've committed many sins, Pippa, as a king and a man. I carried almost all the virtues and all the defects of my people. I was bold and faint-hearted. I set at nought the Byzantine Emperor but was afraid of snakes. I was conceited, heartless and loathsome, but I never betrayed my people, Pippa. Our misfortune is the same now: among us, the traitors outnumbered the loyal ones. I know very well, even in my army, half of them were bought by the Byzantines, and half by the Sarkinos. When the people have so many traitors at home, even Alexander the Great cannot defeat the enemy. If the nobles had not deserted me at Basian, I would have defeated Basil Caesar there too, you know. If the whole nation doesn't want to win, Alexander Macedonian can't help either, Pippa, because cowards and emissaries have never won anywhere. I gave my childhood and my youth to Georgia, but the Kartlels called me "the Abkhazian," and by the Abkhazians I was considered to be a Kartalinian spy, I who was a Bagration, a Laz."

"I rarely saw the Darkling, and when I did it was from a distance, coming or going, deep in conversation with Ivan or the King’s military advisers. I learned from the other Grisha that he wasn’t often at the Little Palace, but spent most of his time traveling between the Fold and the northern border, or south to where Shu Han raiding parties were attacking settlements before winter set in. Hundreds of Grisha were stationed throughout Ravka, and he was responsible for all of them."

"The King is a child. But you've made him a very happy child."

"I was slowed down by the squabbling of the nobles and the commanders, Pippa. Every scoundrel in us longs for nobility, every bastard - to be a commander.

No one knew his name to curse or extol, so I spoke it softly, beneath my breath. “Aleksander,” I whispered. A boy’s name, given up. Almost forgotten.

"He took off his clothes and was surprised when he saw a body marked by wounds, some old, some newer. A completely young man's body."

"It was a gravedigger who dared to confront the truth first, once everyone had left: "Not even in death has King Giorgi had any luck."

[ernestdescalsartwok]

PAROPAMISO-ARTE-PINTURA-AFGANISTAN-PAKISTAN-INDUKUSH-MONTAÑAS-EXPEDICION-REY-ALEJANDRO MAGNO-ACUARELAS-PINTOR-ERNEST DESCALS por Ernest Descals Por Flickr: PAROPAMISO-ARTE-PINTURA-AFGANISTAN-PAKISTAN-INDUKUSH-MONTAÑAS-EXPEDICION-REY-ALEJANDRO MAGNO-ACUARELAS-PINTOR-ERNEST DESCALS Llegada del ejercito macedonio al PAROPAMISO, el HINDUKUSH entre Afganistán y Pakistán, los confines del mundo en sus maravillosos y nuevos paisajes formados por montañas nevadas, los macedonios del Rey ALEJANDRO MAGNO perseguían a los últimos partidarios del Gran Rey Dario III, el cerco se estaba estrechando para los rebeldes en su larga retirada. Pintura con acuarelas del artista pintor Ernest Descals, narrando a través de la plástica creativa las gestas del Conquistador de Macedonia por las tierras de Asia. En esta obra he pintado las sensaciones de asombro y miedo que sintieron los soldados griegos ante la majestuosidad y altura de los picos montañosos que representaban nuevas experiencias en un viaje sin final.

[jeannereames]

I know this can be too much of an outlier, but do we have any idea if Alexander was a particularly fashionable person? Either if he was into fashion itself or if he was considered fashionable in his clothing style for example

Clothes Make the King?

Alexander’s clothing choices weren’t about fashion, but about POLITICS. What he wore sent a message.

First, three quick points about clothes in ancient Greece:

They were relatively simple with few sewn seams, and by Alexander’s day, any patterning largely along the edges. Most was made of wool, linen being very pricy.

They were made at home by one’s female family members. Yes, even the wealthy. A woman’s worth wasn’t measured by her pie crust or biscuits, but her weaving quality.*

They were expensive if one had to purchase cloth (as opposed to having it made at home). Most people had only a handful of tunics, one cloak and/or one himation (wrap), and one pair of shoes.

And finally, pertinent to this discussion:

By the 4th century, especially austere clothing was associated with moral virtue, while highly patterned clothing + lots of jewelry with moral decadence (the East/Persia).

Ergo, descriptions of Alexander’s clothing in the sources send a moral message: as he descended into vices and Asian tyranny, authors show him wearing extravagant, Asian-style clothing.

BUT he also did make choices of what to wear (insofar as we can be sure they were his choices), that conveyed his own messaging. Detangling his messaging from later author’s messaging is a continual problem, but sometimes it’s possible.

We’re told Alexander dressed the same as his soldiers. Differences in wealth would have been indicated by the quality of the wool and COLOR, but not the style. Being able to wear, say, black (made from the wool of baby lambs born black but who turn white as they age), or saffron yellow (made from the tiny pistils of flowers), or dark blue or purple (made from murex snails and imported at a hefty price)—THOSE tell you the person has money. The cut and drape of the clothing mostly doesn’t. You can pick out the king by the bright dot of yellow or black in a sea of dun, browns, dull reds, darker greens, and ecru.

What message is he sending? “I’m one of you…except the king”: primo inter pares (first among equals). Similarly, his armor was the same type, just brighter and better-made. His (iron!) helmet must have looked like he raided a mop closet with a big red horsehair crest and two fluffy white feather prongs beside it. But otherwise, it was a Phyrgian-style helm like the rest. This makes him easy to spot during battle, by his own men—but also the enemy. That’s also the point: he has the bravery to make himself a target.

After the death of Darius, he began to adopt some Persian royal dress, at least when dealing with Persians—with a couple exceptions. He refused to don trousers, the kandys (a special sleeved coat), and (maybe) the upright tiara. There’s some debate on the latter. Basically, he adopted Persian clothing that was less likely to offend the Greeks. It offended them anyway (because it was Persian), but he stayed away from garments especially associated with Asia: hated Asian trousers, the kandys, and the Persian “crown,” or upright tiara, going with the less offensive diadema that was already in use in Greece, albeit not as a symbol of royalty. Men already regularly wore a fillet; it was as ubiquitous as a ballcap in the US (and equally associated with “sporty” types).

So, he was trying to walk a middle road with the symbols of kingship while avoiding the more notorious. Again, he seems to have let COLOR stand in, giving purple cloaks and hats (kausia) to his Companions (Hetairoi), and Persian-style red horse trappings.

So he wasn’t a fashion guru in the usual sense. As king, he set style, he didn’t mimic it. Below is a late Hellenistic-era statue of him (Demetrio Alexander) wearing what seems to be standard Macedonian soldier dress.

Here are two earlier posts (with pictures!) about Macedonian (top) and Greek (bottom) clothing.

* There’s a funny story of Alexander getting in trouble by sending the Persian royal women a gift of weaving material for their entertainment. In Persia, slaves and low-borns did the weaving, so they thought he was telling them they were to be slaves and/or insulting them. He’d meant it as a compliment! His own mother (and/or sisters) made his clothing, so he was offering them status as his family members.

[argumate]

Complicating this picture further, we have another ethnic category in Ptolemaic armies, that of ‘Persians.’ The Ptolemaic army has a place for most Egyptians, they fight as machimoi, get paid less than ‘Macedonians’ and don’t (usually) serve in the phalanx. But then we have soldiers noted as being ‘Persians.’ These are not, clearly, actual ethnic Persians or any sort of Iranian peoples – there really aren’t any of those in Egypt. Instead ‘Persian’ too is a fictional legal status. Under Alexander, there was briefly a program of training local youths (mostly elites) in Macedonian warfare and customs and the products of these programs were called ‘Persians,’ which fits into Alexander’s other failed efforts to try to fuse his Macedonian ruling-class with a broader Persian (and related peoples) ruling class. While those programs get shut down basically everywhere after Alexander’s death – as his successors instead set up ethnic hierarchies where Macedonians (and Greek-speakers) rule and all other people are ruled – it seems like it ran a little longer in Egypt, producing a class of ethnic Egyptians who were Hellenized in their customs and fighting style and legally coded as ‘Persians.’ In the second century, some number of Egyptians also earned ‘Persian’ status through military service and it seems like several generations in, some of those original ‘Persians’ end up reclassified as ‘Macedonians.’

can only imagine the intensity of the discourse posted by the scribes in Ptolemaic Egypt