All Alexander's Women
Page 26
by Robbert Bosschart; the mummies of the Ptolomaic dynasty were buried around his tomb) 129
Tomyris (in 529 BC, queen of the Scythian Massagetai tribe who refused to submit to Cyrus the Great. When he attacked her, she defeated him, causing his death on the battlefield, an episode that may have inspired Amazon-like legends in the East) 2, 12
Trajan (53–117 AD; Roman emperor, visited the Alexander Tomb and also added a new construction to the Isis temples on Philae) 62, 137
Triparadeisos (in Syria; in 320 BC, place of the provisional settlement of Alexander’s legacy, signed by his generals under Antipater’s authority) 94
Trogus Pompeius (c. 10 BC, a Romanised Gaul called Trogus Pompeius wrote a Histories in which the two volumes about Alexander were based mostly on a second-hand version of Kleitarchos; these volumes were later abridged, rather ineptly, by Justin) 155, 156, 158
Troy (ancient city/kingdom on the Hellespont/Dardanelles, site of Homeric Wars; Alexander went to visit it in 334 BC and took Achilles’ shield as trophy) 87, 88
Tyre (leading Fenician city, foremost naval power and centre of a commercial empire active in the whole Mediterranean during the first millennium BC, having founded Carthago; in 332 BC, Tyre was besieged and taken by Alexander) VII, 150
U:
Ur (oldest Sumerian city in Mesopotamia, near the mouth of the Eufrates river; site where around 3200 BC writing was invented for administrative purposes, but soon applied to literature. About 2300, Sargon of Akkad conquered Sumeria; to promote the integration of his new dominions, he made his daughter Enheduanna high priestess at Nanna’s temple in Ur, and at Anu’s temple in Uruk) 51
Uruk/Erech (on the Eufrates river, one of the three principal cities of ancient Sumeria; it patron deity is the godess Inanna. In times of Sargon’s empire, the city also had a famous temple for the sun god Anu; Sargon sent his daughter Enheduanna to be the high priestess there) 52
Uxians (Persian tribes in the region of Persepolis; its warriors controlled the mountain passes on roads from Susa to Persepolis, and in December 331 opposed Alexander; see under “Medates”, the Uxian leader who asked for clemency through the queen-mother Sisygambis. Alexander not only granted his pardon, but also gave the Uxians –both in the mountain passes ánd in the valley zones– a tax rebate. It is possible that the agricultural lands of the Uxians were part of the personal domains of Sisygambis in the Persepolis area; in other words, that in reality Alexander was exempting the queen-mother from tribute) VII, 40, 41, 152
V:
Vahush (=Ochus, “The Good One”; birth name of Artaxerxes III, see id.)
Valerius, Julius (Roman consul in 338 AD; translated the text of the ‘pseudo-Kallisthenes’ into Latin) 149, 157
Valerius Maximus (c. 25 AD, Roman author who in his quotes preserved parts of the texts of Trogus) 158, 161
Venus (planet, identified in Sumerian myths and astronomy with the goddess Inanna, Lady of Heavens, in her form as the planet Ninsianna) 53, 61
W:
Wiesehöfer, Josef (b. 1951; professor of Ancient History at Kiel university in Germany, expert on Mesopotamia, see Reference Works) 72, 163
Wilberforce Clarke (English translator in 1880 of Nizami Ganjavi) 143
X:
Xenofon (430–355 BC; Athenian noble, sometime disciple of Socrates, later general and writer; took part, as a mercenary officer, in the march of Cyrus the Younger against his brother king Artaxerxes II, that ended in defeat on the battlefield of Kunaxa. Author, among other works, of the Anabasis and the Cyropaedia) 8, 33, 39, 44, 45, 65, 69, 110, 111, 163
Xerxes (b. 520 BC, High King, son of Darius the Great and Atossa; reigned 486–465 with queen Amastris, chosen by Atossa. To highlight Xerxes’ vices, Herodotos says he tried to seduce both the wife and a daughter – Artaynte– of his brother Masistes, who then rebelled in Baktria, but was killed. To entice Artaynte, Xerxes engineered a (fake?) marriage with his son Darius II in Sardès, while queen Amastris was far away in Susa, says Herodotos. But Dr Maria Brosius contends that his story about a robe woven by Amastris and flaunted by Artaynte, is a misrepresentation. Such robes are attested to as royal gifts of the highest order, demanding careful use as they visualise loyalty to the High King. Brosius considers implausible Herodotos’ story of Xerxes going out of the palace in order to seduce Artaynte, and her asking for this robe to wear it publicly, so causing Amastris’ revenge –killing Artaynte’s mother by torture— that provoked Masistes’ failed revolt. In reality, this might be a mix-up of other facts: a revolt by Masistes, who displays his disloyalty by allowing his daughter to wear an imperial robe publicly against all custom; followed by the defeat of the rebels, and harsh punishment
Y:
Yasht (hymn by Zoroaster) 57-58
Z:
Zenobia, Julia Aurelia (queen of Palmyra 267-272 AD; claimed descent from Cleopatra VII; briefly occupied Alexandria from 269 until 272 when Rome defeated her) 3, 132
Zeus (Greek supreme male deity; in Karia, assimilated as Zeus Karios /Zeus Labraunda) 13, 14, 59, 78
Zoroaster/Zarathustra (prophet, theological writer, and religious reformer. Although solid biographical data are lacking, some experts consider he was born in Baktria in the 13th century BC. His theology centers on the supreme ‘God of Wisdom’ Ahura Mazda, but includes the cult of other deities, like the goddess Anahita. His faith is ‘canonised’ in the oral version of the Avesta, or Zoroastrian bible, around 650 BC. Tradition holds that the founding father of the Sassanid empire, Ardasher I, c. 230 AD ordered the first written text of this sacred book to be composed) 27, 55, 57, 66
Zranka (now Seistan, an Iranian region bordering Afghanistan. Ancient stronghold of Anahita worship) 55
1 See my note on page 135 about transcribing Greek and other names
2 In the chaos after Alexander’s death in 323 BC, Cynnane is the first who decides to force a military solution to the succession problem. She musters an army (so her fame as Philip’s martial daughter still is solid enough to attract mercenary soldiers). She outmanoevers the regent Antipater when he tries to block her plans. Crossing the Hellespont into Ionia, she launches an appeal to Alexander’s elite regiments that are campaigning there under Perdikkas. These are the regiments that have proclaimed Alexander’s halfwit half-brother as joint king, besides Roxane’s baby son whom Perdikkas also has under his control. The troops are very much aware that Arridaios will never be fit to run an empire. Cynnane offers them the solution: have her daughter Adea marry Arridaios. That way, Philip’s offspring will again rule Makedon under the banner of Cynnane’s well proven military prowess.
Her proposal is so attractive for the Makedonian soldiers, who are quite fed up with Perdikkas’ ambitions, that he has Cynnane done away with. But this murder provokes such an outcry in the army that Perdikkas is forced to compromise. Adea indeed marries Arridaios and becomes queen of Makedon. True, for the moment she has to submit, together with her husband, to Perdikkas and Antipater; but their control is slipping fast. When Perdikkas is murdered by his own staff officers in Egypt, Adea comes close to usurping the high command over the army; and when Antipater finally dies of old age, she becomes the ‘de facto’ ruler of Makedon. (But in the end Adea clashes head-on with Alexander’s mother Olympias, loses her foothold and disappears from the scene.)
3 See page 151
4 See her “secret letter to Darius” quoted by the pseudo-Kallisthenes; page 149
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Tomb (of Alexander’s embalmed body, in Alexandria: see under “Alexander Tomb”; it was known locally as the Soma
Tomyris (in 529 BC, queen of the Scythian Massagetai tribe who refused to submit to Cyrus the Great. When he attacked her, she defeated him, causing his death on the battlefield, an episode that may have inspired Amazon-like legends in the East) 2, 12
Trajan (53–117 AD; Roman emperor, visited the Alexander Tomb and also added a new construction to the Isis temples on Philae) 62, 137
Triparadeisos (in Syria; in 320 BC, place of the provisional settlement of Alexander’s legacy, signed by his generals under Antipater’s authority) 94
Trogus Pompeius (c. 10 BC, a Romanised Gaul called Trogus Pompeius wrote a Histories in which the two volumes about Alexander were based mostly on a second-hand version of Kleitarchos; these volumes were later abridged, rather ineptly, by Justin) 155, 156, 158
Troy (ancient city/kingdom on the Hellespont/Dardanelles, site of Homeric Wars; Alexander went to visit it in 334 BC and took Achilles’ shield as trophy) 87, 88
Tyre (leading Fenician city, foremost naval power and centre of a commercial empire active in the whole Mediterranean during the first millennium BC, having founded Carthago; in 332 BC, Tyre was besieged and taken by Alexander) VII, 150
U:
Ur (oldest Sumerian city in Mesopotamia, near the mouth of the Eufrates river; site where around 3200 BC writing was invented for administrative purposes, but soon applied to literature. About 2300, Sargon of Akkad conquered Sumeria; to promote the integration of his new dominions, he made his daughter Enheduanna high priestess at Nanna’s temple in Ur, and at Anu’s temple in Uruk) 51
Uruk/Erech (on the Eufrates river, one of the three principal cities of ancient Sumeria; it patron deity is the godess Inanna. In times of Sargon’s empire, the city also had a famous temple for the sun god Anu; Sargon sent his daughter Enheduanna to be the high priestess there) 52
Uxians (Persian tribes in the region of Persepolis; its warriors controlled the mountain passes on roads from Susa to Persepolis, and in December 331 opposed Alexander; see under “Medates”, the Uxian leader who asked for clemency through the queen-mother Sisygambis. Alexander not only granted his pardon, but also gave the Uxians –both in the mountain passes ánd in the valley zones– a tax rebate. It is possible that the agricultural lands of the Uxians were part of the personal domains of Sisygambis in the Persepolis area; in other words, that in reality Alexander was exempting the queen-mother from tribute) VII, 40, 41, 152
V:
Vahush (=Ochus, “The Good One”; birth name of Artaxerxes III, see id.)
Valerius, Julius (Roman consul in 338 AD; translated the text of the ‘pseudo-Kallisthenes’ into Latin) 149, 157
Valerius Maximus (c. 25 AD, Roman author who in his quotes preserved parts of the texts of Trogus) 158, 161
Venus (planet, identified in Sumerian myths and astronomy with the goddess Inanna, Lady of Heavens, in her form as the planet Ninsianna) 53, 61
W:
Wiesehöfer, Josef (b. 1951; professor of Ancient History at Kiel university in Germany, expert on Mesopotamia, see Reference Works) 72, 163
Wilberforce Clarke (English translator in 1880 of Nizami Ganjavi) 143
X:
Xenofon (430–355 BC; Athenian noble, sometime disciple of Socrates, later general and writer; took part, as a mercenary officer, in the march of Cyrus the Younger against his brother king Artaxerxes II, that ended in defeat on the battlefield of Kunaxa. Author, among other works, of the Anabasis and the Cyropaedia) 8, 33, 39, 44, 45, 65, 69, 110, 111, 163
Xerxes (b. 520 BC, High King, son of Darius the Great and Atossa; reigned 486–465 with queen Amastris, chosen by Atossa. To highlight Xerxes’ vices, Herodotos says he tried to seduce both the wife and a daughter – Artaynte– of his brother Masistes, who then rebelled in Baktria, but was killed. To entice Artaynte, Xerxes engineered a (fake?) marriage with his son Darius II in Sardès, while queen Amastris was far away in Susa, says Herodotos. But Dr Maria Brosius contends that his story about a robe woven by Amastris and flaunted by Artaynte, is a misrepresentation. Such robes are attested to as royal gifts of the highest order, demanding careful use as they visualise loyalty to the High King. Brosius considers implausible Herodotos’ story of Xerxes going out of the palace in order to seduce Artaynte
Y:
Yasht (hymn by Zoroaster) 57-58
Z:
Zenobia, Julia Aurelia (queen of Palmyra 267-272 AD; claimed descent from Cleopatra VII; briefly occupied Alexandria from 269 until 272 when Rome defeated her) 3, 132
Zeus (Greek supreme male deity; in Karia, assimilated as Zeus Karios /Zeus Labraunda) 13, 14, 59, 78
Zoroaster/Zarathustra (prophet, theological writer, and religious reformer. Although solid biographical data are lacking, some experts consider he was born in Baktria in the 13th century BC. His theology centers on the supreme ‘God of Wisdom’ Ahura Mazda, but includes the cult of other deities, like the goddess Anahita. His faith is ‘canonised’ in the oral version of the Avesta, or Zoroastrian bible, around 650 BC. Tradition holds that the founding father of the Sassanid empire, Ardasher I, c. 230 AD ordered the first written text of this sacred book to be composed) 27, 55, 57, 66
Zranka (now Seistan, an Iranian region bordering Afghanistan. Ancient stronghold of Anahita worship) 55
1 See my note on page 135 about transcribing Greek and other names
2 In the chaos after Alexander’s death in 323 BC, Cynnane is the first who decides to force a military solution to the succession problem. She musters an army (so her fame as Philip’s martial daughter still is solid enough to attract mercenary soldiers). She outmanoevers the regent Antipater when he tries to block her plans. Crossing the Hellespont into Ionia, she launches an appeal to Alexander’s elite regiments that are campaigning there under Perdikkas. These are the regiments that have proclaimed Alexander’s halfwit half-brother as joint king, besides Roxane’s baby son whom Perdikkas also has under his control. The troops are very much aware that Arridaios will never be fit to run an empire. Cynnane offers them the solution: have her daughter Adea marry Arridaios. That way, Philip’s offspring will again rule Makedon under the banner of Cynnane’s well proven military prowess.
Her proposal is so attractive for the Makedonian soldiers, who are quite fed up with Perdikkas’ ambitions, that he has Cynnane done away with. But this murder provokes such an outcry in the army that Perdikkas is forced to compromise. Adea indeed marries Arridaios and becomes queen of Makedon. True, for the moment she has to submit, together with her husband, to Perdikkas and Antipater; but their control is slipping fast. When Perdikkas is murdered by his own staff officers in Egypt, Adea comes close to usurping the high command over the army; and when Antipater finally dies of old age, she becomes the ‘de facto’ ruler of Makedon. (But in the end Adea clashes head-on with Alexander’s mother Olympias, loses her foothold and disappears from the scene.)
3 See page 151
4 See her “secret letter to Darius” quoted by the pseudo-Kallisthenes; page 149
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