Lecture 26: In midsummer 324 B.C. Alexander marshaled his army at Opis so that he could discharge the unfit veterans and award the deserving for past heroism. Most veteran soliders had been with Alexander anywhere from 6–10 years, a long time to be …
Lecture 26: In midsummer 324 B.C. Alexander marshaled his army at Opis so that he could discharge the unfit veterans and award the deserving for past heroism. Most veteran soliders had been with Alexander anywhere from 6–10 years, a long time to be removed from one’s homeland. The army was owed six years’ back pay; most of the fighting in the East had to essentially
be done on credit. There was an enormous striking of coinage to pay off the veterans and probably the contractors in the East. Instead of being received with joy by many of the soldiers there was suspicion: Alexander’s generosity was met with jeers and complaints at Opis when the army lined up in order to receive pay.
Alexander ordered the arrest of the ringleaders, and called the Macedonians back to a sense of duty by a masterful speech, but in so doing he admitted the validity of their complaints. Alexander won back his Macedonians by appealing to Philip II and resuming his role as a traditional Argead king. With discipline restored, Alexander campaigned against Median rebels, but late in 324 B.C., Hephaestion fell ill of fever and died at Ecbatana. Overcome with grief, Alexander ordered excessive honors for his deceased friend and intimate, but the king’s spirit was broken.
On June 11, 323 B.C., Alexander himself died of fever at Babylon so that his final aims are unknown although the Hypomnemata survives purporting to record Alexander’s final goals. Yet, events in the fi nal year demonstrated that Alexander was facing the impossible tasks of governing by means of four irreconcilable roles: King of Macedon, pharaoh of Egypt, Lord of Asia, and commander of the League of Corinth. At Opis, Alexander ultimately had to yield to his Macedonian veterans, and by his sudden death Alexander was spared the even more difficult task of reconciling his Greek allies.
Suggested Reading:
Badian, “Alexander the Great and the Loneliness of Power.”
———, “Alexander the Great and the Unity of Mankind.”
Bosworth, Conquest and Empire.
Engels, Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army.
Heckel, The Conquests of Alexander the Great.
O’Brien, Alexander the Great.
Tarn, Alexander the Great.
Wilcken, Alexander the Great.
Lecture 27: https://www.bitchute.com/video/9SfX0kJSDVSP/
