Day of Empire_ How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance--And Why They Fall - Amy Chua [22]
Alexander engaged in similar crowd-pleasing religious rituals after conquering Egypt. Writing about Alexander's success with the Egyptians, Peter Green adds a fascinating psychological gloss:
[Alexander] got rather more than he bargained for. What had been conceived as a piece of political diplomacy turned into a profoundly felt emotional and spiritual experience…The Persian kings had been, ex officio, Pharaohs of Egypt, by right of conquest over the native dynasty. Alexander had put down Darius: in the priests’ eyes he now became their legitimate ruler. So, on 14 November 332, the young Macedonian was solemnly instated as Pharaoh. They placed the double crown on his head, and the crook and flail in his hands. He became simultaneously god and king, incarnation and son of Ra and Osiris…There [were earlier] signs that…Alexander [had begun] to lose touch with his Macedonians…Now, amid the ancient splendours of Egypt—a civilization which invariably bred semi-mystical awe in the Greek mind—he learnt that he was in truth a god, and the son of a god.48
Around 330 BC, Alexander heard that a Persian rival was organizing an uprising against him. In response, Alexander went to Bactria and filled his court with Persian ushers and bodyguards, including Oxathres, Darius's brother. He put on a Persian diadem, dressed himself in the traditional Persian white robes and sash, and even outfitted his horses in Persian harnesses. Several ancient writers criticized Alexander's adoption of Persian dress and customs as a decline into luxury and “orientalism.” But once again, it was more likely part of a shrewd strategy of instrumental tolerance—a strategy that reached a spectacular high point in the mass marriage Alexander organized at Susa.
In 324 BC, Alexander and (on his orders) roughly ninety of his Greek and Macedonian officers took Persian or Median brides, all from royal or noble families. Scholars debate Alexander's motives, but it appears that he wanted both to establish himself as the legitimate heir to the Achaemenid Empire and to create a mixed-blooded ruling class. In any case, Alexander married two women at Susa: Barsine, the oldest daughter of the dead king Darius, and another daughter of the Persian royal family. Unlike Alexander's first marriage (to a Bactrian woman named Roxane), which had been in the Macedonian style, the mass wedding was extravagantly Persian. Following a simple ceremony, a lavish five-day wedding bacchanalia ensued. According to an ancient source, Alexander had a special pavilion constructed with one hundred bridal chambers,
furnished in the most costly and magnificent manner, with sumptuous garments and cloths, and beneath them were other cloths of purple, and scarlet, and gold…[P]illars supported the tent, each twenty cubits long, plated all over with gold and silver, and inlaid with precious stones; and all around these were spread costly curtains embroidered with figures of animals, and with gold, having gold and silver curtain-rods.49
Like the Achaemenids, Alexander raised the largest army on earth through his ability and willingness to incorporate men from every part of his empire. Thirty thousand young Persians, chosen for their strength and grace, were taught Greek, trained in Macedonian military techniques, and made part of the army. His cavalry included not just Persians but Bactrians, Sogdians, Arachotians, Zarangians, Areians, and Parthians. His navy was similarly diverse. With a massive fleet of nearly two thousand ships, he propelled 120,000 troops down the Indus into India. Working on the ships were Phoenicians, Cypriots, and Egyptians, as well as mainly Greek and Persian commanders. Alexander's six-month