Ghost on the Throne - James S. Romm [151]
3 One ancient source: The unnamed authors cited by Arrian at Anabasis 6.11.1, the only report we have of this version of events. Plutarch, in the second of his two essays titled “On the Fortune or Virtue of Alexander,” gives a detailed account of the efforts to aid the wounded Alexander, but the essay ends abruptly, seemingly broken off, before naming the man who extracted the arrowhead.
4 flipping it back: Attested by Suidas’ Greek lexicon, in the entry on Leonnatus (information thought to be derived from Arrian’s Events After Alexander and therefore included in Roos’ edition of that work).
5 had kept them in a careful equipoise: The point is made forcefully by Heckel in “Politics of Distrust.” Alexander was wary throughout his campaign of challenges from within his ranks, but especially after 330, when a high-ranking officer named Philotas appeared to have conspired against his life.
6 “They were so equal”: The passage is at 13.1.10. It is unclear whether the sentiment comes from Justin or from the author whose text he is summarizing, Pompeius Trogus.
7 Alexander had been dragged: The description that follows is taken principally from Plutarch’s second essay titled “On the Fortune or Virtue of Alexander” (Moralia 345). It does not entirely cohere with other accounts, including that of Plutarch himself in the Life of Alexander.
8 could be killed: Plutarch reports that Alexander killed Glaucias, the doctor who was attending Hephaestion at the time of his death.
9 a Roman statesman: I assume, along with most scholars, that the Quintus Curtius who wrote History of Alexander the Great is the same person as the senator and consul Curtius Rufus discussed by Tacitus (Annals 1.20.3–21.3).
10 to see Roman patterns: At 10.9.1–6, Curtius explicitly contrasts the experience of the Macedonians, whose empire was wrecked by lack of leadership, with that of the Romans in the era of the principate. Paul McKechnie has documented the case against Curtius in “Manipulation of Themes in Quintus Curtius Rufus Book 10,” Historia 48 (1999), pp. 44–60, arguing against the position of Errington in “From Babylon to Triparadeisos.” Elizabeth Baynham has also done much to reveal Curtius’ shortcomings in Alexander the Great: The Unique History of Quintus Curtius (Ann Arbor, Mich., 1998).
11 Alexander’s top naval officer, spoke next: The order of speakers and the content of their speeches are reported differently by Justin and Quintus Curtius. I have here followed the very convincing amalgam of the two made by Bosworth in the first chapter of Legacy of Alexander.
12 accompanying the army: There is no evidence of Arrhidaeus’ activities during the Asian campaign until this moment, but presumably he had stayed in Alexander’s entourage throughout. Alexander would not have left his half brother at home in Macedonia, where he might serve as a rallying point for his rivals.
13 this seems a Roman fantasy: Curtius had lived through the succession dramas at Rome following the deaths of Augustus and Caligula, and the memories of these seem to have influenced his account of the Babylon crisis. The urgency with which Alexander’s generals would later seek a royal bride shows that the throne was off-limits to any who were not part of the Argead house.
14 a task that by custom: The role of the assembled army in the selection of monarchs is a matter of dispute among scholars, and unfortunately most of the evidence comes from the post-Alexander era. Most agree that even before