013: The Age of Alexander - To the Strongest

The Hellenistic Age Podcast

History

4.7 • 558 Ratings

🗓️ 17 September 2018

⏱️ 32 minutes

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Summary

The crossing of the Gedrosian Desert, management of the empire, a case study on the king's cause of death and more are covered in the thrilling conclusion to the saga of Alexander the Great. Twitter: https://twitter.com/HellenisticPod iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hellenistic-age-podcast/id1377920930?mt=2 SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-103425037 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=225541&refid=stpr Title theme by Lina Palera (https://soundcloud.com/user-994392473) Distributed by suRRism-phonoethics (https://surrism-phonoethics.bandcamp.com/) Sources Used: The Anabasis of Alexander – Arrian Life of Alexander – Plutarch Library of History – Diodorus Siculus The History of Alexander – Quintus Curtius Rufus Borza, E.-N. Alexander’s Death: A Medical Analysis. In “The Landmark Arrian” Bosworth, A.B. Alexander and the Iranians. The Journal of Hellenic Studies. 100, 1-21. Bosworth, A.B. Alexander’s Death: The Poisoning Rumors. In “The Landmark Arrian” Carney, E.W. Alexander and Persian Women. 1996. The American Journal of Philology. 117(4), 563-588 Engels, D. Alexander’s Intelligence System. 1980. The Classical Quarterly, 30(2), 327- 340 Engels, D. Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army. Higgins, E.W. Aspects of Alexander’s imperial administration: some modern methods and views reviewed. 1980, Holt, F.L. The Treasures of Alexander the Great: How One Man's Wealth Shaped the World. 2016. Nagle, D.B. The Cultural Context of Alexander's Speech at Opis. 1996. Transactions of the American Philological Association. 126, 151-172 Oldach, D.W., Richard, R.E., Borzam E., Benitez, R.M. A Mysterious Death. 1998. N Engl J Med. 338 (1764-1769) Romm, J. Alexander’s Policy of Perso-Macedonian Fusion. In Landmark Arrian. Schmidt, G.D. and Roberts, L.S. Foundations of Parasitology 9th Edition. McGraw-Hill.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi there, you're listening to the Hellenistic Age podcast, Episode 13, The Age of Alexander, to the strongest.
0:13.0	In our last episode, we covered the Macedonian invasion of India, located in the modern-day Punjab.
0:19.0	The fighting was brutal and costly, and although victory over King Poros in the Battle of the Hydaspies
0:25.6	solidified Alexander's grasp of the region, the army had put its foot down and demanded to go home.
0:31.6	Reluctantly, Alexander complied with the troops' wishes.
0:35.6	But the question is, how to get back home? And once
0:39.3	they return home to enjoy the spoils of empire, the question becomes how to rule it.
0:48.0	Since settling the affairs of his founded city's Busephola and Nikea, Alexander had been awaiting
0:53.8	for the arrival of his
0:54.9	Greek naval commander, Nearchus, a boyhood friend of the king who had previously served
1:00.0	as Satrap in Asia, before being recalled to serve as Navark of the Macedonian fleet
1:05.3	that was currently being built upon the banks of the Hydaspe's river.
1:09.6	Nearchus would later write a memoir about his adventures, which is unfortunately now lost, but would later be extensively used by Arian.
1:17.6	The army had assembled about 800 ships, a small number of 30-ord vessels, and the rest were lighter transport craft.
1:25.6	The plan was to sail down the Indus River to the Mediterranean Sea.
1:30.3	And if you look at a map, you would know this is actually impossible.
1:33.7	But it was originally theorized by Alexander that the Indus was the source of the Nile River,
1:38.9	apparently on the assumption that both the Nile and the Indus share similar flora and fauna like crocodiles, and they
1:45.3	would thus belong to the same body of water.
1:48.2	The plant had to be adjusted once the locals explained the system of currents, and they
1:52.3	would have to sail down the Hydaspies and the Indus River to the Indian Gulf, which itself
1:57.5	joins the Persian Gulf.
	...

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