attests the burning was done at the end of his stay after all the treasure was looted. 5 It is
then suggested that this is more in line with a deliberate burning of Persepolis rather than a
spontaneous decision reared from a drunken gathering.
Wiesehöfer states ‘Royal protocol insists on the point that kings hip is firmly rooted in
Persia and requires descent from one family: the one of Achaemenes’. 6 This statement goes
far to show why Alexander torched Persepolis for pragmatic reasons, ultimately reflecting
his attitudes towards Persia. Alexander had captured Darius’s son and crown -prince, Ochus,
after the battle of Issus, which was important in giving leverage over the Persian king by
capturing the Achaemenid heir. Yet despite this, apart from letters asking for their release,
Darius remained a large threat leading to the subsequent battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC, and
the raising of a third army near Ecbatana. Therefore, Alexander would have needed other
ways to destabilise Darius. Burning his administrative capital would do this, and it highlights
Alexander as a proactive ruler, taking large measures to reach his immediate aims.
Alexander had been informed of a third army being amassed by Darius in Ecbatana.
Although the sources contradict the number of troops, Ecbatana was a fortified mountain
base, and Bosworth asserts that Darius could have tried raising a large force from Media to
the north-east. Badian positions that Alexander only opened pursuit of the Persian King once
he had been captured by Bessus, and that Darius was forced to flee from his mountain
settlement because of reinforcements not arriving. 7 This could be explained by the
5 Edmund F. Bloedow, Heather M. Loube, ‘Alexander the Great “Under Fire” at Persepolis’, Klio , 79. 2 (1997), pp. 341 – 353 (p. 347); see Sumner (1986) for a description of the area surrounding Persepolis and why the adverse weather made it harder during the winter for transportation using pack animals, requiring more planning from Alexander. 6 Guendalina D.M. Taietti , ‘Alexander III’s Empire: Macedonian, Achaemenid or Oecumenic Greek?’, Studia Hercynia , 1. 10 (2021), pp. 82 – 104 (p. 83) 7 E. Badian , ‘Alexander the Great and the Unity of Mankind’, Historia: Zeitschrift Für Alte Geschichte , 7. 4 (1958), pp. 425 – 444
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