inscription reads, ‘may Ahuramazda preserve… what has been built by me’ and so therefore
its destruction undermines Ahuramazda and Darius, who would be positioned to defend this
as king. 13
Fredricksmeyer argues that Persepolis was the holy city of the empire- leading to the
conclusion that Alexander acted out of policy in order to destroy the religious hub of the
empire. 14 This parallels his treatment and distain for the Zoroastrian religion which will be
explored shortly. Persepolis as the epicentre of the Persian Empire’s religion and kingly
duties explains why it was burnt by Alexander. Being a proactive ruler , Alexander’s main
concern was beating Darius which he felt would be catalysed by destroying Persepolis.
The Achaemenid Empire was a large collection of different ethnicities. Complex in its
system as a political entity, it was held together by Zoroastrianism. 15 This created a central
religious identity that was important to the Persian rulers, but was ultimately persecuted by
Alexander. In Zoroastrian tradition, Alexander is seen as the ‘accursed’. 16 The Zoroastrian
Pahlavi scripture, Bundahishn , describes the ten wrongs Alexander committed, being: 1.
Alexander slays the Kayanid Dara or instigates his assassination; 2. Alexander slays the
Iranian aristocracy; 3. Alexander slays the priest(s) (and wise men); 4. Alexander destroys the
fire temple(s) or extinguishes the fire(s); 5. Alexander destroys cities and fortresses in Iran; 6.
Alexander ‘carries off’ the sacred texts or books; 7. Alexander has Iranian books translated;
13 ‘Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions’ , Livius (2004) <https://www.livius.org/sources/content/achaemenid-royal- inscriptions/> [Accessed 20/05/2023] 14 Ernst Fredricksmeyer, ‘Alexander the Great and the Kingship of Asia’, in Alexander the Great in Fact and Fiction , Ed. A. B. Bosworth, Elizabeth Baynham (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 149; Brosius, p. 184 15 Taietti, ‘Alexander III’s Empire’, pp. 82-83; İbrahim Halil Menek, ‘A Historical Example of Multiculturalism: Achaemenid Empire Multiculturalism’, Ga ziantep Üniversitesi İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi , 2. 1 (2020), pp. 118 – 138 16 Harold W. Bailey, Zoroastrian Problems in the Ninth-Century Books (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971), p. 151
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