Ctesias was a Greek physician who stayed at the court of the Persian king Artaxerxes II Mnemon from 404 to 398/397. He wrote several books about Persia and India. These books are now lost but were quoted by ancient authors;…
On 21 or 22 October 331, Alexander entered Babylon, the old capital of the ancient Near East. The longest description is that of the Roman author Quintus Curtius Rufus, who based his account on earlier, Greek sources. It should be…
In the winter of 325/324, Alexander stayed in Carmania, after a long and very difficult march though the Gedrosian desert, which had cost many lives. When the Macedonian army reached Carmania, however, there was an end to their suffering, and…
In the Spring of 329, Alexander crossed the large desert between the city Bactra (Balkh, near modern Mazâr-e Sharîf) and the river Oxus in pursuit of the Persian leader Bessus. The best description of the death march is that of…
At the end of book ten his History of Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Quintus Curtius Rufus describes what happened in the days following Alexander's death: Perdiccas was chosen as regent for Alexander's brother Arrhidaeus. The regency was necessary, because…
Quintus Curtius Rufus (†53 CE): Roman senator, author of an important History of Alexander the Great.In the Spring of 329, Alexander crossed the Hindu Kush from Gandara to Bactria in order to pursue the Persian leader Bessus. The best description…
On 21 or 22 October 331, Alexander entered Babylon, the old capital of the ancient Near East. He had promised that the houses of the city would be left intact, but this did not mean that the women of Babylon…
In the Cyrus Cylinder, a cuneiform tablet now in the British Museum, Cyrus describes how he had conquered Babylon (October 539 BCE). It is interesting because the Persian king presents himself to his new subjects as the perfect ruler, carefully…
In the Cyrus Cylinder, a cuneiform tablet now in the British Museum, Cyrus describes how he had conquered Babylon (October 539 BCE). It is interesting because the Persian king presents himself to his new subjects as the perfect ruler, carefully…
Achaemenid Royal Inscriptions: collection of Old Persian cuneiform texts from the sixth, fifth, and fourth centuries BCE, left by the Achaemenid kings on their official monuments.Inscription on a Fluted Bowl of a king named Darius
[Inscription on a fluted bowl of Darius I the…