The Hellenistic Settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria and India. Getzel M. Cohen

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СКАЧАТЬ Macedonian settlement at SAMAREIA, and ALEXANDREIA/Spasinou Charax, all the settlements that can arguably be claimed to have been founded by Alexander the Great were located in central Asia—that is, well east of the Tigris.⁹² ALEXANDROPOLIS in Thrace was, of course, a foundation of Alexander’s youth, established after a rebellion in the region. The military settlement at SAMAREIA was founded in response to a rebellion by the Samaritans. The other two settlements—both of which were called Alexandreia—were apparently established primarily for commercial and political rather than strategic or security reasons. ALEXANDREIA/Spasinou Charax at the head of the Persian Gulf provided an outlet for maritime trade with India. Similarly, ALEXANDREIA near Egypt provided access to the Mediterranean and served as a commercial transit point for goods traveling up and down the Nile from and to the Red Sea coast.

      In Bactria and the adjacent regions, Alexander the Great faced threats both from without and from within.⁹³ His concern with anchoring a Macedonian presence in this region both for security purposes and as a safeguard against nomadic tribes on the steppes to the north can be seen in the Alexandreias he allegedly founded there.⁹⁴ It is important to bear in mind that in Bactria and the adjacent regions Alexander and his successors faced a unique challenge that had not manifested itself elsewhere in the Middle East: resistance and opposition from the Greek settlers. Diodorus twice refers to this: he says that when a rumor spread that Alexander had died, “the Greeks who had been settled in Bactria and Sogdiana, who had long borne unhappily their sojourn among peoples of another race and now received word that the king had died of his wounds, revolted against the Macedonians” (17.99.5, trans. Welles).⁹⁵ He also says that, subsequently, “the Greeks who had been settled by Alexander in the upper satrapies, as they were called, although they longed for the Greek customs and manners of life and were cast away in the most distant part of the kingdom, yet submitted while the king was alive through fear; but when he was dead they rose in revolt” (18.7.1, trans. Geer).⁹⁶ I might add, incidentally, that there is no evidence for the same level of dissatisfaction among, for example, the Greeks who had been settled in Mesopotamia or Syria.

      As regards the native population, there are, of course, examples of opposition to Macedonian rule: consider what happened at SAMAREIA. But this was apparently the exception. There was native resistance to Macedonian conquest; one thinks, for example, of the resistance of the inhabitants of Tyre and Gaza. But, as far as we know, there was no organized or prolonged resistance to Macedonian rule in Syria or Mesopotamia in the early Hellenistic period. In short, it would appear that the newly established Macedonian presence in the Middle East was generally accepted without extensive or prolonged native opposition. It is worth noting that in these same regions we do not find evidence for a program of organized settlement foundings by Alexander.

      The situation in central Asia was quite different. There, Alexander faced fierce and prolonged resistance to Macedonian conquest and, subsequently, to Macedonian rule. To use a term that was widely (mis)used during the Vietnam War, the “pacification” of central Asia was far more challenging than anything Alexander had faced anywhere else. In short, the king’s task in central Asia was quite complex: he had to deal with opposition and resistance from settlers and natives as well as with various external threats. Furthermore, as Alexander advanced farther and farther east into central Asia, he was soon approaching the frontiers of the (former) Achaemenid empire, frontiers that would essentially form the border of his own empire. These geopolitical challenges may help explain Alexander’s decisions to establish settlements at various places in the region. Whether the settlements were a reaction to or a cause of native opposition and resistance may be debated.

      

      Alexandreias

      The literature on Alexander and on the number and purpose of his foundations is quite extensive.⁹⁷ The number of foundations attributed to Alexander reached a peak with Plutarch’s claim of seventy (De Alex. Fort. 328E) and then declined rapidly, leveling off at approximately twelve. Stephanos attributed twenty foundations to the Macedonian king (s.vv. “Alexandreia,” “Boos Kephalai,” and “Boukephaleia”) plus another two or three (s.vv. “Dion” and “Euporia”) that are clearly unhistorical.⁹⁸ The ? recension of the Greek Alexander Romance ascribed thirteen foundations to Alexander but listed only nine. The ?' and Γ recensions of the Greek Romance recorded twelve settlements attributed to the Macedonian king, as did the Chronicon Paschale 321 (CSHB 4.1), the Excerpta Latina Barbari 34b (ed. Schoene [Appendix 6 in Eusebi Chronicorum vol. 1), and Julius Valerius (3.60 [1445–1450], ed. Rosellini). In other versions of the Romance, the number varied only slightly, if at all: for example, the Armenian, Syriac [thirteen?], and Ethiopic mentioned twelve; the Analecta Syriaca referred to thirteen; the Hebrew also recorded thirteen, while the Arabic geographer Yakut recorded fifteen in the Mu’jam al-Buldân (Geographical Dictionary) and sixteen in the Mushtarik (Dictionary of Geographical Homonyms).⁹⁹ Lists of foundations attributed to Alexander are also found in the Perso-Arabic (Iranian) literature: for example, in al-Tabari (839–923 A.D.), al-Dinawari (ninth century A.D.), Hamza al-Isfahani (884-c. 961 A.D.), and Qudama ibn Ja’far (d. 948 A.D.).¹⁰⁰ Al-Tabari says the Macedonian king built twelve cities, all named Alexandreia; he then gives their names.¹⁰¹ Al-Dinawari says Alexander built twelve cities, but names only seven.¹⁰² Hamza records a tradition that Alexander founded twelve cities in Iran—all of them called Alexandreia—but he then mentions only eleven.¹⁰³ Qudama ascribes nine cities to the Macedonian king.¹⁰⁴ The Pahlavi Provincial Capitals of Eranshahr (ed. Markwart) does not include a list but does provide a number of attributions (12, 53).¹⁰⁵ Finally, the Christian Egyptian physician Eutychios (Sa’ îd ibn al-Batrîq, 877–940 A.D.) says that Alexander “built thirteen cities in the East and the West . . . and he built Alexandria in Egypt.” Unfortunately, he does not name the cities—other than ALEXANDREIA near Egypt—that he attributed to Alexander.¹⁰⁶ The foundations included in these various Romance and Romance tradition lists are not uniform, nor can definite identifications be made in every case.¹⁰⁷

      Other ancient authors focused on Alexander’s activity in particular regions. Thus, Strabo (11.11.4) says Alexander founded eight poleis in Bactria and Sogdiana; Justin (12.5.3) says he founded twelve (seven, according to another manuscript) there. Curtius Rufus (7.10.15–16) claimed Alexander chose six sites for foundations in Margiana.¹⁰⁸

      Whatever the exact number, there is general agreement among most scholars that the total number of settlements that can be attributed to Alexander with any degree of certainty is less than Plutarch’s seventy.¹⁰⁹ V. Tcherikover came up with a figure of approximately thirty-four—as he noted, roughly half Plutarch’s number.¹¹⁰ However, he considered many in his list to be questionable or doubtful.

      TCHERIKOVER

      1 Alexandropolis in Thrace

      2 Gaza

      3 Alexandreia near Egypt

      4 Alexandreia on the Caucasus

      5 Alexandreia on the Tanais

      6 Nikaia in India

      7 Boukephala

      8 Arigaion

      9 Alexandreia on the Akesines

      10 Alexandreia on the Indus and Akesines

      11 Alexandreia Sogdiana

      12 Xylenopolis

      13 Barke

      14 Arbis-Alexander’s Harbor

      15 Alexandreia Rhambakia

      16 Alexandreia on the Pallakottas

      17 Alexandreia Charax

      “ZWEIFELHAFTE”

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