Alexander XI Poliorketes
| Alexander IX Basileus Theos | |
|---|---|
| Basileus of the Farsian Empire | |
| Reign | 349 – 315 BC |
| Coronation | 348 BC |
| Predecessor | Mithridates IV |
| Successor | Alexander X |
| Born | 23 July 370 BC Sousa |
| Died | 315 BC |
| Spouse |
|
| Dynasty | Alcaeid dynasty |
| Father | Mithridates IV |
| Mother | WIP |
Alexander IX Basileus Theos (23 July 370 BC - 9 September 315 BC) widely known as the Alexander the Great was the 53rd Basileus of the Farsian Empire, an historical state in modern Mesogeia. His reign of thirty-four years is unprecedented in the history of Mesogeia, because for the entirety of his reign he waged numerous wars that expanded and increased the power and prestige of the Farsian Empire. He waged a lengthy war with the Scythians in an attempt to subjugate the whole of Scythistan under Farsian rule.
The legacy of Alexander IX is far reaching on modern Mesogeian society. Modern historians have cited his reign as a major turning point in the history of Mesogeia for a number of reasons; most notably its impact on Mesogeian culture, society and history as whole. Alexander left a lasting legacy on the landscape of Mesogeia, from the various cities bearing his name, to the monuments that he constructed, to the cities that he destroyed in his wars of conquest. Furthermore Alexander IX is hailed as a military genius and his tactics and military strategies are taught in military academies in Mesogeia and throughout the world. He is often ranked in lists of the most important monarchs of Mesogeia.
Early life
Divine birth
Alexander was born 23 July 370 BC, in Susa, the second capital of the Farsian Empire. He was son of Mithridates IV and his fifth wife Berenice. Myths surrounding his birth claim that his mother dreamed a thunderbolt struck her womb. While his father Mithridates IV dreamt that his wife bore a lion in her belly that would consume the world.
The court astrologers at the time concluded that the young prince was of divine parentage and that he would conquer the world. A birthmark in the shape of a thunderbolt on his shoulder was believed to be the mark of the god Ombrius his actual father. The twenty-third July 370 BC was considered to be an auspicious day as a result of a number of good omens. in the midst of a victory at Potidea, Mithridates IV received word of the birth of a son, the defeat of a Saramartian army at the kingdom's northern border, and the victory of his champion PLACEHOLDER at the 110th Mesogeian Games. Simultaneously the great temple of Elaphiaia in Ephesus burned down. People claimed that the goddess of childbirth was to busy with attending to the birth of the great Alexander to save her greatest temple.
As was tradition Alexander was raised in the Gynaikeion among the women of his father's harem until the age of seven after which time his education and upbringing was entrusted to a male.
Education
After his education was entrusted to a trusted male advisor of his father Alexander left the gynaikeion to live in the mens quarters commonly referred to as the Androneum. In regards to his education Alexander was educated in the manner of Farsian prince, learning to read, write, play the lyre, ride a horse, wrestle, and hunt.
When Alexander reached the age of 13, his father chose PLACEHOLDER, the leading Mesogeion philosopher of the day as a personal tutor to his son. Under PLACEHOLDER's tutelage Alexander learned philosophy, religion, art, medicine, music, as well as Mesogeian literature.
Accession
Alexander IX became Emperor of Farsia in 349 BC upon the death of his father Mithridates IV, at Chrysopolis. After consolidating his rule he was crowned in a traditional Farsian ceremony at Chrysopolis in 348 BC.
Northern Conquests
Taurica and Cantabria
In 347 BC, a few months after his coronation at Chrysopolis, Alexander marched north to the empire's northern border at Macedon with an army of 86,000 soldiers, 12,000 cavalry, and a fleet of 160 ships. Alexander proclaimed that it was his intention to conquer the north and to defeat the Saramatians one for all where his predecessors and forebears failed. Following the defeat of a Saramatian army at Istros river the treasury at Naissus was surrendered to him in return for peace. Alexander accepted the treasure but continued his campaign stating that his birthright would not be denied to him
After the successful siege of Panticapaeum in 347 BC, Alexander freed the nation of Taurica from the tyrannical rule of the Saramatians. He proceeded to take the coastal cites of Cantabria, most notably the cities of Tyras, Buri, and Tomis.
Dacia
After wintering on the southern side of the Argenti mountains, Alexander resumed his campaign by crossing those mountains into Dacian country in 346 BC. Alexander and his army paused for a few a months at the Alba River after being struck by an illness. He allowed half his army to remain on the other side of the mountains proceeding with only 43,000 men.
The following battle at Sirmium pitted Alexander's 43,000 strong army against a vastly superior Saramatian army numbering somewhere between 120,00 and 200,000 men. The battle at Sirmium was a decisive battle that resulted in the capture of Saramatian King's harem, and vast treasure all abandoned on the battle field by the King himself as he fled. In 345 BC Alexander's army arrived at the gates of Sisca. When the people refused to open their gates to him in opposition of his command Alexander raised a siege that lasted for nearly a year. Upon his taking of Sisca the Farsian army massacred thousands and enslaved the remaining inhabitants.
The citizens at Singidunum learning from their counterparts at Sisca opened their gates to Alexander without hesitation.
Central Saramatia
In 344 BC, Alexander proceeded to pursue the Saramatian King to the stronghold of Poetovium where the two met in another battle, where once again Alexander's smaller force defeated the vas Saramatian army. In 343 BC Alexander reached the Saramatian capital of Sarmisegetusa. The people capitulated without fight, the Saramatian king having fled weeks earlier. In 341 BC. Alexander married Roxana, a Saramatian princess. After 341 BC Alexander continued his pursuit of the Saramatian king. His pursuit only ended in 340 BC when General Spargapeithes sent him the decapitated head of King PLACEHOLDER in an attempt to sue for peace. The sight of her father's head is believed to have caused Roxana's miscarriage in 340 BC.
Alexander had general Spargapeithes executed for betraying his master and for murdering his father-in-law.
Relations with Troianian Republic
The Troianians had known of the existence of the empire of the Farsians located to the south for centuries up to the northern conquests of Alexander. Alexander's northern invasion and conquest of Saramatia was considered direct threat to the Republic of Troiana, one of the most important states in northern Mesogeia. The Senate of Troiana feared the might of imperial Farsia.
Alexander assured the Troianian Consul PLACEHOLDER at the time that he would not harm them provided they pay tribute to him and acknowledge him as Emperor and overlord of all the lands of the Mesogeians. The Troianians acknowledged Alexander and the Alcaeid dynasty as masters of Mesogeia and Alexander soon turned his attention south west to the Scythians, who for centuries had been making inroads on the Farsian Empire's southwestern borders.
Scythian Wars
Starting in 338 BC Alexander spent the next several years waging a never ending seemingly constant battle with his southern rivals the Scythians. Only ceasing in 334 BC after a peace treaty was signed. His Scythian campaign was inaugurated with the double wedding to his cousins the princesses Stateira and Parysatis, the daughters of his deposed uncle Tiridates V.
After spending a few years in the imperial capital at Chrysopolis overseeing to his administration Alexander became restless wishing to return to the battlefield. In early 338 BC Alexander turned his attention on his southwestern borders. During that time Farsia's old rival Scythia was going through a succession crisis and Alexander perceived that it would be the perfect moment to launch an assault on the nation that had been like a thorn in the side of the Farsians for centuries.
Several decades before Alexander's accession to the throne Scythians had attacked Sogdiana and Bactriana, traditionally Scythian provinces held by the Farsians. In 338 BC, Alexander crossed into the province of Arachosia with an army of 100,000 men.
By 337 he had reached Gandara, and marched on city of Paropamisadae, besieging it for nearly a year before taking it 336 BC. He marched on the Scythian capital at Bactria in 335 BC but was forced to turn back following a serious outbreak of disease. A treaty was signed in 334 BC, where Farsian supremacy was acknowledged in northern Scythia while the remaining provinces of Scythian were left to Scythians.
Publicly the Emperor returned to the capital a triumphant victor, but privately he felt himself a failure at having failed to conquer the entirety of Scythia. By the time he ended his southern campaigns Alexander's family had grown significantly, he had four wives along with several concubines, and a total of six children. During the remaining eighteen years of his life his wives bore him ten more children. In fact weeks after their return to the capital, his wives Roxana and Stateira each delivered a child, Princess Olympias and Prince Darius respectively. The birth of two healthy children was seen as good omen.
Later reign
Administration
In 332, the aged Craterus, governor of Macedon died leaving Macedonian governorship vacant. Alexander IX appoints his eldest son Prince Mithridates to the office, then a boy of eighteen. The following month in 332 BC, Alexander appointed his trusted general Ptolemy to the position of Dioiketes, the chief minister of the empire.
Palace intrigue
During the last few years of his reign, Alexander devoting his time to life of luxury and leisure; spending his days feasting, hunting, and indulging in the pleasures of his male and female concubines. The unimaginable orgies that took place in his harem are recorded in the annals of the Imperial chronicles.
The years between 322 and 321 were devastating for Alexander and his family. 322 BC started with the death of the young princess Eurydice, this tragedy was followed by the death of the Emperor's mother Berenice later that same year. The court mourned the death of the Basilometor for several months. Magnificent funeral games befitting a monarch were held in Chrysopolis. After her body was embalmed the emperor's mother was entombed in the imperial mausoleum at Farsargadae. The final tragedy occurred in 321 BC. when the crown prince Mithridates died from a sudden illness.
With the death of the Basilometor Berenice, the Emperor's wives Stateira and Parysatis began scheming to place Stateira's eldest son Philip on the throne in the place of Alexander's older sons Mithridates and Alexander. Two factions with opposing views as to who should succeed to the Thorne formed at court. One faction was centered on Mithridates and later Alexander and composed of Basilissas Cleopatra and Roxana, the Dioiketes Ptolemy, and Amyntoros family.
A second faction composed of the Basilissas Stateira and Parysatis, the Satrap Antigonus, and the eunuch Bagoas supported prince Philip as a potential candidate for the throne. It rumored that members of this faction poisoned prince Mithridates while he was in the capital.
Wives, concubines, and issue
Alexander IX like his predecessors kept a harem consisting of both women and young men. A number of his wives and concubines are known to historians including, Cleopatra, Roxana, Stateira, Parysatis, and Barsine. He is said to have fathered 17 children by his various wives and concubines.
In 352 BC, few years before his father's death he married Cleopatra his full-blooded sister keeping with ancient custom to keep the imperial line pure. The couple had three children (one son and two daughters).
- Mithridates (b. 350-321) BC; married Arsinoe, died suddenly while at court, had issue)
- Berenice (b. 341- 262 BC; married an Antigonid, leading lady at court during successive reigns
- Cleopatra II (b. 338-281 BC; married her half-brother Alexander X, Empress consort)
Nine years after his accession, Alexander married Roxana a Saramatian princess in 341 BC and raised her to the rank of Basilissa alongside his sister-wife Cleopatra. It is said that while Alexander married his other wives for political reasons he married Roxana for love. The couple had five children (three sons and two daughters).
- Xerxes (Born and died 340 BC; born stillborn while his father was on campaign)
- Alexander X (b. 338-296 BC; succeeded his father as Emperor, married Cleopatra, Arsinoe, Barsine, Atossa, Amestris)
- Roxana (b 336-276 BC; married Tiridates
- Demetrius (b. 334-260 BC; married Apama, and had offspring)
- Olympias (b. 333-278 BC; married Ptolemy, had offspring
Later on in 338 BC double wedding to Stateira and Parysatis his cousins and the heiresses to the deposed Emperor Tiridates V. From those marriages Alexander had offspring. Stateira bore him four children (two sons, and two daughters);
- Philip (b. 337-312 BC; born while his father was on campaign, killed in battle attempting to seize the throne)
- Darius (b. 333-312 BC; supported his brother Philip's bid for the throne, later strangled along with his mother)
- Amestris (b. 330-259 BC; married to her half-brother Alexander X)
- Sisygambis (b 320-260 BC; married an Attalid nobleman and had issue)
Parysatis bore him five children (three daughters and two sons).
- Artaxsaca (336-312 BC; born while his father campaigned, executed for treason)
- Atossa (331-290 BC; favored wife of Alexander X
- Cassandana (330-264 BC; married a Amyntoros nobleman, had issue)
- Eurydice (331 BC-322; died young
- Tiridates (328-283 BC; spared from execution as a result of the pleas of his sister Atossa)
He is also believed to have kept a concubine by the name of Barsine by whom he had son named Heraclius.
Alexander kept male companions as well, and a male concubinus by the name of Bagoas is recorded in the Imperial Annals. It is rumored that he carried on a very intense and passionate affair with his senior courtier Hephaestion. Their love is celebrated in the annals of Padishahnama (the Mesogeian Chronicle of Emperors), a work of literature written during the late ninth century that is to this day one of the most influential pieces of Mesogeian literature.
Death and succession
On 6 September 315, Alexander IX died in the Chaldia Palace, in Chrysopolis, at the age of 55.. At his death the people of his empire are said to have mourned for a year. The sacred fires at the four major temples, located each at one of the four corners of the empire were extinguished only to be relit at the coronation of his successor. The body of the late Emperor was carried to Sousa where a grand funeral ceremony was held. His body was returned to the capital where it was entombed in the temple dedicated to his worship in Crysopolis known as the Alexandreum. His funeral was followed by magnificent funeral games that were held in Chrysopolis.
Legacy
Modern historians have described the reign of Alexander IX as one of the most influential periods in the history of Mesogeia. Alexander is considered to be a military genius in modern Mesogeian society for various reasons because of his thirty years of near constant campaigning. The legacy of Alexander IX extends far beyond his various military conquests to include various economic, political, cultural, and religious aspects.
Politically Alexander's reign has left a lasting legacy on modern Mesogeia. While the Mesogeian peerage system was only formalized in the medieval age, several kingdoms were awarded to Alexander's most trusted generals. Several of these kingdoms exist to this day held by the descendants or reported descendants of those original descendants.
Culturally Alexander is still lasting figure, despite having lived over two thousand years ago. Over the centuries many legends and myths have sprung up surrounding the life of Alexander. Legend claims that he will rise again when the empire has need of his strong hand. In modern Mesogeia is name is invoked by people for a number of reasons; for instance the following phrase is used to invoke prosperity and sins of goodwill
- "In Alexander's name may God smile upon you
Religiously the ancient gods of the Mesogeians continued to be worshiped like they had for thousands of years. The Farsian (and later Mesogeian) Emperors were considered to be divine, and at his death in 315 BC the Imperial Cult expanded to include the worship of Alexander Basileus Theos, as a God King. Mentioned earlier Alexander's reign is the origin of the modern Mesogeian peerage system in the original constituent kingdoms of Mesogeia. The kings of the various kingdoms awarded to Alexander's generals followed the practices of Alexander adopting patron gods as the protectors of their houses.
A substantial portion of the population of modern Mesogeia continues to follow the ancient religion, that includes the worship of Alexander and the Emperor as a living God.