Alexander the Great at Bactra: A Burning Question

Summary

Abstract: Scholars have generally claimed that Alexander the Great's extraordinary order that his army burn all of its non-essential personal possessions occurred in Hyrcania, on the eve of the Bactrian invasion. The evidence, however, shows that the event more likely happened at Bactra several years later, at the end of the Bactrian campaign.

Key words: Alexander the Great, Hyrcania, Bactria, India, logistics.

Alexander the Great spent more of his reign in Bactria and Sogdiana than in any other part of his vast empire, including Macedonia and Greece. Yet, many aspects of the king's long sojourn in Central Asia remain obscure due to the poor quality of the surviving narrative sources. All five of these accounts are late and derivative; one of them (Arrian) chooses at just this point to switch from a chronological to a thematic approach, and another (Diodorus) suffers a frustrating lacuna (Holt 2012, 165–172). In some cases, archaeological and documentary evidence can be marshaled to good effect (Naveh/Shaked 2012; Rtveladze 2002), but nagging problems still remain. One of these is the question of when, why, and where Alexander issued the extraordinary order for his entire army to burn its personal baggage. This was certainly a demoralizing loss of valuable loot that had been gathered along the triumphant march through Persia, some of it already carried for many miles only to be abandoned by royal decree. Departing from the opinion of most scholars, this paper argues that the event occurred at Bactra at the end of spring 327 BC in circumstances that signal a new experiment in Alexander's logistical thinking.

Historical sources give two versions of when and where the Macedonian army first destroyed its spoils of war. According to Curtius, the order was issued in Hyrcania soon after the death of Darius in 330 BC. Curtius situates the burning at the end of an infamous series of stories: Alexander rescues his beloved horse Bucephalus from the Mardi (6.5.11–21); Alexander receives as a gift the beloved eunuch Bagoas (6.5.22–23); Alexander meets and mates with the queen of the Amazons (6.5.24–32); Alexander begins to succumb to his passions under the corrupting influence of Persian luxury, which alienates his veteran soldiers (6.6.1–10); Alexander avoids mutiny with gifts and bonuses, then circumvents the men's dangerous idleness through an opportune war against the rebel Bessus (6.6.11–13).