[ Alexander | Footnotes ]

(1) According to Fuller, Alexander lost contact with his home-base only once ("... for only 24 hours before the battle of Issus."), and only once did his supply system break down ("during his march across Gedrosia ... Due largely to Apollophanes, who failed to forward supplies.")

(2) Phil Grabsky ("The Great Commanders") believes that Alexander might have journeyed as far as 15.000-20.000 miles (24.000-32.000 km) during his campaigns. For comparison's sake, it should be noted that the equatorial circumference of the earth is 24,902 miles (40,076 km).

(3) The storming of the chief Mallian town in 326 B.C. is perhaps one of Alexander's most well-known feats of valor, an act of courage which almost cost him his life: Macedonian morale was wavering and Alexander thus seized a ladder and started scaling the walls himself, followed by his shield-bearer and bodyguard. Other men followed, but the ladder collapsed under their weight and Alexander was left alone inside the citadel, facing the Malli. An arrow pierced his chest and his bodyguard and shield-bearer, both of whom were wounded, managed to protect him until the rest of the storming party arrived. Alexander was seriously ill for several days, but to quench the rumours that he was dead, he let himself be carried aboard a ship and rowed down a riverbank in front of his men, demonstrating in a dramatic manner that he was still alive. Alexander was wounded 8 times, according to Plutarch, the most serious wound was inflicted by the Mallian arrow.

(4) In Gordium, there was a complicated knot which held a chariot together, and the knot had no exposed ends. It is believed that Alexander did one of two things: He pulled a pin out of the chariot-link and drew the yoke out sideways through the knot, or he simply cut the knot in half with his sword. Whether or not the story of the Gordian Knot is pure myth seems to be a bit unclear.

(5) The old horse was reported dead within a few hours of the battle. On the eastern bank, near the site of Bucephala's last river-crossing, he founded a city named Bucephala, in memory of his loyal horse. Alexander led a state funeral and the horse's remains were probably buried in his town. Julius Caesar, the Roman emperor, would later request that his equestrian statue was to be sculpted along the features of Bucephalus.

(6) Grand strategy is the highest level of strategy, and involves both politics and military operations. War policy or grand strategy is the orchestration of all available political means (that is, economical, diplomatic, psychological and military means) by a state (in some cases, the state is represented by a handful of persons or an individual).

(7) They later parented Cleopatra (Queen of Epirus). Not to be confused with Eurydice, Philip's seventh wife, who was also known as Cleopatra.

(8) In 332 B.C., during his campaigns, he founded the city of Alexandria in northern Egypt, where Alexander established a university and a great library. The famous Greek mathematician Euclid was one of the many scholars who taught there.

(9) Two years later, under command of his father at the battle of Chaeronea, he led a cavalry charge against the elite Sacred Band of Thebes, and annihilated them.

(10) During ancient and medieval times, the sack of cities and rape of women were often considered a legitimate 'bonus' prize for the soldiers, as a kind of repayment for their efforts and victories. The inhabitants were at the mercy of the commander, who could, if he wanted to, refuse his men their 'privileges'. Today, the rape, torture and killing of innocent civilians and prisoners of war is considered atrocities, or war crimes. Such atrocities are still widespread in low-intensity conflicts all over the world, but they are no longer considered legitimate, and atrocities are, from a legal standpoint, prohibited by international laws (for example, the Geneva Conventions). Offenders may risk getting prosecuted.

(11) Strictly speaking, the ancient Greeks had no word which corresponds to the modern definition of 'homosexual', and perhaps 'homoerotic' is a better term (as suggested by Zimmerman). It is also worth keeping in mind that the 'homoerotic' standards and social structure of ancient Greece differed from those of the modern western world.

(12) R. L. Fox supports this claim, while Fuller outright denies it: "... nor was he impotent or a homosexual as his detractors put about in order to defame him."

(13) Fuller simply writes that "[Alexander] never had a mistress ... This subordination of his bodily instincts to his task set him apart from the common ruck of men ..." According to Theophrastus, pupil of Aristotle, Philip and Olympias had hired an expensive prostitute from Thessaly and told her to 'entertain' him, but Alexander refused her. R.L. Fox, on the other hand, writes that "From a man who was to sleep with a least one man, four mistresses, three wives, an eunuch and, so gossip believed, an Amazon, ..."

(14) It is believed that 6.000 were killed, and 30.000 men, women and children were enslaved.

(15) He deeply regretted his outburst, and lamented for three days on his bed, refusing to eat and drink.

(16) Although Eurydice and her baby daughter were spared, they were later executed by a vengeful Olympias.

[ Alexander | Footnotes ]