[The following details the fall of Persepolis at the hands of Alexander the Great.]
What he could not bend, he would break. If the Achaemenid crown was denied to him, he would take it by main force, and show himself such a terrible Lion of Wrath as even the Magi [who were stirring further rebellion against him on religious grounds] had not dared to predict.
He now made an inflammatory speech to his officers, ranting on about Persian crimes against Greece – the incident of the mutilated mercenaries must have helped here – and describing Persepolis as ‘the most hateful of the cities of Asia’. The Macedonians needed no further encouragement. Their last real taste of wholesale rape and plunder had been at Gaza. Ever since then, at Babylon and Susa in particular, Alexander’s policy of conciliation had placed them under heavy disciplinary restraint. Now, unleashed at last, they went completely berserk. The king authorized them to kill all adult males they encountered, ‘thinking that this would be to his advantage’. Presumably he now meant to secure Persian compliance through sheer terrorism. But he was also giving his hard-worked troops a holiday before leading them on the long, hard road through the eastern provinces.
For a whole day the Macedonian army gave itself up to an orgy of plunder and destruction. Every private house was full of gold and silver ornaments, rich tapestries, beautiful inlaid furniture. Priceless works of art were smashed up wholesale to give rival looters a share of the precious metal and jewelry that adorned them. Frequent fights broke out, and those who amassed especially rich loads of booty were often killed by jealous rivals. No one bothered to take prisoners: they were not worth ransoming, and many committed suicide to save themselves from worse indignities.
Source:
Green, Peter. “The Lord of Asia.” Alexander of Macedon: 356-323 B.C.: A Historical Biography. Univ. of California Press, 2005. 315-16. Print.
Further Reading:
Alexander III of Macedon / Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μέγας (Alexander the Great)
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