[The following takes place during Alexander the Great’s return westward after having been forced by his men to turn back from his campaigns in the east.]
A great banquet was held to celebrate the king’s full recovery [from a serious wound incurred during a bettle]. This occasion gave rise to an unpleasant but all too characteristic incident. One of Alexander’s most distinguished Macedonian veterans, Corragus, challenged the famous Athenian boxer Dioxippus to single combat.
Dioxippus fought naked, armed only with a club, while Corragus was in full armour, and carried both sword and spear. Dioxippus, defter than any Roman net-fighter, finished off his opponent in a matter of seconds. Alexander (who had backed Corragus) was so furious he left the feast: this had been a matter of national prestige.
From now on his sycophants made endless trouble for Dioxippus, even going so far as to plant a gold cup on him at a dinner-party and then accuse him of stealing it. In the end the wretched athlete committed suicide rather than endure further persecution. When Alexander learnt the truth of the matter he was, as so often, filled with remorse. But by then it was too late.
Source:
Green, Peter. “How Many Miles to Babylon?” Alexander of Macedon: 356-323 B.C.: A Historical Biography. Univ. of California Press, 2005. 424. Print.
Original Source Listed:
Diod. 17.100-101.
QC 9.7.15-26.
Further Reading:
Alexander III of Macedon / Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μέγας (Alexander the Great)
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