Welcome to the blog post for Episode 8 of Spearpoint, which you can listen to via the audio feed above. If you use Apple Podcasts or Spotify, we are also available there, as well as on your RSS Feed.

As always, we hope you find this blog post a useful companion to the podcast. If you have any comments or queries, please feel free to leave a comment or send us an email: spearpointatg@gmail.com!

Advertisement: Silly and Serious
Malcolm remains unmarried and despite being a romantic is happy to marry for money as long as his suitor has LOTS of it! Enough, we think, to buy all the books about Alexander in the world.

On the other hand, if you are a publisher or literary agent who would like to learn more about Francis’ Roxane book, email us spearpointatg@gmail.com and Francis will get in touch with you.

A Quotable Song
At the start of the episode, Malcolm refers to Sufjan Stevens’ song Mystery of Love, which contains the line,

Like Hephaestion, who died
Alexander’s lover

If you would like to hear the song, you can do so here:

Jared Leto
Malcolm prefers Jared Leto without his beard. Here he is in Oliver Stone’s Alexander without and with. Which do you prefer?

In the film, Leto’s appearance(as well as that of other Macedonians) changes to reflect the influence of Alexander’s expedition on him. For that reason, we not only see Leto’s Hephaestion with a beard, but also black eye liner, which reflects his pro-Persian sympathies.

Men in Grey Suits (or Armour)
If you would like to read about how Parmenion and Antipater tried to pursued Alexander to father a child (that is, an heir) before beginning his Persian campaign you can do so by turning to Diodorus XVII.16.

He too is Alexander

And if you would like to read about Alexander’s famous meeting with the Persian Royal Family in 333 BC following the Battle of Issus here is where you can do so.

– Arrian II.12.6-7
– Curtius III.12.15-17
– Diodorus XVII.37

(No Justin or Plutarch as they do not mention the story)

Alexander and Roxane’s wedding
Here are a couple of artist’s interpretations of Alexander and Roxane’s wedding. First up is this illustration by Andre Castaigne (1861-1921):

And this painting is by Arnold Houbraken (1660-1719).

Finally, here is how Oliver Stone portrayed Alexander and Roxane’s wedding at the moment they cut the loaf of bread in the traditional Macedonian fashion.

Mary Renault
Mary Renault wrote a trilogy of books about Alexander. Here they are on Malcolm’s bookshelf!

(Don’t be distracted by The Charioteer that is its own novel)

The Kiss is (Not) Just a Kiss
Apart from the kiss that Alexander gives to Bagoas after the latter wins the dancing competition (Plutarch Life of Alexander 67) kissing is not mentioned in the ancient sources. While this is true in regards the romantic kiss, other types of kissing do occur. For example, during his famous meeting with the Persian Royal Family after Issus, Alexander kisses Stateira I’s son Ochus (Diodorus XVII.38). There is also the kiss of respect that comes with proskynesis. Finally, Plutarch tells us that Alexander allowed Hephaestion to read his private correspondence. To make sure the latter did not reveal its contents (not that he would have done), Alexander held his ring of office to Hephaestion’s lips and had him kiss it. This scene has been portrayed in numerous artworks, including the painting below by Johann Heinrich Tischbein:

Euxenippus
A thank you to Pothos for the detail about Euxenippus. This great website has a whole section dedicated to Alexander’s lovers, which you can read here.

Ochos or Arses?
Which Great King did Artabazos rebel against? Malcolm wasn’t sure if it was Artaxerxes III Ochos or Artaxerxes IV Arses. Well, he was right the first time! Artabazos rebelled in 352 BC against Artaxerxes III Ochos.

The Alexander Historians On-Line
Arrian
Curtius
Diodorus
Plutarch
Justin

Spearpoint Socials
Facebook
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Threads: @spearpointatg
Bluesky: @spearpoint.bsky.social

Malcolm
Instagram: @thesecondachilles
Facebook: @alexander.of.macedon

Frances
Instagram: @futuristichistorian

Thank you for reading and we’ll see you for Episode 9!