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Massacre of Greeks under Alexander the Great
#1
Hi Macedonian military history experts, I have a quick question that's been nagging me and would appreciate some help.

I remember reading about the Macedonians under Alexander encountering a settlement in the Black Sea or Asia Minor region (sorry I forgot exactly where and I don't remember where I read this). The people there were the descendants of Greeks who had been captured and deported by the Persians, and they apparently welcomed the Macedonians with open arms but since they were not really 'Greek' anymore in the Macedonians' eyes, they were massacred.

Can anyone confirm and/or locate this? Or have I remembered bits and pieces from different places? Thanks!
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#2
I think that you confuse two different events. There was such an event when he reached Persepolis, where about 800 Greek craftsmen, most old men, were being held prisoner by the Persians having suffered many ills. These his soldiers begged him to help, which he did (Diodorus 17.69). The Greeks that were met with violence were two "rebellions" of colonists who wished to return to Greece (Diodorus 17.99 and Diodorus 18.7.) Of course there might be more such accounts, these were just those that immediately came to mind.
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George C. K.
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#3
Isn't Dio 18.7 Perdikkas sorting out the oathbreakers or something? Can't recall.

OP I know what you mean, I was thinking about it a few weeks ago. It wasn't because Alexander and his Makedones didn't think they were *Greek* enough anymore, it was on the basis that the tribe was descended from a city who Medised or something. I can't fully recall, I think it was in Arrian. I can't really be bothered to hunt through my notes though, sorry. I'll probably take a look if you can't find it.

I also remember that historians find the event unlikely since a) by then Alex had dropped the revenge propaganda so he doubtless didn't care and b) it would have been an additional expenditure of manpower and time to eliminate people happy to accept his rule. Alex didn't make stupid decisions.

EDIT: Also, probably easy to find it as an example of ancestral fault in ancient Greece, so if you're looking through articles or something...
Jass
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#4
Thanks! It seems I might have confused several events... I had actually just this morning read about 800 Greek craftsmen for the first time, which made me think of the case I mentioned in my first post. Hmmmm...
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#5
Thanks Jass, you're right I think the best thing to do would be to go back to the primary sources!
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#6
Are you thinking of the alleged destruction of the Branchidae? They were a family of priests who had ceded control of the Apollonian oracle of Didyma to the Persians late during the Ionian Revolt, and allowed it to be destroyed. Kallisthenes claims their descendants, who couldn't remain in Ionia after the Persians lost control of it, founded a colony in Sogdia that Alexander destroyed in revenge. Some historians don't believe the incident actually happened.
Dan D'Silva

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Prepared to go where my heart belongs,
Back to the past again.

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#7
That's certainly the ones I was thinking of, see the articles on Didyma and the Branchidae by Parke and Hammond. I too very much doubt it happened by the way.

http://www.jstor.org/stable/631522

http://www.jstor.org/stable/639826
Jass
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#8
Correct! Yes,Strabo, Plutarch and Diodorus mention this incident. Alexander had them killed as traitors of Greece, because during the rein of Xerxes they had surrendered the treasure of the temple of Didyma they were in charge of to the Persian king. They had been brought to Sogdiana by him where they had formed a "city".
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George C. K.
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#9
hmm i don't remember the Branchidae being mentioned but that I'm guessing that's what I'm half-remembering. Just about fits what I was thinking of. Thanks guys!
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#10
Hi guys - Could this be Alexander's masacre of the Greek hoplites that tried to surrender (at least, per Plutarch) at the battle on Granicus River? Apparently some 4,000 were killed on the spot (at considerable unnecessary cost to Alexander's own men) and 2,000 survivors were then shipped off into slavary. Another possibiltiy is post-Alexander, when Perdiccas ordered the slaughter of the Greek settlers whose rebellion in the "Upper Satrapies" failed in the immediate wake of Alexander's death. - Fred Ray
It\'s only by appreciating accurate accounts of real combat past and present that we can begin to approach the Greek hoplite\'s hard-won awareness of war\'s potential merits and ultimate limitations.

- Fred Eugene Ray (aka "Old Husker")
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#11
Quote:Isn't Dio 18.7 Perdikkas sorting out the oathbreakers or something? Can't recall.

Diodorus 18.7 is the rebellion of the Greeks of the "upper" satrapies (Sogdiana, Bactria, etc.) in late 323. Pithon was sent from Babylon, in the autumn, to see to it. The battle described likely occurred in the very late winter of 323/2 or very early spring 322.
Paralus|Michael Park

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