Musical competitions of Alexander the Great at Soli, Cilicia (Curtius Rufus)

3, 7, 1. At Dareus, nuntio de adversa valetudine accepto, celeritate quantam capere tam grave agmen poterat ad Euphraten contendit, iunctoque eo pontibus quinque tamen diebus traiecit exercitum Ciliciam occupare festinans. 2. Iamque Alexander viribus corporis receptis ad urbem Solos pervenerat: cuius potitus ducentis talentis multae nomine exactis arci praesidium militum imposuit. 3. Vota deinde pro salute suscepta per ludum atque otium reddens ostendit quanta fiducia barbaros sperneret: quippe Aesculapio et Minervae ludos celebravit. 4. Spectanti nuntius laetus adfertur Halicarnaso, Persas acie a suis esse superatos, Myndios quoque et Caunios et pleraque tractus eius suae facta dicionis. 5. Igitur edito spectaculo ludicro castrisque motis et Pyramo amne ponte iuncto ad urbem Mallum pervenit; inde alteris castris ad oppidum Castabalum. 6. Ibi Parmenio regi occurrit; praemiserat ad explorandum iter saltus per quem ad urbem Isson nomine penetrandum erat.

3, 7, 1. But Darius, after having received news of Alexander’s illness, with all the speed of which so heavy an army was capable hastened to the Euphrates, spanned it with a pontoon bridge, but still got his army across within five days, in his haste to obtain possession of Cilicia. 2. Already Alexander had recovered his physical vigour and had arrived at the city of Soli; having taken possession of this, he exacted, by way of a fine, two hundred talents and placed a garrison of soldiers in the citadel. 3. Then with sport and holiday he paid the vows that had been pledged for his safety, thus showing with what great confidence he scorned the barbarians; for he celebrated games in honour of Aesculapius and Minerva. 4. As he was viewing the games, the joyful news arrived from Halicarnassus that the Persians had been defeated in battle by his troops, and also that the Myndii, the Caunii, and the greater part of that region had been brought under his sway. 5. Accordingly, having finished the public games, moved his camp, and bridged the Pyramus River, he arrived at the city of Mallus, and from there, on the second day, he came to the town of Castabalum. 6.There Parmenion met the king; he had been sent ahead to reconnoitre the road through the mountain-pass through which they must go to reach the city called Issus. (transl. by J.C. Rolfe)

Curtius Rufus refers to the same events held by Alexander the Great in Soli, Cilicia (333 BC, October), as Arrian does in Anab. Alex. 2, 5, 8 (see entry). However, unlike Arrian, he does not focus on Alexander’s military operations before and after his stay in Soli. Instead, he emphasizes the synchrony between Alexander’s illness in Tarsus (333 BC, July-September) and Darius III’s decision to march toward that city—a decision that would lead to the Battle of Issus (333 BC, 1 November).

Curtius Rufus’s account agrees with the one of Arrian on several key points: 1) Alexander arrived in Soli after recovering from the illness he had contracted in Tarsus; 2) Alexander organized celebrations to mark his recovery (333 BC, October); and 3) during these celebrations, Alexander received news of a victory over the Persians—presumably the victory of Ptolemy and Asander over Orontobates, as reported by Arrian (cf. entry). It is highly likely that Curtius Rufus knew the same celebrations in Soli described by Arrian. He uses the Latin terms ludus (singular) and ludi (plural), which consistently refer to public festivities encompassing both athletic and musical events (see Dunkle 2014, 381-382; Zaleski 2014, 591-593). He also uses spectaculum and spectantes, terms that denote not only gymnastic but also musical contests, and could embed torch races and military parades too, i.e. those mentioned by Arrian.

Curtius Rufus, however, adds at least two significant details. First, Alexander did not organize these competitions and other associated events to commemorate a military victory (the victory of Ptolemy and Asander, which for Curtius occurs while the competitions are already underway), but rather to fulfill vows he had made for his recovery (vota pro salute suscepta). Second, Alexander held the ludi not only in honor of Aesculapius/Asclepius but also of Athena/Minerva—a detail found only in Curtius Rufus. The pairing of Aesculapius and Minerva is uncommon, which suggests that Curtius found this detail in one of his sources, rather than having introduced it himself (see Atkinson 2003³, 467-468; Atkinson-Antelami 2003³, 305). This information in itself is not implausible. For various reasons—religious, propagandistic, or ideological—Alexander often showed special devotion to Athena, both in Athens and in places in Asia where she was worshipped. For instance, after the Battle of the Granicus (May 334 BC), he sent 300 panoplies to Athens as a personal offering to Athena (see Squillace 1992-1994, 9-20), and he made a dedication to Athena Polias in her temple at Priene in Asia (see Squillace 1992-1994, 161-166).

Editions and comments: J.C. ROLFE, Quintus Curtius Rufus, in two volumes, vol. I: Books I-V, Cambridge, Mass. 1946; J.E. ATKINSON, A Commentary on Q. Curtius Rufus’ Historiae Alexandri Magni . Books 3 and 4, Amsterdam 1980, 173-174, 466-469; J.E. ATKINSON, Q. Curzio Rufo, Storie di Alessandro Magno, vol. I (Libri III-V), traduzione di V. Antelami, Milano 2003³ (1998¹), 38-41 (text), 304-310 (comment).

Studies (in addition to those already mentioned for Arrian 2, 5, 8, see entry): R. DUNKLE, ‘Overview of Roman Spectacle’, in P. Christesen – D.G. Kyle (edd.), A Companion to Sport and Spectacle in Greek and Roman Antiquity, Chichester, UK 2014, 381-394; G. SQUILLACE, ‘Alessandro e l’offerta ad Atena di trecento panoplie’, Miscellanea di Studi Storici 9, 1992-1994, 9-20; G. SQUILLACE, ‘Dedica del tempio di Atena Polias a Priene da parte di Alessandro Magno’, Axon 2/2, 2018, 161-166; J. ZALESKI, ‘Religion and Roman Spectacle’, in P. Christesen – D.G. Kyle (edd.), A Companion to Sport and Spectacle in Greek and Roman Antiquity, Chichester, UK 2014, 590-602.

Alexander the Great, Ludi, Spectacles, Asclepius, Athena, Aesculapius, Minerva

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