Bloody Gold. Riches, Distribution and Misery of the Benefits of Alexander’s Conquests

Authors

  • Borja Antela-Bernárdez Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v9i19.684

Keywords:

Alexander the Great, Conquest of Asia, booty, debts, Macedonian soldiers

Abstract

The Macedonian campaign in Asia led by Alexander the Great provided an enormous amount of profit. The wealth obtained (both from the exploitation of natural resources and material booty and, above all, from the enslavement of the people captured in conquered territories) had a varying impact on the contemporary Greek world, including huge benefits for Alexander and his noblemen. But this bonanza scenario was not general, as we see for instance in the economic devaluation and the increase in inflation in Greek cities. The same happened with the gold promised to his soldiers by Alexander, since the conquest did not actually translate into real improvements in their economic situation, as observed in the bibliographical sources which, though not very explicitly, tell us about a whole series of difficulties and overall impoverishment. This paper will try to focus specifically on the acquisition of fabulous booties by Macedonian soldiers, which, rather paradoxically, ended up causing their severe indebtedness. This will allow an analysis on some practices of submission and benefit control over Macedonian soldiers during conquests. The paradigmatic examples of debt forgiveness at the weddings of Susa, and Antigenes’ case, as well as what happened in the uprising of Opis, show how soldiers reacted to this depredation of the resources obtained by themn during Alexander’s campaigns. Likewise, the figures of Cleomenes and Antimenes, administrators under Alexander’s authority, reveal a series of economic policies involving exploitation and speculation, orchestrated ultimately by Alexander as a mechanism for collecting taxes. Which, again, resulted in a general impoverishment of the victors and architects of the Macedonian campaign against Persia.

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Published

2020-12-14

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 19 (2020): Fear, Trauma, and Violence in the Wars of Antiquity

Section

Dossier

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How to Cite

Bloody Gold. Riches, Distribution and Misery of the Benefits of Alexander’s Conquests. (2020). Revista Universitaria De Historia Militar, 9(19), 15-35. https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v9i19.684