Amphipolis : a new hope

The tomb of Amphipolis is without a doubt the biggest one yet to be discovered in Greece.

What we know for sure is that at some time near the death of Alexander a massive tomb structure was crafted and erected at the ancient city of Amphipolis.

Two big questions arise.Who had the money and the power to undertake such a big and ambitious project and second why there, in the first place.

Alexander established the first multicultural empire.His goal was not only to conquer new lands but to solve an ancient conflict between east and west culture by merging the two together.Creating this early globalization, a new world order would arise in which east and west should live in peace,putting behind the epic battles between the Greeks themselves but also and most importantly with the Persians.

Following  the death of Alexander instructions were given to Craterus to carry out his last wishes.Among other things he was to build great temples at Delphoi,Dion,Dononi,Delos and Amphipolis.But why would he include this city among the other sacred cities of ancient Greece and give most of all so much importance?

Amphipolis was to become the new hub for the Macedonian kingdom,which would link nothern Greece mostly by sea but also by land to the expanded empire.As Alexandria was for Egypt,Amphipolis would become for Macedonia.Never the less Amphipolis was also the central economic bank of the time ,so it holded a valuable stategic position.

Craterus brought upon the macedonian council these last wishes of Alexander which were all rejected for vanity and cost.

We would also like to point out that as the Macedonians were concerned, Alexander had built up a negative momentum due to his marriages and adoption of several Persian customs, from his point of view clearly for political reasons.Never the less many like Antipater,his son Cassander and the Macedonian court feared and detested Alexander’s new lifestyle.It has been discussed among others that the same group of people were responsible for the death of Alexander,by poisoning,in fear for their own lifes.

The important thing is  that with the death of Alexander his grand designs were quickly dismissed and the battle of the diadochi begun.

But in a society where a war hero,a king and for many a god like figure is assassinated essentially for grandeur and vanity, who would undertake such a big and costly construction only for himself or his family?And if Alexander was not assassinated who had the strength to go against the Macedonian court and counsel who were clearly against all this?

The only one who had the interest,will and power to do so seems to be Alexander himself.Maybe also Olympias his mother, but she was already in great conflict with Antipater,ruler of Macedonia in the absence of Alexander so it seems highly improbable.

We know from the official archaeological team that is conducting the excavation right now at Amphipolis that the architect of the tomb is Dinocrates.He was Alexander’s technical advisor, known for his plan for the city of Alexandria, the monumental funeral pyre for Hephaestion and the reconstruction of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, as well as other works.

Who had the ability(economic and political) to commission such an architect at a time following Alexander’s death,only to exceed in grandeur the tomb of Alexander’s father in Aiges,having the biggest tomb in Greece?

We agree with professor Theodoros Mavrogiannis that Alexander himself commissioned this great tomb for his friend Hephaestion.After the death of Alexander shortly after and the tomb not yet finished, we believe that it was converted to house only for a brief period of time the remains of Alexander,returning from Babylon as long as the diadochi could find a solution to the void in the command of the empire and a proper tomb for Alexander would be constructed at Aiges.

Alexander commanded that he was to be buried in the oasis of Siwa, near the temple of Ammon Ra.This also troubled the Macedonians as they saw their king becoming a foreigner and demanded that the remains should be shipped in Greece.And so it was,remarkably two years after the death of Alexander.But on the way to Macedonia and with the war of the diadochi in full scale, upon reaching Egypt.Ptolemy steals the body of Alexander and buries it temporarily at Memphis( as was to be buried temporarily at Amphipolis).

When the proper mausoleum for Alexander was constructed in Alexandria his remains were transferred there.Meanwhile at Amphipolis a huge cenotaph for Alexander remained.It was then reserved for his royal family (his son Alexander the 4th,his wife Roxanne and maybe his mother Olympias) all of them were feard and exiled from central Macedonia (ruled by Cassander).

Most probably none of them were buried at Amphipolis and if the remains of Hephaestion were repatriated there is unknown.

Feared that the cenotaph will be used as a burial site for Olympias,or a cult for Alexander we believe that in the spirit of the times it was vandalized.With the site empty and out of use,it was left at the forces of ignorance and nature.

What we believe happened some centuries after is the following.When troubled times hit Alexandria of Egypt with new powers and religions storming through the city mostly destroying everything resembling the old gods and times the priesthood of Alexandria feared for the tomb of Alexander which also in that time was adored.

It was then decided in complete secrecy to transfer Alexanders remains to avoid total destruction.So where should it go?

The safest place of course would be Amphipolis.Alexander’s body or remains could easily and secretly been transferred by sea in mainland Greece.There lied a tomb fit for a king ,long forgotten.

Alexander’s remains and many other secrets were transferred at Amphipolis.The site was sealed and buried in a way only encountered in egyptian tombs, which strengthens our thesis.With the whole site buried under tons of sand   ( impossible to dig) the tomb became impregnable.And remember that the tomb was designed by a great architect Dinocrates so many surprises are wet to come as nothing as simple as it may seems.

This is just an hypothesis based on the historical evidence that we have until now.Feel free to comment and share.