Wednesday, 28 August 2013
Grave Doubts
It's in the news this week that archaeologists have discovered the final resting place of Alexander the Great.
Or maybe they haven't.
It's possible - well probable - that it's actually the ancient tomb of an anonymous Macedonian John Doe. Not that I'm cynical or anything, but it's easy to see why funding-hungry historians would make a headline-grabbing announcement that the Greek Culture Ministry has described as "overbold" speculation. The Greek public are apparently getting excited about the claim that the grave 370 miles north of Athens is that of Alexander, even though it doesn't quite stack up against the conventionally-accepted historical narrative that after his death in Babylon his body was taken to Alexandria in a honey-filled sarcophagus. Where he's resting now is admittedly a mystery, but ancient scribes recorded that some Romans like Pompey, Augustus and Julius Caesar visited his tomb in Egypt, with Caligula reportedly swiping the warrior's breastplate for a souvenir.
Next thing you know someone will be digging up a car park in a city like Leicester where I am now and claiming to have found the body of one of England's kings.
Oh...
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