After the death of King Darius III, Alexander began to introduce his âPolicy of Fusionâ. He believed that if the two traditions (Macedonian and Persian) could be âblended and assimilatedâ, his authority would be more securely established and would rest on good will rather than on force, according to ancient historian Plutarch. This tell us that Alexander did not want to destroy the Persia that Darius and his ancestors had set up and replace it with a Macedonian ruling. Quoting Plutarch, âHe understood that the sharing of race and customs is a great step towards the softening of menâs heartâ.
Alexander knew that if he were to change Persia to a Macedonian ruling, the Persians would not have obeyed nor trusted him. He instead opted to combine the Macedonian and Persian kingship, an act that he knew
...would gradually earn the trust of the Persians. He changed his lifestyle by adopting Persian customs. It started with Alexander starting to fashion Persian clothing. âHe adopted the Persian diadem and the pure white robe and the Persian sash and everything else except the baggy trousersâ, says Diodorus. Despite this, he made sure to stay true to his roots.
Alexander did not don the tiara, baggy trousers and sleeved vests which was described as âaltogether barbaric and outlandishâ according to Plutarch. Alexander also made changes to his army. According to Diodorus, âHe dressed his companions in purple cloaks and fitted out the horses in Persian harnessâ. He also appointed instructors to teach about thirty thousand Persian boys to âspeak the Greek language and to use Macedonian weaponâ [Plutarch], the very same boys who woul
eventually be known as his âSuccessorsâ.
Through these incidents, we can see that Alexander showed a strong determination to instill his âPolicy of Fusionâ by going as far as to alter his lifestyle and his army. Many Macedonians were unhappy with his kind attitude towards the Persians though many had kept the resentment in the silence of their hearts. We see the first of his menâs outrage against his policy in a drunken quarrel of Alexander and Cleitus. Many words were shared in the argument and more prominent ones were words uttered by Cleitus.
Plutarch states that Cleitus had told Alexander that it was not right for Macedonians to be insulted before ânatives and enemiesâ and that âit was the blood of Macedonians and these wounds that made you grand enough to disown Phillip and claims Ammon as your fatherâ. He had also told Alexander to go âlive with the foreigners, slaves who will bow down to your Persian girdle and white tunicâ. The fight had turned sour from that point which soon resulted in a drunk Cleitus being murdered by a drunk Alexander.
We can conclude that Cleitus resented the fact that his king was wearing foreign clothes and he did not understand why the Persians and Macedonians were treated as equals when the former was defeated by the latter. He also might have felt that his achievements and the fact that he saved Alexanderâs life was forgotten and ignored. Realising the situation when he sobered up, Alexander had tried to kill himself immediately after but was forcefully carried away to his bedroom. Alexander had tasted no food or cared for
his bodily needs for the next 3 days lamenting at the death of his friend.
Quoting J. R Hamilton, âit would be excessively skeptical to doubt the genuineness of Alexanderâs grief at Cleitusâs death but his determination to pursue his âPolicy of Fusionâ was unshakenâ. This is true because not long after, Alexander had tried to introduced the way of Proskynesis, showing yet again his determination for the policy. However the obeisance didnât last long as Callisthenes, a philosopher and the nephew of Aristotle, refusal to do so forced Alexander to abandon the idea. In the year 224 BC, a mass wedding was held in Susa.
Alexander had arranged for himself to marry Barsine, Dariusâs eldest daughter, and another one, Parysatis, the daughter of Ochus. In addition, he gave his companions âthe daughters of the most notable Medes and Persiansâ [Arrian] summing up to 80 weddings in total, all of which the weddings were celebrated in Persian fashion. The wedding established Alexander as the Great King of both Macedonia and Persia as he could now claim to be the son and heir of both previous Persian kings. It also signified the transfer of power to the Macedonians through the marriage to leading Persian women.
Much like his successors, the children of these marriages were to be taught Greek and trained in Macedonian customs and have the added advantage of mixed parentage. According to J. R Hamilton, the Susa wedding âbrought to a climax his policy of fusing Macadeonians and Persians into a single raceâ. This is no doubt an example of Alexanderâs strong determination of combining both traditions. However, upon Alexanderâs death,
all the men divorced their wives with the exception of Hephaestion (who died eight months prior to Alexander) and Seleucus. This showed how much Alexanderâs men disliked his policy.
