After the death of King Darius III, Alexander began to introduce his ‘Policy of Fusion’. He believed that if the two traditions (Macedonian and Persian) could be “blended and assimilated”, 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, “He understood that the sharing of race and customs is a great step towards the softening of men’s heart”.
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. “He adopted the Persian diadem and the pure white robe and the Persian sash and everything else except the baggy trousers”, 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 “altogether barbaric and outlandish” according to Plutarch. Alexander also made changes to his army. According to Diodorus, “He dressed his companions in purple cloaks and fitted out the horses in Persian harness”. He also appointed instructors to teach about thirty thousand Persian boys to “speak the Greek language and to use Macedonian weapon” [Plutarch], the very same boys who woul
eventually be known as his ‘Successors’.
Through these incidents, we can see that Alexander showed a strong determination to instill his ‘Policy of Fusion’ 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 men’s 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 “natives and enemies” and that “it was the blood of Macedonians and these wounds that made you grand enough to disown Phillip and claims Ammon as your father”. He had also told Alexander to go “live with the foreigners, slaves who will bow down to your Persian girdle and white tunic”. 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 Alexander’s 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, “it would be excessively skeptical to doubt the genuineness of Alexander’s grief at Cleitus’s death but his determination to pursue his ‘Policy of Fusion’ was unshaken”. 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 didn’t 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, Darius’s eldest daughter, and another one, Parysatis, the daughter of Ochus. In addition, he gave his companions “the daughters of the most notable Medes and Persians” [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 “brought to a climax his policy of fusing Macadeonians and Persians into a single race”. This is no doubt an example of Alexander’s strong determination of combining both traditions. However, upon Alexander’s 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 Alexander’s men disliked his policy.
