Cleopatra the Great by Joann Fletcher Page A

Perdikkas, he whispered that his empire should go ‘to the strongest’ and his body should go to Amun, signifying burial in Egypt whose ancient funerary rites would guarantee him eternal life. Throughout the night of 9 June, Ptolemy and Alexander’s closest friends held a vigil in the temple of Serapis, the Egyptian god whose cult Alexander had taken on campaign. Yet even Serapis was unable to save him, and, most likely suffering from cerebral malaria, he finally lost consciousness.
    As his death was announced, the shock reverberated around the ancient world. His courtiers stood around the deathbed, not quite knowing what to do for the best, until Perdikkas called an Assembly to debate the succession. Although he and the cavalry wanted to await the imminent birth of Alexander’s child by his Sogdian wife Roxane, the infantry demanded that Alexander’s half-brother Arrhidaios be made king at once; although mentally impaired, he was a Macedonian male of royal blood, whereas the unborn child would be half-barbarian and, even worse, might be female. With neither side willing to back down, fierce fighting broke out around Alexander’s body until the infantry ringleaders were permanently silenced.
    In the midst of this power struggle, the body had remained untouched for almost a week. Yet, despite the extreme summer heat, it was in pristine condition, its suspiciously lifelike complexion taken as evidence of Alexander’s divinity. Most likely, however, he had been in a terminal coma and had only just died — or was perhaps even still alive as the embalmers began their work. After removal of his brain and major organs to prevent putrefaction, the body was crowned with Macedonia’s royal diadem and placed within an Egyptian-style coffin ‘made of hammered gold, and the space about the body they filled with spices such as could make the body sweet-smelling and incorruptible’. The sealed coffin, draped in a rich pall of gold and purple, then took centre stage in the Assembly as his men debated their next move.
    Following the birth of the baby Alexander IV in autumn 323 BC he became joint king with Arrhidaios, although both were simply figureheads for the army. Yet with none of its officers capable of taking sole control of such a vast empire, they decided to divide it between them. With Perdikkas in control of the army, Antipatros would retain Macedonia while Lysimachos took Thrace, Antigonas Asia Minor, Seleucus Babylonia and Ptolemy, probably at his own suggestion, ‘was appointed to govern Egypt and Libya and those lands of the Arabs that were contiguous to Egypt; and Kleomenes who had been made governor by Alexander, was subordinated to Ptolemy’.
    Ptolemy and the others swiftly left Babylon for their new lands, having ordered a magnificent hearse to transport Alexander’s precious body back west. It consisted of a six-metre-high golden temple adorned with scenes showing him on the move as he had always appeared in life, travelling by chariot, with his cavalry and navy, and even depicting the Indian war elephants he had adopted. With gold statues of Nike, winged goddess of victory, standing over a tolling bell at each corner of the jewelled roof, a great purple banner flying high from the apex marked the progress of the glittering cortege as it finally left Babylon and slowly headed west, attracting great crowds.
    Yet disagreements over its final destination soon escalated into all-out war because, despite the fact that Alexander had wanted burial in Egypt, Perdikkas had plans of his own. Already regent for the joint kings and engaged to Antipatros’ daughter, he had also received a marriage proposal from Alexander’s widowed sister, Cleopatra. As he contemplated the throne for himself, he realised he would need Alexander’s body, not only to appease his prospective bride and mother-in-law Olympias but also to offset the belief that Macedon’s royal line would