List of cities founded by Alexander the Great

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A map of Alexander's campaigns in Asia Minor and the Middle East
Alexander the Great founded many settlements during his military campaigns.
This article is part of
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Alexander the Great
Early rule
Conquest of the Persian Empire
Expedition into India
Death and legacy
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his empire disintegrated in a series of civil wars fought between his followers.[1]

Alexander founded numerous settlements during his campaigns, naming them after himself or close followers. These have been the subject of intense debate, as the accounts of ancient and medieval scholars differ wildly and are often contradictory.

al-Dinawari, Hamza al-Isfahani, and Qudama ascribe between nine and twelve settlements to Alexander. Stephanus of Byzantium recorded around twenty settlements. Some authors additionally document the number of cities established in a specific area: for example, Strabo records that Alexander founded eight cities in Bactria. The accounts of Alexander's campaigns, primarily those of Arrian, Plutarch, Diodorus, Curtius Rufus, and Justin, provide supplementary evidence. Finally, the geographers Eratosthenes, Ptolemy, and Pliny draw upon the otherwise-lost evidence of Alexander's bematist distance-measurers.[2]

When attempting to decipher the above sources, modern scholars face numerous problems. Classical writers tended to name every settlement a polis (πόλις, 'city'), from large population centres to small military garrisons; this leads to much confusion, especially considering the possibility that a settlement started out as a military colony and only later grew into a true polis.[3] Although it is often said that Alexander named all his foundations after himself, this is incorrect;[4] nonetheless, the abundance of these settlements led to many taking on epithets such as Eschate or Oxeiana. As some settlements may have taken on multiple such sobriquets, it is likely that "different authors, undoubtedly reflecting different local traditions, might have been referring to the same Alexandreia by different epithets", in the words of the historian Getzel Cohen.[5] In addition, the precise locations of many foundations are unknown. The classicist William Woodthorpe Tarn noted on the matter that "the difficulties of the subject are considerable, the margin of uncertainty often substantial, the sources of confusion numerous".[6]

Possible foundations

This list contains settlements established or re-established on the order of Alexander the Great himself, often in his presence and always before his death in 323 BC. It does not include any posthumous foundations or refoundations; nor does it include settlements which only claimed a relationship to the Macedonian king. A discussion of these settlements is found below.

Settlements whose very existence has been questioned are marked as Uncertain; those which are known to exist, but on whose foundation theories scholars disagree, are marked as Disputed; and the settlements which are both known to exist and which are acknowledged by scholars as foundations of Alexander are marked as Accepted.

Settlements
Settlement name
Alternative name(s) 		Year founded Location Description Historical authenticity
Alexandria Troas 334 BC The Troad, modern Çanakkale, Turkey Alexandria Troas is most commonly identified as a 311 BC foundation of Antigonus I, which was refounded a decade later by Lysimachus, another of the Diadochi. The historian W. W. Tarn however theorized that it was a foundation of Alexander; identifying it as Alexander of the Granicus, Tarn asserted that Alexander promised to build a city as a remembrance of his recent victory on the Granicus. This identification is rejected by historians such as Cohen and Fraser.[7] Disputed
Samareia 332–331 BC Modern Sebastia, State of Palestine Curtius Rufus recorded that the inhabitants of Samareia rebelled while Alexander was in Egypt; on his return, he punished the rebels and settled Macedonians in the area. It is probable that Perdiccas was ordered to settle the city; alternatively, Victor Tcherikover speculated that he might have refounded the city after Alexander's death in 323 BC. Josephus noted that the inhabitants regained their ruler's favour and were granted permission to rebuild their temple and defences.[8] Disputed
Alexandria near Egypt 331 BC Alexandria, Egypt The first major foundation of Alexander's reign,
trading factors often cited. The settlement would later grow into one of the most important cities in the world, with an estimated population of 500,000–600,000 in 1 AD.[9]
 Accepted
Gerasa

Antioch on the Chrysorhoas 		331 BC Jerash, Jordan A late tradition mentioned by
numismatic, and literary evidence is late, and it is very possible that the connection to Alexander was a later fabrication.[10]
 Disputed
Alexandria Ariana 330 BC Near modern Herat, Afghanistan The existence of
Erastothenes and Pliny and the Islamic chroniclers al-Tabari and Yaqut al-Hamawi, but not by Greek historians such as Arrian or Diodorus Siculus. It is generally accepted that the city was located close to present-day Herat, which is situated in a fertile oasis and on several trade routes; its precise location is unknown because Herat has not been excavated. Alexandria Ariana has sometimes been identified as a refoundation of the Achaemenid settlement Artacoana, but as the available sources outline a clear distinction between the two localities, this is considered unlikely.[11]
 Accepted
Alexandria Arachosia 330 BC Kandahar, Afghanistan Various sources attest to the existence of a city called Alexandria in Arachosia, Arachotoi, or Arachosiorum oppidum; however, the biographers
al-Khwarizmi identified Kandahar as an "Alexandria of the east".[12]
 Accepted
Alexandria Eschate 329 BC Likely near Khujand, Tajikistan
Achaemenids had occupied the site. As the refoundation of Cyropolis, a settlement founded by Cyrus the Great, Alexandria Eschate was culturally and militarily important; Fraser terms it "the most politically significant [foundation] since Alexandria in Egypt".[13]
 Accepted
Alexandria in the Caucasus
Alexandria in Parapamisdai 		329 BC Near the Hindu Kush All the major historians and
Begram.[14]
 Accepted
Alexandria in Margiana 328 BC Gyaur-Kala, Turkmenistan
Seleucids.[15]
 Disputed
Boukephala and Nikaia 326 BC On opposite sides of the Hydaspes river, Pakistan According to Arrian, shortly after defeating the Indian king Porus in battle on the Hydaspes River, Alexander founded two cities facing each other across the river. The battle had taken place on the eastern bank, so Alexander named the eastern city Nikaia; he gave the western city the name Bucephala, after his favourite stallion who had recently died. The location of the cities is unknown: some place them at present-day Jhelum, while others place them thirty miles south at Jalalpur. Considering the marshy nature of the ground and the frequent monsoons, it is unlikely much archaeological evidence could be found. Bucephela survived until the first century AD; much less is known about Nikaia.[16] Accepted
Alexandria in Orietai
Alexandria Rhambakia 		325 BC Near the mouth of the Indus River in Balochistan, Pakistan Alexander invaded the territory of the
Hephaistion and Leonnatus to construct and settle the city, respectively. Diodorus notes that he named it Alexandria, while Curtius Rufus states that its settlers came from Arachosia. Its purpose was likely to control trade routes, with a harbour for naval trade and access to the strategically important mountain passes of the region. Its location is in doubt, as the coastline has changed significantly since antiquity; one hypothesis places it near present-day Welpat, while another locates the settlement on the Miani Hor lagoon.[17]
 Uncertain
Charax Spasinu
Alexandria in Susiana 		324 BC Likely Naysan, Iraq Sometimes given the
toponym Alexandria in Susiana by modern historians, Charax Spasinu was the later name of a settlement founded by Alexander on the confluence of the Tigris and the Euphrates. The foundation of the settlement was attested to by both Arrian and Pliny the Elder. Likely established to serve as an entrepôt for Babylon, it was later refounded as Antioch by an unknown Seleucid king (probably Antiochus IV Epiphanes) after being damaged by floods. It was again refounded c. 141 BC by the Iranian prince Hyspaosines, who renamed it Spasinou Charax after himself. Although probably located at Naysan in modern Iraq, the city's location has been disputed as the region's hydrography has near-continuously changed since antiquity.[18]
 Accepted
Alexandria near Babylon Unknown Unknown Serious problems surround the identification of this settlement, whose existence was claimed by versions of the
Alexandria on the Tigris.[19]
 Uncertain

Other settlements

Europe

While

Thracian tribe, in what is now southwestern Bulgaria. According to Plutarch, he founded a small settlement in the region and named it Alexandropolis; the name mirrored his father's foundation of Philippopolis and was probably given on Philip's order. The settlement's site is unknown, and some scholars have found its historicity questionable.[20]

Asia Minor

Five upright columns surrounded by ruined stonework, in front of a hill.
The Temple of Athena at Priene
Rectangular stone ruin, with damaged columnade behind alongside modern building.
The agora of ancient Smyrna

Many ancient settlements claimed a significant relationship to Alexander. In

Kretopolis, Nicaea, and Otrus.[24]

Egypt, Phoenicia, and Syria

In

Paraitonion, Pella, and Seleucia Abila.[28]

The eastern provinces

In

Caspian Gates.[33]

Further east,

Indus Delta, but these were probably only garrisons.[38]

References

  1. ^ Sources for Alexander's life and campaigns include Bosworth 1988, Lane Fox 2004, and Briant 2010.
  2. ^ Sources for Alexander's foundations include Tarn 1948, Fraser 1996, and Cohen 2013, pp. 35–37.
  3. ^ Tarn 1948, p. 233.
  4. ^ Hammond 1998, pp. 262–263.
  5. ^ Cohen 2013, pp. 38.
  6. ^ Tarn 1948, p. 232.
  7. ^ Tarn 1948, p. 240; Cohen 1995, p. 148; Fraser 1996, p. 24.
  8. ^ Cohen 2006, pp. 274–277.
  9. ^ Fraser 1996, p. 65; Cohen 2006, pp. 355–362.
  10. ^ Cohen 2006, pp. 248, 404; Fraser 1996, p. 118, note 26.
  11. ^ Fraser 1996, pp. 109–115; Cohen 2013, p. 260.
  12. ^ Fraser 1996, pp. 132–140; Cohen 2013, pp. 255–260.
  13. ^ Fraser 1996, pp. 151–153; Cohen 2013, pp. 252–255.
  14. ^ Fraser 1996, pp. 148–150; Cohen 2013, pp. 263–269.
  15. ^ Fraser 1996, pp. 116–118; Cohen 2013, pp. 245–250.
  16. ^ Fraser 1996, pp. 69–70, 161–162; Cohen 2013, pp. 308–312, 317–318.
  17. ^ Fraser 1996, pp. 71–72, 164–167; Cohen 2013, pp. 297–301.
  18. ^ Fraser 1996, pp. 168–169; Cohen 2013, pp. 109–117, 182.
  19. ^ Fraser 1996, p. 32; Cohen 2013, pp. 117–124.
  20. ^ Cohen 1995, p. 82; Fraser 1996, pp. 29–30.
  21. ^ Cohen 1995, pp. 152, 421–422; Rose 2013, p. 241.
  22. ^ Cohen 1995, pp. 187–188, 422.
  23. ^ Cohen 1995, pp. 422–423.
  24. ^ Cohen 1995, pp. 420–423.
  25. ^ Cohen 2006, pp. 80, 403–404.
  26. ^ Fraser 1996, pp. 20–21; Cohen 2006, p. 403.
  27. ^ Cohen 2006, pp. 404, 406.
  28. ^ Cohen 2006, pp. 403–406.
  29. ^ Tarn 1948, p. 248; Cohen 2013, pp. 85–87.
  30. ^ Cohen 2013, p. 93.
  31. ^ Cohen 2013, pp. 117–124, 192–193.
  32. ^ Cohen 2013, pp. 181–185.
  33. ^ Fraser 1996, p. 29.
  34. ^ Cohen 2013, pp. 244–245; Fraser 1996, pp. 138–140.
  35. ^ Cohen 2013, p. 262.
  36. ^ Cohen 2013, pp. 262–263, 269–271.
  37. ^ Cohen 2013, pp. 320–321, 325–328.
  38. ^ Tarn 1948, p. 244.

Sources

  • Bosworth, Albert B. (1988). Conquest and Empire: The Reign of Alexander the Great. Cambridge:
    ISBN 978-0-521-40679-6
    .
  • ISBN 978-0-691-15445-9
    .
  • Cohen, Getzel (1995). The Hellenistic settlements in Europe, the islands, and Asia Minor.
    ISBN 978-0-520-91408-7
    .
  • Cohen, Getzel (2006). The Hellenistic Settlements in Syria, the Red Sea Basin, and North Africa.
    JSTOR 10.1525/j.ctt1pnd22
    .
  • Cohen, Getzel (2013). The Hellenistic Settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria and India.
    JSTOR 10.1525/j.ctt2tt96k
    .
  • ISBN 978-0-19-815006-0
    .
  • Hammond, N. G. L. (1998). "Alexander's Newly-founded Cities". Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies. 39. Duke University Press: 243–269. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
  • ISBN 978-0-14-102076-1
    .
  • doi:10.1017/CBO9781139028080.013
    .
  • ISBN 978-0-521-22584-7
    .
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