Alexander in Iran: A Brief Note

Lendering states:

“Farrokh says that the Macedonian conqueror was aiming at "unity between Iranians and Greeks" - that old canard of Droysen (Verschmelzungspolitik), repeated by W.W. Tarn in the 1927 edition of the Cambridge Ancient History, and famously refuted by Ernst Badian.”

Lendering’s statement is weak as there is simply more credible modern scholarship on this very subject. At the very least, Lendering is being narrowly selective and has chosen to ignore what fails to substantiate with what is essentially, a point of view. While an exhaustive list of references are unnecessary as Alexandrian Studies are so well known in the west, a single citation serves to question Lendering’s perspective.

Polish (and German) Professor Marek Jan Olbrycht wrote this book and had it published in 2004 by his university press (link to the review below)

Marek Jan Olbrycht

Aleksander Wielki i swiat iranski [Alexander the Great and the Iranian World]

Rzeszow, Poland:  Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego,

Year: 2004.  

ISBN 83-7338-134-1.  

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2006/2006-03-41.html 

Olbrycht very gracefully built his case to show that Alexander of Macedon was in fact fully accepting of Iranians as equals within his empire, that this acceptance (including but not limited to creation of Iranian Companions, mounted missile troops, his own marriages to East Iranians and West Iranian women, introduction of the dress, code and language of the Persian kings etc ) was a source of major discontent and near mutiny amongst the Macedonian and Hellenic troops - this issue is mentioned in the linked review from Bryt Mawr above.  

Interestingly, Lendering has not only chosen to ignore sources such as Olbrycht but to continue disseminating his views (through his attacks on Farrokh) on the same Bryt Mawr website:

http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/bmcr/2008/2008-09-62.html