The Conspiracies involved in the Philotas Affair

Then the persons who had reported the affair came forward, with various irrefutable proofs of his own transgression and that of his fellow-conspirators, of which the most damning was that he had admitted k right offledge of a spell against Alexander but had said nothing about it.

-Arrian 3.26.2 (pg 191)

Explain wherefore Arrian comes to this conclusion about Philotas conspiracy, and assess the relative value of the fount tradition for the episode.

Arrians narrative leaves no question of Philotas guilt. Introducing the topic with the discern words It was here, too, that Alexander learned of Philotas plot against his life1 Arrian states kind of bluntly, without any deliberation, that Philotas was guilty and therefore dealt with instead reasonably. In comparison our new(prenominal) sources seem to describe a very different affair. The trial, so creatively portrayed by Curtius2, the events surrounding Philotas torture intricately described by Curtius3 and Plutarch4, even the basic conspiracy Philotas is accuse of organizing is conspicuously absent in Arrians account. Unfortunately our sources, much the likes of many of their modern counter-parts, seem to have too many ulterior motives to deal with this incident circumspectly.

Arrian begins by stating, Ptolemys account of what now occurred is this: Philotas was brought before the Macedonians to stand his trial; Alexander made his accusations in no uncertain terms, and Philotas answered the charge...



5 Arrian does not mention any sensation of controversy surrounding this affair but instead quite simply and callously conveys the details of Philotas guilt followed by his execution. He also makes only slight mention of Parmenions assassination explaining quite efficiently that his death was necessary as he was a danger to Alexander because he was a man of immense prestige6. In comparison with the other sources Arrian provides only a brief, possibly official, meter reading of events.7 Although not necessarily correct it was...

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