Alexandrias (Cities of Alexander)

[Cyrus]

Except Iskandariyah (Alexandria) in Egypt, I know that there are still two cities with the name of "Alexandria" which were built by Alexander.http://img.multimap.com/cs/bworld/M19/Y ... 300.gifOne of them is Al-Iskandariyah in south of Baghdad in Iraq and the another one is Eskandari in west of Isfahan in Iran.Do you know any other one?Thanks!

[susa]

Iskenderum, in Turkey [near the border of Syria]. Sounds like one anyway.

[yiannis]

Iscenderum is also known as Alexandreta.
I believe there are 16 cities known to have been built by Alexander but some rise this number to as much as 70. Obviously some wouldn't have been "cities" but rather small commercial points or garrisoned fortresses (or maybe both).Some of the cities were:
In Afghanistan is Herat (Aria), and anotherone called now Ghanzni. There is one city in what was then Margiani, called Merv. In Uzbekistan, is another city called now Termez. On the Jaxartes is Chodjend. Alexandria (Charax) at the mouth of river Tigris.Seven of these founded cities remained standing for quite a while. Some of these are Susiana, Prophthasia, Alexandria-ad-Caucasm, and Buchephala. These cities and three others remained standing long enough for much research to be done on them. Alexander built his founded cities at the junction of important roads. They were in positions chosen to assist the transit of merchandise and to command the valleys. This was necessary for adequate military supervision. The new colonists in these cities introduced the Greek methods of agriculture. The founded cities were planned in the Greek pattern. They had a market square, school, offices, shops, temples, a theater, a gymnasium, and often a fountain. The colonists were old or wounded soldiers. This spread the Greek influence. His founded cities were placed in strategic locations. They were placed close enough to the old villages that the inhabitants could have association with the native population but far enough away that the Macedonians and Greeks could maintain their customs. Alexander often had to force the semi-savage mountainous tribes in Persia to surrender. These tribes had been a persistent menace to life on the plains for centuries. Once they had surrendered, Alexander founded new towns there and improved communications. A vast territory of what had been useless desert became cities. The nomad tribes there were taught civilized ways of life, and harbors were created there, with ships and other aids of travel. I copied this info from various sites like:
http://www.fsmitha.com/h1/ch11.htm
http://www.ethassite.freewebsites.com/a ... tmlstrange but one can't find this information readily available. However there seems to be a book about the cities that AtG has founded, anyone read it yet?

[John.]

You must be talking about "Cities of Alexander the Great" by P. M. Fraser. I saw it in a bookstore. Not a very big book, and no pictures. But over $90.00? And so scholarly looking. Of course I had to buy it to display on my bookshelf. But so scholarly and boring, I never actually bothered to read it.Sorry...John

[John.]

...Well, I did skim through the book. I think the gist of it is Plutarch said Alexander founded 70-odd cities, but in reality he founded far fewer, and then points some of them out. Still, I find the book too boring to read, or even think about.But it does look impressive with it's black color and all.John

[John.]

I should add that the book does list all the known Alexandrias, but I can't be of any help now, since it is about 300 miles from where I am now, so I'll have to fall back on the infamous Marcus excuse: I would tell you, but, unfortunately, the book is not at hand at the moment.John

[marcus]

Well, John, I've beaten you on this one - I, too, bought Fraser's book, and after about 2 years I actually picked it up to read it. I managed about 50 pages before I put it back, never to open it again. As you say, terrifically boring.But it's not quite 300 miles from me - only about 160 miles :-)All the bestMarcus

[John.]

Yep. Drier than the desert sands.I don't know how you made it through 50 pages!John

[marcus]

Hi John,It was perseverance, pure and simple. But I think that by around page 20 I was reading the words, but not taking any of it in.Oh, and I had a look at the charts at the back... although even they didn't really make much sense, probably 'cos I hadn't managed to read the rest of it.Yep, it cost -ú40 in the UK, and it was worth it simply because of the beautiful black dust jacket, and as something else to put on my Alexander shelf. But I doubt I'll ever finish it!All the bestMarcus