Alexander the Great

by Philip Freeman

Philip honored the dead of the Sacred Band by burying them on the battlefield and celebrated their courage with the towering statue of a lion that still stands in the quiet valley of Chaeronea.

Alexander cleverly added that they should take special care not to damage the estates belonging to the Greek-born Persian general Memnon of Rhodes. The king knew that word would quickly spread back to the Persian satraps that Memnon’s property was being treated with respect—as if the general were secretly supporting the Macedonians. It was an inspired stroke of psychological warfare that would soon bear fruit.