Alexander III of Macedon – the Great – was perhaps the most successful general in human history; a consummate military tactician, a phenomenally astute leader of men, possessed of an extraordinary restless energy. Acceding to the throne at the age of twenty, in a little under twelve years, Alexander had conquered most of the known world, founding an empire that stretched from Greece, Egypt and Libya in the west, through to India in the east. Alexander sought to ‘reach the ends of the world, and okeanos [the sea that surrounded the globe]’ (Justin Epitoma Historiarum Philippicarum 12.7.4-5), and he very nearly succeeded. In the end it was not defeat, nor even Alexander’s impending illness, that brought an end to his conquests. His armies were within reach of East Asia when his troops, so long and so far from home, finally refused to go any further. The young king – still only 32 years old – had returned as far as Babylon when, overtaken by a mysterious illness, he died, leaving the Empire in the hands of his mentally handicapped brother, Philip Arrhidaios, and his as-yet unborn child, Alexander IV. His generals, many of whom had been his loyal bodyguards during campaign after campaign, divided the Empire between themselves, each competing over their territory. By the time Alexander IV was fourteen years old, there was open civil war, and the teenage king was assassinated.

Made of a deep grey schist, this outstanding plate depicts in exquisite detail three allegorical scenes from the life of Alexander the Great. On the obverse side, in the top register, we see Alexander’s birth, or rather his presentation to his father, Philip II. Philip was besieging the city of Potidaea in northern Greece in June of 356 BC; as the siege was about to successfully conclude, he was visited in his tent by three seers, who often accompanied Macedonian kings on their military expeditions. They informed him that the birth of his son would be heralded by three victories, and that this would signify that the new-born would never be defeated. Shortly thereafter, Potidaea fell to Philip. Immediately, two messengers arrived. One bore news that a Macedonian general, Parmenion, had defeated the Illyrians, expanding Philip’s Empire to the west; the other, that Philip’s horse had just won the most prestigious race at the Olympic Games (Plutarch Life of Alexander 3.5). Three victories, then. It was at that moment, that Alexander was supposedly born. This upper register of the plate depicts Philip’s imagined homecoming. Philip himself stands in the centre, dressed in armour, fresh from the siege of Potidaea. He holds aloft the infant Alexander, staring with affection and pride at his son and heir. In front of him, his wife Olympias, who has just passed the baby to his father, and still holds the swaddling clothes in which he was draped. Behind Olympias stand two unknown figures; it is possible that they represent Alexander’s older half-sister Cynane and older half-brother Philip Arrhidaios, though both would only have been one year of age in 356 BC. Alternatively, they may represent young slaves of the royal household, overawed by the return of the victorious king. Behind Philip stand Parmenion, in full armour and holding a shield depicting the gorgoneion, and a nude athlete, draped in a cloak, who guides Philip’s victorious Olympic horse. The three victories are thus represented.

The lower register depicts Alexander in the centre as a teenager, perhaps around the age of sixteen. He holds in his hand a helmet of the Chalcidian type, with hinged cheek-flaps and a horse-hair crest. He curls the helmet into his chest, and looks down on it, as though lost in a vision of his future conquests. He is depicted as a lean, muscular youth, with his characteristic locks of short curly hair. This shows Alexander ripe for the kingship, which he would succeed to in only four short years, on the assassination of his father. Behind him is a balding figure with a full beard, seated on some rocks, and holding at his side a lyre. The seated pose is often reserved in ancient art for the philosopher, as are the markers of age like the loss of hair and the growth of a lengthy beard. This, then, must be Aristotle, Alexander’s tutor during his teenage years. Aristotle was not only one of the greatest minds of his – or any – time, but he was also incredibly formative in the life of Alexander. He instilled in the young royal a love of poetry and of song, both represented by the lyre with which Aristotle sits. In front of Alexander sits another bearded man, this time holding a snake. This may refer to the legend, recorded in the anonymous Alexander Romance, whereby the Egyptian Pharaoh Nectanebo II, defeated by the Persian Artaxerxes, was driven from his home country and ended up at the court of Macedon. A great magician, Nectanebo sent a snake into the bedroom of Olympias, Philip’s wife, which lay with the young queen and, via the powers of the Egyptian god Amun (Greek Zeus-Ammon), conceived Alexander. Here, then, we have Alexander’s alternative father – and the root of his legitimacy in Egypt, which he conquered in 332 BC – depicted playing a role in the life of his son.

The reverse of the plate depicts Alexander on horseback. His horse Bucephalus was legendary. It was supposedly untameable, even eating some of its handlers. However, when the teenaged Alexander arrived to inspect it, the horse instantly recognised his ultimate master, and calmed. Alexander is depicted lancing a lion, which is leaping up at Bucephalus’ neck, clawing and biting at the horse. Lion hunts were apparently a favourite activity for Alexander, and he used his prowess in defeating Asiatic Lions to impress ambassadors from Sparta (Plutarch Life of Alexander 40.3). Depictions of lion hunts are well-known from Macedonia, including the famous Lion Hunt Mosaic from Pella. However, the lion hunt has a much older pedigree, as a symbol of kingship that resonated in Egypt, Assyria, and the Achaemenid Empire, three regions over which Alexander eventually held dominance.

This plate expresses the most extraordinary skill on the part of the anonymous artist. He truly was a Michelangelo of his times: a careful observer of the human form, who was able to depict the most exceptional naturalistic poses, and the intimate interaction between Philip, his son and his wife; an accomplished sculptor who was able to execute a work of the most outstanding sculptural quality, with attention paid even to the detail of the rocks and the landscape on which the characters stand; and a master of composition, who balances his figures with one another with dynamism and flow. The phenomenal quality of this work indicates that it was created for someone of extremely high status. The purpose of such a plate is unknown. Since both sides are decorated, it is unlikely that it was meant for display on a wall. Instead, it is a piece of propaganda, executed on the command of one of Alexander’s successors, to emphasise their legitimate connection to their greatest forebear. Given that this piece was discovered in Afghanistan, the successors in question are the Seleukids, the descendants of Alexander’s general Seleukos I Nikator. The style of the piece, and the execution of the armour – which faithfully represents the Hellenistic, rather than later Roman, style – suggests that the plate was created before the fall of the Seleukid Empire to the Romans in 63 BC.