In May of 330 BCE, Alexander the Great threw a banquet in a palace he had no right to own. Persepolis — the ceremonial heart of the Persian Empire, the most magnificent building complex on earth — had been in his hands for four months. Wine was flowing. Torches flickered against walls carved with images of twenty-three nations bringing gifts to the King of Kings. Then a woman named Thais stood up and changed everything with a single speech.
0%
Crowns & Conquests·2/6·1′
The place
Persepolis
The Night Persepolis Burned
A courtesan's speech, a drunken king, and the fire that destroyed an empire — and accidentally preserved it forever
330 BCE (January–May)Persepolis
Moral of the Story
“What takes generations to build can be destroyed in a single night of rage — and the cruelest irony is that the fire meant to erase an empire's memory instead preserved it, baking 30,000 clay tablets into permanence and turning ruins into the most powerful monument to Persian greatness that Alexander could never have intended.”
Characters
A
Alexander the GreatT
Thais (Athenian courtesan)P
Parmenion (Alexander's senior general)P
Ptolemy (general, future Pharaoh of Egypt)X
Xerxes I (whose palace was targeted)Source
Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica XVII.70-72; Plutarch, Life of Alexander 37-38; Arrian, Anabasis Alexandri 3.18; Quintus Curtius Rufus, Historiae Alexandri Magni 5.6-7; Schmidt, Erich F., Persepolis I-III (Oriental Institute, 1953-1970); Briant, Pierre, From Cyrus to Alexander (2002)