Pastigris

Pastigris

They set off again towards the end of the summer, after having reconfirmed Mazaeus as Satrap of Babylon and leaving a Macedonian garrison to safeguard the defence and the safety of the province. They proceeded up the Pasitigris, a tributary of the Tigris which flowed down through the Elam mountains. The landscape was beautiful – rich in green pastures with many flocks of sheep and herds of cows grazing, and in that area there grew all types of fruit tresses, including the wonderful persica with its velvet skin and its incredibly juicy and tasty flesh. There was also plenty of sun-dried fruit such as figs and prunes.

It took the army six days’ march to come within sight of Susa, and Alexander recalled the enthusiastic description of the Persian guests who had been visiting Pella many years before. The city stood on a flat area, with the Elam mountain chain as a backdrop, the high peaks already covered with snow, their slopes green with firs and cedars. It was huge, surrounded by walls and towers decorated in shining tiles and with its battlements all decorated in silver and gold – plated studs.

Pastigris. Photo by Elena

… The city of Susa – immense and almost three thousand years old – had four hills at its four corners and on one of them stood the royal palace which at that very moment was fully illuminated by the rays of the setting sun. The entrance was a majestic temple-style pronaos, consisting of large stone columns with capitals in the form of winged bulls supporting the ceiling. Then came an atrium paved with marble of all colours an partly covered by magnificent carpets. There where also other columns supporting the ceiling, these in cedar wood painted red an yellow. Through a corridor and across another atrium, Alexander was led into the apadana, the great audience chamber, while the dignitaries, the eunuchs and the chamberlains all retreated to the sides of the great hall, lowering their heads until they were almost touching the floor.