The Burning of Persepolis: Vengeance or Drunken Folly?

 

The Burning of Persepolis: Vengeance or Drunken Folly?

Date: 330 BCE

Story:
After conquering the Persian capital of Persepolis, Alexander threw a lavish, drunken celebration inside its majestic halls.
As the wine flowed, a courtesan named Thais, possibly Alexander’s lover, shouted that the palace of the Persian kings should burn, just as Athens had burned decades earlier under Xerxes.
In a fiery symbol of revenge—or impulse—Alexander agreed.
He tossed the first torch into the palace roof beams, igniting a blaze that destroyed centuries of Persian art and literature.
Some say he later regretted it, realizing he had destroyed a treasure of human civilization.
Others claim he was calculated, using the flames to announce the fall of Persian imperial pride.
His generals were divided—was it righteous wrath or reckless drunkenness?
The truth may be both.
Persepolis burned not just in flames, but as a metaphor for Alexander’s growing instability.
From conqueror to unpredictable god-king, his transformation had begun.

Key Characters:

Alexander the Great

Thais (the Athenian courtesan)

Parmenion (general)

Darius III (posthumous Persian king)

Reference:

Plutarch, Life of Alexander

Arrian, Anabasis of Alexander

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica