Alexander’s City Network

Abstract

The paper aims to analyze the sources on the cities founded by Alexander, starting from Alexandria in Egypt, to investigate the reasons not only military, but also commercial and cultural, which were the basis of the Macedonian ruler’s choices. In my opinion, in fact, there is a single thread that unites all these new urban foundations: Alexander’s desire to make his cities the focal point of the integration process between the Greeks, on the one hand, and the local populations of the Persian empire, on the other. This desire, however, clashed against the resistance not only of a large part of the local populations, but also (and perhaps above all) of the Greeks settled in places far from their homeland where they would have wanted to return.