Recruitment, Coherence, and Hierarchy: The reasons for Alexanders ‘Banquet of Reconciliation’

This essay will discuss the significance of the Opis Banquet of Reconciliation and surrounding events to determine what Alexander’s aims were. This essay will argue that the event was significant not because it highlighted some form of ethnic policy, but rather that Alexander needed Macedonian manpower and coherency within his new empire. This essay will argue the aim of the banquet was to ensure the goodwill and impress the importance of Macedonian troops and to encourage others back home to join up. To argue this point this essay focuses on three key issues, the first is the problem of army recruitment, the second of the issues of coherence, and thirdly the question hierarchy. 

The events at Opis were significant because they highlighted that Alexander needed more able loyal Macedonian troops. We know that during Alexander’s reign the manpower of Macedon dropped significantly, and after 331 BC no more troops reached Alexander (Worthington and Hammond, 1994 p. 203, Austin, 2006 pp. 50- 53). Therefore, during the events at Opis there was decreasing numbers of Macedonian soldiers arriving. Yet Alexander needed soldiers he could trust in top positions and continued drawing on the homeland despite dropping numbers (Bosworth, 1986 pp. 15-17, Billows, 1995 pp. 184-189). To help this process it is possible that Alexander employed a number of tactics to encourage the youth of Macedonia to join the army. One strategy that the Opis incident suggests is the chance to gain riches. This can be seen in Alexander’s present to the ten thousand dismissed soldiers. This act, Alexander may have hoped, would have encouraged the youth to join the army for the chance to become rich. However, after the mutiny Alexander realized that his actions failed to win the support of the Macedonians, hence, the Banquet to show the importance that Alexander placed on the Macedonians. This makes the events at Opis significant to our understanding of Alexanders reliance on Macedonian troops to fulfill important positions within the court and upper military ranks. In holding a Banquet Alexander wanted to ensure the goodwill of his troops so others would be encouraged to join the ranks. 

Alexander’s prayer is significant to understanding the events at Opis, because it demonstrated Alexander’s desire for coherency between the Macedonians and the Persians. Furthermore, it highlights that Alexander was trying to be as resourceful as possible in the organization of the army. This is demonstrated when Alexander starts replacing the Macedonian leadership with Persians. Rather then being a manipulative move to play on the hostilities between the Macedonians and Persians, as Bosworth argues, this action was a strategic move by Alexander (Bosworth, 1993 p. 160). Alexander’s reasoning may have been that the army needed leadership and if the Macedonians were not willing then the Persians would do. This suggests that Alexander’s focus was on maintaining the war machine and the management of the new empire. It is true that Alexander may have been unaccustomed to the Macedonians disagreeing with him, but Alexander was always trying to ensure the efficiency of the army, and it’s doubtful that he had time for such manipulative tactics. By replacing the Macedonians with Persians, Alexander was not aiming to integrate a ethnic policy but was ensuring that his army remained efficient. Such a point is illustrated by Robert Lock, who argues that Alexander had a very simple relationship with his men (Lock, 1977 pp. 104-105). Open discussion of events and troubles would have been a normal activity, what is unusual at Opus is the range of discontent, but there was never a real mutiny, but rather insults herald at the king (Lock, 1977 pp. 104-105). Because there was no overarching kinship system yet developed. Therefore, Alexander had to be practical and un-manipulative in his policies. We know from Plutarch that the Macedonians were unhappy with the recent Persian soldiers at Susa (Plut. 7. 71). However, by dismissing ten-thousands troops because they could not serve efficiently and replacing disgruntled soldiers with capable Persons soldiers Alexander was acting as any commander would during war time. The banquet is then significant because it represents Alexanders push for coherency between the two peoples. 

Hierarchy was an important element in Alexander's army. The higher up you were the more likelihood of being near the King and, therefore, the power-base of the whole empire. This is  significant to the Banquet of Reconciliation because of the focus and power bestowed to the Macedonians, especially over the Persians. And considering, as Dirodoris explains, the Macedonians had just persuaded Alexander for their positions back, it is a great show of power and hierarchy (Diod. 17.109). The banquet was a clear statement that the Macedonians were in the central sphere of power while the Persians were on the periphery. This is perhaps best demonstrated in the seating arrangement of the Banquet of Reconciliation. According to Arran over nine thousand individuals showed up, with the most important Macedonians sitting closest to Alexander. The Macedonians enjoyed a privileged position right near the king. While the Persians sat on the boundary of the Macedonians and then everybody else (Arr. VII.9). If Alexander wanted an ethnic policy or a racial fusions policy then why separate the groups. It would have been better to mix everybody and ensure that the races mixed. The Banquet was then significant because it was emphatically aimed at pleasing the Macedonians. Further, Alexander’s prayer expresses his desire for the whole event to have “concord and community in empire for Macedonians and Persians” (Arr. VII.9). Such a statement is not indicative of a man who was seeking an ethnic policy (Bosworth, 1993 p. 161). Rather Alexander wanted a coherent court and empire. With the Macedonians and Greeks holding the prime positions and the Persians making up the bulk of the army. 

This essay has attempted to determine the significance and aims of the Banquet of Reconciliation. In doing so it has examined the issue of recruitment of Macedonian troops, and the possibility that at Opis Alexander was trying to instigate a recruitment program. Secondly, this essay argued that the Banquet had two clear aims. The first to ensure that there was some coherency between the Macedonians and Persians and to win over the goodwill of the Macedonians troops. Lastly, this essay argued that the main significance of the Banquet was that it was aimed to inform the Macedonians that they enjoyed a privileged position in the empire hierarchy. 

Works Cited

AUSTIN, M. (2006) The Hellenistic World from Alexander to the Roman Conquest: A Selection of Ancient Sources in Translation, Cambridge University Press.

BILLOWS, R. A. (1995) Kings and Colonists: Aspects of Macedonian Imperialism, E.J. Brill.

BOSWORTH, A. B. (1986) Alexander the Great and the Decline of Macedon Journal of Hellenistic Studies 106, 1-12.

BOSWORTH, A. B. (1993) Conquest and Empire: The Reign of Alexander the Great, Cambridge University Press.

LOCK, R. (1977) The Macedonian Army Assembly in the Time of Alexander the Great Classical Philology 72, 91-107.

WORTHINGTON, I. & HAMMOND, N. G. L. (1994) Ventures Into Greek History, Clarendon Press.