- Alexandria Eschate
Alexandria Eschate (Greek polytonic|Ἀλεξάνδρεια Ἐσχάτη, Latin: Alexandria Ultima, English meaning "Alexandria the Furthest") was founded by
Alexander the Great in August329 BCE [Prevas, John. (2004). "Envy of the Gods: Alexander the Great's Ill-Fated Journey across Asia", p. 121. De Capo Press, Cambridge, Mass. ISBN 0-306-81268-1.] as his most northerly base inCentral Asia . It was established in the southwestern part of theFergana Valley , on the southern bank of the river Jaxartes (modern nameSyr Darya ), at the location of the modern city ofKhujand (also written Хуҷанд, خجند, Khüjand, Khodzhent, Khudchand: formerly Ispisar, Leninabad, Leninobod, Ленинобод, لهنینآباد), in the state ofTajikistan .Alexander built a 6 kilometer brick wall around the city which, according to the ancient authors, was completed in only about twenty days. [Leriche, Pierre. (1993). "L'extreme-orient hellenistique: Le monde de la brique crue." Les Dossiers d'Archeologie. No. 179, Fevrier 1993, p. 82.] As with the other cities he founded, had a group of his retired wounded veterans settle there.
A Hellenistic outpost in Central Asia
Alexandria Eschate was located around 300km north of Alexandria on the Oxus in
Bactria , and being in Sogdian territory had to sustain numerous conflicts with the local population. After250 BCE , the city probably remained in contact with theGreco-Bactrian Kingdom centered on Bactria, especially when the Greco-Bactrian kingEuthydemus I extended his control to Sogdiana.Contacts with China
The city was also located around 400km west of the
Tarim Basin , today's region ofXinjiang inChina , where theYuezhi , an Indo-European people were established. There are indications that Greek expeditions were led as far asKashgar in Xinjiang. According to the Greek historianStrabo , the Greeks "extended their empire even as far as theSeres and thePhryni " (Strabo XI.II.I), possibly leading to the first known contacts between China and the West around200 BCE .The descendants of the Greeks in
Ferghana may be theDayuan (lit. "Great Ionians") identified in the Chinese historical record of theHan Dynasty , starting with the embassies ofZhang Qian around130 BCE . If so, they were the actors of the first major interaction between an urbanized Indo-European culture and the Chinese civilization, which led to the opening up theSilk Road from the1st century BCE .According to the Roman writer Curtius, the descendants of these soldiers still retained their Hellenistic culture at the time of his writing, around 30 BCE.
In Fiction
Alexandria Eschate is the final destination of Euxenus son of Eutychides of the deme of Pallene, the protagonist of "Alexander at the World's End" by
Tom Holt ."Horses of Heaven", by
Gillian Bradshaw , is set in Alexandria Eschate, c.140 BCE.Footnotes
References
See the notes on "Northern Wuyi" = Alexndria Eschate in the draft annotated translation of the 3rd century Chinese history, the
Weilüe , by John Hill at: [http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/weilue/weilue.html#section24] and [http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/texts/weilue/notes11_30.html#24_1]External links
* [http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexandria/alexandria_eschate.html Livius.org: Alexandria Eschatê]
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