alexander

Leadership Process Three: Establishing Identity 93
20: Reverence for Predecessors
Paying homage, affiliating yourself with esteemed predecessors,
restoring revered places, sincerely quoting others’
speeches, copying cherished attire, mannerisms, or symbols—
all these actions can potently amplify your reputation, prominence,
and identity.
By the time that Alexander had thrice defeated the Persians
in major battles, Darius III was now on the run. Alexander
paused in his chase to attend to a symbolic matter that
helped to further his and his Persian identities.
Pasargadae had been the royal city of the Achaemenid
dynasty for as long as anyone could speculate. When Alexander
visited it, he found that the grave of Cyrus the Great
had been desecrated. He authorized, indeed commanded,
that the tomb be restored.
We can only infer what was going on in Alexander’s
mind, but several guesses are not bad. First, he could have
simply been respecting royal prerogative. His handling of
both Darius’s body and Porus’s reinstatement (see Chapter
2 on the aftermath of the battle at the River Hydaspes) support
this contention, though this is unlikely given his treatment
of others. Second, in anticipating his own demise,
Alexander may have been preparing the way for his own
posterity—the extreme irony of his own body’s abduction
notwithstanding. Third, he could be further ingratiating
himself with the Persians to help maintain his own legitimacy.