Philip II and Alexander the Great: Father and Son ... - Historia Antigua

THE “PIXODARUS AFFAIR” RECONSIDERED AGAIN 11
Pella to alert Philip to Alexander’s independent and treasonous
activities. 24
Philip’s only option in these circumstances was to put a swift
halt to Thessalus’ activities by ordering his arrest and to try to bring
Alexander (and probably Olympias 25 ) back to Pella as quickly as
possible to restore the unity of the royal household. 26 Demaratus
evidently performed a further great service in managing this, at least
in the case of Alexander. Although Justin (9.7.6) does not mention
Demaratus, his report that the reconciliation was achieved only with
great diffi culty and that Alexander was “barely persuaded to return
by the entreaties of his relatives” attests not only Demaratus’ effectiveness
but also Alexander’s nearly insurmountable alienation.
Undoubtedly an interview between Philip and Alexander took place
on Alexander’s return. It was quite probably an angry one, but it is
hardly plausible that in their confrontation Philip made the remarks
Plutarch attributes to him deprecating marriage to a Carian and a
slave to a “barbarian king” as unworthy of Alexander’s high estate
(Alex. 9.3). (This seems, rather, to be Plutarch’s way of making a
contrasting pair out of the two quarrels between Philip and A lexander
that he describes by having the issue be differing assessments of
Alexander’s lineage.) 27 If Philip discussed Alexander’s lineage at all
on his return, it was in connection with Philip’s insistence on
Alexander’s high and unchallengeable standing as his successor.
Philip, however, dismantled Alexander’s entourage, exiling the
hetairoi who constituted in effect Alexander’s own court elite. 28
The Pixodarus affair did not produce a marriage. But if we see the
affair as following and growing out of the rupture at Philip’s wedding
celebration, the affair produced—compelled, we might say—the
reunifi cation of the royal household. For Alexander, the affair led to
renewed confi rmation of his status as heir apparent. But it may have
been too late. Alexander had seen in recent months that Philip could
proceed entirely without him. At the same time, Alexander had
asserted his own kingship (albeit briefl y and outside Macedonia). For
Alexander, the lesson of all this may have been that neither he nor
Philip truly needed each other. Consequently, despite his return to
Pella, there may have been for Alexander no real rapprochement with
Philip, but rather a shift in tactics in his effort to secure the kingship
of Macedon, leading in a matter of months to Philip’s murder by
Pausanias. 29