is a major event – instead the movie shows Alexander entering the city of Babylon, implying that this was the administrative capital of Persia. Babylon was simply another satrapy of the empire; not its capital. Babylon had already been incorporated into the Persian Empire in 539 BC by Cyrus the Great (559-530 BC). Why is Persopolis and its destruction not mentioned? There was also the destruction of the three major Zoroastrian texts by Alexander – also not referred to in the movie.

A possible reason for this may be found in Professor Fox’s interview with the distinguished journal “Archeology Today” (Riding with Alexander). Note the statement below, and how indicative it is of Dr. Fox’s lack of understanding of Classical Achaemenid Persia:

“We all understood that the separate “parts” ofBabylon or at best interchangeable. This same view pervades with respect to historical revisionism against Cyrus the Great and the legacy of his humanistic policies.

The West Wall in Jerusalem. After his conquest of Babylon, Cyrus allowed the Jewish captives to return to Israel and rebuild the Hebrew temple. It is believed that approximately 40,000 did permanently return to Israel. Despite Cyrus’ enlightened policies, a strong core of (mainly Assyriology-trained) academics have been attacking the history of Cyrus as “propaganda” .

As noted previously, Babylon was not a major power at the time of Alexander. Persian arts and architecture were an eclectic synthesis of indigenous (e.g Median, Elamite), Lydian, and Mesopotamian styles, including Babylonian. The city-palace of Persopolis is very distinct and cannot be crudely termed as Babylonian. It is,