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The fantastic "story of Alexander" was written by an author known to us as Pseudo-Callisthenes at the beginning of the 3rd century AD. It says that the body of Alexander was placed in a lead sarcophagus and was first transported to Memphis and then to Alexandria.
Strabo13 (67-23 BC), says that the Sema is part of Basilea and included the tombs of the kings and that of Alexander. He mentions that Ptolemy transported the body of Alexander to Alexandria and gave it burial in the same location where it lies now, but not in the same coffin….
"The one in existence now is of glass instead of the one in which originally Ptolemy had deposited the body which was of gold, that coffin was removed by Ptolemy X, Alexander I, son of Kokkis, called Parisactos...", (Reigned from 107 to 88 BC).
Diodorus Siculus14, who lived at the time of Julius Caesar and Augustus, mentions the "decision not to bury the body in the temple of Amon (at the oasis of Siwah), but in the greatest of the cities of the world, Alexandria. And the body was deposited with great honors, sacrifices and games".
Plutarch, one of the most reliable ancient sources (46A.D. - 127A.D.), who travelled to Alexandria adds: "After the death of Alexander, Python and Seleucus were sent to the Serapeum to ask the oracle if the body should be sent to Alexandria and the god answered that it should be transported there"15.
Zenobius16, a contemporary of Hadrian, mentions that Ptolemy IV Philopator, who reigned from 221-205 BC, decided to group all his ancestors' remains in one mausoleum and in consequence according to this author, the Soma remained empty. Zenobius' description suggests that the Mausoleum built by Philopator and called the Soma was not on the same site as the original tomb of Alexander.
According to Flavius Josephus17, Cleopatra VII Philopator in a moment of financial difficulty looted all the wealth of Alexander's tomb.
Pausanias18, the great traveller of the middle of the 2nd century (160-180 AD), says that Perdicas' intention was to transport the body to Aigai, in Macedonia and that Alexander was venerated after his death as a divinity. According to Pausanias, Ptolemy I Soter (337-283 BC) deposited the body in Memphis and it was Ptolemy II Philadelpheus (309-247 BC) who transported it to Alexandria.
Dion Cassius19, the historian who lived between 155-235 AD and was consul of Africa in the reign of Septimus Severus, reports Augustus' request to see the body of Alexander. "But touching the nose he did some damage to it. Asked if he wanted to visit the tombs of the Ptolemies, he refused, saying that: "I came to see a king and not dead men". He also mentions that Severus placed in the Mausoleum all the secret books "so none could read the books nor see the body".
Lucanus20, the poet (36-65 AD), in his epic poem Pharsalia says that the mausoleum had a pyramidal dome and stood elevated forming a tumulus. This is the only description mentioning a pyramidal superstructure over a vault.
Suetonius21 claims that it was Augustus who refused to see the tombs of the Ptolemies, saying that "I came to see a king and not mortus". He ordered the removal of the body of Alexander from the sarcophagus to honor it, placed a gold diadem and scattered flowers on the tomb.
Another author, Antiochius Grypus, also reports the substitution of the gold sarcophagus by one made of glass or alabaster by Ptolemy X Alexander (107-88) because of the cupidity of this kind.
Achilles Tatius22, who lived in the 3rd century AD, places the Soma in the centre of the town in a quarter that took the name of Soma from this same monument.
Regretfully, we do not have any reliable ancient artistic representations showing unequivocally Alexander's Mausoleum.
The representation on a Roman lamp in the National Museum of Poznan23 and others at the British Museum24 and the Museum of l'Ermitage25, are interpreted by some scholars as showing Alexandria. They see a depiction of the main monuments of the royal necropolis with the Soma pictured as a stone building with a pyramidal roof.
Quite recently the proposed identification of the "panorama" of Alexandria depicted on the lams lost its value in the light of the newest investigation done by Bailey, who convincingly proved that the lamps cannot be connected in any way with Alexandria, but with Italy and North Africa26.
However on the sculpted sarcophagus cover of Julius Philosyrius of Ostia26a, we recognise some features fitting to the imagination of ancient Alexandria, built by the literary testimonies, particularly of Strabo text. The Pharos seems to be there, as well as the column Diocletian. A round tower, with a conical roof, is identified with the Soma. If this interpretation is correct, we have a testimony that the Soma and the monuments in its immediate vicinity survived after Diocletian's sack of the town. The column was erected in 296 after the rebellion of the Alexandrians27.
Herodian28 reports in detail the visit of Caracalla to the Soma, as does a later historian of the Christian era, John of Antiochia. In his history from Adam to 518 AD, the latter says that when Caracalla, entered the Tomb of Alexander, he removed his tunic, his ring, his belt and all other precious ornaments and deposited them on the coffin.
It should be noted that in 215 Caracalla sacked the town of Alexandria but apparently respected the Mausoleum of Alexander. Unfortunately for Alexandria, the sack of Caracalla was neither the first nor the last of its vicissitudes.
Photos: (top) Engraving of Julius Caesar paying homage to the body of Alexander; (middle) Silver coin with bust of Cleopatra VII circa 40BC; (bottom) Marble head of Alexander the Great.
Notes:
13. Strabo, Geogr. XVII, C. 793, 794.
14. Diodorus Siculus, XVII.
15. Plutarch, Alex. 76.
16. Zenobius, III, 94; cf. Pausanias 1,7.
17. Flavius Josephus, Contra Apion., II, 57.
18. Pausanias, 1,6,3.
19. Don Cassius, LI, 16 and LXXV, 13.
20. Lucanos, Pharsalia, VIII, 694: X, 19.
21. Suetonius, vit. Auq. XVIII.
22. Achilles Tatius, V, I.
23. M.L. Bernhard, Topographie d'Alexandrie: le tombeau d'Alexandre et le mausolé d'Auguste, Rev. Archéol. (1956) I, pp. 129-156, and Lampki starozytne, arsaw, (1955), p. 137.
24. M.B. Walters, Cat. Of the Greek and Rom. Lamps in the British Museum, (1941). [= Guide Greek and Roman life, (1920), fig. 28, p. 38].
25. O. Waldhauer, Die antiken Tonlampen, Kaiserliche Ermitage, St. Petersburg, (1914).
26. See D.M. Bailey, Alexandria, Carthage and Ostia. Alessandria e il mondo ellenistico-romano. Studi in onore di Achille Adriani, 2. Roma1984, pp. 265-272, pl. XLVII. (Lamps later dating to early 3rd cent. A.D.) Group 7 - false examples. Foreigners made in Naples, Bailey op. cit. p. 269.
26a. Ch. Picard, BCH, 76, 1952, p. 92, fig. 14.
27. One of the numerous panels of opus sectile (IV c.A.D.) found at Kenchreai probably depicts an Alexandrian port. But is this a port on lake Mareotis or a sea port? The scene is worth been studied and its buildings interpreted. See Leila Ibrahim, Kenchreai, Eastern Port of Corinth, Vol. II, Leiden (1976).
28. Herodian, IV, 8, 9, cf. P. Benoit and J. Schwartz Etud. pap. 7, (1948), 17-23.