Archaeology: Tomb in northern Greece could be that of widow and son of Alexander the Great, reports say

Archaeologists are reserving judgment but Greek and Bulgarian media have reported that a tomb found in the town of Amphipolis in northern Greece could be that of Alexander the Great’s widow and his son, Roxana of Bactria and Alexander IV Aegus.

Amphipolis is near Serres, a Greek town that Bulgarian media did not fail to point out is just 30km from the Bulgarian border.

Alexander IV was born to Roxana after Alexander the Great’s death in 323 BCE. They died, poisoned, in a power struggle in 310 BCE when Alexander IV was about 12. Some histories claim that Roxana and Alexander IV had been expelled to Greek Macedonia after the conqueror’s death.

There has been a previous claim for the finding of their tomb, at the Vergina site in northern Greece in the 1970s.

The circular enclosure surrounding the tomb is three metres high and its perimeter is 500 metres.

The head of the team conducting the archaeological excavations, Katerina Peristeri, told journalists that it was too early to speak with certainty about the identities of the people at the tomb site. Further evidence was required, and further finance was needed to continue the excavations, she was quoted as saying.

(Main illustration: Mosaic of Alexander the Great, Museo archeologico nazionale)

 

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