公元前330年5月，在亚历山大大帝追杀逃脱的、最后一位阿契美尼德波斯大王（大流士三世）前一个多月，他烧毁了波斯波利斯国王的宫殿，原因我们永远无法确定。尤其是亚历山大后来后悔了，学者和其他人对这种破坏行为的动机感到困惑。提出的理由通常归结为醉酒、政策或报复（“变态”）[Borza]。

亚历山大需要付钱给他的部下，所以一旦伊朗贵族向马其顿国王敞开大门，他就允许他们掠夺仪式上的首都波斯波利斯。公元前一世纪的希腊历史学家迪奥多罗斯·西库卢斯（Diodorus Siculus）说，亚历山大从宫殿建筑中带走了大约3500吨贵重金属，这些金属被无数的驮畜带走，可能被带到了苏萨（324年，马其顿人如赫菲斯蒂恩与伊朗妇女举行大规模婚姻的未来地点）。

"71 1 Alexander ascended to the citadel terrace and took possession of the treasure there. This had been accumulated from the state revenues, beginning with Cyrus, the first king of the Persians, down to that time, and the vaults were packed full of silver and gold. 2 The total was found to be one hundred and twenty thousand talents, when the gold was estimated in terms of silver. Alexander wanted to take some money with him to meet the costs of the war, and to deposit the rest in Susa and keep it under guard in that city. Accordingly he sent for a vast number of mules from Babylon and Mesopotamia, as well as from Susa itself, both pack and harness animals as well as three thousand pack camels." —Diodorus Siculus "Nor was the money found here less, he says, than at Susa, besides other movables and treasure, as much as ten thousand pair of mules and five thousand camels could well carry away." —Plutarch, Life of Alexander

波斯波利斯现在是亚历山大的财产。

谁叫亚历山大烧掉珀尔塞波利斯的？

希腊作家罗马历史学家阿里安（Arrian，约公元87年——145年后）说，亚历山大信任的马其顿将军帕梅尼翁（Parmenion）敦促亚历山大不要焚烧它，但亚历山大还是这样做了。亚历山大声称他这样做是为了报复波斯战争期间雅典卫城的亵渎。波斯人在塞莫皮莱屠杀斯巴达人及其同伙，并在萨拉米斯（几乎所有雅典居民都逃离了萨拉米斯）战败期间，他们烧毁并夷平了雅典卫城和雅典其他希腊财产上的神殿。

Arrian: 3.18.11-12 "He also set the Persian palace on fire against the advice of Parmenion, who argued that it was ignoble to destroy what was now his own property and that the peoples of Asia would not pay heed to him in the same way if they assumed he had no intention of governing Asia but would merely conquer and move on. [12]But Alexander declared that he wanted to pay back the Persians, who, when they invaded Greece, had razed Athens and burned the temples, and to exact retribution for all the other wrongs they had committed against the Greeks. It seems to me, however, that in doing this Alexander was not acting sensibly, nor do I think there could be any punishment for Persians of a bygone era." —Pamela Mensch, edited by James Romm

其他作家，包括普鲁塔克、昆图斯·柯蒂斯（公元1世纪）和迪奥多罗斯·西库卢斯（Diodorus Siculus）说，在一次喝醉的宴会上，妓女泰斯（被认为是托勒密的情妇）敦促希腊人进行报复，然后由纵火犯的纵火队伍完成。

"72 1 Alexander held games in honour of his victories. He performed costly sacrifices to the gods and entertained his friends bountifully. While they were feasting and the drinking was far advanced, as they began to be drunken a madness took possession of the minds of the intoxicated guests. 2 At this point one of the women present, Thais by name and Attic by origin, said that for Alexander it would be the finest of all his feats in Asia if he joined them in a triumphal procession, set fire to the palaces, and permitted women's hands in a minute to extinguish the famed accomplishments of the Persians. 3 This was said to men who were still young and giddy with wine, and so, as would be expected, someone shouted out to form the comus and to light torches, and urged all to take vengeance for the destruction of the Greek temples. 4 Others took up the cry and said that this was a deed worthy of Alexander alone. When the king had caught fire at their words, all leaped up from their couches and passed the word along to form a victory procession in honour of Dionysius. 5 Promptly many torches were gathered. Female musicians were present at the banquet, so the king led them all out for the comus to the sound of voices and flutes and pipes, Thais the courtesan leading the whole performance. 6 She was the first, after the king, to hurl her blazing torch into the palace. " —Diodorus Siculus XVII.72

可能是妓女的演讲是有计划的，行为是有预谋的。学者们寻找了明确的动机。也许亚历山大同意或命令焚烧行动向伊朗人发出信号，他们必须服从他。这场毁灭还将传递这样一个信息：亚历山大不仅仅是最后一位阿契美尼德波斯国王的替代者（阿契美尼德波斯国王还没有到手，但很快会在亚历山大到达他之前被他的堂兄贝苏斯暗杀），而是一位外国征服者。

来源

• 《天堂之火：珀尔塞波利斯的亚历山大》，尤金·N·博尔萨；《古典文献学》，第67卷，第4期（1972年10月），第233-245页。
• 亚历山大大帝和他的帝国，由皮埃尔·布莱恩特；阿梅莉·库尔特译普林斯顿：2010年。
• 迈克尔·弗劳尔的《非伟人历史：重新构想亚历山大大帝的课程》；《古典世界》，第100卷，第4期（2007年夏季），第417-423页。
• P.A.布伦特的《亚历山大的目标》；希腊与罗马，第二辑，第12卷，第2期，“亚历山大大帝”（1965年10月），第205-215页。