Dedication by Alexander the Great to Athena Polias
Greek, around 330 BC
From Priene, Asia Minor
In 336 BC Alexander the Great embarked on a programme of
territorial expansion, which would eventually extend the boundaries
of the Greek world to Egypt in the south and to India in the East.
In 334 BC Alexander crossed the Hellespont, the narrow strait
separating Europe and Asia, and went first to Troy. There he
dedicated his armour to Athena and laid a wreath at the tomb of
Achilles, the legendary hero and champion of the Greeks in the
Trojan War. This act prefigured Alexander's role as a new Achilles
liberating the Greek cities of Asia Minor from Asiatic rule.
That same summer of 334 BC, a successful engagement with the
Persian army at the river Granicus, east of Troy, opened the gates
of Asia Minor, and Alexander proceeded to tour the Greek cities of
the west coast, expelling their Persian garrisons.
On reaching Priene, he made a further dedication to Athena.
There the townspeople were laying out their new city and building a
temple to its patron goddess. Alexander offered funds to complete
the temple, and the inscription on this wall block, cut into a
block of marble, records his gift. The inscription was found in the
nineteenth century by the architect-archaeologist Richard Pullan
leading an expedition on behalf of the Society of Dilettanti. It
reads: 'King Alexander dedicated the Temple to Athena Polias'.
B.F. Cook, Greek inscriptions (London, The British Museum Press, 1987)