The Persian Boy

He set out within seven days. Any Kossaians he killed, he? said, he would dedicate to Hephaistion, as Achilles had done the Trojans on Patroklos’ pyre.

is a deity himself already; Ammon acknowledged him. Without Hephaistion, he cannot bear even immortality.

Next day Alexander planned the funeral. It was to be in Babylon, the new empire’s center, where his memorial would stand forever. When Darius sued for peace after the fall of Tyre, he’d offered as ransom for his mother and wife and children ten thousand talents. On Hephaistion, Alexander was spending twelve.