Notes on the Problematic Sequence of Alexander’s Itinerary in Swat. A Geoarchaeological Study

The recent publication of the preliminary results of the excavations conducted by IsMEO at Bir-kot-ghwandai (Barikot, Swat, Pakistan) makes a once much debated subject (dating back to the end of 19th century), to which no new material or studies have been contributed for some time, topical again. In fact, the site the Italian archaeologists have been investigating owes the attention it has attracted partly to its identification with one of the places the historians of Alexander mention in connection with the 'invincible' Macedonian's advance into India. The fortified centre of Bazira (or Beira) was actually besieged and captured by Coenus, Alexander's lieutenant, during the brief military campaign Alexander waged in Assacenian territory, on the threshold of India. Although the expedition against the Assacenians is clear from a strategic angle, up to now it has not been possible to reconstruct the route exactly. In fact, many points are still obscure. This is primarily due to the divergent accounts consulted by Flavius Arrianus (Arrian) and Quintus Curtius Rufus, the two main historians. One of these concerns the identification of the site of Bazira, a base of vital importance in the reconstruction of Alexander's operations in Swat. Alexander's historians also mention another place, which we will briefly take into consideration, and this is Ora, a site that has been identified with one the Italian Archaeological Mission of IsMEO has surveyed in the past.