Nearchus or
Nearch was one of the officers, a
navarchNavarch is a Greek word meaning "leader of the ships", which in some states became the title of an office equivalent to that of a modern admiral.- Historical usage :Not all states gave their naval commanders such a title...
, in the army of
Alexander the GreatAlexander III of Macedon, popularly known as Alexander the Great , was an Ancient Greek king of Macedon who created one of the largest empires in ancient history...
. His celebrated voyage from
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
to
SusaSusa ; Syriac: ; was an ancient city of the Elamite, Persian and Parthian empires of Iran, located about 250 km east of the Tigris River....
after
AlexanderAlexander III of Macedon, popularly known as Alexander the Great , was an Ancient Greek king of Macedon who created one of the largest empires in ancient history...
's expedition in
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
is preserved in
ArrianLucius Flavius Arrianus 'Xenophon , known in English as Arrian , and Arrian of Nicomedia, was a Roman historian , a public servant, a military commander and a philosopher of the Roman period...
's account, the
IndicaIndica is the name of an ancient book about India written by Arrian, one of the main ancient historians of Alexander the Great. The book mainly tells the story of Alexander's officer Nearchus’ voyage from India to the Persian Gulf after Alexander the Great’s conquest of the Indus Valley...
.
A native of
LatoLato was an ancient city of Crete, the ruins of which are located approximately 3 km from the small town of Kritsa. The Dorian city-state was built in a defensible position overlooking Mirabello Bay between two peaks, both of which became acropolises to the city...
in
CreteCrete is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea at 8,336 km²...
, his family settled at
AmphipolisAmphipolis was an ancient Greek city in the region once inhabited by the Edoni people in the present-day periphery of Central Macedonia. It was built on a raised plateau overlooking the east bank of the river Strymon where it emerged from Lake Cercinitis, about 3 m. from the Aegean Sea. Founded in...
in
MacedonMacedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paionia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south...
ia at some point during
Philip II’sPhilip II of Macedon, Philip II of Macedon, Philip II of Macedon, ( — φίλος = friend + ίππος = horse — transliterated 382 – 336 BC, was an ancient Greek king (basileus) of Macedon from 359 BC until his assassination in 336. He was the father of Alexander the Great and Philip...
reign (we must assume after Philip took the city in
357 BC-Persian Empire:* Rhodes falls to the Persian satrap Mausolus of Halicarnassus.-Thrace:* The Athenian general and mercenary commander, Chares and the Euboean mercenary Charidemus regain the Thracian Chersonese for Athens from the Thracian king Cersobleptes...
), at which point Nearchus was probably a young boy. He was almost certainly older than Alexander, as were Ptolemy,
ErigyiusErigyius , a Mytilenaean, son of Larichus, was an officer in Alexander the Great's army. He had been driven into banishment by Philip II, king of Macedon, because of his faithful attachment to Alexander, and returned when the latter came to the throne in 336 BC...
, and the others of the ‘boyhood friends’ ; so depending on when Androtimus came to Macedonia Nearchus was quite possibly
born on Crete.
Nearchus, along with
PtolemyPtolemy I Soter I was a Macedonian Greek general under Alexander the Great who became ruler of Egypt and founder of both the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Ptolemaic Dynasty...
,
ErigyiusErigyius , a Mytilenaean, son of Larichus, was an officer in Alexander the Great's army. He had been driven into banishment by Philip II, king of Macedon, because of his faithful attachment to Alexander, and returned when the latter came to the throne in 336 BC...
and
LaomedonLaomedon , native of Mytilene and son of Larichus, was one of Alexander the Great's generals, and appears to have enjoyed a high place in his confidence even before the death of Philip II, as he was one of those banished by that monarch for taking part in the intrigues of the...
, and
HarpalusFor other uses, see Harpalus Harpalus son of Machatas was an aristocrat of Macedon and boyhood friend of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC. Being lame in a leg, and therefore exempt from military service, Harpalus did not follow Alexander in his advance within the Persian Empire but...
, was one of Alexander’s ‘mentors’ – and he was exiled by Philip as a result of the
PixodarusPixodarus , a prince or king of Caria, was the youngest of the three sons of Hecatomnus, all of whom successively held the sovereignty of their native country...
affair (
AThe letter A is the first letter in the Latin alphabet. Its name in English is spelled a; the plural is aes, though this is rare.- History :...
3.6.5;
PP is the sixteenth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet. Its name in English is spelled pee.-History:The Semitic Pê , as well as the Greek Π or π , and the Etruscan and Latin letters that developed from the former alphabet, all symbolized , a voiceless bilabial plosive.-Usage:In English and...
10.4). It is not known where the exiles went, but they were recalled only after Philip’s death, on Alexander’s accession.
After their recall, these men were held in the highest honour. Nearchus was appointed as
satrapSatrap was the name given to the governors of the provinces of ancient Median and Persian empires, including the Achaemenid Empire and in several of their heirs, such as the Sassanid Empire and the Hellenistic empires....
of
LyciaLycia was a region in Anatolia in what are now the provinces of Antalya and Muğla on the southern coast of Turkey. It was a federation of ancient cities in the region and later a province of the Roman Empire...
and
PamphyliaIn ancient geography, Pamphylia was the region in the south of Asia Minor, between Lycia and Cilicia, extending from the Mediterranean to Mount Taurus . It was bounded on the north by Pisidia and was therefore a country of small extent, having a coast-line of only about 75 miles with a breadth of...
in 334/3 BC (
AThe letter A is the first letter in the Latin alphabet. Its name in English is spelled a; the plural is aes, though this is rare.- History :...
3.3.6), one of the earliest of Alexander's satrapal appointments. In
328 BC-Macedonian Empire:* At Maracanda, Alexander murders Clitus, one of his most trusted commanders, friend and foster-brother, in a drunken quarrel; but his excessive display of remorse leads the army to pass a decree convicting Clitus posthumously of treason....
he was relieved of his post and rejoined Alexander in
BactriaBactria was the ancient name of a historical region in Central Asia, located between the range of the Hindu Kush and the Amu Darya...
, bringing with him reinforcements (
AThe letter A is the first letter in the Latin alphabet. Its name in English is spelled a; the plural is aes, though this is rare.- History :...
4.7.2;
CĈ or ĉ is a consonant in Esperanto orthography, representing a voiceless postalveolar affricate , and is equivalent to the voiceless postalveolar affricate, , or the voiceless retroflex affricate,...
7.10.4, but does not mention Nearchus himself). After the siege of Aornus Nearchus was sent at the head of a reconnaissance mission – especially to find out about elephants (
AThe letter A is the first letter in the Latin alphabet. Its name in English is spelled a; the plural is aes, though this is rare.- History :...
4.30.5-6).
In 326 BC, Nearchus was made admiral of the fleet that Alexander had built at the Hydaspes (
AThe letter A is the first letter in the Latin alphabet. Its name in English is spelled a; the plural is aes, though this is rare.- History :...
6.2.3;
IndicaIndica is the name of an ancient book about India written by Arrian, one of the main ancient historians of Alexander the Great. The book mainly tells the story of Alexander's officer Nearchus’ voyage from India to the Persian Gulf after Alexander the Great’s conquest of the Indus Valley...
18.10). However, his trierarchy was a financial responsibility – that is, Nearchus put up the money for the boats (Heckel, p.229); and there were plenty of other trierarchs in the
IndusThe Indus River is the longest river in...
fleet who were not natural born sailors.
During the voyage some of the ships were damaged, and Nearchus was instructed to remain behind to oversee repairs, before continuing down the river. This perhaps indicates some knowledge of shipbuilding, but he could hardly have been the only one qualified.
However, he remained in command of the fleet for the voyage from the Indus to the
Persian GulfThe Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes controversially referred to as the Arabian Gulf by most Arab states or simply The...
, which he recorded in detail (and which was used extensively for
ArrianLucius Flavius Arrianus 'Xenophon , known in English as Arrian , and Arrian of Nicomedia, was a Roman historian , a public servant, a military commander and a philosopher of the Roman period...
’s
IndicaIndica is the name of an ancient book about India written by Arrian, one of the main ancient historians of Alexander the Great. The book mainly tells the story of Alexander's officer Nearchus’ voyage from India to the Persian Gulf after Alexander the Great’s conquest of the Indus Valley...
). Again, although he was the admiral, in command of the fleet, great seamanship was not required – the naval responsibilities were
Onesicritus’Onesicritus , a Greek historical writer, who accompanied Alexander on his campaigns in Asia. He claimed to have been the commander of Alexander's fleet but was actually only a helmsman; Arrian and Nearchus often criticize him for this. When he returned home, he wrote a history of Alexander's...
. During the voyage, Nearchus was reputedly the first Greek commander to visit
BahrainThe Kingdom of Bahrain is a small island country in the Persian Gulf ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. Saudi Arabia lies to the west and is connected to Bahrain via the King Fahd Causeway, which was officially opened on the 25th of November 1986. Qatar is to the southeast across the Gulf of...
, which was called
TylosBahrain was referred to by the Greeks as Tylos, the centre of pearl trading, when Nearchus came to discover it serving under Alexander the Great. From the 6th to 3rd century B.C. Bahrain was included in Persian Empire by Achaemenians, an Iranian dynasty...
by the Greeks. His visit marked the start of Bahrain's inclusion within the Hellenic world, which culminated in the worship of Zeus (as the Arab sun god, Shams) and Greek being spoken as the language of the upper classes.
After many adventures, Nearchus arrived in Carmania, meeting up with Alexander after the latter’s crossing of the
GedrosiaGedrosia is the ancient name of an area that corresponds to today's Balochistan. Eastern Balochistan is southwestern province of Pakistan and parts of southwestern and south-central Afghanistan and western Balochistan is divided between Iranian provinces of Hormozgan and Sistan va Baluchestan...
n desert. Alexander sent him off to complete his voyage – he went as far as the
EuphratesThe Euphrates is the longest and historically one of the most important rivers of Southwest Asia. Together with the Tigris, the Euphrates is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
before turning back to rejoin Alexander at
SusaSusa ; Syriac: ; was an ancient city of the Elamite, Persian and Parthian empires of Iran, located about 250 km east of the Tigris River....
, in early
324 BC-Macedonian Empire:* On returning to Susa, Persia, Alexander the Great punishes those who he considers to have failed in their duties in his absence in India, particularly those who have plundered tombs and temples. Alexander continues his policy of replacing senior officials and executing...
.
Nearchus married the daughter of
BarsineBarsine was daughter of Artabazus, satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia, and wife of Mentor of Rhodes and after his death, Mentor's brother, Memnon...
and
MentorMentor of Rhodes was a Greek mercenary who fought both for and against Artaxerxes III of Persia. He is also known as the first husband of Barsine, who later became mistress to Alexander the Great....
(
AThe letter A is the first letter in the Latin alphabet. Its name in English is spelled a; the plural is aes, though this is rare.- History :...
7.4.6), and received a crown as recognition of his exertions (
AThe letter A is the first letter in the Latin alphabet. Its name in English is spelled a; the plural is aes, though this is rare.- History :...
7.5.6). He then took the fleet up to
BabylonBabylon was a city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
, where he gave Alexander the
ChaldeansChaldea or Chaldaea , "the Chaldeans" of the KJV Old Testament, was a Hellenistic designation for a part of Babylonia, which became an independent kingdom under the Chaldees...
’ warning not to enter the city (
PP is the sixteenth letter of the basic modern Latin alphabet. Its name in English is spelled pee.-History:The Semitic Pê , as well as the Greek Π or π , and the Etruscan and Latin letters that developed from the former alphabet, all symbolized , a voiceless bilabial plosive.-Usage:In English and...
73.1-2).
Nearchus had a place in Alexander’s final plans, as he was to be the admiral of the Arabian invasion fleet; but the plans were cut short by the king’s death.
In the initial arguments over the rule of the empire Nearchus supported
HeraclesHeracles of Macedon was a reputed illegitimate son of Alexander the Great of Macedon by Barsine, daughter of Satrap Artabazus of Phrygia. Heracles was named after the Greek mythological hero of the same name, from whom the Argeads claimed descent.It cannot be established definitively whether...
, Alexander’s son by
BarsineBarsine was daughter of Artabazus, satrap of Hellespontine Phrygia, and wife of Mentor of Rhodes and after his death, Mentor's brother, Memnon...
– the king’s mistress was now his mother-in-law. Once order broke down he joined
Antigonus’Antigonus I Monophthalmus son of Philip from Elimeia, was a Macedonian nobleman, general, and satrap under Alexander the Great...
camp. His last mention is as an adviser to
DemetriusDemetrius I , called Poliorcetes , son of Antigonus I Monophthalmus and Stratonice, was a king of Macedon...
in 313/2 BC (
DD is the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet. Its name in English is spelled dee, plural dees.- History :The Semitic letter Dâlet probably developed from the logogram for a fish or a door. There are various Egyptian hieroglyphs that might have inspired this...
19.69.1); what happened after that is not known, although he probably retired to write his history.
Ancient authorities: Arrian,
Anabasis AlexandriAnabasis Alexandri, the Campaigns of Alexander by Arrian is the most important source on Alexander the Great.The Greek term anabasis referred to an expedition from a coastline into the interior of a country. The term katabasis referred to a trip from the interior to the coast...
, vi. 19, 21; vii. 4, 19, 20, 25:
PlutarchPlutarch, born Plutarchos then, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. AD 46 – 120, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
,
Life of Alexander, 10, 68, 75:
StraboStrabo was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born in a wealthy family from Amaseia in Pontus , which had recently become part of the Roman Empire.. He studied under various geographers and philosophers; first in Nysa, later in Rome...
, xv. pp. 721, 725;
Diodorus SiculusDiodorus Siculus , was a Greek historian who flourished in the 1st century BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily . With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about Diodorus' life and doing than is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca historica...
, xvii. 104:
JustinJustin was a Latin historian who lived under the Roman Empire. His name is mentioned only in the title of his own history, and there it is in the genitive, which would be M. Juniani Justini no matter which nomen he bore.Of his personal history nothing is known...
, xiii. 4.
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