Editing Persepolis (section)

==Remains==
{{Comprehensive map of Persepolis}}
{{clear}}
[[File:Lotus Achaemenid architecture.JPG|thumb|upright|Reliefs of [[Nymphaea|lotus flowers]] are frequently used on the walls and monuments at Persepolis.]]
Ruins of a number of colossal buildings exist on the terrace. All are constructed of dark-grey marble. Fifteen of their pillars stand intact. Three more pillars have been re-erected since 1970. Several of the buildings were never finished.

Behind the compound at Persepolis, there are three sepulchers hewn out of the rock in the hillside. 
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Persepolis stairs of the Apadana relief.jpg|A bas-relief from the [[Apadana|Apadana Palace]] depicting Delegations including [[Lydians]] and [[Armenians]]<ref>R. W. Ferrier. ''The Arts of Persia''. page 39, image 21</ref> bringing their famous wine to the king.
File:Achaemenid plaque from Persepolis.JPG|Achaemenid plaque from Persepolis, kept at the [[National Museum of Iran]].
File:Mad-5223.jpg|Relief of a [[Medes|Median]] man at Persepolis.
File:National Meusem Darafsh 6 (54).JPG|Objects from Persepolis kept at the [[National Museum of Iran]]
File:National Meusem Darafsh 20.JPG|The head of a Lamassu from Persepolis, kept at the [[National Museum of Iran]]
File:Door-Post Socket (4690606141).jpg|Door-Post Socket
File:Part of the monumental double staircase leading up to the terrace, Persepolis, Iran (47779523221).jpg|The Great Double Staircase at Persepolis
File:PersepolisNegareh.jpg|A bas-relief at Persepolis, representing a symbol in [[Zoroastrianism]] for [[Nowruz]].{{efn|Eternally fighting bull (personifying the moon), and a lion (personifying the sun) representing the spring.}}
File:ردیف سربازان-پلکان کاخ آپادانا-تخت جمشید.jpg|The discipline of the reliefs.
File:Tablette xerxes persepolis.jpg|Tablets of [[Xerxes I|Xerxes]], kept at the [[National Museum of Iran]]
File:Persepolis Apadana Stairways in National Museum of Iran.jpg|One of the staircases of Persepolis, kept at the [[National Museum of Iran]]
File:Achamanid-Woman-Statue-Persia-Persepolis.jpg|One of the four existing statues of [[Penelope]] was discovered at Persepolis, and is kept at the [[National Museum of Iran]]
</gallery>

===The Gate of All Nations===
{{main|Gate of All Nations}}

[[File:The stone columns of the Gate of All Nations, they were 16½ meters high and were topped with capitals in the form of a double bull, Persepolis, Iran (47779521811).jpg|thumb|upright|The stone columns of the [[Gate of All Nations]], they are 16½ meters high and were topped with capitals in the form of a double bull.]]
The [[Gate of All Nations]], referring to subjects of the empire, consisted of a grand hall that was a square of approximately {{cvt|25|m|ft}} in length, with four columns and its entrance on the Western Wall.
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg|[[Gate of All Nations|The Gate of All Nations]], Persepolis
File:Detail- The Gate of All Nations, Persepolis, Iran (4670203537).jpg|A Lamassu at the [[Gate of All Nations]]
File:Position of three languages inscriptions on Gate of all nations in persepolis.JPG|The position of three languages inscriptions on The [[Gate of All Nations]], Persepolis
File:تخت جمشيد دروازه ملل Persepolice Fars Marvdasht Shiraz - panoramio.jpg|The two Lamassu at the [[Gate of All Nations]].
File:A history of all nations from the earliest times; being a universal historical library (1905) (14759223936).jpg|The [[Gate of All Nations]] in 1905.
</gallery>

===The Apadana Palace===
{{main|Apadana}}
[[File:Persepolis - statue of a mastiff.jpg|thumb|Statue of a [[Mastiff|Persian Mastiff]] found at the [[Apadana]], kept at the [[National Museum of Iran]].]]

[[Darius I]] built the greatest palace at Persepolis on the western side of platform. This palace was called the ''[[Apadana]]''.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Gardens of Persia |author=Penelope Hobhouse |publisher=Kales Press |year=2004 |pages=177–178 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AMFRyiAxZ6YC&q=apadana+is+ayvan+in+achaemenid&pg=PA177 |isbn=978-0967007663 |access-date=19 October 2020 |archive-date=20 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420100929/https://books.google.com/books?id=AMFRyiAxZ6YC&q=apadana+is+ayvan+in+achaemenid&pg=PA177 |url-status=live }}</ref> The King of Kings used it for official audiences.

Foundation tablets of gold and silver were found in two deposition boxes in the foundations of the Palace.<ref>Wright, H. C. (1981). "Ancient Burials of Metal Documents in Stone Boxes: Their Implications for Library History." ''The Journal of Library History'' (1974), 16(1), 48–70.</ref> They contained an inscription by Darius in [[Old Persian cuneiform]], which describes the extent of his Empire in broad geographical terms, and is known as the DPh inscription:<ref name="ACH29"/><ref>{{cite book |title=Persepolis: discovery and afterlife of a world wonder |date=2012 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/persepolis_discovery_and_afterlife_of_a_world_wonder/page/n195 171]–181 |url=https://archive.org/details/persepolis_discovery_and_afterlife_of_a_world_wonder |language=en}}</ref>
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| total_width       = 351
| caption_align     = center
| image1            = Corner of the Apadana Darius the Great inscription.jpg
| caption1          = Gold foundation tablets of Darius I for the [[Apadana Palace]], in their original stone box. The [[Apadana hoard|Apadana coin hoard]] had been deposited underneath. {{Circa|510 BC}}. Both are kept at the [[National Museum of Iran]].
| image2            = Deposition plate of Darius I in Persepolis.jpg
| caption2          = One of the two gold deposition plates. Two more were in silver. They all had the same trilingual inscription (DPh inscription).<ref>{{cite book |title=DPh – Livius |url=https://www.livius.org/sources/content/achaemenid-royal-inscriptions/dph/ |language=en |access-date=26 March 2020 |archive-date=11 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411130103/https://www.livius.org/sources/content/achaemenid-royal-inscriptions/dph/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}
{{Blockquote|Darius the great king, king of kings, king of countries, son of Hystaspes, an Achaemenid. King Darius says: This is the kingdom which I hold, from the [[Scythians|Sacae]] who are beyond [[Sogdia]], to [[Kingdom of Kush|Kush]], and from [[Sind]] ({{langx|peo|[[Wikt:𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁|𐏃𐎡𐎭𐎢𐎺]]|Hidauv}}, [[locative]] of {{transliteration|peo|[[Hindush|Hiduš]]}}, i.e. "[[Indus valley]]") to [[Lydia]] ({{langx|peo|Spardâ}}) – [this is] what Ahuramazda, the greatest of gods, bestowed upon me. May Ahuramazda protect me and my royal house!|DPh inscription of Darius I in the foundations of the Apadana Palace<ref>[https://www.livius.org/sources/content/achaemenid-royal-inscriptions/dph/? DPh inscription] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411130103/https://www.livius.org/sources/content/achaemenid-royal-inscriptions/dph/ |date=11 April 2021 }}, also [https://ldsmag.com/the-gold-plates-of-king-darius/ Photographs of one of the gold plaques] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411130110/https://ldsmag.com/the-gold-plates-of-king-darius/ |date=11 April 2021 }}</ref>}}

The reliefs on the staircases allow one to observe the people from across the empire in their traditional dress, and even the king himself, "down to the smallest detail".<ref name="The Persians"/>
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Apadana palace persepolis.JPG|alt=|[[Apadana|Apadana palace]], Persepolis
File:Medes and Persians at eastern stairs of the Apadana, Persepolis.JPG|Depiction of united [[Medes]] and [[Persian people|Persians]] at the [[Apadana]], Persepolis
File:Persépolis, Irán, 2016-09-24, DD 53.jpg|[[Immortals (Achaemenid Empire)|Immortals]] figures at [[Apadana]], Persepolis
File:Cedar in Persepolis by Hamid Parsaei Rad.jpg|Depiction of trees and [[Nymphaea|Lotus flowers]] at the [[Apadana]], Persepolis
File:Columns, Persepolis, Iran (14471667541).jpg|[[Apadana]]'s columns, Persepolis
File:The Treasury Reliefs (Best Viewed in "Original" Size) (4734172156).jpg|The central wall of the northern stairs of [[Apadana]] palace, which shows [[Xerxes I|Xerxes]] sitting on the throne and receiving an important official. Kept at the [[National Museum of Iran]]. Its counterpart remains at Persepolis.
</gallery>

====Apadana Palace coin hoard====
{{multiple image
| title             = Apadana hoard
| align             = right
| caption_align     = center
| image1            = KINGS of LYDIA. Time of Cyrus to Darios I. Circa 545-520 BC.jpg
| width1            = 164
| caption1          = Gold [[Croeseid]] minted in the time of [[Darius I|Darius]], of the type of the eight Croeseids found in the Apadana hoard, {{c.|545–520 BC}}. Light series: {{cvt|8.07|g}}, [[Sardis]] mint.
| image2            = Aegina Stater achaic.jpg
| width2            = 128
| caption2          = Type of the [[Aegina]] stater found in the Apadana hoard, 550–530{{nbsp}}BC. Obverse: [[Sea turtle]] with large pellets down centre. Reverse: incuse square punch with eight sections.<ref name="ACH29">{{cite journal |last1=Zournatzi |first1=Antigoni |title=The Apadana Coin Hoards, Darius I, and the West |journal=American Journal of Numismatics |volume=15 |date=2003 |pages=1–28 |jstor=43580364}}</ref>
| image3            = THRACE, Abdera. Circa 540-35-520-15 BC.jpg
| width3            = 150
| caption3          = Type of the [[Abdera, Thrace|Abdera]] coin found in the Apadana hoard, {{c.|540/35–520/15 BC}}. Obverse: Griffin seated left, raising paw. Reverse: Quadripartite incuse square.<ref name="ACH29"/>
}}

{{Main|Apadana hoard|Achaemenid coinage}}
The [[Apadana hoard]] is a hoard of coins that were discovered under the stone boxes containing the foundation tablets of the [[Apadana Palace]] in Persepolis.<ref name="ACH29"/> The coins were discovered in excavations in 1933 by [[Erich Schmidt (archaeologist)|Erich Schmidt]], in two deposits, each deposit under the two deposition boxes that were found. The deposition of this hoard is dated to {{c.|515 BC}}.<ref name="ACH29"/> The coins consisted in eight gold lightweight [[Croeseid]]s, a [[tetradrachm]] of [[Abdera, Thrace|Abdera]], a stater of [[Aegina]] and three double-[[sigloi]] from [[Cyprus]].<ref name="ACH29"/> The Croeseids were found in very fresh condition, confirming that they had been recently minted under Achaemenid rule.<ref name="CHI"/> The deposit did not have any [[Daric]]s and [[Sigloi]], which also suggests strongly that these coins typical of [[Achaemenid coinage]] only started to be minted later, after the foundation of the Apadana Palace.<ref name="CHI">{{cite book |last1=Fisher |first1=William Bayne |last2=Gershevitch |first2=I. |last3=Boyle |first3=John Andrew |last4=Yarshater |first4=Ehsan |last5=Frye |first5=Richard Nelson |title=The Cambridge History of Iran |date=1968 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0521200912 |page=617 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BBbyr932QdYC&pg=PA618 |language=en |access-date=20 November 2018 |archive-date=20 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420100934/https://books.google.com/books?id=BBbyr932QdYC&pg=PA618 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===The Throne Hall===
[[File:Hall of Hundred Columns (Throne Hall) in Persepolis.jpg|left|thumb|The Throne Hall, Persepolis]]
Next to the Apadana, second largest building of the Terrace and the final edifices, is the Throne Hall or the Imperial Army's ''Hall of Honor'' (also called the ''Hundred-Columns Palace''). This {{cvt|70|x|70|m2}} hall was started by [[Xerxes I]] and completed by his son [[Artaxerxes I of Persia|Artaxerxes I]] by the end of the fifth century BC. Its eight stone doorways are decorated on the south and north with reliefs of throne scenes and on the east and west with scenes depicting the king in combat with monsters. Two colossal stone bulls flank the northern portico. The head of one of the bulls now resides in the [[University of Chicago Oriental Institute|Oriental Institute]] in Chicago<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oi.uchicago.edu/museum/highlights/animals.html |title=Oriental Institute Highlights |publisher=Oi.uchicago.edu |date=2007-02-19 |access-date=2012-12-30 |archive-date=14 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614052155/http://oi.uchicago.edu/museum/highlights/animals.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and a column base from one of the columns in the [[British Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1974-1210-1 |title=British Museum collection |work=The British Museum |access-date=3 November 2020 |archive-date=18 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418091750/https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/W_1974-1210-1 |url-status=live }}</ref>

At the beginning of the reign of Xerxes I, the Throne Hall was used mainly for receptions for military commanders and representatives of all the subject nations of the empire. Later, the Throne Hall served as an imperial museum.

===The Tachara Palace===
[[Tachara]], was the exclusive palace of [[Darius the Great]] at Persepolis. Only a small portion of the palace was finished under his rule, it was completed after the death of Darius in 486 BC, by his son and successor, [[Xerxes I|Xerxes]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hobhouse |first=Penelope |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AMFRyiAxZ6YC |title=The Gardens of Persia |date=2004 |publisher=Kales Press |isbn=978-0-9670076-6-3 |language=en}}</ref> who called it a Taçara, which means "winter palace" in Old Persian. It was then used by [[Artaxerxes I]]. In the 4th century BC, following his invasion of Iran in 330 BC, [[Alexander the Great]] allowed his troops to loot Persepolis. This palace was one of the few structures that escaped destruction in the burning of the complex by Alexander's army, and because of that, Tachara is the most intact building of Persepolis today. It is also the oldest structure at Persepolis. Tachara stands back to back to the [[Apadana]], and is oriented southward.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mousavi |first=Ali |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KorZMqmTOJgC |title=Persepolis: Discovery and Afterlife of a World Wonder |date=2012-04-19 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-1-61451-033-8 |language=en}}</ref>

<gallery mode="packed">
File:کاخ تچرا.jpg|[[Tachara]] is the most intact building of Persepolis today.
File:پلکانی در کاخ تچر.jpg|The staircase of [[Tachara]] palace at Persepolis
File:Tachara Persepolis.JPG|The trilingual inscription of [[Xerxes I|Xerxes]] on the south porch of [[Tachara]] palace at Persepolis
File:Achaemenid King vs Lion.jpg|The relief of king's battle with devil at [[Tachara]] palace, Persepolis
File:Persepolis relief guests.jpg|Part of the reliefs on the southern stairway of [[Tachara]] palace depicting a line of servants bearing animals, food and drinks.
File:نمایی از تخت جمشید 2.jpg|[[Tachara|Tachara Palace]], Persepolis
File:Persepolis Iran-5.jpg|On the structure of [[Tachara]] palace
</gallery>

===The Hadish Palace===
The Hadish Palace of [[Xerxes I|Xerxes]] is one of palaces at Persepolis. It's located on the east of the Palace of H (Artaxerxes I). The palace occupies the highest level of terrace and stands on the living rock. The inscriptions of the palace attest that the building was built by order of Xerxes. It covers an area of 2550 square meters (40*55 meters). A double staircase on the west leads to courtyard of the Tachara chateau and another staircase on the northeast connects to courtyard of the Council Hall.<gallery mode="packed">
File:History History Travel from Shiraz to Isfahan, Iran (40353041755).jpg|The Hadish palace, Persepolis
File:Lotus on the walls of Hadish palace,.png|[[Nelumbo nucifera|Lotus]] on the walls of Hadish palace, Persepolis
File:Persepolis 24.11.2009 11-39-46.jpg|Hadish palace was built by the order of [[Xerxes I|Xerxes]]
File:Persepolis, Iran (2471048564).jpg|[[Xerxes I|Xerxes]] at the Hadish palace
File:Ruins of the Palace of Xerxes in Persepolis, Iran, historical illustration, circa 1886.png|Hadish Palace at Persepolis, 1886
File:1911 Britannica-Architecture-Hall of Xerxes.png|The hall of Hadish palace.
</gallery>

===Other palaces and structures===
The Council Hall, the Tryplion Hall, the Palaces of D, G, H, storerooms, stables and quarters, the unfinished gateway and a few miscellaneous structures at Persepolis are located near the south-east corner of the terrace, at the foot of the mountain.
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Zoomorphic Capital (4679068036).jpg|[[Huma bird]] at Persepolis
File:Perspolis.jpg|A well-preserved column at Persepolis
File:SEHDAR PALACE IN PERSEPOLIS.tif|Reliefs from the Council Hall, Persepolis
File:خزانه.jpg|Part of the treasury, Persepolis
File:Persepolis, Iran 08.jpg|The unfinished gate of Persepolis, started by the order of [[Artaxerxes III]], continued by his successors [[Arses of Persia|Arses]] and [[Darius III]].
File:تخت جمشید 7.JPG|A column head.
</gallery>

===Tombs===
[[File:Persepolis - Tomb of Artaxerxes III 01.jpg|thumb|Tomb of [[Artaxerxes III]], Persepolis]]
It is commonly accepted that [[Cyrus the Great]] was buried in the [[Tomb of Cyrus]] in [[Pasargadae]], which is mentioned by [[Ctesias]] as his own city. If it is true that the body of [[Cambyses II]] was brought home "to the Persians," his burying place must be somewhere beside that of his father. Ctesias assumes that it was the custom for a king to prepare his own tomb during his lifetime. Hence, the kings buried at [[Naghsh-e Rostam]] are probably [[Darius I]], [[Xerxes I]], [[Artaxerxes I of Persia|Artaxerxes I]] and [[Darius II]]. [[Xerxes II of Persia|Xerxes II]], who reigned for a very short time, could scarcely have obtained so splendid a monument, and still less could the usurper [[Sogdianus]]. The two completed graves behind the compound at Persepolis would then belong to [[Artaxerxes II of Persia|Artaxerxes II]] and [[Artaxerxes III]]. The unfinished tomb, a kilometer away from the city, is debated to who it belongs.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7lK6l7oF_ccC&pg=PA956 |title=A Companion to the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East |isbn=978-1405189880 |last1=Potts |first1=Daniel T |date=2012 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |access-date=19 October 2020 |archive-date=20 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420100920/https://books.google.com/books?id=7lK6l7oF_ccC&pg=PA956 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Ancient texts===
{{over-quotation|section|date=February 2024}}
[[File:Cuneiform inscriptions from Persepolis by Nickmard Khoey.jpg|thumb|Babylonian version of an inscription of [[Xerxes I]], the "XPc inscription"<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.livius.org/sources/content/achaemenid-royal-inscriptions/xpc/ |title=XPc – Livius |website=livius.org |access-date=26 March 2020 |archive-date=18 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418091752/https://www.livius.org/sources/content/achaemenid-royal-inscriptions/xpc/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{efn|Known as XPc (Xerxes Persepolis c), from the portico of the [[Tachara]].}}]]
[[File:Tachar-writing.png|thumb|The inscription of [[Artaxerxes III]] at Tachar palace, Persepolis.]]
There are a total of 11 existing inscriptions at Persepolis, related to [[Darius the Great]], [[Xerxes I|Xerxes]], [[Artaxerxes II]] and [[Artaxerxes III]]. The relevant passages from ancient scholars on the subject are set out below:
{{blockquote|Persepolis was the capital of the Persian kingdom. Alexander described it to the Macedonians as the most hateful of the cities of Asia, and gave it over to his soldiers to plunder, all but the palaces. (2) It was the richest city under the sun, and the private houses had been furnished with every sort of wealth over the years. The Macedonians raced into it, slaughtering all the men whom they met and plundering the residences; many of the houses belonged to the common people and were abundantly supplied with furniture and wearing apparel of every kind...

72 (1) Alexander held games in honor 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 up and to light torches, and urged all to take vengeance for the destruction of the [[Ancient Greek temple|Greek temple]]s. (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 [epinikion komon] in honor of Dionysius.

(5) Promptly, many torches were gathered. Female musicians were present at the banquet, so the king led them all out for the [[komos]] 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. As the others all did the same, immediately the entire palace area was consumed, so great was the conflagration. It was most remarkable that the impious act of Xerxes, king of the Persians, against the acropolis at Athens should have been repaid in kind after many years by one woman, a citizen of the land which had suffered it, and in sport.|[[Diodorus Siculus]], 17.70.1–73.2, 17.70 (1)}}

{{blockquote|On the following day, the king called together the leaders of his forces and informed them that "no city was more mischievous to the Greeks than the seat of the ancient kings of Persia [...] by its destruction they ought to offer sacrifice to the spirits of their forefathers."

7 (1) But Alexander's great mental endowments, that noble disposition, in which he surpassed all kings, that intrepidity in encountering dangers, his promptness in forming and carrying out plans, his good faith towards those who submitted to him, merciful treatment of his prisoners, temperance even in lawful and usual pleasures, were sullied by an excessive love of wine. (2) At the very time when his enemy and his rival for a throne was preparing to renew the war, when those whom he had conquered were but lately subdued and were hostile to the new rule, he took part in prolonged banquets at which women were present, not indeed those whom it would be a crime to violate, but, to be sure, harlots who were accustomed to live with armed men with more licence than was fitting.

(3) One of these, Thais by name, herself also drunken, declared that the king would win most favor among all the Greeks, if he should order the palace of the Persians to be set on fire; that this was expected by those whose cities the barbarians had destroyed. (4) When a drunken strumpet had given her opinion on a matter of such moment, one or two, themselves also loaded with wine, agreed. The king, too, more greedy for wine than able to carry it, cried: "Why do we not, then, avenge Greece and apply torches to the city?" (5) All had become heated with wine, and so they arose when drunk to fire the city which they had spared when armed. The king was the first to throw a firebrand upon the palace, then the guests and the servants and courtesans. The palace had been built largely of cedar, which quickly took fire and spread the conflagration widely. (6) When the army, which was encamped not far from the city, saw the fire, thinking it accidental, they rushed to bear aid. (7) But when they came to the vestibule of the palace, they saw the king himself piling on firebrands. Therefore, they left the water which they had brought, and they too began to throw dry wood upon the burning building.

(8) Such was the end of the capital of the entire Orient... .

(10) The Macedonians were ashamed that so renowned a city had been destroyed by their king in a drunken revel; therefore the act was taken as earnest, and they forced themselves to believe that it was right that it should be wiped out in exactly that manner. |author=[[Quintus Curtius Rufus]] 5.6.1–7.12 5.6 (1)}}

{{blockquote|And did not Alexander the Great have with him Thais, the Athenian hetaira? Cleitarchus speaks of her as having been the cause for the burning of the palace at Persepolis. After Alexander's death, this same Thais was married to Ptolemy, the first king of Egypt. |author=Cleitarchus, [[Fragmente der griechischen Historiker|FGrHist]]. 137, F. 11 (= Athenaeus 13. 576d-e)}}