SICELIOTI E ITALIOTI AL SEGUITO DI ALESSANDRO

Abstract

A fragment of the Mityleneian Chares speaks about the presence of western
people in the Alexander’s army during the Asian expedition. #ey mostly carried out a mar-
ginal part to cheer up the court of the king. But thanks to Curtius Rufus we learnt about a dif-
ferent case, which is the one of Cleon, a valiant defensor of προσκυνήσεως of the Macedonian
king. From a comparison with the Arrian’s work, who ascribes this role to Anaxarchus, we are
inclined to consider Cleon as an historical !gure. Indeed, we think of him as the only Sicilian
soldier who played the role of a bematist in the Alexander the Great army.