So, do you believe Philotas was guilty or innocent?
Crisis and Opportunity: the Philotas Affair...Again
I actually wrote an article about it, called “Crisis and Opportunity: the Philotas Affair…Again.”
It’s part of a “conversation” across articles that began with Ernst Badian’s 1960 “The Death of Parmenio,” where Badian essentially accused Alexander of keeping a CIA style “file” on Philotas and using that to get rid of Parmenion’s whole family. In 1977, Rubinsohn replied with “The Philotas Affair: a Reconsideration,” partly to Tarn’s original exoneration of Alexander, as well as to Badian, wherein he sensibly pointed out that Philotas had been an idiot, but not culpable. Waldemar Heckel’s “The Conspiracy against Philotas” also appeared in 1977 (so neither he nor Rubinsohn were talking to each other), where Heckel suggested it was the other Marshals (esp. Hephaistion, and a bit of Krateros) going after Philotas when the opportunity presented, based on “cui bono” (who benefits?).
In 2000, Badian came back with “Conspiracies,” where he essentially reasserted his original argument (Alexander was after Parmenion’s family). Lindsay Adams answered in 2003, “The Episode of Philotas: an Insight,” in which he asked “cui creditit” (who would believe) instead of “cui bono,” that both Badian and Heckel asked. His argument was that Alexander was willing to believe Philotas was guilty because he’d heard and kept silent, hoping the conspiracy would succeed, because ALEXANDER had known about the conpsiracy against Philip, and let it go forward, even if he didn’t instigate it.
Last, in 2008, I put out the article linked above, wherein I basically pick up Rubinsohn’s arguement that Philotas Did a Dumb, and add to it the behavior of people in “Crisis Mode,” which is a different form of thinking from normal reasoning (based on my experiences doing on-call work in hospital ERs).
But read my argument, for the full discussion. I do think the other Marshals, especially Krateros, took swift advantage of the opportunity Philotas presented them, but I see Krateros as more culpable than either Hephaistion or Koinos. Of those three (who were behind Philotas’s torture), Krateros had the most to potentially gain, whereas both Hephaistion and Koinos had reasons besides personal advancement to be furious with Philotas (H. angry at the danger to Alexander, Koinos worried about being implicated as he was Philotas’s brother-in-law). I really don’t think Hephaistion anticipated, or had reason to anticipate, his subsequent appointment to the Companions, whereas I do think Krateros believed he’d step into Parmenion’s shoes, or at least Philotas’s. (I don’t know that any of them, at the time, foresaw it would all end in Parmenion’s murder.)
