It is well known that the echo of Alexander the Great’s conquests resonated throughout the Mediterranean, but in Rome the fascination with the Macedonian commander seems to have emerged around the 3rd century BCE, driven by a growing Roman interest in Hellenistic customs.

The first Roman to show such interest, at least the first for whom explicit evidence survives, was undoubtedly Scipio Africanus. A philhellene, he and his political faction attempted, during Rome’s early expansions in the East, to impose a model in which Roman hegemony over Greece was presented as a form of patrocinium, a protective patronage toward the local elites. His approach, however, was opposed by the more hard-line faction that favored direct territorial domination. According to Pliny, Scipio was also responsible for popularizing the custom of shaving, explicitly imitating Alexander, who supposedly shaved because he could grow only a scant beard. Scipio reportedly imposed the same habit on his subordinates so they would not appear inferior to their model.

Yet it was Pompey who came to be regarded as the “Roman Alexander.” First, he apparently bore a certain youthful physical resemblance to the Macedonian, an impression that can be confirmed by viewing his bust in the Louvre, though it is possible that the sculptor deliberately used Lysippus’s portrait of Alexander as a model, especially for the hairstyle, to flatter him. Moreover, Pompey extended Roman power over much of the Eastern Mediterranean, strengthening the parallel.

As for Julius Caesar, the famous episode is well known: upon seeing a statue of Alexander at the age of thirty, he burst into tears because, unlike the Macedonian, he felt he had achieved nothing comparable by that age. His planned Parthian campaign, never carried out because of the Ides of March, was partly motivated by this desire to emulate Alexander. Indeed, the Macedonian’s myth indirectly inspired several disastrous undertakings, such as Crassus’s defeat at Carrhae in 53 BCE and Mark Antony’s campaigns between 37 and 33 BCE, both driven by ambitions to imitate him. More favorable were the fortunes of Emperor Trajan, who, during his Parthian campaigns between 113 and 117 CE, succeeded in conquering Armenia and Mesopotamia.

As for Emperor Caracalla, a fervent admirer of Alexander, he went beyond merely preparing a new Parthian expedition in imitation of him. He also created a new military unit within the Roman army intended to evoke the ancient Spartan warriors, a further testament to his deep veneration for the Macedonian king.