Why do you think Alexander and Hephaestion knew each other very early?
Alexander and Hephaistion as Boys
Curtius tells us they did, when he introduces Hephaistion for (apparently) the first time in book three (3.12.15). We get there a little potted summary of Hephaistion and among the things Curtius tells us is that Hephaistion and Alexander were around the same age and had been educated together. Diogenes Laertius (5.27) indirectly backs this up by citing a book (e.g., collection) of letters that Aristotle exchanged with Hephaistion. While he also wrote letters (4 booksâ worth!) to Alexander, as well as a book of letters to Antipatros and to Olympias, none of Alexanderâs other age-mates got letters from Aristotle. Sure, itâs possible Aristotle wrote Hephaistion because of his close association with the king, who Aristotle was hoping to influence (Demosthenes contacted Hephaistion for, apparently, that very reason). I prefer Occamâs razor: Aristotle wrote Hephaistion as a former student. Yes, also as an advisor of the king, but it carried more weight if Hephaistion had also been at Mieza with Alexander.
So, I do believe they knew each other at least as teens, c. 12/13/14. Keep in mindâas Iâve said elsewhereâthe word used by Curtius indicates that Alexander and Hephaistion were what we might call âcoevals.â They were not (necessarily) exactly the same age. Iâd say ±3 years either way. So Hephaistion might have been slightly older, or slightly younger. In the novels, I made him about 2.5 years older, but that served my own thematic purposes.
Also, while in the novels I had them meet in early teens, itâs also possible that Hephaistion arrived in Pella much earlier. As I argue in my article âBecoming Macedonian,â if his father was indeed the âAmyntorâ on a curse tablet from Pydna, then Hephaistion may have been brought to Pella shortly after Philipâs successful retaking of Pydna in 356/57. Thatâs Alexanderâs birth year (356). So, if Hephaistion was either a hostage for his fatherâs good behavior or was brought to Pella as a reward for Amyntor taking Philipâs side during the conflict, he and Alexander may quite literally have grown up together, from toddler-hood on. (This might also be an argument for Hephaistion being slightly older than Alexander.) Using sons as hostages (or as a reward) was fairly common.
Thereâs a (quite) late story of the two as boys out sailing, but I dismiss that as later embellishment.
Now, I will say that my colleague, Sabine MĂŒller, does not think they grew up together, or had even met before Alexander was already in Asia. Her reasoning is that stories of their childhood friendship is also part of that later (Roman-era) embellishment because he doesnât seem to have been active earlier in Alexanderâs campaign or mentioned (unlike, say, Perdikkas or Leonnatos). I disagree, as I see enough diverse evidence to suggest "consilienceâ that points to an earlier connection (at least by Alexanderâs time at Mieza), and he wasnât active earlier because he was young (so not worthy of comment from our sources as he didnât hold any offices of note).















