Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798 eventually developed into a military disaster with the destruction of the French fleet by Nelson whilst it lay at anchor in Aboukir Bay and the later surrender of the entire French Army of the Orient following the Battle of Alexandria in 1801. However the lasting legacy of the expedition has not proved to be military exploits and adventurism but rather scholarly inquiries and investigations, including the discovery of important artefacts such as the Rosetta Stone and a sarcophagus said to have been used for the tomb of Alexander the Great. The research performed by the expedition’s scholars culminated in the publication of the magnificent multi-volume Description de l’Egypte under Napoleon’s patronage in 1809. This talk presents the astonishing story of Napoleon’s fifty intrepid “Savants” and what they saw, heard and deduced during the Napoleonic occupation of Egypt. But it also relates the yet more curious story of another two centuries of further investigation, obfuscation and doubt, which has only recently begun to veer towards vindication. Only in the new millennium has it finally come to seem probable on the evidence that the magnificent ancient sarcophagus now housed in the Egyptian hall of the British Museum provides a unique physical connection between Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Napoleon Bonaparte.

The penultimate part of Andrew Chugg’s reconstruction of the lost History Concerning Alexander the Great by Cleitarchus of Alexandria is due to be published in February 2014 in a print first edition. This will comprise the fourth, fifth and sixth books of Cleitarchus’ work covering events from the Battle of Issus to the death of Darius. Although some parts of the new book have been published before in an electronic edition (Amazon Kindle), this will be the first publication of the entire volume. It will also incorporate extensive analyses of some of the key events that occurred within this crucial period of Alexander’s career, such as a re-evaluation of the probable site of the Battle of Gaugamela.

Sales of Andrew Chugg’s books on Alexander’s tomb exceeded 1000 copies years ago, but in August 2013 sales of another of his books, Alexander’s Lovers, also reached this landmark level. Furthermore, Alexander’s Lover’s has done so exclusively via online outlets with minimal publicity. The thumbnail shows the cover of the second edition of Alexander’s Lovers, which was published in 2012.

A decade ago Andrew Chugg acquired an antique bronze statuette of Alexander riding a horse (Bucephalus?), but the horse was unfortunately missing. This year Andrew acquired a damaged pair of spelter statuettes of Alexander and the Amazon Queen, Thalestris, which had evidently been cast from bronze originals. The Alexander had been cast from the same bronze as Andrew already owned. He was missing his right arm, but still had his steed. Andrew has now therefore been able to mount his bronze Alexander back on the spelter copy of his original horse (see accompanying photo and more photos in the Alexander2 image gallery on this site). This statuette is based on the representations of Alexander produced by Charles le Brun, court painter to the Sun King (Louis XIV), in the 1670’s. It may therefore date back to the early 18^th century. Jacques-Louis David’s equestrian portrait of Napoleon is very similar and may have been inspired by this Alexander.