Tea at Trianon: Is Alexander the Great’s Tomb Hidden in Venice?

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, January 23, 2026

Is Alexander the Great’s Tomb Hidden in Venice?

They think Alexander is buried in San Marco instead of St. Mark. It is an interesting theory but I doubt it because of the care the Early Christians took with the bodies of saints like St. Mark. From The Greek Reporter:

The true location of Alexander the Great’s tomb is considered to be one of the great mysteries of the ancient world. After going missing in antiquity, researchers are still trying hard to find it. One modern theory asserts that Alexander the Great’s real tomb is actually in Venice, at St Mark’s Basilica. Why is the tomb of Alexander the Great a mystery in the first place? After he died in 323 BCE, Ptolemy stole his body and took it to Memphis, Egypt. That was the site of Alexander’s first burial. However, Ptolemy’s son then moved Alexander’s body to a different location in Egypt. He had the body buried in Alexandria, which was a fitting location as that city was named after the king himself.
There are several records of important historical figures visiting Alexander the Great’s tomb over the centuries. For a long time, its location was certainly no mystery. However, the last reliable mention of his tomb being visible and recognised in Alexandria comes from the Sophist teacher Libanius, writing in 390. After this, in about the year 400, John Chrysostom visited Alexandria with the intention of visiting Alexander’s tomb. However, by that time, the tomb was lost. (Read more.)