Bagoas

c. 5th century BCE–c. 4th century BCE

Bagoas was a Persian eunuch connected with the court of Alexander the Great after the Macedonian conquest of the Achaemenid Empire. Ancient sources present him as part of the intimate and ceremonial world around Alexander, though details of his life are filtered through Greek and Roman writers.

The surviving ancient evidence for Bagoas is limited and comes through authors writing long after Alexander’s lifetime. Curtius and later traditions describe him as a favourite at Alexander’s court, while modern historians disagree over how much can safely be inferred about the relationship.

In Mary Renault’s The Persian Boy, Bagoas, a Persian aristocrat's son, is captured, enslaved and made a eunuch before entering the court of Darius III. Additional non-fiction treatment of Bagoas comes from Quintus Curtius Rufus’ The History of Alexander and Diodorus Siculus’ The Library, Books 16-20.

Periods

Periods linked to Bagoas

Alexander the Great336–323 BCE Ancient Worldc. 3.3 million BCE–550 CE

Series

Historical novels and book series featuring Bagoas (1 series)

Alexander the Great Trilogy in Order

by Mary Renault 3 books 4.4(3,118)

The Alexander trilogy follows Alexander from childhood at the Macedonian court through the conquest of the Achaemenid Empire and into the violent struggle that followed his death. Fire from Heaven concentrates on his formation under Philip II, Olympias and Aristotle; The Persian Boy narrates the later campaigns through…