Alexander the Great Had a Burning Desire to Party (330 BCE)
In 330 BCE, Alexander the Great finally achieved a longtime goal. He had captured Persepolis. The celebration was no less than one for any major conquest. But Alexander took it to another level. According to Roman historian Quintus Curtius Rufus, amid the drinking, physical pleasures, and revelry, a prostitute suggested to Alexander that he would win the favor of the Greeks if he burned the Persepolis palace. Alexander, drunk of wine and victory, took this as a challenge. He called out, “Why do we not avenge Greece, then and put the city to the torch?” Unfortunately, instead of sleeping off the effects of the alcohol and really thinking about what that would mean for his spoils of war, he made good on his word and set fire to the palace. It burned to the ground, and according to Quintus Curtius Rufus, “never rose again in all the Ages that did ensue.”