believe nothing until it has been officially denied

242

Emperor Gordian III
begins a campaign
against king Shapur I

the Greek philosopher Plotinus
joins him and hopes to obtain
first-hand knowledge
of Persian and Indian
philosophies

244

the Persians fought back fiercely
to halt the Roman advance to Ctesiphon
Persian sources claim that a battle
occurred (Battle of Misiche)
near modern Fallujah (Iraq)
and resulted in a major Roman defeat
and the death of Gordian III

Roman sources do not mention
this battle and suggest that Gordian
died far away from Misiche, at Zaitha
Modern scholarship does not unanimously
accept this course of the events

One view holds that Gordian died at Zaitha,
murdered by his own frustrated army
Other scholars have concluded
that Gordian died in battle
against the Sassanids

2044

According to ancient tradition,
in 333 BCE Alexander the Great
cut (or otherwise unfastened)
the Gordian Knot: this intricate knot
joined the yoke to the pole
of a Phrygian wagon that stood
on the acropolis of the city
The wagon was associated with Midas
or Gordias (or both), and was connected
with the dynasty's rise to power
A local prophecy had decreed that
whoever could loosen the knot
was destined to become
the ruler of Asia

There are many, and often contradictory,
legends about the most ancient King Midas

Herodotus referred to a wild rose garden
at the foot of Mount Bermion as
the garden of Midas, son of Gordias,
where roses grew of themselves,
each bearing sixty blossoms
and of surpassing fragrance

2440

According to Aristotle, legend held
that Midas died of starvation as a result
of his "vain prayer" for the golden touch

According to Plotinus, there is
an ancient Persian saying:

a poem is a knot
which eats golden roses

2020

believe nothing
until it has been
officially denied