Alexander the Great is one of the most famous figures in history. We know many things about him, including the fact that he wore a royal purple garment almost every day. This is largely because, in ancient Macedonia, only kings were allowed to wear purple.

This is further confirmed by Ephippus of Olynthus, an ancient Greek author, who wrote about the fact that Alexander in particular enjoyed wearing the royal purple.

For this reason, many historians are very excited by the fact that they may have found one of his purple robes.

Well, it was found back in 1977 when the Great Tumulus of Verginia in Northern Greece was located. In this find, the remains of many of Alexander the Great’s relatives were located. Along with this was a large golden chest, called a larnax, that had bones of Alexander’s semi-sibling Philip III Arrhidaeus. Along with those remains were some armor and other objects believed to belong to the king.

Most importantly, however, there was a material that was purple and white. In 1977 (and for decades after) it was believed that this material was the burial wrapping for Arrhidaeus’ bones.

According to a recent study published in the Journal of Field Archaeology, however, that is not likely the case.

Antonis Bartsiokas from the Democritus University of Thrace is the author of the study. He performed a molecular and microscopic study of the fabric and came to the conclusion that it is actually something that Alexander the Great wore. In the study, he says:

“The physical description exactly fits the description in the ancient sources of the sacred Persian mesoleucon sarapis which belonged to Pharaoh and King Alexander the Great.”

If this is the case, it would be a major archeological find.

While Bartsiokas is confident in what he found, there are still those who doubt. In addition, the place where it was found is even debated when it comes to whose remains were actually there.

Additional research is undoubtedly going to occur, but if this really is one of the purple robes worn by Alexander the Great, it would be quite an amazing find.

It would be amazing to see these ancient robes.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about why we should be worried about the leak in the bottom of the ocean.