CODEX Entry 3202: Maracanda
Also known as Samarkand, Maracanda is a city in southeastern Uzbekistan and one of the oldest cities in Central Asia. Positioned strategically on the Silk Road at the gateway to China its role in early trade was significant. First conquered by Cyrus the Great at the founding of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, it was the capital of the Sogdian satrapy. Maracanda was conquered by Alexander the Great in 329 BCE on route to India. It was here, during one of Alexander’s orgiastic banquets, that Cleitus the Black was killed by Alexander’s own hand.