Archaeologists find bathroom where Alexander the Great bathed with his alleged lover

The Aigai Palace, which symbolized the golden age of antiquity, witnessed the assassination of King Philip II and the coronation of his 20-year-old son, King Alexander the Great. The palace was three times larger than the Parthenon.

The royal chorus included the city walls, courtyard, temples, sanctuaries, theater, and tombs. Now archaeologists have discovered a palestra and a bathroom where the teenage Alexander bathed naked with his childhood friend, Hephaestion, Mail Online reports.

It is said that the friend was not only a future military deputy, but also the commander's lover.

The bathing accessory was found in the modern city of Vergina in northern Greece.

"Alexander the Great probably bathed here with his companions - his famous lover Hephaestion and all those young men who later went on campaigns with him and after his death argued for his empire," said the host of the Treasures of the World program, which featured the find.

The son of King Philip II of Macedonia and Queen Olympias of Epirus, Alexander was one of the most ambitious military leaders of all time, famously declaring that he wanted to be "king of the world."

Raised by the world-famous philosopher Aristotle, along with his group of boy companions, he ascended to the throne after his father was killed by a bodyguard during the wedding of his sister Cleopatra.

From the beginning of his reign in 336 BC until his death 13 years later, he built one of the largest empires the world had ever seen, stretching from Greece to Egypt and deep into the Indian subcontinent.

Now, after a 16-year, €20 million project, the archaeological team has restored 1400 square meters of banquet hall mosaics, marble floors, and colonnades of the palace, and discovered hundreds of precious artifacts.

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