Segregated we stand? The mutilated Greeks' debate at Persepolis, 330 BC

As Alexander reached Persepolis in January 330 BC, he encountered a large group of newly released Greek captives who had been severely mutilated during Persian enslavement. Alexander agreed to aid their resettlement. The men debated whether to return to Greece with money in hand and disperse to their old families, who might be shocked by their appearance, or to stay as a mutually supportive group and receive benefits in Persia with their local partners. Detailed review is made of the historicity of this story recorded by Quintus Curtius, Diodorus Siculus and Justin. Evidence is presented of groupings of disabled people in Middle Eastern antiquity, the transmission of stories about Alexander, textual and linguistic analysis, social responses to severe disability, and truth or exaggeration of war atrocities or gross physical abuse from antiquity and modern times.