Hephaestion

Son of Amyntor, probably of Attic or Ionian background, Hephaestion was raised alongside Alexander and remained at his side through the decade-long campaign across Asia. He commanded the Companion cavalry, led diplomatic missions, bridged rivers, oversaw sieges, and founded new settlements - soldier, engineer, and diplomat in one. Alexander appointed him Chiliarch, formalizing him as second-in-command of the empire, and married him to Drypetis, sister of Alexander's own wife and daughter of Darius III, binding him into the royal family. When he died suddenly at Ecbatana around 324 BC, Alexander's grief was total: he sought divine status for Hephaestion from the oracle at Siwa, had him cremated, and was still designing monuments to his memory eight months later when he himself died.