Alexander The Great

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HISTORY PAGE - GREECE/400 BC

Alexander The Great

Alexander was the king of Macedonia. As the son of Philip, he was handed a dynasty. The warrior was also known as "The Great" for his overpowering qualities. In his short life, he accomplished more than any one man has ever done.

This ferocious warrior earned his superior title by defeating various countries in hard fought battles. However, despite many wounds (hit in the head with a club and stabbed in the line of duty), he somehow emerged as the victor. For example, in India, the king was struck in the chest with arrows in the leg and chest, but, still managed to overpower his enemies.

This Macedonian king's determination to accomplish his goals was magnificent. His previous studies with the "Aristotle" gave Alexander the discipline and motivation very few leaders possessed. For example, despite two troubled marriages, the king managed to keep his personal life away from his commanding duties.

Alexander's great conquest began with his fleet sailing over to Persia in an attempt to win control of some lost countries. As the story goes, when the king arrived in the Persian controlled Troy, he picked up his spear and throw it onto shore marking his new territory. So what was Alexander's reasons behind this invasion? First, his father planned an invasion before he died in an attempt to reclaim their Ionian cities. Since Alexander was loyal to his father's intentions, he sought to finish what his dad could not do. Second, there were still some bitter feelings against the Persians over a previous city burning, which occurred many years before.

In May of 334, the king's forces moved along the Gronicas River to waged war against the Persians (As a side note, since Alexander lacked the sea power, so he had to focus on a ground war against the Persian King Darius III). Eventually, Alexander knew that if he sized the ports of Sidon and Tyre, then the Persians would be in a difficult situation. Soon after, this plan was put into effect and the beginning of the end was facing the Persians.

In October of 333 BC, Darius' troops were defeated at Issus and as a result, the Persians jumped onto their boats and fled this hostile environment. Things got so bad for Darius that his own family was accidentally left on shore.

In 332 BC, Alexander moved his forces through Egypt. With little in his way, he took control of this Western desert and pronounced himself the pharaoh/king. At this point, he accomplished more than his father. In fact, he was on his way to becoming the most dominant force this world has ever seen. Futhermore, his royal treatment in Egypt will back up this statement. When the king paid a visit to a famous oracle in the desert, he was proclaimed to be the human god "Ammon". Since the Egyptians believed that their king was somehow related to the Gods, he was assumed to be "superhuman" with extraordinary powers.

Meanwhile, back at home, his power and fortune was awesome. Many Athenians compared him to "Hercules" in the sense that he was invincible.

In 331 BC, Alexander built many cities with various focuses. Specifically, he built about sixty cities in his conquered regions. These towns consisted of military bases, theaters, and gymnasiums. Furthermore, he also named about fifteen of them after himself. However, his most impressive accomplishment was the city of Alexandria. He built this with the intention of it becoming the new Mother City of Athens.

With all this construction came an ever expanding Greek culture. At this point, the Greek influence could be seen throughout the western world. For example, many Jewish temples in the time incorporated Greek Hellenistic forms. Also, many Jewish documents that still remain from this era have been exclusively written in Greek.

In October of 331 BC, Alexander conquered the Persians in Gaugamela which was eighteen miles northeast of the Assyrian capital Nineveh. With many Persians in disgust, Darius III own commanders put a hit on the Persian king, and eventually killed him.

When Alexander reached Persepolis, he had ordered his armies to burn the city. The reason behind this stemmed from Xerxes burning down Athens many years before. In fact, a burnt palace from this catastrophic event still remains standing as a token of this great shift in powers.

In the next couple of years, Alexander seized parts of what is known today as Russia , modern day Leningrad, and most important Afghanistan. Furthermore, he also killed Bessus in these territories who was the "new" unofficial Persian king. Overall, Alexander's actions showed the western world that no one could stand in his way.

By this time, many of Alexander's army were wounded, tired, and a bit confused. In fact, some of his soldiers wondered why they were on the battlegrounds for so long. However, the king's Greek and Macedonian armies continued their remarkable journey into the Indian Ocean. With custom made boats; these warriors sailed into Babylon for more bloodshed.

In a strange twist of fate, at the age of 33, Alexander unexpectedly, experienced a terrible flu. Soon after, he grew very weak. Some say that his strenuous journey coupled with various battle wounds-made him very sick. Whatever, you want to believe, Alexander died in June of 323. His death marked the end of an era. It would not be for another 2000 years plus that one man would ever come close to the strength and power of Alexander the Great (hint-Napoleon). And on a final note, with such a short life span, he most likely didn't even have time to enjoy his overall accomplishments.