On Philip's murder in 336 BC, his 20-year-old son Alexander became King of Macedon, the state that then dominated Greece. After establishing himself as ruler of Greece by crushing all opposition, Alexander gathered a vast army and invaded Asia. A brilliant military leader, Alexander first conquered the Persian empire, which stretched from Egypt to Afghanistan.
He then lead his army beyong the world known to Greeks, into India. After 11 years of constant campaigning, he won the largest empire in the world and earned the name "Alexander the Great." In 323 BC, he died of fever in Babylon, his body covered with old battle wombs.
Alexander's mother, Olympias, claimed to be descended from Achilles, the great hero in the Trojan War. King Philip, Alexander's father, traced his family back to the hero Heracles. Alexander felt that he had to perform great deeds to live up to these famous ancestors, and to his father.
Alexander was the first Greek ruler whose profile was shown on coins because he conquered such a vast empire, his coins became the most widely used of the ancient world. Even after his death, the kings who followed him continued to issue coins showing Alexander. His distintive face would have been familiar to everyone, from Egypt to India.
In November 332 Alexander reached Egypt, and the Egyptians welcomed him as their liberator. The Persian satrap Mazaces surrendered with no resistance. At Memphis Alexander was sacrificed to Apis, (Hapi) , and was crowned with the traditional double crown of the pharaohs of Egypt; the egyptian priests were placated and their religion encouraged.
Alexander put employing Egyptian governors, while keeping the army under a separate Macedonian command. He founded the city of Alexandria near the western arm of the Nile between the sea and Lake Mareotis, protected by the island of Pharos, having it planned by the famous Rhodian architect Deinocrates. From Alexandria he marched along the coast to Paraetonium and from there inland to visit the celebrated oracle of Amon at Siwah. About 570 B.C., the Pharaoh Amasis rebuilt a temple in Siwa dedicated to the Amon
A Roman mosaic shows Alexander at the moment of his victory over the Persian King Darius at the battle of Issus in 333 BC. Alexander, who appears to just have speared a Persian cavalryman, gazes directly at Darius , who looks back at him, frozen in horror, the right hand stretched out helplessly. The terrified Darius soon flees the battlefield. This dramatic mosaic is thought to be a copy of a lost painting by the great artist Philoxenus.
In the spring of 334 for the invasion of Persia, Alexander crossed the Dardanelles,(i.e. Hellespont), with an army of 30,000 men, Macedonians, Illyrians,Thracians and the contingents of the Greek states, into Asia. The place of concentration was Arisbe on the Hellespont, leaving Antipater, the general and friend of his father as his deputy in Europe with over 13,000 troops. Alexander himself commanded about 30,000 foot soldiers and over 5,000 cavalry, of whom nearly 14,000 were Macedonians and about 7,000 allies of the Greek League. This army had an excellent mixture of arms- the lightly armed Cretan and Macedonian archers, the Thracians, and the Agrianian javelin men; the striking force was the cavalry, and the core of the army was the infantry phalanx, 9,000 strong, armed with shields and five -and-one- half meter long spears, the sarises, and the 3,000 men of the royal troops, the hypaspists.
The greatest of Alexander's battles in India was against Porus, one of the most powerful Indian leaders, at the river Hydaspes in July 326 B.C.E. Alexander's army crossed the heavily defended river in dramatic fashion during a violent thunderstorm to meet Porus' forces. The Indians were defeated in a fierce battle, even though they fought with elephants, which the Macedonians had never before seen. Alexander captured Porus and, like the other local rulers he had defeated, allowed him to continue to govern his territory. Alexander even subdued an independent province and granted it to Porus as a gift.
In the summer of 325 B.C.E., Alexander and his army had sailed to the mouth of the Indus River, and they began to march west across the dangerous Gedrosian Desert. Nearchus was put in command of a fleet that would take the sea route west rather than marching through the desert. Alexander, on land, lost nearly three quarters of his army to starvation and the harsh conditions of the desert. When the survivors reached the region called Carmania, their fortune changed dramatically as they were welcomed into the prosperous land. Alexander and his men celebrated the end of their ordeal in the desert and traveled in luxury to Harmezeia, where they rejoined Nearchus and his soldiers. Then the whole army marched inland to Persis to rest. In 324 B.C.E., Alexander furthered his mission to assimilate Macedonian and Persian cultures when he arranged thousands of marriages between the Greek soldiers and Persian women in Susa. Alexander himself took a second wife, Stateira, one of Darius' daughters.
In the spring of the same year while Alexander's army was stationed in Ecbatana, his best friend, Hephaestion, died of a fever. He was overcome with grief, and he consoled himself by leading a campaign against a tribe of brigands called the Cossaeans.
The next year, Alexander traveled with his men to Babylon despite numerous threatening omens. The omens were so frequent and ominous that Alexander feared that he had fallen out of favor with the gods. He died of a fever on June 10, 323 B.C.E.
Although he only lived to be 32, Alexander achieved his greatest goal in life , which was to win lasting fame. For over 2,000 years, Alexander's story has inspired artists and storytellers. There exists a medieval illustration shows him visiting the oracle of Apollo at Delphi. Alexander is said to have gone there to ask the god for advice before setting off on his campaigns. Supposedly, he was told, "My son, you are invincible!"
Over time, many strange legends gathered around Alexander, particularly in the East, where he was known as Iskander. Here he was remembered as a superhuman figure, who was said to have explored the bottom of the sea in a glass jar and traveled up to the sky in a basket carried by eagles.
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