Alexander the Great

Griffin Michael
Mr. Evans
U.S. history to 1877
11/03/11

Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great is widely known as one of the greatest military geniuses of all time. He is said to have been inspiration for later conquerors such as Hannibal, Napoleon, and Caesar to name a few. Alexander conquered numerous places while he was king including the entire Persian Empire. From the time he was born to the time he died people knew that this man would be a great leader and conqueror. I believe that Alexander the Great is one of the best military leaders of all time. Alexander the Great was born in 356 B.C.E. in Pella the ancient capital of Macedonia. Alexander’s father was Phillip II the king of Macedonia and his mother was named Olympias the princess of Epirus. Alexander was very fortunate as a child because he got to see his father turn Macedonia into a power by winning many battles. Later in Alexander’s young life his father hired Aristotle to be his son’s personal tutor. For three years Aristotle gave Alexander lessons in rhetoric and literature and sparked his interest in science, medicine, and philosophy, all of which became of importance later on in Alexander’s life. In later years Aristotle and Alexander’s relationship became uneasy because Aristotle viewed foreigners as barbarians while Alexander wanted to unite Macedonians and foreigners. (www.historyofMacedonia.org) In 340 Phillip II put together a huge army and invaded Thrace. While he was away he left his 16 year old son to run the country of Macedonia while he was gone, this showed that Alexander could handle huge responsibilities and be responsible for holding a country together. As the Macedonian army advanced further into Thrace, the Thracian tribe of Maedi rebelled and posed a major threat to the country of Macedonia. Alexander quickly put together an army and swiftly defeated the Maedi, capturing its stronghold and renaming it after himself, Alexandropolis. Later in 338 B.C.E. Phillip gave Alexander a commanding post among the senior generals as the Macedonian army invaded Greece. During the battle of Chaeronea Alexander defeated the Greeks and showed a lot of bravery because he was a fighting an elite Greek army. Many believe the only reason the Macedonians came out the victors is because of Alexander’s extreme bravery. (www.historyofmacedonia.org) Unexpectedly after the defeat of the Greeks at Chaeronea, the royal family split up because of Phillip marrying Cleopatra, a Macedonian woman with high nobility. At the wedding banquet, Cleopatra's uncle, General Attalus, made a comment about Philip fathering a ‘legitimate’ heir, one that was of pure Macedonian blood. Alexander became enraged and threw a cup at the man and blasted him for calling him a bastard child. His father then got mad and drew his sword to charge his son, but as he charged he fell to the ground as he was really drunk. Alexander reportedly said "Here is the man who was making ready to cross from Europe to Asia, and who cannot even cross from one table to another without losing his balance." Alexander then fled to Epirus taking his mother with him. Although Alexander was able to return later, he remained isolated and insecure in the Macedonian court. In the spring of 336 BC, with Philip’s Persian invasion already set in motion, the king was assassinated by a young Macedonian noble Pausanias, during the wedding ceremony in Aegae, the old capital of Macedonia. Why Pausanias killed the Macedonian king is a question that perplexed both ancient and modern historians. Pausanias had sought revenge from Philip because apparently he, the king, and another man named Pausanias were involved in a love triangle. The first Pausanias was a good-looking bodyguard of Philip's, whom Philip enjoyed very much. Soon the second Pausanias seemed to replace the first as a favorite of the king's. The first Pausanias called the second one a whore, and, with his pride wounded, the second Pausanias gave his life up for the king by taking blows meant for Philip in a battle with the Illyrians. The first Pausanias now felt slighted because he believed that Philip still liked the dead Pausanias. To ease his pain, Attalus, a close friend of the king and leader of the upcoming invasion of Asia, got Pausanias drunk and then let several stable boys rape him. Philip liked Attalus too much to punish him, and instead gave Pausanias a promotion to a higher position as bodyguard to placate him. Doubly slighted, Pausanias plotted to kill Philip and did. There is also a claim that Pausanias was driven into committing the murder because he was denied justice by the king when he sought his support in punishing the Cleopatra's uncle Attalus for earlier mistreatment. But there are also reports that both Olympias and Alexander were responsible for the assassination, by driving the young men into committing the act. The first thing that Alexander had to do was get people to recognize him as his father’s true successor. He called for the execution of all his enemies, but would then have to act quickly outside of Macedonia. A series of rebellions would occur as the Thracians and Greeks saw a chance for their independence from Alexander. Alexander ignored the tough road to restore order in Greece, and quickly marched his way into the northern part and then the southern part. As he established Macedonian rule, the Greeks had no choice but to acknowledge Alexander’s authority or be destroyed if they tried to rebel. Alexander returned to Macedonia believing the Greeks would stay quiet, and he marched into Thrace and defeated the Thracians and Tribalians in a few battles. He would also defeat the Illyrians because they couldn’t call for additional reinforcements. As Alexander was now in Greece there were rumors that he was dead. This wouldn’t be good for his enemies. Alexander got extremely mad and marched into Thebes with a massive Macedonian army. He gave warning to the Greeks that they still had a chance to reconsider, but they believed they were in good position to fight so decided not to back down. Not knowing the Athenians and Peloponnesians had pulled out of the battle the Thebans were swarmed and 6,000 people were killed including women and children. Also 30,000 were sold as slaves and the place where Phillip was held hostage for 3 years was totally destroyed, except for a few temples and the poet Pindar’s house who Alexander respected, This event led to the other Greek city states to rethink their quest for freedom, after all this Greece remained under the control of Macedonia. With all the territories conquered and firmly in Macedonian control, Alexander started to make his final preparations to invade Asia. Alexander appointed Philip's experienced general Antapiter in his absence to watch over the affairs of Macedonia and Greece, left him a significant force of 13,500 Macedonian soldiers to watch Greece, Thrace, Illyria, and protect Macedonia, and set out for the Hellespont which is today the Dardanelles. As the king’s ship approached Asia he threw his spear into the ground and said that the entire area of Asia will be won by the spear. In the army there were 25,000 Macedonians, 7,600 Greeks, and 7,000 Thracians and Illyrians, but the chief officers were all Macedonians, and Macedonians also commanded the foreign troops. Not long thereafter the army encountered Darius III who had 40,000 Persians and Greeks waiting across the Granicus River near Troy. The Macedonians defeated the Persians killing 18,000 people and the 2,000 who survived were forced into labor. The Macedonians only lost 120 men in the entire battle and really dominated once again. (Wars of the ancient Greeks, Victor Davis Hanson, pg 138) The Macedonians would encounter the Persian Empire again under the command of Darius III at Issus in northwestern Syria. 30,000 Greeks greatly outnumbered the Macedonian army, but the battle ended very well for Alexander and his army. Many thousands of Persians and Greeks were killed and Darius fled leaving his mother, wife, and children. Alexander treated them with respect under the consideration of their loyalty. In the aftermath of the battle, Alexander founded a new city, where the 4,000 wounded were settled, he called it Alexandria. After winning the battle at Issus, the road to Syria and Phoenicia were wide open for Alexander to take as well. In 332 Alexander went down the Phoenician coast and received the surrender of each and every major city except Tyre. In an effort to conquer the city the Macedonians began to build something to connect the island-city with the coast. Tons of rocks and wood were poured into the water strip separating the island from the coast but its construction and the attacks from the city walls cost Alexander many of his bravest Macedonians. During the time that Alexander attempted to capture Tyre, he was sent a letter by Darius III offering a truce that would give him several western provinces, but Alexander did not accept due to his want of the entire Persian Empire. The next step toward Egypt was again held up by problems at Gaza. Alexander put the city under siege, which lasted two months and had the same process as Tyre. Eventually Gaza fell and the entire eastern Mediterranean coast was now in the hands of Alexander. Alexander continued to march on toward Egypt and as he entered the Persian satrap surrendered and the Macedonians were welcomed by the Egyptians, as they were so happy because they had been under Persian control for a very long time. Alexander decided that since he conquered this area that he should build a city to be named after him. The city of Alexandria was founded on the Nile River and was a great place for trade through the Aegean Sea. Not long thereafter Alexander was given word that revolts in Samaria were taking place and he had to end his time in Egypt. The problem was taken care of rather easily however, and Alexander returned to Tyre to get ready to battle with Darius. At the battle the king was given help from Europe and he began his march on the city of Babylon. Another epic battle was about to take place, and once again Alexander was ready to destroy anything in his path. At night the light from the camps of the Persians were seen, but Alexander refused to attack because of his desire to fight Darius on an equal playing surface,also Alexander also decided not to attack because he wanted Darius to never raise an army against him again. The next morning the battle began again with Alexander and his army destroying the Persians and once again Darius fled the battle just like before at Issus. Alexander now occupied Babylon, Susa, and the Persian capital Persepolis and was finally called the king of Asia. Later on the Macedonians set ablaze the royal palace at Persepolis, ending the Persian Empire. Under the Spartans the Greeks rose up in rebellion against Antipater who was left in charge by Alexander and was in Thrace at the time. However he returned with a massive army and took back Greece easily while losing 3,500 Macedonian men. After the rebellion had settled down, Alexander continued to search for Darius on his way to Persepolis. When he spotted him he was on his coach and already dead, this led to Alexander going off to search for his assassin. Alexander found out who killed Darius and went on hot pursuit for Bessus. When Bessus found out that the Macedonians were coming for him he tried to stop them by burning all the ships, but the Macedonians made rafts. After Bessus was captured he was tortured brutally and even had parts of his body cut off. This made the Macedonians uneasy, but Alexander knew what he had to do to punish Bessus. When Alexander was done with him, it was said that he handed him over to Darius’s brother and told him to take him to the scene where he had killed his brother. Also he was to keep the vultures away, because it is wrong for a dead body not to be eaten and torn apart by the birds. Now that Alexander was the king of Persia he knew that he would not be challenge by any other army’s. As the army marched on some Macedonians did not agree with Alexander and even made plots to murder him. Alexander found out about the plots and ordered the execution of who made the conspiracy and Philotas who was the leader of his cavalry. Alexander next ordered the execution of Philotas’s father Parmenio which was not taken well with the others. Parmenio was a veteran and a major contributor to bringing Macedonia to world power and was reguarded as one of Phillip’s best men. (www.historyofmacedonia.org) A few more murders would occur that Alexander was not particularly proud of, because he mourned the death of his friend after killing him. After all was said and done the Macedonians had conquered the most eastern parts of the Persian Empire, and Alexander found his true love Roxane, who he married. Alexander’s marriage wasn’t taken well because Roxane wasn’t pure blood but Alexander didn’t care because he wanted to unite Macedonians and Persians. (Ancient Greece, Thomas Martin, pg 202) The next place on the agenda was India, where Alexander would have to fight more gruesome and epic battles. Perhaps his most challenging was at Hydaspes against king Porus. During a thunderstorm Alexander and his army crossed the river and began to fight. The Macedonians would find themselves facing elephants which they had never seen ever before. The fighting ended and once again Alexander triumphed, but he was saddened by the death of his horse who he had ridden all through his battles. So in his honor Alexander founded a city named Buckephalia and continued to march on with his troops. The word was given that more dangerous armies with elephants and chariots lied ahead and the army refused to go any farther. Alexander was disappointed but agreed to stop where they were and started to construct ships which the navy used as decoys to allow the army to capture the Indian villages along the way. It was not easy however, as Alexander was severely wounded in one of the attacks and had to be rescued by some of his bodyguard. The tribe would surrender when the king began to recover and the Macedonians marched on to Persia. This would turn out deadly however, as many thousands of men died of heat stroke along the journey. A great celebration was then thrown by Alexander and he sent a request for 10,000 men to be sent back home to Macedonia. These men were to be replaced by new troops, but the army did not want this and threw a fit. Alexander got mad and punished the men by saying that without him and Phillip they would still be scared of the forces around Macedonia. Alexander then became ill with a mysterious fever that seemed to get worse every day. He had no idea of how he got sick and thought it could be from malaria in India, battle wounds, or heavy drinking over the years. Whatever it was it would get the need of Alexander how died in Babylon at the young age of 32. (Civilizations Past and Present, pg 121) Alexander the Great is a historical hero who is well known, and should be for all that he did. This great king and leader is said to have conquered at least 70 cities through his long journey and again is known as the king of the entire Persian Empire. He has a rock solid reputation of being a great conqueror and leader of his people. That is why I believe Alexander the Great is the best conqueror of all time.

Alexander the Great
By Griffin Michael
11/03/11