Alexander the Great

Alexander III of Macedon, most commonly known as [Alexander the Great], was king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon from 336 BC until his death. He was born in July 356 BC, the son of Philip II and his fourth wife, Olympias. He became king at the age of 20, after Philip was assassinated. He spent most of his reign on a lengthy military campaign through Asia and Egypt. By the age of 30, he had built one of the largest empires in history, stretching from Greece to northwestern India. He was never defeated in battle and is widely considered one of history's greatest and most successful military commanders.

Alexander was born in Pella, in Macedon. He was taught by the philosopher and thinker Aristotle until he was 16. In 335 BC, shortly after becoming king of Macedon, he began a campaign in the Balkans. He restored control over Thrace and parts of Illyria, and then marched on the city of Thebes, which was later destroyed. Alexander then took leadership of the League of Corinth, which his father had created.

With this authority over the Greeks, Alexander invaded the Achaemenid Persian Empire in 334 BC. This began a series of campaigns that lasted ten years. After conquering Asia Minor and winning decisive battles at Issus and Gaugamela, he broke the power of the Achaemenid Empire. He overthrew Darius III and conquered the whole empire. After Persia fell, the Macedonian Empire held a vast area between the Adriatic Sea and the Indus River. Alexander invaded India in 326 BC and won an important victory over Porus, an ancient Indian king from present-day Punjab, at the Battle of the Hydaspes. His soldiers then mutinied, and he was forced to turn back at the Beas River. He died in 323 BC in Babylon, Mesopotamia, the city he had planned to make the capital of his empire, while returning to Greece. His death ended his planned invasion of Arabia.

After his death, a series of civil wars broke out across the Macedonian Empire, which eventually fell apart at the hands of the Diadochi. His death marks the traditional beginning of the Hellenistic period. His conquests left a legacy of cultural diffusion and syncretism, which gave rise to Greco-Buddhism and Hellenistic Judaism. He founded more than twenty cities, the most famous being Alexandria in Egypt. His spread of Greek colonies and Greek culture helped Hellenistic civilization become a major force in the ancient world, influencing lands as far east as the Indian subcontinent. This period later developed through the Roman Empire into modern Western culture. The Greek language became the lingua franca of the region and was the main language of the Byzantine Empire until its collapse in 1453 AD.

Alexander became a legendary hero, similar to Achilles, and appears in both the historical and mythical traditions of Greek and non-Greek cultures. His military achievements and battle successes made him the standard against which many later military leaders would judge themselves. His tactics remain an important subject of study in military academies around the world. Legends of his adventures were gathered into the 3rd century Alexander Romance. After the Bible, it was the most popular form of European literature.

Early life

Alexander III was born in Pella, the capital of the Kingdom of Macedon, probably on 20 July 356 BC, though the exact date is uncertain. He was the son of King Philip II of the Argead dynasty and his fourth wife, Olympias, daughter of King Neoptolemus I of Epirus. Philip had seven or eight wives, but Olympias was his main wife for some time, likely because she gave birth to Alexander.

Many legends surround Alexander's birth. The ancient Greek writer Plutarch described dreams Olympias and Philip had, which he explained in different ways. Some people said Alexander's father was Zeus, while Alexander could also claim descent from Temenus, a descendant of Heracles, and, through his mother's family, from the Aeacidae and Achilles. On the day Alexander was born, Philip was preparing a siege on the city of Potidea on the peninsula of Chalcidice, and he received good news from his general Parmenion and from the Olympic Games. Such stories may have grown up to show that Alexander was special from before he was born.

Alexander was first raised by a nurse, Lanike, sister of his future general Cleitus the Black. Later, he was taught by the strict Leonidas and by Lysimachus of Acarnania. He learned to read, play the lyre, ride, fight, and hunt, as noble Macedonian boys did. When he was ten, he tamed a horse that others could not ride, and he named it Bucephalas. At thirteen, Philip chose the philosopher Aristotle as his tutor, and the two of them taught at Mieza, where Alexander studied with the sons of Macedonian nobles, including Ptolemy, Hephaestion, and Cassander. Many of these boys later became his friends and generals. Alexander came to love Homer's Iliad, and he later carried a copy on his campaigns. Persian exiles at the Macedonian court, including Artabazos II, his daughter Barsine, and Amminapes, gave the court knowledge of Persia. The Suda also says that Anaximenes of Lampsacus was one of Alexander's teachers.

Heir of Philip II

Main articles: Philip II of Macedon and Rise of Macedon

Further information: History of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

When Alexander was 16, his lessons with Aristotle ended. Philip II was away fighting the Thracians to the north, so Alexander was left in charge as regent and heir apparent. While Philip was gone, the Thracian tribe of Maedi rebelled, but Alexander quickly drove them out. A city called Alexandropolis was founded in their land. Later, Alexander was sent to put down revolts in southern Thrace. While fighting the Greek city of Perinthus, he reportedly saved his father's life. Philip then turned his attention to the city of Amphissa, which had been farming land sacred to Apollo near Delphi. In 338 BC, Philip and Alexander marched south, taking Thermopylae and occupying Elatea. Athens and Thebes both rejected Philip's offer of peace, and the Athenians, led by Demosthenes, sought an alliance with Thebes.

At the Battle of Chaeronea in Boeotia, Philip led the right side of the army and Alexander led the left. Alexander was the first to break the Theban lines, and Philip's army then won the battle. The Athenians and Thebans were defeated, and Philip's forces went on to march into the Peloponnese. At Corinth, Philip set up a "Hellenic Alliance" with most Greek city-states, except Sparta, and he was named Hegemon of the league, known today as the League of Corinth. He then announced plans to attack the Persian Empire. Later, Philip married Cleopatra Eurydice, which made Alexander's place as heir less secure. In 337 BC, Alexander fled Macedon with his mother, first staying with her brother in Dodona and then seeking refuge in Illyria. He returned to Macedon after six months, thanks to a family friend, Demaratus. The next year, when a Persian satrap offered his daughter to Alexander's half-brother, Alexander tried to win her for himself. Philip angrily stopped the plan, exiled four of Alexander's friends, and had the messenger, Thessalus, brought to him in chains.

King of Macedon

Further information: Government of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)

Philip was killed on the 24th day of the Macedonian month Dios, which probably corresponds to 25 October 336 BC, at Aigai (near modern Vergina). He was attending the wedding of his daughter Cleopatra to Olympias's brother, Alexander I of Epirus. The captain of his bodyguards, Pausanias, was the killer, and according to Diodorus, he was also Philip's lover. Pausanias tried to escape, but he tripped over a vine and was killed by his pursuers, including Perdiccas and Leonnatus. The nobles and army proclaimed Alexander king on the spot, at the age of 20. Alexander first removed possible rivals. He had his cousin, the former Amyntas IV, executed, and two Macedonian princes from Lyncestis killed, but he spared a third, Alexander Lyncestes. Olympias had Cleopatra Eurydice and Europa, Philip's daughter, put to death, which angered Alexander. When many states, including Thebes, Athens, and Thessaly, rebelled after Philip's death, Alexander moved quickly. He found the Thessalian army blocking the pass between Mount Olympus and Mount Ossa, rode over Mount Ossa, and the Thessalians surrendered and joined him. He then headed south toward the Peloponnese, stopped at Thermopylae, and went on to Corinth. Athens asked for peace, and Alexander pardoned the rebels. In Corinth, he met Diogenes the Cynic.

Main article: Balkan campaign of Alexander the Great

Before crossing to Asia, Alexander wanted to protect his northern borders. In the spring of 335 BC, he set out from Amphipolis, defeated the Thracian forces at Mount Haemus, and beat the Triballi near the Lyginus river, a tributary of the Danube. He reached the Danube, where the Getae lived on the far shore, crossed at night, and surprised them, forcing them to retreat after a brief skirmish. Next, the Illyrian chieftain Cleitus and King Glaukias of the Taulantii revolted, but Alexander defeated both and secured his northern frontier. When Thebes and Athens rebelled again, Alexander hurried south. Thebes decided to fight, but its resistance failed, and Alexander razed the city, dividing its land among the other Boeotian cities. This left Athens cowed and all of Greece temporarily at peace. Alexander then set out for Asia, leaving Antipater as regent.

Conquest of the Persian Empire

Main articles: Wars of Alexander the Great and Chronology of the expedition of Alexander the Great into Asia

Alexander's invasion of Persia is seen as a clear example of a well-planned war. After securing his base in Greece and the Balkans, he took control of the coast where the Persian fleet was based. Then he moved to face the Persians directly. In 334 BC, his army crossed the Hellespont into Anatolia. He won an early victory at the Battle of the Granicus and took the Persian capital of Sardis. He then fought his way along the coast, with sieges at Miletus and Halicarnassus. At Gordium, he is said to have undone the Gordian Knot by cutting it with his sword. In 333 BC, he defeated Darius III at the Battle of Issus. He took Syria and later captured Tyre after a long siege. In Egypt, where he was seen as a liberator, he visited the oracle at the Siwa Oasis, was welcomed as a descendant of the pharaohs, and founded the city of Alexandria.

Alexander then turned back to the east. He defeated Darius again at the Battle of Gaugamela and went on to Susa and Persepolis, where a fire broke out in the city. Darius was later killed by Bessus, one of his own officials. Alexander then chased Bessus through central Asia and founded several new cities, all called Alexandria. He also adopted some Persian customs at his court. The Greeks disliked one of them, the gesture of proskynesis, and Alexander eventually gave it up. Alexander's reign also brought problems, including plots against his life and tension with his own officers.

Indian campaign

Main article: Indian campaign of Alexander the Great

After Spitamenes died and Alexander married Roxana (Raoxshna in Old Iranian) to strengthen his new lands, he turned to the Indian subcontinent. He invited the chiefs of Gandāra, in the present-day Peshawar Valley of Pakistan, to submit to him. Omphis, also known as Taxiles, the ruler of Taxila, agreed, but the chiefs of some hill clans, including the Aspasioi and Assakenoi, refused. In the winter of 327/326 BC, Alexander personally led the Cophen campaign against the Aspasioi in the Kunar Valley, the Guraeans in the Panjkora Valley, and the Assakenoi in the Swat Valley. Alexander was wounded in the shoulder during the fighting with the Aspasioi. The Assakenoi fought from the strongholds of Massaga, Ora, and Aornos. Massaga was taken after days of hard fighting, in which Alexander was badly wounded in the ankle. The historian Curtius wrote that Alexander destroyed the town's buildings. Alexander captured the hill-fort of Aornos after four days, and the queen Cleophis, mother of the Assakenoi leader, submitted to him.

After Aornos, Alexander crossed the Indus. Omphis welcomed him with valuable gifts and placed himself and his forces at Alexander's service. Alexander returned Omphis's title and gifts and gave him more presents. Omphis helped build a bridge over the Indus at Udabhanda, supplied the army, and welcomed Alexander in Taxila. Omphis then joined Alexander's advance and took part in the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC against King Porus, who ruled land between the Hydaspes and the Acesines (Chenab) in the Punjab. Alexander won a great battle against Porus. Alexander then made Porus an ally, appointed him satrap, and added land to the south-east, up to the Beas. Alexander also founded two cities on opposite sides of the Hydaspes. He named one Bucephala after his horse, which died around this time, and the other Nicaea, meaning Victory, believed to be on the site of modern Mong. A later writer, Philostratus the Elder, described an elephant in Porus's army that fought bravely, which Alexander dedicated to the Helios (Sun) and named Ajax.

East of Porus's kingdom lay the Nanda Empire of Magadha, near the Ganges River, and further east the Gangaridai Empire of the Bengal region. Tired from years of campaigning and afraid of facing more large armies, Alexander's soldiers refused to march farther at the Hyphasis River (Beas), which marks the easternmost limit of his conquests. Alexander wanted to continue, but his general Coenus urged him to turn back. Alexander agreed and marched south along the Indus, conquering the Mallians in the Mallian campaign. While besieging a Mallian citadel, he was badly wounded in the lung by an arrow. Alexander sent part of his army to Carmania under Craterus and a fleet under Nearchus to explore the Persian Gulf shore. He led the rest of the army back through the difficult route across the Gedrosian Desert and Makran, losing many men to the harsh desert before reaching Susa in 324 BC.

Last years in Persia

Alexander found that many of his governors and military leaders had misbehaved while he was away, and he executed several of them on his way to Susa. To thank his soldiers, he paid off their debts and announced that older and disabled veterans would be sent back to Macedon, led by Craterus. His men misunderstood his plan and mutinied at Opis. They refused to leave and complained about his adoption of Persian customs and dress and his placing of Persian officers and soldiers in Macedonian units. After three days, Alexander gave Persians command posts and gave Macedonian military titles to Persian units. The Macedonians quickly begged forgiveness, which he accepted, and he held a great banquet. To help his Macedonian and Persian subjects get along, he held a mass marriage of his senior officers to Persian and other noblewomen at Susa, but few of these marriages seem to have lasted much beyond a year.

Back in Persia, Alexander learned that guards of the tomb of Cyrus the Great in Pasargadae had damaged it, and he quickly had them executed. He admired Cyrus, having read Xenophon's Cyropaedia since he was young. During his visit to Pasargadae, he ordered his architect Aristobulus to decorate the inside of Cyrus's tomb. He then travelled to Ecbatana to collect most of the Persian treasure, and there his closest friend, Hephaestion, died of illness or poisoning. Alexander was devastated and ordered an expensive funeral pyre in Babylon, along with public mourning. Back in Babylon, he planned a series of new campaigns, beginning with an invasion of Arabia.

Death and succession

Main article: Death of Alexander the Great

Alexander died on either 10 or 11 June 323 BC, in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II, at age 32. There are two versions of his death. In one, Medius of Larissa drank with Alexander, and Alexander then developed a fever that left him unable to speak. In the other, Alexander was struck with pain after drinking a large bowl of wine and later died after some agony. Some accounts claimed that Alexander was poisoned. Justin reported a poisoning plot, while Plutarch dismissed the idea. Most accounts named Antipater as the head of the alleged plot. In a 2003 BBC documentary, an expert suggested that the poisonous plant Veratrum album may have been used, and a 2014 paper in Clinical Toxicology made a similar suggestion. Other scientists have proposed natural causes, such as malaria or typhoid fever.

See also: Tomb of Alexander the Great

Alexander's body was placed in a gold sarcophagus filled with honey. Later, Ptolemy II Philadelphus moved the sarcophagus to Alexandria, where it stayed for a long time. Alexander had no clear heir, because his son Alexander IV was born after his death. His companions reportedly asked him who should inherit his kingdom, and he answered "to the strongest." Perdiccas was given his signet ring, which many accounts treated as a sign that he was chosen. After Perdiccas was killed in 321 BC, the Macedonian empire broke apart. For about 40 years, the generals known as the Diadochi fought each other, until the Greek-speaking world settled into three stable power blocs: Ptolemaic Egypt, Seleucid Syria and Persia, and Antigonid Macedonia. During this time, both Alexander IV and Philip III were murdered.

Character

Further information: Military tactics of Alexander the Great

Alexander may have earned the name "the Great" because he was an extremely successful military commander. He never lost a battle, even though his armies were often smaller than the enemy's. His success came from using the land well, clever battle formations, bold plans, and the loyalty of his soldiers. He used the Macedonian phalanx, a group of soldiers with very long spears, and he often fought in the middle of the battle himself, as a Macedonian king would. He also changed his tactics to match the fighting styles of different enemies. Alexander was also described by early sources as very handsome, and during his lifetime he had many portraits made of himself by famous artists.

Alexander's parents both encouraged his ambitions. His father, Philip, was his most important role model, and Alexander wanted to do even better than him. His mother, Olympias, told him that it was his destiny to conquer the Persian Empire. Ancient writers said that Alexander had a violent temper and could act without thinking, but he was also calm, clever, and eager to learn. He loved knowledge and philosophy, and he was taught by Aristotle. In his final years, especially after the death of his close friend Hephaestion, he began to behave as if he were very great, and he may have wanted to be treated as a god. Some historians think that this was a practical way of keeping his large empire together.

Battle record

Legacy

Alexander's legacy went beyond his military conquests, and his reign was a turning point in European and Asian history. His campaigns greatly increased contact and trade between East and West, and large areas to the east were strongly exposed to Greek civilization. Some of the cities he founded became major cultural centers, and many lasted into the 21st century. His chroniclers recorded useful information about the lands he marched through, and the Greeks came to feel part of a world beyond the Mediterranean. At his death, his empire covered about 5,200,000 km² (2,000,000 sq mi), the largest state of its time. Many of these areas stayed under Macedonian rule or Greek influence for 200–300 years, a period often called the Hellenistic period. After his death, the eastern edges of his empire began to break apart, and the power gap he left in northwest India helped the Maurya Empire rise, when Chandragupta Maurya took control of the Punjab.

Alexander founded many cities that bore his name, most of them east of the Tigris. The first and greatest was Alexandria in Egypt, which became one of the leading Mediterranean cities. Greek language, culture, and population spread into the former Persian empire, a process known as Hellenization. The common Greek dialect that spread through the Hellenistic world eventually became the ancestor of modern Greek. Many Romans admired Alexander, and Roman leaders often saw him as a role model. Legends about him began in his own lifetime and grew over time, and his story appears in many cultures, including Persian, Islamic, Indian, and medieval European traditions, as well as in modern Greek folklore.

Historiography

Main article: Historiography of Alexander the Great

Apart from a few inscriptions and fragments, all the writings by people who knew Alexander, or who gathered information from men who served with him, were lost. Writers from his own time included Callisthenes, his campaign historian, his generals Ptolemy and Nearchus, the junior officer Aristobulus, and Onesicritus, his chief helmsman. Their works are lost, but later writers who used these original sources have survived.

The earliest of these later writers is Diodorus Siculus, who lived in the 1st century BC. He was followed by Quintus Curtius Rufus, Arrian, the biographer Plutarch, and finally Justin, whose work dates as late as the 4th century. Arrian is generally considered the most reliable, because he used Ptolemy and Aristobulus as his sources, and Diodorus is considered close behind him.