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| {{Short description|Military commander and king of Macedon (356–323 BC)}} | |||
| {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2011}} | |||
| {{About|the ancient king of Macedon |
{{About|the ancient king of Macedon}} | ||
| {{pp-semi |
{{pp-semi-indef}} | ||
| {{pp-move}} | |||
| {{Infobox monarch | |||
| {{Good article}} | |||
| |name =Alexander the Great | |||
| {{Use Oxford spelling|date=September 2020}} | |||
| |title =] of ] | |||
| {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}} | |||
| |image= BattleofIssus333BC-mosaic-detail1.jpg | |||
| {{Infobox royalty | |||
| |caption =<small>Alexander fighting the Persian king ]. From ], ]</small> | |||
| | name = Alexander the Great | |||
| |reign =336–323 BC | |||
| | title = ] | |||
| |othertitles = ]<br>] of the ]<br>] of ]<br> ] of ]<br>] | |||
| | |
| image = Alexander the Great mosaic (cropped).jpg | ||
| | caption = Alexander in the '']'' | |||
| |native_lang1 = ] | |||
| | succession = ] | |||
| |native_lang1_name1= Μέγας Ἀλέξανδρος{{cref|iii}} (Mégas Aléxandros, Great Alexander)<br />Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ Μέγας (Aléxandros ho Mégas, Alexander the Great) | |||
| | reign = October 336 – June 323 BC | |||
| |predecessor =] | |||
| | |
| predecessor = ] | ||
| | successor = {{plainlist| | |||
| |suc-type = | |||
| * ] | |||
| |spouse 1 =] | |||
| * ]}} | |||
| |spouse 2 =] | |||
| | succession2 = ] of the ] | |||
| |spouse 3 =] | |||
| | reign2 = 336–323 BC | |||
| |spouse 4 = | |||
| | predecessor2 = Philip II | |||
| |spouse 5 = | |||
| | successor2 = ] | |||
| |spouse 6 = | |||
| | succession3 = ] | |||
| |spouse 7 = | |||
| | reign3 = 332–323 BC | |||
| |spouse 8 = | |||
| | predecessor3 = ] | |||
| |spouse 9 = | |||
| | successor3 = {{plainlist| | |||
| |spouse 10 = | |||
| * Alexander IV | |||
| * Philip III}} | |||
| |royal house = | |||
| | |
| succession4 = ] | ||
| | reign4 = 330–323 BC | |||
| |royal anthem = | |||
| | predecessor4 = Darius III | |||
| |father =] | |||
| | successor4 = {{plainlist| | |||
| |mother =] | |||
| * Alexander IV | |||
| |birth_date =20 or 21 July 356 BC | |||
| * Philip III}} | |||
| |birth_place =], Macedon | |||
| | full name = | |||
| |death_date =10 or 11 June 323 BC (aged 32)<!--32 years, 10 months and 20 days (approx)--> | |||
| | spouse = {{hlist|]|]|] | |||
| |death_place =] | |||
| }} | |||
| |religion =] | |||
| | issue = 3, including {{plainlist| | |||
| |}} | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ]{{Cref2|a}} | |||
| }} | |||
| | native_lang1 = ] | |||
| | native_lang1_name1 = {{lang|grc|Ἀλέξανδρος}}{{Cref2|b}} | |||
| | house = ] | |||
| | house-type = Dynasty | |||
| | father = ] | |||
| | mother = ] | |||
| | birth_date = 20 or 21 July 356 BC | |||
| | birth_place = ], ] | |||
| | death_date = 10 or 11 June 323 BC (aged 32)<!-- 32 years, 10 months and 20 days (approx.) --> | |||
| | death_place = ], Macedon | |||
| | religion = ] | |||
| }} | |||
| '''Alexander III of Macedon''' ({{langx|grc|]|Alexandros}}; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as '''Alexander the Great''',{{Cref2|c}} was a king of the ] kingdom of ].{{Cref2|d}} He succeeded his father ] to the throne in 336 BC at the age of 20 and spent most of his ruling years conducting a lengthy ] throughout ], ], parts of ], and ]. By the age of 30, he had created one of the ] in history, stretching from ] to northwestern ].<ref>Bloom, Jonathan M.; Blair, Sheila S. (2009) ''The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture: Mosul to Zirid, Volume 3''. (Oxford University Press Incorporated, 2009), 385; "; As the easternmost outpost of the empire of Alexander the Great, the city was renamed Alexandria Eschate ("furthest Alexandria") in 329 BCE."{{pb}}Golden, Peter B. ''Central Asia in World History'' (Oxford University Press, 2011), 25;" his campaigns in Central Asia brought Khwarazm, Sogdia and Bactria under Graeco-Macedonian rule. As elsewhere, Alexander founded or renamed a number of cities, such as Alexandria Eschate ("Outernmost Alexandria", near modern Khojent in Tajikistan)."</ref> He was undefeated in battle and is widely considered to be one of history's greatest and most successful military commanders.{{Sfn |Yenne|2010 | page = 159}}<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |last=Grant |first=R.G. |url=https://archive.org/details/epdf.pub_commanders-rg-grant-dk |title=Commanders: History's Greatest Military Leaders |publisher=DK Publishing |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-4053-3696-3 |pages=18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Beaton |first=Roderick |author-link=Roderick Beaton |title=The Greeks: A Global History |publisher=Basic Books |year=2021 |isbn=9781541618299 |edition=1st |location=New York |pages=163}}</ref> | |||
| Until the age of 16, Alexander was tutored by ]. In 335 BC, shortly after his assumption of kingship over Macedon, he ] and reasserted control over ] and parts of ] before marching on the city of ], which was ]. Alexander then led the ], and used his authority to launch the ] envisaged by his father, assuming leadership over all ] in their conquest of ].{{sfn|Heckel|Tritle|2009|p=99}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Burger |first1=Michael |title=The Shaping of Western Civilization: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment |date=2008 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-55111-432-3 |page=76}}</ref> | |||
| '''Alexander III of Macedon''' (20/21 July 356 – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as '''Alexander the Great''' ({{lang-el|Μέγας Ἀλέξανδρος}}, ''Mégas Aléxandros''), was a king of ], a state in the north eastern region of ], and by the age of thirty was the creator of one of the largest empires in ], stretching from the ] to the ]. He was undefeated in battle and is considered one of the most successful commanders of all time.<ref name="Yenne, W. 2010">Yenne, W. ''Alexander the Great: Lessons from History's Undefeated General.'' Palmgrave McMillan, 2010. 244 p.</ref> Born in ] in 356 BC, Alexander was tutored by the famed philosopher ]. In 336 BC he succeeded his father ] to the throne after Philip was assassinated. Philip had brought most of the ] of mainland Greece under ] ], using both military and diplomatic means. | |||
| In 334 BC, he invaded the ] and began ] that lasted for 10 years. Following his conquest of ], Alexander broke the power of Achaemenid Persia in a series of decisive battles, including those at ] and ]; he subsequently overthrew ] and conquered the Achaemenid Empire in its entirety.{{Cref2|e}} After the fall of Persia, the ] held a vast swath of territory between the ] and the ]. Alexander endeavored to reach the "ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea" and ] in 326 BC, achieving an important victory over ], an ancient Indian king of present-day ], at the ]. Due to the mutiny of his homesick troops, he eventually turned back at the ] and later died in 323 BC in ], the city of ] that he had planned to establish as his empire's capital. ] left unexecuted an additional series of planned military and mercantile campaigns that would have begun with a Greek invasion of ]. In the years following his death, ] broke out across the Macedonian Empire, eventually leading to its disintegration at the hands of the ]. | |||
| Upon Philip's death, Alexander inherited a strong kingdom and an experienced army. He succeeded in being awarded the generalship of Greece and, with his authority firmly established, launched the military plans for expansion left by his father. In 334 BC he invaded ]-ruled ] and began a ] lasting ten years. Alexander broke the power of Persia in a series of decisive battles, most notably the battles ] and ]. Subsequently he overthrew the Persian king ] and conquered the entirety of the ].{{cref|i}} The ] now stretched from the ] to the ]. | |||
| With his death marking the start of the ], Alexander's legacy includes the ] and ] that his conquests engendered, such as ] and ]. ], with the most prominent being the city of ] in Egypt. Alexander's settlement of ] and the resulting spread of ] led to the overwhelming dominance of ] and influence as far east as the ]. The Hellenistic period developed through the ] into modern ]; the ] became the '']'' of the region and was the predominant language of the ] until its collapse in the mid-15th century AD. | |||
| Following his desire to reach the "ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea", he ] in 326 BC, but was eventually forced to turn back by the near-mutiny of his troops. Alexander died in ] in 323 BC, without realizing a series of planned campaigns that would have begun with an invasion of ]. In the years following Alexander's death a series of civil wars tore his empire apart which resulted in the formation of a number of states ruled by the ] – Alexander's surviving generals. Although he is mostly remembered for his vast conquests, Alexander's lasting legacy was not his reign, but the ] his conquests engendered. | |||
| Alexander became legendary as a classical hero in the mould of ], featuring prominently in the historical and mythical traditions of both Greek and non-Greek cultures. His military achievements and unprecedented enduring successes in battle made him the measure against which many later military leaders would compare themselves,{{cref2|f}} and his tactics remain a significant subject of study in ] worldwide.{{Sfn|Yenne|2010|page=viii}} Legends of Alexander's exploits coalesced into the third-century '']'' which, in the premodern period, went through over one hundred recensions, translations, and derivations and was translated into almost every European vernacular and every language of the Islamic world.<ref name="auto">{{Cite book |last=Doufikar-Aerts |first=Faustina |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118635193.ctwl0072 |title=A Companion to World Literature |date=2020 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-1-118-99318-7 |editor-last=Seigneurie |editor-first=Ken |pages=1–11|chapter=The Arabic ''Alexander Romance'': Mirror of a Bold, Clever, and Devout Prince |doi=10.1002/9781118635193.ctwl0072}}</ref> After the ], it was the most popular form of European literature.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last1=Mínguez Cornelles |first1=Víctor |title=The visual legacy of Alexander the Great from the Renaissance to the age of revolution |last2=Rodríguez Moya |first2=Inmaculada |date=2024 |publisher=Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group |isbn=978-1-032-54990-3 |series=Routledge research in art history |location=New York London |pages=22}}</ref> | |||
| Alexander's settlement of Greek colonists and culture in the east resulted in a new ] culture, aspects of which were still evident in the traditions of the ] until the mid-15th century. Alexander became legendary as a classical hero in the mold of ], and features prominently in the history and myth of Greek and non-Greek cultures. He became the measure against which generals, even to this day, compare themselves and ] throughout the world still teach his tactical exploits.<ref name="Yenne, W. 2010"/> {{cref|ii}} | |||
| {{TOC limit|3}} | |||
| ==Early life== | ==Early life== | ||
| ===Lineage and childhood=== | |||
| ===Lineage and childhood=== | |||
| Alexander was born on 20 (or 21) July 356 BC,<ref name=PA3/><ref>Alexander was born on the 6 of the month ] {{cite web|url=http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_t32.html#7|title=The birth of Alexander at Livius.org}}</ref> in ], the capital of the Ancient Greek ]. He was the son of ], the ]. | |||
| His mother was Philip's fourth wife ], the daughter of ], the king of ].<ref name=PA2/><ref name=N10-M/><ref name="Renault, p. 28"/><ref>Durant, ''Life of Greece'', p. 538.</ref> Although Philip had either seven or eight wives, Olympias was his principal wife for a time, likely as a result of giving birth to Alexander.<ref>{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|loc=Chapter 9: Sabine Muller, "Philip II", p. 171}}.</ref> | |||
| ], Greece, Alexander's birthplace]] | |||
| As a member of the ], Alexander claimed patrilineal descent from ] through ].{{cref|iv}} From his mother's side and the ], he claimed descent from ], son of ];{{cref|v}} Alexander was a second cousin of the celebrated general ], who was ranked by ] as, depending on the source, either the best<ref name=plu/> or second-best (after Alexander)<ref name=appian/> commander the world had ever seen. | |||
| Alexander III was born in ], the capital of the ],<ref>{{cite book |last=Green |first=Peter |title=Alexander of Macedon, 356–323 B.C.: a historical biography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g6Wl4AKGQkIC&pg=PA559 |page=xxxiii |year=1970 |series=Hellenistic culture and society |edition=illustrated, revised reprint |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-07165-0 |quote=356 – Alexander born in Pella. The exact date is not known, but probably either 20 or 26 July. |access-date=20 June 2015}}</ref> on the sixth day of the ] of ], which probably corresponds to 20 July 356 BC (although the exact date is uncertain).<ref>Plutarch, ''Life of Alexander'' 3.5: {{cite web |url=https://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_t32.html#7 |title=The birth of Alexander the Great |work=Livius|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320180439/https://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_t32.html|archive-date=20 March 2015|url-status = dead |access-date=16 December 2011 |quote=Alexander was born the sixth of ].}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=David George Hogarth |date=1897 |title=Philip and Alexander of Macedon : two essays in biography |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028251217/page/n321/mode/2up?view=theater |location=New York |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |pages=286–287 |access-date=9 November 2021}}</ref> He was the son of the erstwhile king of Macedon, ], and his fourth wife, ] (daughter of ], king of ]).<ref>{{harvnb|McCarty|2004|p=10}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=28}}, {{harvnb|Durant|1966|p=538}}</ref>{{Cref2|g}} Although Philip had seven or eight wives, Olympias was his principal wife for some time, likely because she gave birth to Alexander.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=171}}], Alexander's mother]]Several legends surround Alexander's birth and childhood.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=188}} According to the ] biographer ], on the eve of the consummation of her marriage to Philip, Olympias dreamed that her womb was struck by a thunderbolt that caused a flame to spread "far and wide" before dying away. Sometime after the wedding, Philip is said to have seen himself, in a dream, securing his wife's womb with a ] engraved with a lion's image.<ref name="PA2" /> Plutarch offered a variety of interpretations for these dreams: that Olympias was pregnant before her marriage, indicated by the sealing of her womb; or that Alexander's father was ]. Ancient commentators were divided about whether the ambitious Olympias promulgated the story of Alexander's divine parentage, variously claiming that she had told Alexander, or that she dismissed the suggestion as impious.<ref name="PA2" /> | |||
| On the day Alexander was born, Philip was preparing a ] on the city of ] on the peninsula of ]. That same day, Philip received news that his general ] had defeated the combined ]n and ] armies and that his horses had won at the ]. It was also said that on this day, the ] in ], one of the ], burnt down. This led ] to say that it had burnt down because ] was away, attending the birth of Alexander.<ref>{{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=28}}, {{harvnb|Bose|2003|p=21}}</ref> Such legends may have emerged when Alexander was king, and possibly at his instigation, to show that he was superhuman and destined for greatness from conception.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=188}} | |||
| According to the ancient Greek biographer ], Olympias, on the eve of the consummation of her marriage to Philip, dreamed that her womb was struck by a thunder bolt, causing a flame that spread "far and wide" before dying away. Some time after the wedding, Philip was said to have seen himself, in a dream, sealing up his wife's womb with a seal upon which was engraved the image of a lion.<ref name=PA2/> Plutarch offers a variety of interpretations of these dreams: that Olympia was pregnant before her marriage, indicated by the sealing of her womb; or that Alexander's father was Zeus. Ancient commentators were divided as to whether the ambitious Olympias promulgated the story of Alexander's divine parentage, some claiming she told Alexander, others that she dismissed the suggestion as impious.<ref name=PA2/> | |||
| In his early years, Alexander was raised by a nurse, ], sister of Alexander's future general ]. Later in his childhood, Alexander was tutored by the strict ], a relative of his mother, and by ].{{sfn|Renault|2001|pp=33–34}} Alexander was raised in the manner of noble Macedonian youths, learning to read, play the ], ride, fight, and hunt.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=186}} When Alexander was ten years old, a trader from ] brought Philip a horse, which he offered to sell for thirteen ]. The horse refused to be mounted, and Philip ordered it away. Alexander, however, detecting the horse's fear of its own shadow, asked to tame the horse, which he eventually managed.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=188}} Plutarch stated that Philip, overjoyed at this display of courage and ambition, kissed his son tearfully, declaring: "My boy, you must find a kingdom big enough for your ambitions. Macedon is too small for you", and bought the horse for him.<ref name="PA6" /> Alexander named it ], meaning "ox-head". Bucephalas carried Alexander as far as ]. When the animal died (because of old age, according to Plutarch, at age 30), Alexander named a city after him, ].<ref>{{harvnb|Durant|1966|p=538}}, {{harvnb|Lane Fox|1980|p=64}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=39}}</ref> | |||
| On the day that Alexander was born, Philip was preparing himself for his siege on the city of ] on the peninsula of Chalcidike. On the same day, Philip received news that his general ] had defeated the combined ] and ] armies, and that his horses had won at the ]. It was also said that on this day, the ] in ]—one of the ]—burnt down, leading ] to say that it burnt down because ] was attending the birth of Alexander.<ref name=PA3/><ref name="Renault, p. 28"/><ref name=P21-B/> | |||
| ===Education=== | |||
| ] with his friend ] (detail). 3rd century BC ], Pella Museum.]] | |||
| {{Alexander the Great series}} | |||
| When Alexander was 13, Philip began to search for a ], and considered such academics as ] and ], the latter offering to resign from his stewardship of the ] to take up the post. In the end, Philip chose ] and provided the Temple of the Nymphs at ] as a classroom. In return for teaching Alexander, Philip agreed to rebuild Aristotle's hometown of ], which Philip had razed, and to repopulate it by buying and freeing the ex-citizens who were slaves, or pardoning those who were in exile.<ref>{{harvnb|Lane Fox|1980|pp=65–66}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=44}}, {{harvnb|McCarty|2004|p=15}}</ref> | |||
| Mieza was like a boarding school for Alexander and the children of Macedonian nobles, such as ], ], and ]. Many of these students would become his friends and future generals, and are often known as the "Companions". Aristotle taught Alexander and his companions about medicine, philosophy, morals, religion, logic, and art. Under Aristotle's tutelage, Alexander developed a passion for the works of ], and in particular the '']''; Aristotle gave him an annotated copy, which Alexander later carried on his campaigns.<ref>{{harvnb|Lane Fox|1980|pp=65–66}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|pp=45–47}}, {{harvnb|McCarty|2004|p=16}}</ref> Alexander was able to quote ] from memory.<ref name="RLF">{{cite book |last1=Lane Fox |first1=Robin |title=Alexander the Great | date=1986 |publisher=Penguin Group |isbn=978-0-14-008878-6 |page=48}}</ref> | |||
| In his early years, Alexander was raised by his nurse, ], the sister of Alexander's future friend and general ]. Later on in his childhood, Alexander was tutored by the strict ], a relative of his mother, and by ].<ref name=M33-34-R/><ref name=PA5/> Alexander was raised in the manner of noble Macedonian youths, learning to read, play the lyre, ride, fight, and hunt.<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 186">{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, "Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia", p. 186}}.</ref> | |||
| In his youth, Alexander was also acquainted with Persian exiles at the Macedonian court, who received the protection of Philip II for several years as they opposed ].{{sfn|Cawthorne|2004|pp=}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Howe |first1=Timothy |last2=Brice |first2=Lee L. |title=Brill's Companion to Insurgency and Terrorism in the Ancient Mediterranean |date=2015 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-28473-9 |page=170 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=248DCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA170|access-date=23 February 2019}}</ref><ref name="EDC">{{cite book |last1=Carney |first1=Elizabeth Donnelly |title=Women and Monarchy in Macedonia |date=2000 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=978-0-8061-3212-9 |page=101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZbI2hZBy_EkC&pg=PA101|access-date=23 February 2019}}</ref> Among them were ] and his daughter ], possible future mistress of Alexander, who resided at the Macedonian court from 352 to 342 BC, as well as ], future ] of Alexander, and a Persian nobleman named ].{{sfn|Cawthorne|2004|pp=}}<ref name="JM">{{cite book |last1=Morgan |first1=Janett |title=Greek Perspectives on the Achaemenid Empire: Persia Through the Looking Glass |date=2016 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-7486-4724-8 |pages=271–272 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=49JVDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA271|access-date=23 February 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Briant |first1=Pierre |title=Alexander the Great and His Empire: A Short Introduction |date=2012 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-15445-9 |page=114 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WAW6kmL30RUC&pg=PA114|access-date=23 February 2019}}</ref><ref name="EJ">{{cite book |last1=Jensen |first1=Erik |title=Barbarians in the Greek and Roman World |date=2018 |publisher=Hackett Publishing |isbn=978-1-62466-714-5 |page=92 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QCRtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA92|access-date=23 February 2019}}</ref> This gave the Macedonian court a good knowledge of Persian issues, and may even have influenced some of the innovations in the management of the Macedonian state.<ref name="JM"/> | |||
| When Alexander was ten years old, a horse trader from ] brought Philip a horse, which he offered to sell for thirteen ]. The horse refused to be mounted by anyone, and Philip ordered it to be taken away. Alexander, however, detected the horse's fear of his own shadow and asked for a turn to tame the horse, which he eventually managed.<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 188">{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, "Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia", p. 188}}.</ref> According to Plutarch, Philip, overjoyed at this display of courage and ambition, kissed him tearfully, declaring: "My boy, you must find a kingdom big enough for your ambitions. Macedon is too small for you", and bought the horse for him.<ref name=PA6/> Alexander would name the horse ], meaning "ox-head". Bucephalas would be Alexander's companion throughout his journeys as far as India. When Bucephalas died (due to old age, according to Plutarch, for he was already thirty), Alexander named a city after him, ].<ref name=R64-F/><ref>Renault, p. 39.</ref><ref>Durant, p. 538.</ref> | |||
| ] writes that ] was one of Alexander's teachers, and that Anaximenes also accompanied Alexander on his campaigns.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/alpha/1989|title=SOL Search|website=cs.uky.edu|access-date=24 August 2019|archive-date=9 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809025936/https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/alpha/1989|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| ===Adolescence and education=== | |||
| ] | |||
| When Alexander was thirteen years old, Philip began to search for a ]. Many people were passed over including ] and ], the latter of whom was ]'s successor at the ] and who offered to resign to take up the post. In the end, Philip offered the job to ], who accepted, and Philip provided the Temple of the Nymphs at ] as a classroom. In return for teaching Alexander, Philip agreed to rebuild Aristotle's hometown of ], which Philip had razed, and to repopulate it by buying and freeing the ex-citizens who were slaves, or pardoning those who were in exile.<ref name=PA7/><ref name=R65-F/><ref>Renault, p. 44.</ref><ref>McCarty, p. 15.</ref> | |||
| ==Heir of Philip II== | |||
| Mieza was like a boarding school for Alexander and the children of Macedonian nobles, such as ], ], and ]. Many of those studying by Alexander's side would become his friends and future generals, and are often known as the 'Companions'. At Mieza, Aristotle taught Alexander and his companions about medicine, philosophy, morals, religion, ], and art. Under Aristotle's tutelage, Alexander developed a passion for the works of ], and in particular the '']''; Aristotle gave him an annotated copy, which Alexander was to take on his campaigns.<ref name=R65-66-F/><ref name=PA8/><ref>Renault, pp. 45–47.</ref><ref>McCarty, ''Alexander the Great'', p. 16.</ref> | |||
| ==Philip's heir== | |||
| ===Regency and ascent of Macedon=== | ===Regency and ascent of Macedon=== | ||
| {{Main|Philip II of Macedon|Rise of Macedon}} | {{Main|Philip II of Macedon|Rise of Macedon}} | ||
| {{further|History of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)}} | |||
| ], Alexander's father]] | |||
| ], Alexander's father]] | |||
| When Alexander became sixteen years old, his tutorship under Aristotle came to an end. Philip, the king, departed to wage war against ], and Alexander was left in charge as ] and ] of the kingdom.<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 188"/> During Philip's absence, the ] ] revolted against Macedonian rule. Alexander responded quickly; he crushed the Maedi insurgence, driving them from their territory, colonised it with Greeks, and founded a city named ].<ref name=PA9/><ref name=R68-F/><ref>Renault, p. 47.</ref><ref>Bose, p. 43.</ref> | |||
| At the age of 16, Alexander's education under Aristotle ended. Philip II had waged war against the ] to the north, which left Alexander in charge as ] and ].{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=188}} During Philip's absence, the Thracian tribe of ] revolted against Macedonia. Alexander responded quickly and drove them from their territory. The territory was colonized, and a city, named ], was founded.<ref>{{harvnb|Lane Fox|1980|p=68}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=47}}, {{harvnb|Bose|2003|p=43}}</ref> | |||
| After Philip's return from Byzantium, he dispatched Alexander with a small force to subdue certain revolts in southern ]. During another campaign against the Greek city of ], Alexander is reported to have saved his father's life. Meanwhile, the city of ] began to work lands that were sacred to ] near ], a sacrilege that gave Philip the opportunity to further intervene in the affairs of Greece. Still occupied in Thrace, Philip ordered Alexander to begin mustering an army for a campaign in Greece. Concerned with the possibility of other Greek states intervening, Alexander made it look as if he was preparing to attack Illyria instead. During this turmoil, the Illyrians took the opportunity to invade Macedonia, but Alexander repelled the invaders.<ref name=Renault47-49/> | |||
| Upon Philip's return, Alexander was dispatched with a small force to subdue the revolts in southern ]. Campaigning against the Greek city of ], Alexander reportedly saved his father's life. Meanwhile, the city of ] began to work lands that were sacred to ] near ], a sacrilege that gave Philip the opportunity to further intervene in Greek affairs. While Philip was occupied in Thrace, Alexander was ordered to muster an army for a campaign in southern Greece. Concerned that other Greek states might intervene, Alexander made it look as though he was preparing to attack Illyria instead. During this turmoil, the ] invaded Macedonia, only to be repelled by Alexander.{{sfn|Renault|2001|pp=47–49}} | |||
| Philip joined Alexander with his army in 338 BC, and they marched south through ], which they took after stubborn resistance from its Theban garrison. They went on to occupy the city of ], a few days march from both Athens and Thebes. Meanwhile, the Athenians, led by ], voted to seek an alliance with Thebes in the war against Macedonia. Both Athens and Philip sent embassies to try to win Thebes' favour, with the Athenians eventually succeeding.<ref name=M50-51-R/><ref>Bose, pp. 44–45</ref><ref>McCarty, p. 23</ref> Philip marched on Amphissa (theoretically acting on the request of the Amphicytonic League), captured the mercenaries sent there by Demosthenes, and accepted the city's surrender. Philip then returned to Elatea and sent a final offer of peace to Athens and Thebes, which was rejected.<ref name=M51-R/><ref>Bose, p. 47.</ref><ref>McCarty, p. 24.</ref> | |||
| Philip and his army joined his son in 338 BC, and they marched south through ], taking it after stubborn resistance from its Theban garrison. They went on to occupy the city of ], only a few days' march from both ] and ]. The Athenians, led by ], voted to seek alliance with Thebes against Macedonia. Both Athens and Philip sent embassies to win Thebes's favour, but Athens won the contest.<ref>{{harvnb|Renault|2001|pp=50–51}}, {{harvnb|Bose|2003|pp=44–45}}, {{harvnb|McCarty|2004|p=23}}</ref> Philip marched on Amphissa (ostensibly acting on the request of the ]), capturing the mercenaries sent there by Demosthenes and accepting the city's surrender. Philip then returned to Elatea, sending a final offer of peace to Athens and Thebes, who both rejected it.<ref>{{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=51}}, {{harvnb|Bose|2003|p=47}}, {{harvnb|McCarty|2004|p=24}}</ref> | |||
| ]]] | |||
| ]]] | |||
| As Philip marched south, his opponents blocked him near ], ]. During the ensuing ], Philip commanded the right wing and Alexander the left, accompanied by a group of Philip's trusted generals. According to the ancient sources, the two sides fought bitterly for some time. Philip deliberately commanded his troops to retreat, counting on the untested Athenian ] to follow, thus breaking their line. Alexander was the first to break the Theban lines, followed by Philip's generals. Having damaged the enemy's cohesion, Philip ordered his troops to press forward and quickly routed them. With the Athenians lost, the Thebans were surrounded. Left to fight alone, they were defeated.<ref name="DiodXVI" /> | |||
| After the victory at Chaeronea, Philip and Alexander marched unopposed into the ], devastating much of Laconia and ejecting the Spartans from various parts of it.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cartledge |first1=Paul |title=Sparta and Lakonia: A Regional History, 1300-362 B.C. |date=2002 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=0-415-26276-3 |page=273 |edition=2nd |quote=Philip laid Lakonia waste as far south as Gytheion and formally deprived Sparta of Dentheliatis (and apparently the territory on the Messenian Gulf as far as the Little Pamisos river), Belminatis, the territory of Karyai and the east Parnon foreland.}}</ref> At ], Philip established a "Hellenic Alliance" (modelled on the old ] of the ]), which included most Greek city-states except Sparta. Philip was then named '']'' (often translated as "Supreme Commander") of this league (known by modern scholars as the ]), and announced his plans to attack the ].{{sfn|Renault|2001|p=54}}{{sfn|McCarty|2004|p=26}} | |||
| As Philip marched south, he was blocked near ], ] by the forces of Athens and Thebes. During the ensuing ], Philip commanded the right, and Alexander the left wing, accompanied by a group of Philip's trusted generals. According to the ancient sources, the two sides fought bitterly for a long time. Philip deliberately commanded the troops on his right wing to backstep, counting on the untested Athenian hoplites to follow, thus breaking their line. On the left, Alexander was the first to break into the Theban lines, followed by Philip's generals. Having achieved a breach in the enemy's cohesion, Philip ordered his troops to press forward and quickly routed his enemy. With the rout of the Athenians, the Thebans were left to fight alone; surrounded by the victorious enemy, they were crushed.<ref name="DiodXVI"/> | |||
| After the victory at Chaeronea, Philip and Alexander marched unopposed into the Peloponnese welcomed by all cities; however, when they reached ], they were refused, and they simply left.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sikyon.com/sparta/history_eg.html |title=History of Ancient Sparta |publisher=Sikyon.com |accessdate=14 November 2009}}</ref> At ], Philip established a "Hellenic Alliance" (modeled on the old ] of the ]), with the exception of Sparta. Philip was then named '']'' (often translated as 'Supreme Commander') of this league (known by modern historians as the League of Corinth). He then announced his plans for a war of revenge against the ], which he would command.<ref name=M54-R/><ref>McCarty, p. 26.</ref> | |||
| ===Exile and return=== | ===Exile and return=== | ||
| When Philip returned to Pella, he fell in love with and married ] in 338 BC,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Green |first=Peter |date=1991 |title=Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age (Hellenistic Culture and Society) |location=Berkeley & Los Angeles |publisher=University of California Press |journal=The American Historical Review |volume=1 |doi=10.1086/ahr/96.5.1515 |issn = 0002-8762}}</ref> the niece of his general ].{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=179}} The marriage made Alexander's position as heir less secure, since any son of Cleopatra Eurydice would be a fully Macedonian heir, while Alexander was only half-Macedonian.{{sfn|McCarty|2004|p=27}} During the ], a drunken Attalus publicly prayed to the gods that the union would produce a legitimate heir.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=179}} | |||
| {{ |
{{Blockquote|At the wedding of Cleopatra, whom Philip fell in love with and married, she being much too young for him, her uncle Attalus in his drink desired the Macedonians would implore the gods to give them a lawful successor to the kingdom by his niece. This so irritated Alexander that throwing one of the cups at his head, "You villain," said he, "what, am I then a bastard?" Then Philip, taking Attalus's part, rose up and would have run his son through; but by good fortune for them both, either his over-hasty rage, or the wine he had drunk, made his foot slip, so that he fell down on the floor, at which Alexander reproachfully insulted him: "See there," said he, "the man who makes preparations to pass out of Europe into Asia, overturned in passing from one seat to another."|Plutarch, describing the feud at Philip's wedding.<ref name="PA9" />}} | ||
| Alexander fled |
In 337 BC, Alexander fled Macedon with his mother, dropping her off with her brother, King ] in ], capital of the ].{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=180}} He continued to Illyria{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=180}} where he sought refuge with one or more Illyrian kings, perhaps with ], and was treated as a guest, despite having defeated them in battle a few years before.<ref>A History of Macedonia: Volume III: 336–167 B.C. By N. G. L. Hammond, F. W. Walbank</ref> However, it appears Philip never intended to disown his politically and militarily trained son.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=180}} Accordingly, Alexander returned to Macedon after six months due to the efforts of a family friend, ], who mediated between the two parties.<ref>{{harvnb|Bose|2003|p=75}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=56}}</ref> | ||
| In the following year, the Persian ] (governor) of ], ], offered his eldest daughter to Alexander's half-brother, ].{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=180}} Olympias and several of Alexander's friends suggested this showed Philip intended to make Arrhidaeus his heir.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=180}} Alexander reacted by sending an actor, ] of Corinth, to tell Pixodarus that he should not offer his daughter's hand to an illegitimate son, but instead to Alexander. When Philip heard of this, he stopped the negotiations and scolded Alexander for wishing to marry the daughter of a Carian, explaining that he wanted a better bride for him.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=180}} Philip exiled four of Alexander's friends, ], ], ] and ], and had the Corinthians bring Thessalus to him in chains.<ref>{{harvnb|McCarty|2004|p=27}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=59}}, {{harvnb|Lane Fox|1980|p=71}}</ref> | |||
| ==King of Macedon== | ==King of Macedon== | ||
| ===Accession=== | ===Accession=== | ||
| {{Further|Government of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)}} | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| In 336 BC, whilst at ], attending the wedding of his daughter by Olympias, ], to Olympias's brother, ], Philip was assassinated by the captain of his ], ].{{cref|vi}} As Pausanias tried to escape, he tripped over a vine and was killed by his pursuers, including two of Alexander's companions, ] and ]. Alexander was proclaimed king by the ] and by the Macedonian noblemen at the age of 20.<ref name=N30-31-M/><ref>Renault, pp. 61–62.</ref><ref>Fox, ''The Search For Alexander'', p. 72.</ref> | |||
| In the 24th day of the ] Dios, which probably corresponds to 25 October 336 BC,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hammond |first=N. G. L. |date=1992-12-21 |title=The Regnal Years of Philip and Alexander |url=https://grbs.library.duke.edu/index.php/grbs/article/view/3531 |journal=Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies |language=en |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=355–373 |issn=2159-3159}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Parise |first=Frank |url=https://archive.org/details/bookofcalendars0000unse_y2i4/page/10/mode/2up |title=The book of calendars |date=2002 |publisher=Gorgias Press |isbn=978-1-931956-76-5 |location=Piscataway, NJ |pages=10 |orig-date=1983}} The month of Dios started in 2 October that year.</ref> while at ] attending the wedding of his daughter ] to Olympias's brother, ], Philip was assassinated by the captain of his ], ].{{Cref2|h}} As Pausanias tried to escape, he tripped over a vine and was killed by his pursuers, including two of Alexander's companions, ] and ]. Alexander was proclaimed king on the spot by the nobles and ] at the age of 20.{{sfn|McCarty|2004|pp=30–31}}<ref>{{harvnb|Renault|2001|pp=61–62}}</ref><ref name="Fox 1980 72">{{harvnb|Lane Fox|1980|p=72}}</ref> | |||
| ===Power consolidation=== | |||
| Alexander began his reign by eliminating any potential rivals to the throne. He had his cousin, the former ], executed,<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 190">{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, "Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia", p. 190}}.</ref> as well as having two Macedonian princes from the region of ] killed, while a third, ], was spared. Olympias had Cleopatra Eurydice and her daughter by Philip, Europa, burned alive. When Alexander found out about this, he was furious with his mother. Alexander also ordered the murder of Attalus,<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 190"/> who was in command of the advance guard of the army in Asia Minor. Attalus was at the time in correspondence with Demosthenes, regarding the possibility of defecting to Athens. Regardless of whether Attalus actually intended to defect, he had already severely insulted Alexander, and following the murder of Attalus's niece, Alexander probably felt Attalus was too dangerous to leave alive.<ref>Green, ''Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age'', pp5–6</ref> Alexander spared the life of Arrhidaeus, who was by all accounts mentally disabled, possibly as a result of poisoning by Olympias.<ref name=N30-31-M/><ref name=PA77/><ref>Renault, pp. 70–71.</ref><ref>Fox, p. 72.</ref> | |||
| ===Consolidation of power=== | |||
| News of Philip's death roused many states into revolt, including Thebes, Athens, Thessaly, and the Thracian tribes to the north of Macedon. When news of the revolts in Greece reached Alexander, he responded quickly. Though his advisors advised him to use diplomacy, Alexander mustered the Macedonian cavalry of 3,000 men and rode south towards Thessaly, Macedon's neighbor to the south. When he found the Thessalian army occupying the pass between ] and ], he had the men ride over Mount Ossa. When the Thessalians awoke the next day, they found Alexander in their rear, and promptly surrendered, adding their cavalry to Alexander's force, as he rode down towards the ].<ref name=N31-M/><ref name="Renault, p. 72"/><ref>Fox, ''The Search For Alexander'', p. 104.</ref><ref>Bose, p. 95.</ref> | |||
| Alexander began his reign by eliminating potential rivals to the throne. He had his cousin, the former ], executed.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=190}} He also had two Macedonian princes from the region of ] killed for having been involved in his father's assassination, but spared a third, ]. Olympias had Cleopatra Eurydice, and Europa, her daughter by Philip, burned alive. When Alexander learned about this, he was furious. Alexander also ordered the murder of Attalus,{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=190}} who was in command of the advance guard of the army in Asia Minor and Cleopatra's uncle.<ref name="Green 2007 5–6">{{harvnb|Green|2007|pp=5–6}}</ref> | |||
| Attalus was at that time corresponding with Demosthenes, regarding the possibility of defecting to Athens. Attalus also had severely insulted Alexander, and following Cleopatra's murder, Alexander may have considered him too dangerous to be left alive.<ref name="Green 2007 5–6" /> Alexander spared Arrhidaeus, who was by all accounts mentally disabled, possibly as a result of poisoning by Olympias.{{sfn|McCarty|2004|pp=30–31}}<ref name="Fox 1980 72" /><ref>{{harvnb|Renault|2001|pp=70–71}}</ref> | |||
| Alexander stopped at Thermopylae, where he was recognized as the leader of the ] before heading south to Corinth. Athens sued for peace and Alexander received the envoy and pardoned anyone involved with the uprising. At Corinth, where occurred the ], who asked him to stand a little aside as he was blocking the sun,<ref>Stoneman, page 21</ref> Alexander was given the title ''Hegemon'', and like Philip, appointed commander of the forthcoming war against Persia. While at Corinth, he heard the news of the Thracian rising to the north.<ref name="Renault, p. 72"/><ref name=P96-Bose/> | |||
| News of Philip's death roused many states into revolt, including Thebes, Athens, Thessaly, and the Thracian tribes north of Macedon. When news of the revolts reached Alexander, he responded quickly. Though advised to use diplomacy, Alexander mustered 3,000 Macedonian cavalry and rode south towards Thessaly. He found the Thessalian army occupying the pass between ] and ], and ordered his men to ride over Mount Ossa. When the Thessalians awoke the next day, they found Alexander in their rear and promptly surrendered, adding their cavalry to Alexander's force. He then continued south towards the ].<ref>{{harvnb|McCarty|2004|p=31}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=72}}, {{harvnb|Lane Fox|1980|p=104}}, {{harvnb|Bose|2003|p=95}}</ref> | |||
| Alexander stopped at Thermopylae where he was recognized as the leader of the Amphictyonic League before heading south to ]. Athens sued for peace and Alexander pardoned the rebels. The famous ] occurred during Alexander's stay in Corinth. When Alexander asked Diogenes what he could do for him, the philosopher disdainfully asked Alexander to stand a little to the side, as he was blocking the sunlight.{{sfn|Stoneman|2004|p=21}} This reply apparently delighted Alexander who is reported to have said, "But verily, if I were not Alexander, I would like to be Diogenes."{{sfn|Dillon|2004|pp=187–88}} At Corinth, Alexander took the title of ''Hegemon'' ("leader") and, like Philip, was appointed commander for the coming war against Persia. He also received news of a Thracian uprising.<ref>{{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=72}}, {{harvnb|Bose|2003|p=96}}</ref> | |||
| ===Balkan campaign=== | ===Balkan campaign=== | ||
| {{Main|Alexander's Balkan campaign}} | {{Main|Alexander's Balkan campaign}} | ||
| ] | |||
| Before crossing to Asia, Alexander wanted to safeguard his northern borders; and, in the spring of 335 BC, he advanced to suppress several apparent revolts. Starting from ], he first went east into the country of the "Independent Thracians"; and at ], the Macedonian army attacked and defeated a Thracian army manning the heights.<ref name="I, 1"/> The Macedonians marched on into the country of the ], and proceeded to defeat the Triballian army near the Lyginus river<ref>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' I, 2</ref> (a ]). Alexander then advanced for three days on to the ], encountering the ] tribe on the opposite shore. Surprising the Getae by crossing the river at night, he forced the Getae army to retreat after the first cavalry ], leaving their town to the Macedonian army.<ref>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' I, 3–4</ref><ref>Renault, pp. 73–74.</ref> News then reached Alexander that ], King of Illyria, and ] of the ] were in open revolt against Macedonian authority. Marching west into Illyria, Alexander defeated each in turn, forcing Cleitus and Glaukias to flee with their armies, leaving Alexander's northern frontier secure.<ref>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' I, 5–6</ref><ref>Renault, p. 77.</ref> | |||
| Before crossing to Asia, Alexander wanted to safeguard his northern borders. In the spring of 335 BC, he advanced to suppress several revolts. Starting from ], he travelled east into the country of the "Independent Thracians", and at ], the Macedonian army attacked and defeated the Thracian forces manning the heights.<ref name="I, 1" /> The Macedonians marched into the country of the ] and defeated their army near the ] river<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=I, 2}}</ref> (a ]). Alexander then marched for three days to the ], encountering the ] tribe on the opposite shore. Crossing the river at night, he surprised them and forced their army to retreat after the first cavalry ].<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=I, 3–4}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|pp=73–74}}</ref> | |||
| News then reached Alexander that the Illyrian chieftain ] and ] of the ] were in open revolt against his authority. Marching west into Illyria, Alexander defeated each in turn, forcing the two rulers to flee with their troops. With these victories, he secured his northern frontier.<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=I, 5–6}}, {{harvnb|Renault|2001|p=77}}</ref> | |||
| While he was triumphantly campaigning north, the Thebans and Athenians rebelled once more. Alexander immediately cut short his campaign and headed south with his army,<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 192">{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, "Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia", p. 192}}.</ref> but, while the other cities once again hesitated, Thebes decided to resist with the utmost vigor. However, the resistance was ineffective, and the city was razed to the ground amid great bloodshed, and its territory was divided between the other Boeotian cities. The end of Thebes cowed Athens into submission, leaving all of Greece at least outwardly at peace with Alexander.<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 192"/> Alexander then set out on his Asian campaign, leaving ] as regent of Macedon.<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 199">{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, "Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia", p. 199}}.</ref> | |||
| === Destruction of Thebes === | |||
| ==Conquest of the Persian Empire== | |||
| While Alexander campaigned north, the Thebans and Athenians rebelled once again. Alexander immediately headed south.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=192}} While the other cities again hesitated, Thebes decided to fight. The Theban resistance was ineffective and Alexander ] and divided its territory between the other Boeotian cities. The end of Thebes cowed Athens, leaving all of Greece temporarily at peace.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=192}} Alexander then set out on his Asian campaign, leaving ] as regent.<ref name="Roisman 2010 199">{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=199}}</ref> | |||
| ==Conquest of the Achaemenid Persian Empire== | |||
| {{Main|Wars of Alexander the Great|Chronology of the expedition of Alexander the Great into Asia}} | {{Main|Wars of Alexander the Great|Chronology of the expedition of Alexander the Great into Asia}} | ||
| ===Asia Minor=== | ===Asia Minor=== | ||
| {{ |
{{Further|Battle of the Granicus|Siege of Halicarnassus|Siege of Miletus}} | ||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| Alexander's army crossed the ] in 334 BC with approximately 48,100 soldiers, 6100 cavalry and a fleet of 120 ships with crews numbering 38,000,<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 192"/> drawn from Macedon and various Greek city-states, mercenaries, and feudally raised soldiers from ], ], and ].<ref>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' I, 11</ref> After an initial victory against Persian forces at the ], Alexander accepted the surrender of the Persian provincial capital and treasury of ] and proceeded down the ]n coast.<ref>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' I, 13–19</ref> At ], Alexander successfully waged the first of many ]s, eventually forcing his opponents, the mercenary captain ] and the Persian ] of ], ], to withdraw by sea.<ref>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' I, 20–23</ref> Alexander left the government of Caria to ], who adopted Alexander as her son.<ref>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' I, 23</ref> | |||
| {{Campaigns of Alexander the Great}} | |||
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| From Halicarnassus, Alexander proceeded into mountainous ] and the ]n plain, asserting control over all coastal cities in order to deny the Persians naval bases. From Pamphylia onward, the coast held no major ports and so Alexander moved inland. At ], Alexander humbled but did not storm the ]n city.<ref>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' I, 27–28</ref> At the ancient Phrygian capital of ], Alexander 'undid' the hitherto unsolvable ], a feat said to await the future "king of ]".<ref>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' II, 3</ref> According to the story, Alexander proclaimed that it did not matter how the knot was undone, and hacked it apart with his sword.<ref>Greene, p. 351</ref> | |||
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| After spending the winter campaigning in Asia Minor, Alexander's army crossed the ] in 333 BC, and defeated the main Persian army under the command of Darius III at the ] in November.<ref>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' II, 6–10</ref> Darius fled the battle, causing his army to break, and left behind his wife, his two daughters, his mother ], and a fabulous amount of treasure.<ref>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' II, 11–12</ref> He afterward offered a ] to Alexander, the concession of the lands he had already conquered, and a ransom of 10,000 talents for his family. Alexander replied that since he was now king of Asia, it was he alone who decided territorial divisions.<ref>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' I, 3–4 II, 14</ref> | |||
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| Alexander proceeded to take possession of Syria, and most of the coast of the ].<ref>Arrian </ref> However, the following year, 332 BC, he was forced to attack ], which he eventually captured after a famous ].<ref>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' II, 16–24</ref><ref>Gunther, p. 84.</ref> After the capture of Tyre, Alexander massacred all the men of military age, and sold the women and children into slavery.<ref>Sabin ''et al.'', p. 396.</ref> | |||
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| | label11 = Cyropolis | |||
| | mark-coord11 = {{coord|40.28|69.63}} | |||
| | mark-title11 = ] 329 BC<br>] October 329 BC<br>] 327 BC | |||
| | mark-description11 = ] | |||
| | label-offset-x11 = 2 | |||
| | label-offset-y11 = -2 | |||
| | label12 = Cophen | |||
| | mark-coord12 = {{coord|35.2|72.48}} | |||
| | mark-title12 = ] May 327 BC – March 326 BC | |||
| | mark-description12 = ] | |||
| | label-offset-x12 = 2 | |||
| | label-offset-y12 = -2 | |||
| | label13 = Hydaspes | |||
| | mark-coord13 = {{coord|32.83|73.64}} | |||
| | mark-title13 = ] May 326 BC | |||
| | mark-description13 = ] | |||
| | label-offset-x13 = 2 | |||
| | label-offset-y13 = -2 | |||
| | label14 = Malavas | |||
| | mark-coord14 = {{coord|30.7|72.3}} | |||
| | mark-title14 = ] November 326 – February 325 BC | |||
| | mark-description14 = ] | |||
| | label-offset-x14 = 2 | |||
| | label-offset-y14 = -2 | |||
| | label15 = Babylon | |||
| | mark-coord15 = {{coord|32.54|44.42}} | |||
| | mark-title15 = ] 10 or 11 June 323 BC | |||
| | mark-description15 = ] | |||
| | label-offset-x15 = 20 | |||
| | label-offset-y15 = -10 | |||
| }} | |||
| After his victory at the ], ] began the work of establishing himself as ''hēgemṓn'' ({{langx|el|ἡγεμών}}) of a league which according to ] was to wage a campaign against the Persians for the sundry grievances Greece suffered in ] and free the Greek cities of the western coast and islands from Achaemenid rule. In 336 he sent ], ], Andromenes, Attalus, and an army of 10,000 men into ] to make preparations for an invasion.<ref name="PB">{{cite book |last1=Briant |first1=Pierre |title=From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire |date=2002 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-1-57506-120-7 |page=817 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lxQ9W6F1oSYC&pg=PA817|access-date=21 February 2019}}</ref><ref name="WH">{{cite book |last1=Heckel |first1=Waldemar |title=Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great: Prosopography of Alexander's Empire |date=2008 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-4051-5469-7 |page=205 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NR4Wn9VU8vkC&pg=PT205|access-date=21 February 2019}}</ref> The Greek cities on the western coast of Anatolia revolted until the news arrived that Philip had been murdered and had been succeeded by his young son Alexander. The Macedonians were demoralized by Philip's death and were subsequently defeated near ] by the Achaemenids under the command of the mercenary ].<ref name="PB"/><ref name="WH"/> | |||
| Taking over the invasion project of Philip II, Alexander's army crossed the ] in 334 BC with approximately 48,100 soldiers, 6,100 cavalry, and a fleet of 120 ships with crews numbering 38,000{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=192}} drawn from Macedon and various Greek city states, mercenaries, and feudally raised soldiers from ], ], and ].<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=I, 11}}</ref>{{Cref2|i}} He showed his intent to conquer the entirety of the Persian Empire by throwing a spear into Asian soil and saying he accepted Asia as a gift from the gods. This also showed Alexander's eagerness to fight, in contrast to his father's preference for diplomacy.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=192}} | |||
| After an initial victory against Persian forces at the ], Alexander accepted the surrender of the Persian provincial capital and treasury of ]; he then proceeded along the ]n coast, granting autonomy and democracy to the cities. ], held by Achaemenid forces, required a delicate siege operation, with Persian naval forces nearby. Further south, at ], in ], Alexander successfully waged his first large-scale ], eventually forcing his opponents, the mercenary captain ] and the Persian ] of Caria, ], to withdraw by sea.<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=I, 20–23}}</ref> Alexander left the government of Caria to a member of the Hecatomnid dynasty, ], who adopted Alexander.<ref name="Arrian 1976 loc=I, 23">{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=I, 23}}</ref> | |||
| ]'' by ] (1767)]] | |||
| From Halicarnassus, Alexander proceeded into mountainous ] and the ]n plain, asserting control over all coastal cities to deny the Persians naval bases. From Pamphylia onwards, the coast held no major ports and Alexander moved inland. At ], Alexander humbled and did not storm the ]n city.<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=I, 27–28}}</ref> At the ancient Phrygian capital of ], Alexander "undid" the hitherto unsolvable ], a feat said to await the future "king of ]".<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=I, 3}}</ref> According to the story, Alexander proclaimed that it did not matter how the knot was undone, and hacked it apart with his sword.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2007|p=351}}</ref> | |||
| ===The Levant and Syria=== | |||
| {{Further|Battle of Issus|Siege of Tyre (332 BC)}} | |||
| In spring 333 BC, Alexander crossed the ] into ]. After a long pause due to an illness, he marched on towards Syria. Though outmanoeuvered by Darius's significantly larger army, he marched back to Cilicia, where he defeated Darius at ]. Darius fled the battle, causing his army to collapse, and left behind his wife, his two daughters, his mother ], and a fabulous treasure.<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=I, 11–12}}</ref> He offered a ] that included the lands he had already lost, and a ransom of 10,000 ] for his family. Alexander replied that since he was now king of Asia, it was he alone who decided territorial divisions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/46976/46976-h/46976-h.htm|title=The Project Gutenberg eBook of Anabasis of Alexander, by Arrian.|via=Project Gutenberg|access-date=11 January 2018|archive-date=26 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180326221313/http://www.gutenberg.org/files/46976/46976-h/46976-h.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Alexander proceeded to take possession of ], and most of the coast of the ].<ref name="Arrian 1976 loc=I, 23" /> In the following year, 332 BC, he was forced to attack ], which he captured after a long and difficult ].<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=II, 16–24}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Gunther|2007|p=84}}</ref> The men of military age were massacred and the women and children sold into ].<ref>{{harvnb|Sabin|van Wees|Whitby|2007|p=396}}</ref> | |||
| ===Egypt=== | ===Egypt=== | ||
| {{ |
{{Further|Siege of Gaza (332 BCE)}} | ||
| ] (written from right to left), circa |
] (written from right to left), {{circa|332 BC}}, Egypt. ].]] | ||
| {{See also|History of Ptolemaic Egypt}} | |||
| When Alexander destroyed Tyre, most of the towns on the route to Egypt quickly capitulated, with the exception of Gaza. The stronghold at ] was built on a hill and was heavily fortified.<ref>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' II, 26</ref> At the beginning of the ], Alexander utilized the engines he had employed against Tyre. After three unsuccessful assaults, the stronghold was finally taken by force, but not before Alexander received a serious shoulder wound. As in Tyre, the male population was put to the sword and the women and children were sold into slavery.<ref>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' II, 26–27</ref> | |||
| When Alexander destroyed Tyre, most of the towns on the route to ] quickly capitulated. However, Alexander was met with resistance at ]. The stronghold was heavily fortified and built on a hill, requiring a siege. When "his engineers pointed out to him that because of the height of the mound it would be impossible... this encouraged Alexander all the more to make the attempt".<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=II, 26}}</ref> After three unsuccessful assaults, the stronghold fell, but not before Alexander had received a serious shoulder wound. As in Tyre, men of military age were put to the sword, and the women and children were sold into slavery.<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=II, 26–27}}</ref> | |||
| Jerusalem, on the other hand, opened its gates in surrender, and according to Josephus, Alexander was shown the book of Daniel's prophecy, presumably chapter 8, where a mighty Greek king would subdue and conquer the Persian Empire. Thereupon, Alexander spared Jerusalem and pushed south into Egypt.<ref>Josephus, ], XI, 337 </ref><ref>Insight on the Scriptures, Volume 1, 1988, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania International Bible Students Association, pg. 70</ref> | |||
| Egypt was only one of a large number of territories taken by Alexander from the Persians. After his trip to Siwa, Alexander was crowned in the temple of Ptah at Memphis. It appears that the Egyptian people did not find it disturbing that he was a foreigner – nor that he was absent for virtually his entire reign.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Strudwick|first=Helen|title=The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt|publisher=Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.|year=2006|isbn=978-1-4351-4654-9|location=New York|pages=96–97}}</ref> Alexander restored the temples neglected by the Persians and dedicated new monuments to the Egyptian gods. In the temple of Luxor, near Karnak, he built a chapel for the sacred barge. During his brief months in Egypt, he reformed the taxation system on the Greek models and organized the military occupation of the country, but in early 331 BC he left for Asia in pursuit of the Persians.<ref name=":0" /> | |||
| Alexander advanced on Egypt in later 332 BC, where he was regarded as a liberator.<ref>Ring ''et al.'' pp. 49, 320.</ref> He was pronounced the new "master of the Universe" and son of the deity of ] at the ] of ] in the ] desert.<ref name=grimal/> Henceforth, Alexander often referred to Zeus-Ammon as his true father, and subsequent currency depicted him adorned with ram horns as a symbol of his divinity.<ref name=P27/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/124716/coin/15880/From-the-Persian-Wars-to-Alexander-the-Great-490-336-bc|title=Coin: from the Persian Wars to Alexander the Great, 490–336 bc|publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica|accessdate=16 November 2009}}</ref> During his stay in Egypt, he founded ], which would become the prosperous capital of the ] after his death.<ref>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' III, 1</ref> | |||
| Alexander advanced on Egypt in later 332 BC where he was regarded as a liberator.<ref>{{harvnb|Ring|Salkin|Berney|Schellinger|1994|pp=49, 320}}</ref> To legitimize taking power and be recognized as the descendant of the long line of pharaohs, Alexander made sacrifices to the gods at Memphis and went to consult the famous oracle of Amun-Ra at the ] in the ] desert,<ref name=":0" /> at which he was pronounced the son of the deity ].{{sfn|Bosworth|1988|pp=71–74}} Henceforth, Alexander often referred to ] as his true father, and after his death, ], using the ] as a symbol of his divinity.<ref>{{harvnb|Dahmen|2007|pp=10–11}}</ref> The Greeks interpreted this message – one that the gods addressed to all pharaohs – as a prophecy.<ref name=":0" /> | |||
| During his stay in Egypt, he founded ], which would become the prosperous capital of the ] after his death.<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=III, 1}}</ref> Control of Egypt passed to Ptolemy I (son of Lagos), the founder of the Ptolemaic Dynasty (305–30 BC) after the death of Alexander.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=616}} | |||
| ===Assyria and Babylonia=== | ===Assyria and Babylonia=== | ||
| {{ |
{{Further|Battle of Gaugamela}} | ||
| ] (1665)|upright=1]] | |||
| ], 331 BC.]] | |||
| Leaving Egypt in 331 BC, Alexander marched eastward into ] (now northern ]) and defeated Darius |
Leaving Egypt in 331 BC, Alexander marched eastward into ] in ] (now northern ]) and defeated Darius again at the ].<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=III 7–15}}; also in a {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224083355/http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_t40.html |date=24 February 2017 }}</ref> Darius once more fled the field, and Alexander chased him as far as ]. Gaugamela would be the final and decisive encounter between the two.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hanson |first=Victor Davis |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGr16-CxpH8C |title=Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power |year= 2007 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-307-42518-8|access-date=5 September 2020}}</ref> Darius fled over the mountains to ] (modern ]) while Alexander captured ].<ref name="AIII16" /> | ||
| ] say that "the king of the world, Alexander" sent his scouts with a message to the people of Babylon before entering the city: "I shall not enter your houses".<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.livius.org/sources/content/oriental-varia/a-contemporary-account-of-the-battle-of-gaugamela/| title = a contemporary account of the battle of Gaugamela| access-date = 16 July 2021| archive-date = 12 August 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210812155458/https://www.livius.org/sources/content/oriental-varia/a-contemporary-account-of-the-battle-of-gaugamela/| url-status = live}}</ref> | |||
| ===Persia=== | ===Persia=== | ||
| {{ |
{{Further|Battle of the Persian Gate}} | ||
| ] in modern-day ]; the road was built in the 1990s.]] | |||
| From Babylon, Alexander went to ], one of the ] capitals, and captured its |
From Babylon, Alexander went to ], one of the ] capitals, and captured its treasury.<ref name="AIII16" /> He sent the bulk of his army to the Persian ceremonial capital of ] via the Persian ]. Alexander himself took selected troops on the direct route to the city. He then stormed the pass of the ] (in the modern ]) which had been blocked by a Persian army under ] and then hurried to Persepolis before its garrison could loot the treasury.<ref>{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc=III, 18}}</ref> | ||
| On entering Persepolis, Alexander allowed his troops to loot the city for several days.<ref>{{harvnb|Foreman|2004|page=152}}</ref> Alexander stayed in Persepolis for five months.{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=121}} During his stay, a fire broke out in the eastern palace of ] and spread to the rest of the city. Possible causes include a drunken accident or deliberate revenge for the burning of the ] during the ] by Xerxes;{{sfn|Hammond|1983|pp=72–73}} Plutarch and ] allege that Alexander's companion, the ] ], instigated and started the fire. Even as he watched the city burn, Alexander immediately began to regret his decision.{{Sfn |Yenne|2010 | page = }}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Freeman |first1=Philip |title=Alexander the Great |date=2011 |publisher=Simon & Schuster Paperbacks |location=New York |isbn=978-1-4391-9328-0 |page=213 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v550aeZcGowC&pg=PA213 |access-date=21 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Briant |first1=Pierre |title=Alexander the Great and His Empire: A Short Introduction |date=2010 |orig-year=1974 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, NJ |isbn=978-0-691-15445-9 |page=109 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6wl0xMQCW40C&pg=PA109 |access-date=21 November 2017}}</ref> ] claims that he ordered his men to put out the fires{{Sfn |Yenne|2010 | page = }} but the flames had already spread to most of the city.{{Sfn |Yenne|2010 | page = }} ] claims that Alexander did not regret his decision until the next morning.{{Sfn |Yenne|2010 | page = }} Plutarch recounts an anecdote in which Alexander pauses and talks to a fallen statue of Xerxes as if it were a live person: | |||
| ===Fall of the Empire and the East=== | |||
| Alexander then set off in pursuit of Darius again, first into Media, and then Parthia.<ref>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' III, 19–20</ref> The Persian king was no longer in control of his destiny, having been taken prisoner by ], his ]n satrap and kinsman.<ref>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' III, 21</ref> As Alexander approached, Bessus had his men fatally stab the Great King and then declared himself Darius' successor as Artaxerxes V, before retreating into Central Asia to launch a ] campaign against Alexander.<ref>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' III, 21, 25</ref> Darius' remains were buried by Alexander next to his Achaemenid predecessors in a full regal funeral.<ref>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' III, 22</ref> Alexander claimed that, while dying, Darius had named him as his successor to the Achaemenid throne.<ref name=BriefLife81/> The Achaemenid Empire is normally considered to have fallen with the death of Darius.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander10.html|title=The end of Persia|publisher=www.livius.org|accessdate=16 November 2009}}</ref> | |||
| {{blockquote|Shall I pass by and leave you lying there because of the expeditions you led against Greece, or shall I set you up again because of your magnanimity and your virtues in other respects?<ref>{{cite book |title=Alexander the Great: The Invisible Enemy: A Biography |first=John Maxwell |last=O'Brien |publisher=Psychology Press |date=1994 |page= |isbn=978-0-415-10617-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/alexandergreatin00obri_0/page/104}}</ref>}} | |||
| ]]] | |||
| ===Fall of the Persian Empire and the East=== | |||
| Alexander, now considering himself the legitimate successor to Darius, viewed Bessus as a usurper to the Achaemenid throne, and set out to defeat him. This campaign, initially against Bessus, turned into a grand tour of central Asia, with Alexander founding a series of new cities, all called Alexandria, including modern ] in Afghanistan, and ] ("The Furthest") in modern ]. The campaign took Alexander through ], ], ] (West Afghanistan), ], ] (South and Central Afghanistan), ] (North and Central Afghanistan), and ].<ref>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' III, 23–25, 27–30; IV, 1–7</ref> | |||
| ] dated to the seventh year of Alexander's reign (324 BC), bearing the first known use of the "Alexandros" form of his name, ]<ref>{{Cite web|title=A Long List of Supplies Disbursed|url=https://www.khalilicollections.org/collections/aramaic-documents/khalili-collection-aramaic-documents-a-long-list-of-supplies-disbursed-ia17/|access-date=6 January 2021|website=Khalili Collections|archive-date=15 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190815095632/https://www.khalilicollections.org/collections/aramaic-documents/khalili-collection-aramaic-documents-a-long-list-of-supplies-disbursed-ia17/|url-status=live}}</ref>]] | |||
| Alexander then chased Darius, first into Media, and then Parthia.{{Sfn |Arrian|1976|loc= III, 19–20}} The Persian king no longer controlled his own destiny, and was taken prisoner by ], his ]n satrap and kinsman.{{Sfn |Arrian|1976| loc= III, 21}} As Alexander approached, Bessus had his men fatally stab the Great King and then declared himself Darius's successor as Artaxerxes V, before retreating into Central Asia to launch a ] campaign against Alexander.{{Sfn |Arrian|1976|loc=III, 21, 25}} Alexander buried Darius's remains next to his Achaemenid predecessors in a regal funeral.{{Sfn | Arrian| 1976 | loc = III, 22}} He claimed that, while dying, Darius had named him as his successor to the Achaemenid throne.{{sfn|Gergel|2004|p=81}} The Achaemenid Empire is normally considered to have fallen with Darius.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander10.html |title=The end of Persia |publisher=Livius |access-date=16 November 2009 |archive-date=16 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316211044/http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander10.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, as basic forms of community life and the general structure of government were maintained and resuscitated by Alexander under his own rule, he, in the words of the ] ] "may therefore be considered to have acted in many ways as the ''last of the Achaemenids''."{{sfn|Briant|1985|pages=827–830}} | |||
| Alexander viewed Bessus as a usurper and set out to defeat him. This campaign, initially against Bessus, turned into a grand tour of central Asia. Alexander founded a series of new cities, all called Alexandria, including modern ] in Afghanistan, and ] ("The Furthest") in modern ]. The campaign took Alexander through ], ], ] (West Afghanistan), ], ] (South and Central Afghanistan), ] (North and Central Afghanistan), and ].{{Sfn |Arrian|1976|loc=III, 23–25, 27–30; IV, 1–7}} | |||
| Bessus was betrayed in 329 BC by ], who held an undefined position in the satrapy of Sogdiana. Spitamenes handed over Bessus to ], one of Alexander's trusted companions, and Bessus was executed.<ref>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' III, 30</ref> However, when, at some point later, Alexander was on the ] dealing with an incursion by a horse nomad army, Spitamenes raised Sogdiana in revolt. Alexander personally defeated the Scythians at the ] and immediately launched a campaign against Spitamenes and defeated him in the ]; after the defeat, Spitamenes was killed by his own men, who then sued for peace.<ref>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' IV, 5–6, 16–17</ref> | |||
| In 329 BC, ], who held an undefined position in the satrapy of Sogdiana, betrayed Bessus to ], one of Alexander's trusted companions, and Bessus was executed.{{Sfn |Arrian|1976|loc= III, 30}} However, at some point later when Alexander was on the ] dealing with an incursion by a horse nomad army, Spitamenes raised Sogdiana in revolt. Alexander personally defeated the Scythians at the ] and immediately launched a campaign against Spitamenes, defeating him in the Battle of Gabai. After the defeat, Spitamenes was killed by his own men, who then sued for peace.{{Sfn |Arrian|1976|loc = IV, 5–6, 16–17}} | |||
| ===Problems and plots=== | ===Problems and plots=== | ||
| ]'', by ] (1898–1899)]] | |||
| During this time, Alexander took the Persian title "King of Kings" (''Shahanshah'') and adopted some elements of Persian dress and customs at his court, notably the custom of '']'', either a symbolic kissing of the hand, or prostration on the ground, that Persians paid to their social superiors.<ref name=AVII11/><ref name=PA45/> The Greeks regarded the gesture as the province of ] and believed that Alexander meant to deify himself by requiring it. This cost him much in the sympathies of many of his countrymen,<ref name=PA45/> and he eventually abandoned it.<ref>{{harvnb|Morkot|1996|p=111}}.</ref> A plot against his life was revealed, and one of his officers, ], was executed for failing to bring the plot to his attention. The death of the son necessitated the death of the father, and thus ], who had been charged with guarding the treasury at ], was assassinated by command of Alexander, so he might not make attempts at vengeance. Most infamously, Alexander personally slew the man who had saved his life at Granicus, ], during a drunken argument at ].<ref name=BriefLife99/> Later, in the Central Asian campaign, a second plot against his life was revealed, this one instigated by his own royal ]. His official historian, ] of ] (who had fallen out of favor with the king by leading the opposition to his attempt to introduce ''proskynesis''), was accused of being implicated in the plot; however, there has never been consensus among historians regarding his involvement in the conspiracy.<ref>{{cite book|title=Alexander the Great: A New History|editor=Waldemar Heckel, Lawrence A. Tritle|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|year=2009|pages=47–48|isbn=9781405130820|url=http://books.google.com/?id=jbaPwpvt8ZQC&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=callisthenes+of+olynthus+conspiracy&q=callisthenes%20of%20olynthus%20conspiracy}}</ref> | |||
| During this time, Alexander adopted some elements of Persian dress and customs at his court, notably the custom of '']'', either a symbolic kissing of the hand, or prostration on the ground, that Persians showed to their social superiors.<ref name="AVII11" /> This was one aspect of Alexander's broad strategy aimed at securing the aid and support of the Iranian upper classes.{{sfn|Briant|1985|pages=827–830}} The Greeks however regarded the gesture of ''proskynesis'' as the province of ] and believed that Alexander meant to deify himself by requiring it. This cost him the sympathies of many of his countrymen, and he eventually abandoned it.{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=111}} | |||
| During the long rule of the Achaemenids, the elite positions in many segments of the empire including the central government, the army, and the many satrapies were specifically reserved for ] and to a major degree, ] noblemen.{{sfn|Briant|1985|pages=827–830}} The latter were in many cases additionally connected through marriage alliances with the royal Achaemenid family.{{sfn|Briant|1985|pages=827–830}} This created a problem for Alexander as to whether he had to make use of the various segments and people that had given the empire its solidity and unity for a lengthy period of time.{{sfn|Briant|1985|pages=827–830}} ] explains that Alexander realized that it was insufficient to merely exploit the internal contradictions within the imperial system as in Asia Minor, Babylonia or Egypt; he also had to (re)create a central government with or without the support of the Iranians.{{sfn|Briant|1985|pages=827–830}} As early as 334 BC he demonstrated awareness of this, when he challenged incumbent King Darius III "by appropriating the main elements of the Achaemenid monarchy's ideology, particularly the theme of the king who protects the lands and the peasants".{{sfn|Briant|1985|pages=827–830}} Alexander wrote a letter in 332 BC to Darius III, wherein he argued that he was worthier than Darius "to succeed to the Achaemenid throne".{{sfn|Briant|1985|pages=827–830}} However, Alexander's eventual decision to burn the Achaemenid palace at ] in conjunction with the major rejection and opposition of the "entire Persian people" made it impracticable for him to pose himself as Darius' legitimate successor.{{sfn|Briant|1985|pages=827–830}} Against Bessus (Artaxerxes V) however, Briant adds, Alexander reasserted "his claim to legitimacy as the avenger of Darius III".{{sfn|Briant|1985|pages=827–830}} | |||
| A plot against his life was revealed, and one of his officers, ], was executed for failing to alert Alexander. The death of the son necessitated the death of the father, and thus ], who had been charged with guarding the treasury at ], was assassinated at Alexander's command, to prevent attempts at vengeance. Most infamously, Alexander personally killed the man who had saved his life at Granicus, ], during a violent drunken altercation at ] (modern day ] in ]), in which Cleitus accused Alexander of several judgmental mistakes and especially of having forgotten the Macedonian ways in favour of a corrupt oriental lifestyle.{{sfn|Gergel|2004|p=99}} | |||
| Later, in the Central Asian campaign, a second plot against his life was revealed. This one was instigated by his own royal ]. His official historian, ] of ], was implicated in the plot, and in the '']'', ] states that Callisthenes and the pages were then tortured on the ] as punishment, and likely died soon after.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/cu31924026460752|title=The Anabasis of Alexander; or, The history of the wars and conquests of Alexander the Great. Literally translated, with a commentary, from the Greek of Arrian, the Nicomedian|date=18 January 1884|publisher=London, Hodder and Stoughton|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> It remains unclear if Callisthenes was actually involved in the plot, for prior to his accusation he had fallen out of favour by leading the opposition to the attempt to introduce proskynesis.<ref>{{harvnb|Heckel|Tritle|2009|pp=47–48}}</ref> | |||
| ===Macedon in Alexander's absence=== | ===Macedon in Alexander's absence=== | ||
| When Alexander set out for Asia, he left his general ], an experienced military and political leader and part of |
When Alexander set out for Asia, he left his general ], an experienced military and political leader, and part of Philip II's "Old Guard", in charge of Macedon.<ref name="Roisman 2010 199" /> Alexander's sacking of Thebes ensured that Greece remained quiet during his absence.<ref name="Roisman 2010 199" /> The one exception was a call to arms by Spartan king ] in 331 BC, whom Antipater defeated and killed in the ].<ref name="Roisman 2010 199" /> Antipater referred the Spartans' punishment to the League of Corinth, which then deferred to Alexander, who chose to pardon them.<ref>{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=201}}</ref> There was also considerable friction between Antipater and Olympias, and each complained to Alexander about the other.<ref>{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=202}}</ref> | ||
| In general, Greece enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity during Alexander's campaign in Asia.<ref>{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=203}}</ref> Alexander sent back vast sums from his conquest, which stimulated the economy and increased trade across his empire.<ref>{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=205}}</ref> However, Alexander's constant demands for troops and the migration of Macedonians throughout his empire depleted Macedon's strength, greatly weakening it in the years after Alexander, and ultimately led to its subjugation by Rome after the ] (171–168 BC).{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=186}} | |||
| === Coinage === | |||
| ] of Alexander the Great struck by ] or his successor ], both former '']'' (bodyguards) of Alexander, when they held the position of ] of ] in the lifetime of Alexander, {{circa|333–327 BC}}. The obverse shows ], ancestor of the Macedonian royal line and the reverse shows a seated ] Aëtophoros.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=368240|title= eAuction 430. KINGS of MACEDON. Alexander III 'the Great'. 336–323 BC. AR Tetradrachm (25mm, 17.15 g, 1h). Tarsos mint. Struck under Balakros or Menes, circa 333–327 BC.|website=CNG |access-date=17 February 2019|archive-date=18 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190218081840/https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=368240|url-status=live}}</ref>]] | |||
| The conquest by ] of ], and then of the island of ] between 356 and 342 BC brought rich gold and silver mines under Macedonian control.<ref>], Anabasis VII, 3</ref> | |||
| Alexander appears to have introduced a new coinage in ] in ], after the Battle of Issus in 333 BC, which went on to become the main coinage of the empire.<ref name="LE RIDER 2003, p153-214">G. LE RIDER, Alexandre le Grand : Monnaie, finances et politique, Chapitre V, "Histoire", PUF, 2003, p153-214</ref> Alexander minted gold ]s, silver ]s and ]s, and various fractional ]. The types of these coins remained constant in his empire.<!-- But this is incorrect, because the minting of Philippeioi continued throughout Alexander's reign – see Le Rider.--> The gold series had the head of ] on the obverse and a winged ] (]) on the reverse.<ref>REBUFFAT Françoise, La monnaie dans l'Antiquité, Picard, 1996 .p204</ref> The silver coinage had a beardless head of ] wearing a lionskin headdress on the obverse and Zeus aetophoros ('eagle bearer') enthroned with a scepter in his left hand, on the reverse.<ref>Gerin, Dominique; Grandjean, Catherine; Amandry, Michel; De Callatay. ''La monnaie grecque'', "L'Antiquité : une histoire", Ellipse, 2001. pp. 117–119.</ref> There are both Greek and non-Greek aspects to this design. Heracles and ] were important deities for the Macedonians, with Heracles considered to be the ancestor of the Temenid dynasty and Zeus the patron of the main Macedonian sanctuary, ].<ref name="LE RIDER 2003, p153-214"/> The lion was also the symbolic animal of the Anatolian god ], worshipped at ].<ref name="LE RIDER 2003, p153-214"/> The reverse design of Alexander's tetradrachms is closely modelled on the depiction of the god ] (Baal of Tarsus), on the silver staters minted at Tarsus by the Persian satrap ] before Alexander's conquest.<ref name="LE RIDER 2003, p153-214"/> | |||
| Alexander did not attempt to impose uniform imperial coinage throughout his new conquests. Persian coins continued to circulate in all the ]ies of the empire.<ref>BRIANT Pierre, Alexandre Le Grand, "Que sais-je ?", PUF, 2011.</ref> | |||
| ==Indian campaign== | ==Indian campaign== | ||
| {{Main| |
{{Main|Indian campaign of Alexander the Great}} | ||
| === |
===Forays into the Indian subcontinent=== | ||
| ] | |||
| ] c.322 BC, following his campaigns in ].<br>'''Obv''': Alexander being crowned by ].<br>'''Rev''': Alexander attacking ] on his elephant. ].]] | |||
| After the death of ] and his marriage to Roxana (Roshanak in ]) to cement his relations with his new Central Asian satrapies, Alexander turned his attention to the ]. Alexander invited all the ] of the former satrapy of ], in the north of what is now ], to come to him and submit to his authority. ], ruler of ], whose kingdom extended from the ] to the ], complied, but the chieftains of some hill clans, including the ] and ] sections of the ] (known in Indian texts also as Ashvayanas and Ashvakayanas), refused to submit.<ref name=Ind118/> | |||
| After the death of ] and his marriage to Roxana (Raoxshna in ]) to cement relations with his new satrapies, Alexander turned to the ]. He invited the ] of the former satrapy of ] (a region presently straddling eastern Afghanistan and northern ]), to come to him and submit to his authority. ] (Indian name ]), the ruler of ], whose kingdom extended from the ] to the ] (Jhelum), complied, but the chieftains of some hill clans, including the ] and ] sections of the ] (known in Indian texts also as Ashvayanas and Ashvakayanas), refused to submit.{{sfn|Tripathi|1999|pp=118–21}} ] hastened to relieve Alexander of his apprehension and met him with valuable presents, placing himself and all his forces at his disposal. Alexander not only returned Ambhi his title and the gifts but he also presented him with a wardrobe of "Persian robes, gold and silver ornaments, 30 horses and 1,000 talents in gold". Alexander was emboldened to divide his forces, and Ambhi assisted Hephaestion and Perdiccas in constructing a bridge over the Indus where it bends at ],<ref>Lane Fox 1973</ref> supplied their troops with provisions, and he received Alexander and his whole army in his capital city of Taxila, with every demonstration of friendship and the most liberal hospitality. | |||
| In the winter of 327/326 BC, Alexander personally led a campaign against these clans; the Aspasioi of ] ]s, the Guraeans of the ] valley, and the Assakenoi of the ] and ] valleys.<ref>Narain, pp. 155–165</ref> A fierce contest ensued with the Aspasioi in which Alexander himself was wounded in the shoulder by a dart but eventually the Aspasioi lost the fight. Alexander then faced the Assakenoi, who fought put up stubborn resistance to Alexander in the strongholds of ], ] and ].<ref name=Ind118/> The fort of Massaga could only be reduced after several days of bloody fighting in which Alexander himself was wounded seriously in the ankle. According to ], "Not only did Alexander slaughter the entire population of Massaga, but also did he reduce its buildings to rubbles".<ref>Curtius in McCrindle, Op cit, p 192, J. W. McCrindle; History of Punjab, Vol I, 1997, p 229, Punajbi University, Patiala, (Editors): Fauja Singh, L. M. Joshi; Kambojas Through the Ages, 2005, p 134, Kirpal Singh.</ref> A similar slaughter then followed at Ora, another stronghold of the Assakenoi. In the aftermath of Massaga and Ora, numerous Assakenians fled to the fortress of ]. Alexander followed close behind their heels and captured the strategic hill-fort after the fourth day of a bloody fight.<ref name=Ind118/> | |||
| ] Attacking the Centre in the ]'' by André Castaigne (1898–1899)]] | |||
| On the subsequent advance of the Macedonian king, Taxiles accompanied him with a force of 5,000 men and took part in the ]. After that victory, he was sent by Alexander in pursuit of ], to whom he was charged to offer favourable terms, but narrowly escaped losing his life at the hands of his old enemy. Subsequently, the two rivals were reconciled by the personal mediation of Alexander; Taxiles contributed zealously to the equipment of the fleet on the Hydaspes and was entrusted by Alexander with the government of the whole territory between that river and the Indus. A considerable accession of power was granted him after the death of ], son of Machatas, and he was allowed to retain his authority at the death of Alexander himself (323 BC), as well as in the subsequent partition of the provinces at ], 321 BC. | |||
| After Aornos, Alexander crossed the Indus and fought and won an epic battle against a local ] ruler ], who ruled a region in the ], in the ] in 326 BC.<ref name=Ind124/> Alexander was greatly impressed by Porus for his bravery in battle, and therefore made an alliance with him and appointed him as satrap of his own kingdom, even adding land he did not own before. Additional reasons were probably political since, to control lands so distant from Greece required local assistance and co-operation.<ref name=Ind126/> Alexander named one of the two new cities that he founded on opposite sides of the ] river, ], in honor of the horse that had brought him to India, and had died during the battle<ref name=BriefLife120/> and the other ] (Victory) at the site of modern day ].<ref>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=6_ctAAAAIAAJ&q=Nicaea+Mong&dq=Nicaea+Mong&source=bl&ots=7i3GPP9Jep&sig=scIQIw3Y3hsAeGyryYKrrPHaEEg&hl=en&ei=7Q83TNudGYW0lQe21dXSBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBoQ6AEwAQ |title=The encyclopædia britannica: a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information, Volume 14 p. 398 |publisher=Books.google.ca |accessdate=29 January 2011}}</ref><ref> Author Ian Worthington Editor Ian Worthington Edition illustrated, reprint Publisher Routledge, 2003ISBN 0415291860, ISBN 9780415291866 Length 332 pages p. 175</ref> | |||
| In the winter of 327/326 BC, Alexander personally led a campaign against the Aspasioi of the ], the Guraeans of the ], and the Assakenoi of the ] and ].<ref>{{harvnb|Narain|1965|pp=155–65}}</ref> A fierce contest ensued with the Aspasioi in which Alexander was wounded in the shoulder by a dart, but eventually the Aspasioi lost. Alexander then faced the Assakenoi who fought against him from the strongholds of Massaga, Ora, and ].{{sfn|Tripathi|1999|pp=118–21}} | |||
| ===Revolt of the army=== | |||
| ] | |||
| East of Porus' kingdom, near the ], was the powerful ] of ] and ] of ]. Fearing the prospects of facing other powerful Indian armies and exhausted by years of campaigning, his army mutinied at the ], refusing to march further east. This river thus marks the easternmost extent of Alexander's conquests.<ref name=PA62/><ref name=Ind129/> | |||
| <blockquote>As for the Macedonians, however, their struggle with Porus blunted their courage and stayed their further advance into India. For having had all they could do to repulse an enemy who mustered only twenty thousand infantry and two thousand horse, they violently opposed Alexander when he insisted on crossing the river Ganges also, the width of which, as they learned, was thirty-two furlongs, its depth a hundred fathoms, while its banks on the further side were covered with multitudes of ] and horsemen and elephants. For they were told that the kings of the Ganderites and Praesii were awaiting them with eighty thousand horsemen, two hundred thousand footmen, eight thousand chariots, and six thousand ]s.<ref name=PA62/></blockquote> | |||
| The fort of Massaga was reduced after days of bloody fighting in which Alexander was seriously wounded in the ankle. According to ], "Not only did Alexander slaughter the entire population of Massaga, but also did he reduce its buildings to rubble."<ref>{{cite book |last=McCrindle |first=J. W. |chapter=Curtius |title=History of Punjab |volume=I |year=1997 |publisher=] |location=Patiala |editor1-first=Fauja |editor1-last=Singh |editor2-first=L. M. |editor2-last=Joshi |page=229}}</ref> A similar slaughter followed at Ora. In the aftermath of Massaga and Ora, numerous Assakenians fled to the fortress of ]. Alexander followed close behind and captured the strategic hill-fort after four bloody days.{{sfn|Tripathi|1999|pp=118–21}} | |||
| Alexander spoke to his army and tried to persuade them to march further into India but ] pleaded with him to change his opinion and return, the men, he said, "longed to again see their parents, their wives and children, their homeland". Alexander, seeing the unwillingness of his men, eventually agreed and turned south, marching along the ]. Along the way his army conquered the ] clans (in modern day ]), and other Indian tribes.<ref name=Ind137/> | |||
| ] surrenders to Alexander'']] | |||
| Alexander sent much of his army to ] (modern southern ]) with his general ], and commissioned a fleet to explore the ] shore under his admiral ], while he led the rest of his forces back to Persia through the more difficult southern route along the ] and ] (now part of southern Iran and Pakistan).<ref name=Ind141/> Alexander reached Susa in 324 BC, but not before losing a large number of men to the harsh conditions of the desert.<ref>{{harvnb|Morkot|1996|p=9}}</ref> | |||
| After Aornos, Alexander crossed the Indus and won an epic battle against King ], who ruled a region lying between the Hydaspes and the ] (Chenab), in what is now the ], in the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC.{{sfn|Tripathi|1999|pp=124–25}} Alexander was impressed by Porus's bravery and made him an ally. He appointed Porus as satrap, and added to Porus's territory land that he did not previously own, towards the south-east, up to the Hyphasis (]).<ref name="ReferenceA">p. xl, Historical Dictionary of Ancient Greek Warfare, J, Woronoff & I. Spence</ref><ref name="ReferenceB">Arrian Anabasis of Alexander, V.29.2</ref> Choosing a local helped him control these lands that were distant from Greece.{{sfn|Tripathi|1999|pp=126–27}} Alexander founded two cities on opposite sides of the ] river, naming one ], in honour of his horse, who died around this time.{{sfn|Gergel|2004|p=120}} The other was ] (Victory), thought to be located at the site of modern-day ].<ref>{{harvnb|Worthington|2003|p=175}}</ref> ] in the '']'' writes that in the army of Porus, there was an elephant who fought bravely against Alexander's army, and Alexander dedicated it to the ] (Sun) and named it Ajax because he thought that such a great animal deserved a great name. The elephant had gold rings around its tusks and an inscription was on them written in Greek: "Alexander the son of Zeus dedicates Ajax to the Helios" (ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ Ο ΔΙΟΣ ΤΟΝ ΑΙΑΝΤΑ ΤΩΙ ΗΛΙΩΙ).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0638.tlg001.perseus-grc1:2.12|title=Philostratus the Athenian, Vita Apollonii, book 2, chapter 12|website=perseus.tufts.edu|access-date=20 February 2021|archive-date=25 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225081128/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0638.tlg001.perseus-grc1:2.12|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| ===Revolt of the Hellenic army=== | |||
| ] and the ] of the ], in relation to Alexander's Empire and neighbours]] | |||
| East of Porus's kingdom, near the ], was the ] of ], and further east, the ] of ] region of the Indian subcontinent. Fearing the prospect of facing other large armies and exhausted by years of campaigning, Alexander's army mutinied at the ] (Beas), refusing to march farther east.{{sfn|Kosmin|2014|p=34}} This river thus marks the easternmost extent of Alexander's conquests.{{sfn|Tripathi|1999|pp=129–30}} | |||
| {{blockquote|As for the Macedonians, however, their struggle with Porus blunted their courage and stayed their further advance into India. For having had all they could do to repulse an enemy who mustered only twenty thousand infantry and two thousand horse, they violently opposed Alexander when he insisted on crossing the river Ganges also, the width of which, as they learned, was {{convert|32|furlong|km|1|spell=in|disp=sqbr}}, its depth {{convert|100|fathom|m|spell=in|disp=sqbr}}, while its banks on the further side were covered with multitudes of ] and horsemen and elephants. For they were told that the kings of the Ganderites and Praesii were awaiting them with eighty thousand horsemen, two hundred thousand footmen, eight thousand chariots, and six thousand ]s.<ref name="PA62" />}} | |||
| Alexander tried to persuade his soldiers to march farther, but his general ] pleaded with him to change his opinion and return; the men, he said, "longed to again see their parents, their wives and children, their homeland". Alexander eventually agreed and turned south, marching along the ]. Along the way his army conquered the ] (in modern-day ]) and other Indian tribes; while besieging the Mallian citadel, Alexander suffered a near-fatal injury when an arrow penetrated his armor and entered his lung.{{sfn|Tripathi|1999|pp=137–38}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dodge |first=Theodore Ayrault |url=https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100769753 |title=Alexander |series=Great captains |publisher=] |year=1890 |volume=2 |pages=604–605 |author-link=Theodore Ayrault Dodge}}</ref> | |||
| Alexander sent much of his army to ] (modern southern ]) with general ], and commissioned a fleet to explore the ] shore under his admiral ], while he led the rest back to Persia through the more difficult southern route along the ] and ].{{sfn|Tripathi|1999|p=141}} Alexander reached Susa in 324 BC, but not before losing many men to the harsh desert.<ref>{{harvnb|Morkot|1996|p=9}}</ref> | |||
| ==Last years in Persia== | ==Last years in Persia== | ||
| ]; possibly meaning his ] ]]] | |||
| Discovering that many of his ]s and military governors had misbehaved in his absence, Alexander executed a number of them as examples, on his way to ].<ref name=AVI27/><ref name=AVII4/> As a gesture of thanks, he paid off the debts of his soldiers, and announced that he would send those over-aged and disabled veterans back to Macedon under Craterus. But, his troops misunderstood his intention and mutinied at the town of ], refusing to be sent away and bitterly criticizing his adoption of Persian customs and dress, and the introduction of Persian officers and soldiers into Macedonian units.<ref>Worthington, ''Alexander the Great'', pp. 307–308</ref> After three days, unable to persuade his men to back down, he began to give select Persians command posts in the army and Macedonian military titles were conferred upon Persian units. The Macedonians quickly begged forgiveness, which Alexander accepted, and that evening he held a great banquet which was attended by several thousands of his men at which they ate together.<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 194">{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, "Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia", p. 194}}.</ref> In an attempt to craft a lasting harmony between his Macedonian and Persian subjects, he held a mass marriage of his senior officers to Persian and other noblewomen at Susa, but few of those marriages seem to have lasted much beyond a year.<ref name=AVII4/> Meanwhile, upon his return, Alexander learned some men had desecrated the tomb of ], and swiftly executed them, because they were put in charge of guarding the tomb Alexander held in honor.<ref name=AVI29/> | |||
| Discovering that many of his ]s and military governors had misbehaved in his absence, Alexander executed several of them as examples on his way to ].<ref name="AVI27" /><ref name="AVII4" /> As a gesture of thanks, he paid off the debts of his soldiers, and announced that he would send over-aged and disabled veterans back to Macedon, led by Craterus. His troops misunderstood his intention and mutinied at the town of ]. They refused to be sent away and criticized his adoption of Persian customs and dress and the introduction of Persian officers and soldiers into Macedonian units.<ref name="Worthington 2003 307">{{harvnb|Worthington|2003|pp=307–08}}</ref> | |||
| After three days, unable to persuade his men to back down, Alexander gave Persians command posts in the army and conferred Macedonian military titles upon Persian units. The Macedonians quickly begged forgiveness, which Alexander accepted, and held a great banquet with several thousand of his men.<ref name="Roisman 2010 194">{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=194}}</ref> In an attempt to craft a lasting harmony between his Macedonian and Persian subjects, Alexander ] of his senior officers to Persian and other noblewomen at Susa, but few of those marriages seem to have lasted much beyond a year.<ref name="AVII4" /> | |||
| After Alexander traveled to Ecbatana to retrieve the bulk of the Persian treasure, his closest friend and possible lover, ], died of an illness, or possibly of poisoning.<ref name=AVII14/><ref>{{cite book |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=N7mj2NhCGNYC&pg=PA101&dq=hephaestion+and+alexander+the+great+lover&hl=en&ei=gckuTdDdL9SwhQfC8tTmCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&sqi=2&ved=0CDkQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=hephaestion%20and%20alexander%20the%20great%20lover&f=false |title=Moses in the Hieroglyphs|author=Grant Berkley|page=101 |publisher=Trafford Publishing|year= 2006|ISBN=1412056004 |accessdate=13 January 2011 }}</ref> Arrian finds great diversity and casts doubts on the accounts of Alexander's displays of grief, although he says that they all agree that Hephaestion's death devastated him, and that he ordered the preparation of an expensive ] in Babylon, as well as a decree for the observance of a public mourning.<ref name=AVII14/> | |||
| ]'', by ] (1796)]] | |||
| Back in Babylon, Alexander planned a series of new campaigns, beginning with an invasion of Arabia, but he would not have a chance to realize them, as he died shortly after his return to Babylon.<ref name=AVII19/> | |||
| Meanwhile, upon his return to Persia, Alexander learned that guards of the ] in ] had desecrated it, and swiftly executed them.<ref name="AVI29" /> Alexander admired ], from an early age reading ]'s '']'', which described Cyrus's heroism in battle and governance as a king and legislator.<ref name="Ulrich">{{cite book |title=Alexander the Great |author=Ulrich Wilcken |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company |year=1967 |page=146 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WiSZM-LYsk4C&pg=PA146 |isbn=978-0-393-00381-9 |access-date=5 September 2020}}</ref> During his visit to Pasargadae, Alexander ordered his architect ] to decorate the interior of the sepulchral chamber of Cyrus's tomb.<ref name="Ulrich" /> | |||
| Afterwards, Alexander travelled to Ecbatana to retrieve the bulk of the Persian treasure. There, his closest friend, Hephaestion, died of illness or poisoning.<ref name="AVII14" /> Hephaestion's death devastated Alexander and he ordered the preparation of an expensive ] in Babylon along with a decree for public mourning.<ref name="AVII14" /> Back in Babylon, Alexander planned a series of new campaigns, beginning with an invasion of Arabia.<ref name="AVII19" /> | |||
| ==Death and succession== | ==Death and succession== | ||
| {{Main|Death of Alexander the Great}} | |||
| ] diary (c. 323–322 BC) recording the death of Alexander (], London)]] | |||
| ] (c. 323–322 BC) recording the death of Alexander (], London)]] | |||
| On either 10 or 11 June 323 BC, Alexander died in the palace of ], in ] at the age of 32.<ref name=Depuydt/> Details of the death differ slightly – ]'s account is that roughly 14 days before his death, Alexander entertained his admiral ], and spent the night and next day drinking with ].<ref name=P75/> He developed a fever, which grew steadily worse, until he was unable to speak, and the common soldiers, anxious about his health, demanded and were granted the right to file past him as he silently waved at them.<ref>Wood, Michael. ''In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great: A Journey from Greece to Asia''. University of California Press, 2001. p. 226-227. </ref> Diodorus recounts that Alexander was struck down with pain after downing a large bowl of unmixed wine in honour of ], and died after some agony,<ref name=DSXVII117/> which is also mentioned as an alternative by Arrian, but ] specifically denies this claim.<ref name=P75/> | |||
| On either 10 or 11 June 323 BC, Alexander died in the palace of ], in Babylon, at age 32.<ref>{{cite web |title=A contemporary account of the death of Alexander |url=https://www.livius.org/sources/content/oriental-varia/a-contemporary-account-of-the-death-of-alexander/ |access-date=Nov 5, 2019 |publisher=]}}</ref><ref name="Depuydt" /> There are two different versions of Alexander's death, differing slightly in details. Plutarch's account is that roughly 14 days before his death, Alexander entertained admiral ] and spent the night and next day drinking with ].<ref name="P75" /> Alexander developed a fever, which worsened until he was unable to speak. The common soldiers, anxious about his health, were granted the right to file past him as he silently waved at them.{{Sfn |Wood|2001|pp= 2267–70}} In the second account, Diodorus recounts that Alexander was struck with pain after downing a large bowl of unmixed wine in honour of Heracles followed by 11 days of weakness; he did not develop a fever, instead dying after some agony.<ref name="DSXVII117" /> Arrian also mentioned this as an alternative, but Plutarch specifically denied this claim.<ref name="P75" /> | |||
| Given the propensity of the Macedonian aristocracy to assassination,<ref name=g1/> allegations of foul play have been made about the death of Alexander. Diodorus, Plutarch, Arrian and Justin all mention the theory that Alexander was poisoned. Plutarch dismisses it as a fabrication,<ref name=PA77/> while both Diodorus and Arrian say that they only mention it for the sake of completeness.<ref name=DSXVII117/><ref name=AVII27/> The accounts are nevertheless fairly consistent in designating ], recently removed from the position of Macedonian viceroy, and at odds with Olympias, as the head of the alleged plot. Perhaps taking his summons to Babylon as a death sentence in waiting,<ref name=g23/> and having seen the fate of Parmenion and Philotas,<ref name=DSXVII118/> Antipater arranged for Alexander to be poisoned by his son Iollas, who was Alexander's wine-pourer.<ref name=PA77/><ref name=AVII27/><ref name=DSXVII118/> There is even a suggestion that Aristotle may have had a hand in the plot.<ref name=PA77/><ref name=AVII27/> Conversely, the strongest argument against the poison theory is the fact that twelve days had passed between the start of his illness and his death; in the ancient world, such long-acting poisons were probably not available.<ref>Fox, ''Alexander the Great'', p.</ref> In 2010, however, a theory was proposed that indicated that the circumstances of his death are compatible with poisoning by water of the river Styx (]) that contained ], a dangerous compound produced by bacteria present in its waters.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/7924855/Alexander-the-Great-poisoned-by-the-River-Styx.html|title=Alexander the Great poisoned by the River Styx.html|date=4 August 2010|accessdate=4 August 2010|location=London|work=The Daily Telegraph|first=Nick|last=Squires}}</ref> | |||
| Given the propensity of the Macedonian aristocracy to assassination,{{sfn|Green|2007|pp= 1–2}} foul play featured in multiple accounts of his death. Diodorus, Plutarch, Arrian and ] all mentioned the theory that Alexander was poisoned. Justin stated that Alexander was the victim of a poisoning conspiracy, Plutarch dismissed it as a fabrication,<ref name="PA77" /> while both Diodorus and Arrian noted that they mentioned it only for the sake of completeness.<ref name="DSXVII117" /><ref name="AVII27" /> The accounts were nevertheless fairly consistent in designating ], recently removed as Macedonian viceroy, replaced by Craterus, as the head of the alleged plot.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pitt |first1=E. M. |last2=Richardson |first2=W. P. |date=May 2017 |title=Hostile inaction? Antipater, Craterus and the Macedonian regency |journal=] |volume=67 |issue=1 |pages=77–78 |doi=10.1017/S0009838817000301 |s2cid=157417151 }}</ref> Perhaps taking his summons to Babylon as a death sentence{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=23–24}} and having seen the fate of Parmenion and Philotas,<ref name="DSXVII118" /> Antipater purportedly arranged for Alexander to be poisoned by his son Iollas, who was Alexander's wine-pourer.<ref name="AVII27" /><ref name="DSXVII118" /> There was even a suggestion that Aristotle may have participated.<ref name="AVII27" /> | |||
| Several ] (diseases) have been suggested as the cause of Alexander's death; ] or ] are obvious candidates. A 1998 article in the '']'' attributed his death to typhoid fever complicated by ] and ascending paralysis,<ref name=AMD/> whereas another recent analysis has suggested pyrogenic spondylitis or meningitis as the cause.<ref name=ashrafian/> Other illnesses could have also been the culprit, including ] or the ].<ref name=ref1/><ref>{{cite journal |author=Sbarounis CN |title=Did Alexander the Great die of acute pancreatitis? |journal=J Clin Gastroenterol |volume=24 |pages=294–296 |year=2007 |doi=10.1097/00004836-199706000-00031 |pmid=9252868 |issue=4}}</ref> Natural-cause theories also tend to emphasise that Alexander's health may have been in general decline after years of heavy drinking and his suffering severe wounds (including one in India that nearly claimed his life). Furthermore, the anguish that Alexander felt after ]'s death may have contributed to his declining health.<ref name=AMD/> | |||
| The strongest argument against the poison theory is the fact that twelve days passed between the start of his illness and his death; such long-acting poisons were probably not available.{{Sfn |Lane Fox|2006|loc= chapter 32}} However, in a 2003 BBC documentary investigating the death of Alexander, Leo Schep from the New Zealand National Poisons Centre proposed that the plant white hellebore ('']''), which was known in antiquity, may have been used to poison Alexander.<ref>{{cite news |date=16 October 2003 |url=http://www.royalsociety.org.nz/2003/10/16/alexander/ |title=NZ scientist's detective work may reveal how Alexander died |access-date=15 January 2014 |location=Dunedin |work=The Royal Society of New Zealand |url-status = dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116141707/http://www.royalsociety.org.nz/2003/10/16/alexander/ |archive-date=16 January 2014}}</ref>{{Sfn |Cawthorne|2004|p= 138}}<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bursztajn |first=Harold J |title=Dead Men Talking |journal=Harvard Medical Alumni Bulletin |year=2005 |issue=Spring |url=http://www.forensic-psych.com/articles/artDeadMenTalking.php |access-date=16 December 2011 |archive-date=29 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329124207/http://www.forensic-psych.com/articles/artDeadMenTalking.php |url-status=live }}</ref> In a 2014 manuscript in the journal '']'', Schep suggested Alexander's wine was spiked with ''Veratrum album'', and that this would produce poisoning symptoms that match the course of events described in the '']''.<ref name="schep">{{cite journal |vauthors=Schep LJ, Slaughter RJ, Vale JA, Wheatley P |title=Was the death of Alexander the Great due to poisoning? Was it Veratrum album? |journal=] |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=72–77 |date=January 2014 |pmid=24369045 |doi=10.3109/15563650.2013.870341|doi-access=free}}</ref> ''Veratrum album'' poisoning can have a prolonged course and it was suggested that if Alexander was poisoned, ''Veratrum album'' offers the most plausible cause.<ref name="schep" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Bennett-Smith |first=Meredith |date=14 January 2014 |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/13/alexander-the-great-poisoned-toxic-wine_n_4591553.html |title=Was Alexander The Great Poisoned By Toxic Wine? |access-date=15 January 2014 |work=The Huffington Post |archive-date=17 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170617050647/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/13/alexander-the-great-poisoned-toxic-wine_n_4591553.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Another poisoning explanation put forward in 2010 proposed that the circumstances of his death were compatible with poisoning by water of the river Styx (modern-day ] in Arcadia, Greece) that contained ], a dangerous compound produced by bacteria.<ref>{{cite news |last=Squires |first=Nick |date=4 August 2010 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/7924855/Alexander-the-Great-poisoned-by-the-River-Styx.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/7924855/Alexander-the-Great-poisoned-by-the-River-Styx.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Alexander the Great poisoned by the River Styx |access-date=12 December 2011 |location=London |work=The Daily Telegraph}}{{cbignore}}</ref> | |||
| Several ] (diseases) have been suggested, including ] and ]. A 1998 article in the '']'' attributed his death to typhoid fever complicated by ] and ascending ].<ref name="AMD" /> A 2004 analysis suggested pyogenic (infectious) ] or ].<ref name="ashrafian" /> Other illnesses fit the symptoms, including ], ],<ref name="ref1" /><ref>{{cite journal |last=Sbarounis |first=CN |title=Did Alexander the Great die of acute pancreatitis? |journal=J Clin Gastroenterol |volume=24 |pages=294–96 |year=2007 |doi=10.1097/00004836-199706000-00031 |pmid=9252868 |issue=4}}</ref> and ].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.livescience.com/64676-alexander-the-great-declared-dead-prematurely.html|title=Why Alexander the Great May Have Been Declared Dead Prematurely (It's Pretty Gruesome)|author=Owen Jarus|website=]|date=4 February 2019|access-date=3 November 2021|archive-date=27 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210727002144/https://www.livescience.com/64676-alexander-the-great-declared-dead-prematurely.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Natural-cause theories also tend to emphasize that Alexander's health may have been in general decline after years of heavy drinking and severe wounds. The anguish that Alexander felt after Hephaestion's death may also have contributed to his declining health.<ref name="AMD" /> | |||
| Another possible cause of Alexander's death is an overdose of medication containing ], which is deadly in large doses.<ref>Cawthorne (2004), s. 138</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.forensic-psych.com/articles/artDeadMenTalking.php |title=Forensic Psychiatry & Medicine – Dead Men Talking |publisher=Forensic-psych.com |accessdate=18 July 2009}}</ref> | |||
| === |
===Post-death events=== | ||
| {{see also|Tomb of Alexander the Great}} | |||
| Alexander's body was laid in a gold anthropoid ] that was filled with honey, which was in turn placed in a gold casket.<ref name="sarco1" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://casswww.ucsd.edu/archive/personal/ron/CVNC/byline/bugs_96mar.html |date=Mar 1996 |title=Bayfront Byline Bug Walk |publisher=UCSD |access-date=25 March 2013 |archive-date=3 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121203070121/http://casswww.ucsd.edu/archive/personal/ron/CVNC/byline/bugs_96mar.html |url-status=live }}</ref> According to ], a seer called Aristander foretold that the land where Alexander was laid to rest "would be happy and unvanquishable forever".<ref name="Aelian" /> Perhaps more likely, the successors may have seen possession of the body as a symbol of legitimacy, since burying the prior king was a ].{{Sfn |Green|2007|p= 32}} | |||
| ]]] | |||
| Alexander's body was placed in a gold anthropoid ], which was in turn placed in a second gold casket.<ref name=sarco1/> According to Aelian, a seer called Aristander foretold that the land where Alexander was laid to rest "would be happy and unvanquishable forever".<ref name=Aelian/> Perhaps more likely, the successors may have seen possession of the body as a symbol of legitimacy (it was a ] to bury the previous king).<ref>Green, ''Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age'', p. 32.</ref> At any rate, Ptolemy stole the funeral cortege, and took it to Memphis.<ref name=sarco1/><ref name=Aelian/> His successor, ], transferred the sarcophagus to Alexandria, where it remained until at least ]. ], one of the last successors of Ptolemy I, replaced Alexander's sarcophagus with a glass one so he could melt the original down for issues of his coinage.<ref name=sarco2/> ], ] and ] all visited the tomb in Alexandria, the latter allegedly accidentally knocking the nose off the body. ] was said to have taken Alexander's breastplate from the tomb for his own use. In c. AD 200, Emperor ] closed Alexander's tomb to the public. His son and successor, ], was a great admirer of Alexander, and visited the tomb in his own reign. After this, details on the fate of the tomb are sketchy.<ref name=sarco2/> | |||
| While Alexander's funeral cortege was on its way to Macedon, Ptolemy seized it and took it temporarily to Memphis.<ref name="sarco1" /><ref name="Aelian" /> His successor, ], transferred the sarcophagus to Alexandria, where it remained until at least ]. ], one of Ptolemy's final successors, replaced Alexander's sarcophagus with a glass one so he could convert the original to coinage.<ref name="sarco2" /> The 2014 discovery of an ] in northern Greece, at ], dating from the time of Alexander the Great<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-29239529 |title=Greeks captivated by Alexander-era tomb at Amphipolis |publisher=BBC News |date=22 September 2014 |last1=Christides |first1=Giorgos |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-date=21 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140921235011/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-29239529 |url-status=live }}</ref> has given rise to speculation that its original intent was to be the burial place of Alexander. This would fit with the intended destination of Alexander's funeral cortege. However, the memorial was found to be dedicated to the dearest friend of Alexander the Great, Hephaestion.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/09/30/excavator-ancient-grave-in-greece-honored-alexanders-pal |title=Archaeologist claims opulent grave in Greece honored Alexander the Great's best friend |website=usnews.com |date=30 September 2015 |access-date=15 April 2020 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305153254/http://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/09/30/excavator-ancient-grave-in-greece-honored-alexanders-pal |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/09/30/hephaestions-monogram-found-at-amphipolis-tomb/ |title=Hephaestion's Monogram Found at Amphipolis Tomb |newspaper=Greekreporter.com |date=30 September 2015 |access-date=15 April 2020 |archive-date=1 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001135401/http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/09/30/hephaestions-monogram-found-at-amphipolis-tomb/ |url-status=live |last1=Papapostolou |first1=Anastasios }}</ref> | |||
| ]]] | |||
| The so-called "]", discovered near ] and now in the ], is so named not because it was thought to have contained Alexander's remains, but because its bas-reliefs depict Alexander and his companions hunting and in battle with the Persians. It was originally thought to have been the sarcophagus of ] (died 311 BC), the king of Sidon appointed by Alexander immediately following the ] in 331.<ref>Studniczka pp. 226ff.</ref><ref>Beazley and Ashmole, p. 59, fig. 134.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|author=Bieber M |title=The Portraits of Alexander |journal=Greece & Rome, Second Series |year=1965 |pages=183–188|volume = 12.2}}</ref> However, more recently, it has been suggested that it may date from earlier than Abdalonymus' death.<ref>See ].</ref> | |||
| ], ] and ] all visited the tomb in Alexandria where Augustus, allegedly, accidentally knocked the nose of Alexander's mummified body off. ] was said to have taken Alexander's breastplate from the tomb for his own use. Around AD 200, Emperor ] closed Alexander's tomb to the public. His son and successor, ], a great admirer, visited the tomb during his own reign. After this, details on the fate of the tomb are hazy.<ref name="sarco2" /> | |||
| The so-called "]", discovered near ] and now in the ], is so named not because it was thought to have contained Alexander's remains, but because its ]s depict Alexander and his companions fighting the Persians and hunting. It was originally thought to have been the sarcophagus of ] (died 311 BC), the king of Sidon appointed by Alexander immediately following the ] in 331.<ref>{{harvnb|Studniczka|1894|pp=226ff}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Bieber |first=M |title=The Portraits of Alexander |journal=Greece & Rome |series=Second Series |year=1965 |pages=183–88 |volume=12 |issue=2 |doi=10.1017/s0017383500015345|s2cid=163858858 }}</ref> However, in 1969, it was suggested by ] that it may date from earlier than Abdalonymus's death.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sismondo Ridgway |first=Brunilde |year=1969 |title=Review: Der Alexander-Sarkophag by Karl Schefold |journal=] |volume=73 |page=482 |doi=10.2307/504019 | url=https://repository.brynmawr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=arch_pubs| jstor=504019}}</ref> | |||
| ===Division of the empire=== | |||
| {{Main|Diadochi}} | |||
| ], who succeeded to Alexander's eastern conquests]] | |||
| ] likened the Macedonian army, after the death of Alexander, to the blinded ] due to the many random and disorderly movements that it made.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0045:chapter=1:section=4|title=Plutarch, Galba, chapter 1, section 4|website=perseus.tufts.edu|access-date=20 February 2021|archive-date=27 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227032246/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0045%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D4|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0116:chapter=1:section=4|title=Plutarch, Galba, chapter 1, section 4|website=perseus.tufts.edu|access-date=20 February 2021|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224185759/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0116%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D4|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0191:chapter=27|title=Plutarch, Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata, Ἀλέξανδρος|website=perseus.tufts.edu|access-date=20 February 2021|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224161752/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0191%3Achapter%3D27|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, Leosthenes also likened the anarchy between the generals, after Alexander's death, to the blinded Cyclops "who after he had lost his eye went feeling and groping about with his hands before him, not knowing where to lay them".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg087.perseus-grc1:2.4|title=Plutarch, De Alexandri magni fortuna aut virtute, chapter 2, section 4|website=perseus.tufts.edu|access-date=20 February 2021|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224150622/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg087.perseus-grc1:2.4|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| Alexander's death was so sudden that when reports of his death reached Greece, they were not immediately believed.<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 199"/> Alexander had no obvious or legitimate heir, his son Alexander IV by Roxane being born after Alexander's death. This left the huge question as to who would rule the newly conquered, and barely pacified empire.<ref name=g24/> According to Diodorus, Alexander's companions asked him when he was on his deathbed to whom he bequeathed his kingdom; his laconic reply was "tôi kratistôi"—"to the strongest".<ref name=DSXVII117/> Given that Arrian and Plutarch have Alexander speechless by this point, it is possible that this is an apocryphal story.<ref>Green, ''Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age'', p. 20.</ref> Diodorus, Curtius and Justin also have the more plausible story of Alexander passing his ] to ], one of his bodyguard and leader of the companion cavalry, in front of witnesses, thereby possibly nominating Perdiccas as his successor.<ref name=DSXVII117/><ref name=g24/> | |||
| ===Division of the Macedonian Empire=== | |||
| In any event, Perdiccas initially avoided explicitly claiming power, instead suggesting that Roxane's baby would be king, if male; with himself, ], Leonnatus and Antipater as guardians. However, the infantry, under the command of ], rejected this arrangement since they had been excluded from the discussion. Instead, they supported Alexander's half-brother Philip Arrhidaeus. Eventually, the two sides reconciled, and after the birth of Alexander IV, he and Philip III were appointed joint kings of the Empire—albeit in name only.<ref name=g26/> | |||
| {{Main|Partition of Babylon|Diadochi}} | |||
| ] in 301 BC: the ] (dark blue), the ] (yellow), ] (orange), and ] (green). Also shown are the ] (light blue), the ] (purple), and the ] (red).]] | |||
| Alexander's death was so sudden that when reports of his death reached Greece, they were not immediately believed.<ref name="Roisman 2010 199" /> Alexander had no obvious or legitimate heir, his son Alexander IV by Roxane being born after Alexander's death.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=24–26}} According to Diodorus, Alexander's companions asked him on his deathbed to whom he bequeathed his kingdom; his laconic reply was "tôi kratistôi"—"to the strongest".<ref name="DSXVII117" /> Another theory is that his successors wilfully or erroneously misheard "tôi Kraterôi"—"to Craterus", the general leading his Macedonian troops home and newly entrusted with the regency of Macedonia.<ref name=Shipley>{{cite book |title=The Greek World After Alexander 323–30 BC |author=Graham Shipley |page=40 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sAoiAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA40 |isbn=978-1-134-06531-8 |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |access-date=9 November 2017}}</ref> | |||
| It was not long, however, before dissension and rivalry began to afflict the Macedonians. The satrapies handed out by Perdiccas at the ] became power bases each general could use to launch his own bid for power. After the assassination of Perdiccas in 321 BC, all semblance of Macedonian unity collapsed, and 40 years of war between "The Successors" (''Diadochi'') ensued before the Hellenistic world settled into four stable power blocks: the ] of Egypt, the ] in the east, the Kingdom of ] in Asia Minor, and Macedon. In the process, both Alexander IV and Philip III were murdered.<ref name=g29/> | |||
| Arrian and Plutarch claimed that Alexander was speechless by this time, implying that this was an apocryphal story.<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2007|p=20}}</ref> Diodorus, Curtius and Justin offered the more plausible story that Alexander passed his ] to ], a bodyguard and leader of the companion cavalry, in front of witnesses, thereby nominating him.<ref name="DSXVII117" />{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=24–26}} | |||
| ===Testament=== | |||
| ] relates that Alexander had given detailed written instructions to Craterus some time before his death.<ref name=DSXVIII4/> Although Craterus had already started to carry out some of Alexander's commands, the successors chose not to further implement them, on the grounds they were impractical and extravagant.<ref name=DSXVIII4/> Nevertheless, Alexander's will was read out to his troops by Perdiccas upon Alexander's death.<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 199"/> The testament called for military expansion into the southern and western Mediterranean, monumental constructions, and the intermixing of Eastern and Western populations. Its contents included: | |||
| Perdiccas initially did not claim power, instead suggesting that Roxane's baby would be king, if male, with himself, ], Leonnatus, and Antipater as guardians. However, the infantry, under the command of ], rejected this arrangement since they had been excluded from the discussion. Instead, they supported Alexander's half-brother Philip Arrhidaeus. Eventually, the two sides reconciled, and after the birth of Alexander IV, he and Philip III were appointed joint kings, albeit in name only.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=26–29}} | |||
| * Construction of a monumental tomb for his father Philip, "to match the greatest of the ]s of Egypt"<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 199"/> | |||
| * Erection of great temples in ], ], ], ], ], ], and a monumental temple to ] at ]<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 199"/> | |||
| Dissension and rivalry soon affected the Macedonians. The satrapies handed out by Perdiccas at the ] became power bases each general used to bid for power. After the assassination of Perdiccas in 321 BC, Macedonian unity collapsed, and 40 years of war between "The Successors" ('']'') ensued before the Hellenistic world settled into three stable power blocs: ], ], and ]. In the process, both Alexander IV and Philip III were murdered.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=29–34}} | |||
| * Conquest of Arabia and the entire Mediterranean Basin<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 199"/> | |||
| * Circumnavigation of Africa<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 199"/> | |||
| ===Last plans=== | |||
| * Establishment of cities and the ''"transplant of populations from Asia to Europe and in the opposite direction from Europe to Asia, in order to bring the largest continent to common unity and to friendship by means of intermarriage and family ties."''<ref>{{cite book |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=lMoOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA54&dq=transplant+of+populations+from+Asia+to+Europe+and+in+the+opposite+direction+from+Europe+to+Asia&hl=en&ei=Gx8aTZTiG4WShAecvvG2Dg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=Outsiders in the Greek cities in the fourth century B.C.|author=Paul McKechnie|page=54 |publisher=Taylor & Francis|year= 1989 | |||
| |ISBN= 0415003407|accessdate=28 December 2010 }}</ref> | |||
| ] stated that Alexander had given detailed written instructions to ] some time before his death, which are known as Alexander's "last plans".<ref name="DSXVIII4" /> Craterus started to carry out Alexander's commands, but the successors chose not to further implement them, on the grounds they were impractical and extravagant.<ref name="DSXVIII4" /> Furthermore, ] had read the notebooks containing Alexander's last plans to the Macedonian troops in Babylon, who voted not to carry them out.<ref name="Roisman 2010 199" /> | |||
| According to Diodorus, Alexander's last plans called for military expansion into the southern and western Mediterranean, monumental constructions, and the intermixing of Eastern and Western populations. It included: | |||
| * Construction of 1,000 ships larger than triremes, along with harbours and a road running along the African coast all the way to the ], to be used for an invasion of ] and the western Mediterranean;<ref name=Bad/> | |||
| * Erection of great temples in ], ], ], ], ], all costing 1,500 ], and a monumental temple to ] at ]<ref name="Roisman 2010 199" /><ref name=Bad/> | |||
| * Amalgamation of small settlements into larger cities ("]s") and the "transplant of populations from Asia to Europe and in the opposite direction from Europe to Asia, in order to bring the largest continent to common unity and to friendship by means of intermarriage and family ties"<ref>{{harvnb|McKechnie|1989|p=54}}</ref><ref name=Bad/> | |||
| * Construction of a monumental tomb for his father Philip, "to match the greatest of the ]"<ref name="Roisman 2010 199" /><ref name=Bad/> | |||
| * Conquest of ]<ref name="Roisman 2010 199" /> | |||
| * Circumnavigation of Africa<ref name="Roisman 2010 199" /> | |||
| The enormous scale of these plans has led many scholars to doubt their historicity. ] argued that they were exaggerated by Perdiccas in order to ensure that the Macedonian troops voted not to carry them out.<ref name=Bad>{{cite journal |last1=Badian |first1=Erns |title=A King's Notebooks |journal=Harvard Studies in Classical Philology |date=1968 |volume=72 |pages=183–204|doi=10.2307/311079 |jstor=311079 }}</ref> Other scholars have proposed that they were invented by later authors within the tradition of the ].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tarn|first=William Woodthorpe|title=Alexander the Great |date=1948 |publisher=University Press |isbn=978-0-521-22584-7 |location=Cambridge |page=378 |oclc=606613}}</ref> | |||
| ==Character== | ==Character== | ||
| ===Generalship=== | ===Generalship=== | ||
| {{further|Military tactics of Alexander the Great}} | |||
| ], 334 BC]] | |||
| ], 333 BC]] | |||
| Alexander earned the epithet "the Great" due to his unparalleled success as a military commander.<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 192"/> He is known to have never lost a battle, despite being constantly outnumbered in the many battles he fought.<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 192"/> This success was due to a successful use of terrain, mastery of ] and cavalry tactics, bold strategy, and particularly the ability to inspire fierce loyalty among his troops.<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 193">{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, "Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia", p. 193}}.</ref><ref name="Morkot 1996 110">{{harvnb|Morkot|1996|p=110}}.</ref> The Macedonian phalanx, armed with the ], a spear six meters in length, had been developed and perfected by Philip II through rigorous training,<ref name="Morkot 1996 110"/> and Alexander used its speed and maneuverability to great effect against the larger but more disparate Persian forces.<ref name="Morkot 1996 110"/> Alexander also recognized the potential for disunity among his diverse army, which had different language and weapons, and overcame it by being personally involved in the action,<ref>{{harvnb|Morkot|1996|p=112}}.</ref> in the manner of a Macedonian king.<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 193"/><ref name="Morkot 1996 110"/> | |||
| Alexander perhaps earned the epithet "the Great" due to his unparalleled success as a military commander; he never lost a battle, despite typically being outnumbered.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=}} This was due to use of terrain, ] and cavalry tactics, bold strategy, and the fierce loyalty of his troops.<ref name="Roisman 2010 193">{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=193}}, {{harvnb|Morkot|1996|p=110}}</ref> The ], armed with the ], a spear {{convert |6|m|ft}} long, had been developed and perfected by Philip II through rigorous training, and Alexander used its speed and manoeuvrability to great effect against larger but more disparate Persian forces.{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=110}} Alexander also recognized the potential for disunity among his diverse army, which employed various languages and weapons. He overcame this by being personally involved in battle,{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=121}} in the manner of a Macedonian king.<ref name="Roisman 2010 193"/> | |||
| In his first battle in Asia, at Granicus, Alexander used only a small portion of his strength, perhaps 13,000 infantry with 5,000 cavalry, against a much larger Persian force of 40,000. Alexander placed the phalanx at the center and cavalry and archers on the wings, so that his line was the same length as that of the Persian cavalry line he faced, about {{convert|3|km|2|abbr=on}} (by contrast, the Persian infantry was stationed behind the cavalry). This ensured that he would not be outflanked, while his phalanx, armed with long pikes, had a considerable advantage over the scimitars and javelins of the Persians, and Macedonian losses were negligible compared to those of the Persians.<ref name="Morkot 1996 122">{{harvnb|Morkot|1996|p=122}}.</ref> | |||
| ], 334 BC]] | |||
| At Issus in 333 BC, his first confrontation with Darius, he used the same deployment, and again the phalanx at the center pushed through with the advantage of its long pikes.<ref name="Morkot 1996 122"/> This enabled Alexander to personally lead the charge in the center against Darius, causing him to flee and his army to rout.<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 193"/> | |||
| At the decisive encounter with Darius at Gaugamela, Darius had equipped his chariots with scythes on the wheels to break up the phalanx and his cavalry with pikes. Alexander arranged a double phalanx, with the center advancing at an angle, parting when the chariots bore down and then reforming. The advance was successful and broke Darius' center, causing the latter to flee once again.<ref name="Morkot 1996 122"/> | |||
| In his first battle in Asia, at Granicus, Alexander used only a small part of his forces, perhaps 13,000 infantry with 5,000 cavalry, against a much larger Persian force of 40,000.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tarn|first=William Woodthorpe|title=Alexander the Great |date=1948 |publisher=University Press |isbn=978-0-521-22584-7 |location=Cambridge |pages=361–362 |oclc=606613}}</ref> Alexander placed the phalanx at the center and cavalry and archers on the wings, so that his line matched the length of the Persian cavalry line, about {{convert|3|km|2|abbr=on}}. By contrast, the Persian infantry was stationed behind its cavalry. This ensured that Alexander would not be outflanked, while his phalanx, armed with long pikes, had a considerable advantage over the Persians' ] and ]. Macedonian losses were negligible compared to those of the Persians.{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=122}} | |||
| When faced with opponents who used fighting techniques he was unfamiliar with, such as in Central Asia and India, Alexander was quick to adapt his forces to his opponents fighting style. Thus, in ] and ], Alexander successfully used his javelin throwers and archers to prevent outflanking movements, while massing his cavalry at the center.<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 193"/> In India, when confronted by Porus' elephant corps, the Macedonians were victorious by opening their ranks to envelop the elephants and using their sarissas to strike upwards and dislodge the elephants' handlers.<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 194"/> | |||
| ], 333 BC]] | |||
| At Issus in 333 BC, his first confrontation with Darius, he used the same deployment, and again the central phalanx pushed through.{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=122}} Alexander personally led the charge in the center, routing the opposing army.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=193}} At the decisive encounter with Darius at Gaugamela, Darius equipped his chariots with scythes on the wheels to break up the phalanx and equipped his cavalry with pikes. Alexander arranged a double phalanx, with the center advancing at an angle, parting when the chariots bore down and then reforming. The advance was successful and broke Darius's center, causing the latter to flee once again.{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=122}} | |||
| When faced with opponents who used unfamiliar fighting techniques, such as in Central Asia and India, Alexander adapted his forces to his opponents' style. Thus, in ] and ], Alexander successfully used his javelin throwers and archers to prevent outflanking movements, while massing his cavalry at the center.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=193}} In India, confronted by Porus's elephant corps, the Macedonians opened their ranks to envelop the elephants and used their sarissas to strike upwards and dislodge the elephants' handlers.<ref name = "Roisman 2010 194" /> | |||
| ===Physical appearance=== | ===Physical appearance=== | ||
| ], ]. ] felt sculptures by Lysippos were the most faithful.]] | |||
| ] by ]|upright=.9]] | |||
| Greek biographer ] (ca. 45–120 AD) describes Alexander appearance as: | |||
| Historical sources frequently give conflicting accounts of Alexander's appearance, and the earliest sources are the most scant in their detail.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stewart |first1=Andrew |title=Faces of Power : Alexander's Image and Hellenistic Politics Hellenistic Culture and Society |date=1993 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-06851-3 |page=72}}</ref> During his lifetime, Alexander carefully curated his image by commissioning works from famous and great artists of the time. This included commissioning sculptures by ], paintings by ] and gem engravings by ].<ref name="Alexander the Great">{{cite book |last1=Nawotka |first1=Krzysztof |title=Alexander the Great |date=2010 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |page=43}}</ref> Ancient authors recorded that Alexander was so pleased with portraits of himself created by Lysippos that he forbade other sculptors from crafting his image; scholars today, however, find the claim dubious.<ref>{{cite web |title=Images of Authority II: The Greek Example |year=2005 |publisher=SUNY Oneonta |url=http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth200/politics/images_authority_2_greek.html |access-date=16 December 2011 |archive-date=4 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004195912/http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth200/politics/images_authority_2_greek.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Alexander the Great"/> Nevertheless, Andrew Stewart highlights the fact that artistic portraits, not least because of who they are commissioned by, are always partisan, and that artistic portrayals of Alexander "seek to legitimize him (or, by extension, his Successors), to interpret him to their audiences, to answer their critiques, and to persuade them of his greatness", and thus should be considered within a framework of "praise and blame", in the same way sources such as praise poetry are.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Stewart |first1=Andrew |title=Faces of Power : Alexander's Image and Hellenistic Politics Hellenistic Culture and Society |date=1993 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-06851-3 |page=69}}</ref> Despite those caveats, Lysippos's sculpture, famous for its naturalism, as opposed to a stiffer, more static pose, is thought to be the most faithful depiction.{{Sfn |Bosworth|1988|pp = 19–20}} | |||
| <blockquote> <sup>1</sup> The outward appearance of Alexander is best represented by the statues of him which Lysippus made, and it was by this artist alone that Alexander himself thought it fit that he should be modelled. <sup>2</sup> For those peculiarities which many of his successors and friends afterwards tried to imitate, namely, the poise of the neck, which was bent slightly to the left, and the melting glance of his eyes, this artist has accurately observed. <sup>3</sup> Apelles, however, in painting him as wielder of the thunder-bolt, did not reproduce his complexion, but made it too dark and swarthy. Whereas he was of a fair colour, as they say, and his fairness passed into ruddiness on his breast particularly, and in his face. <sup>4</sup> Moreover, that a very pleasant odour exhaled from his skin and that there was a fragrance about his mouth and all his flesh, so that his garments were filled with it, this we have read in the ''Memoirs of Aristoxenus''.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Alexander*/3.html|title=Plutarch, ''Life of Alexander'' § 4., Loeb Classical Library, Harvard, 1919, vol. VII, p. 233}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
| Another Greek historian ] (Lucius Flavius Arrianus 'Xenophon' ca. 86 – 160) described Alexander as: | |||
| <blockquote>he strong, handsome commander with ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.1stmuse.com/frames/|title=ALEXANDER THE GREAT}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
| Many statues portray Alexander in a ] body posture, with the gaze looking upward and outward, so some historians consider these signs of physical deformities, but it is also a traditional art concept of ] that ancient and modern sculptors often use to signify grace, elegance and social dominance.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/135385/contrapposto|title=Contrapposto}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.poetryinstone.in/lang/en/2010/06/04/contrapposto-and-the-s-curve-parallels-between-greek-sculpture-and-a-chola-bronze.html|title=Contrapposto and the S curve}}</ref><ref name="contra">{{cite web|url=http://www.arcyart.com/ad-contrapposto.htm|title=Contrapposto – Arcy Art Original Oil Paintings Art Dictionary}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://emptyeasel.com/2007/12/18/what-is-contrapposto-in-art-heres-an-explanation-of-classical-contrapposto/|title=What is contrapposto?}}</ref> It was suggested by these historians that Alexander's father, Philip II, and his brother, Philip Arrhidaeus, may have suffered from physical deformities, which had led to the conclusion that Alexander had a congenital scoliotic disorder (familial neck and spinal deformity). | |||
| ], a Roman historian from the first century AD, who wrote the '']'', gives this account of Alexander sitting on the throne of ]: | |||
| <blockquote>Physically, Alexander was not prepossessing. Even by Macedonian standards he was very short, though stocky and tough. His beard was scanty, and he stood out against his hirsute Macedonian barons by going clean-shaven. His neck was in some way twisted, so that he appeared to be gazing upward at an angle. His eyes (]) revealed a dewy, feminine quality. He had a high complexion and a harsh voice.<ref name=g15/></blockquote> | |||
| <!-- Commented out: ], Greece, 4th century BC. In 2010 Greek Police arrested two individuals trying to sell the statue in the port city of Thessaloniki.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.allartnews.com/greek-police-arrest-two-men-with-valuable-antiquities/bronze-statue-of-emperor-alexander-the-great-flanked-by-two-bronze-heads-from-the-roman-period/|title=bronze statue of emperor Alexander the Great flanked by two bronze heads from the Roman period}}</ref>]] --> | |||
| It has even been suggested by medical surgeon Hutan Ashrafian that this scoliosis may have contributed to Alexander's death,<ref name=ashrafian/> however ancient Greek author ] of Nicomedia stated that the king died of fever.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_t28.html|title=The death of Alexander}}</ref> | |||
| {{blockquote|Then Alexander seating himself on the royal throne, which was far too high for his bodily stature. Therefore, since his feet did not reach its lowest step, one of the royal pages placed a table under his feet.{{sfn |Rolfe |1946 |loc = 5.2.13}}}} | |||
| Ancient authors record that Alexander the Great was so pleased with portraits of himself created by ] that he decreed no other sculptor would make his image.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth200/politics/images_authority_2_greek.html|title=Portraits of Alexander the Great}}</ref> ] had often used the ] sculptural scheme to portray Alexander and other characters like ], ] and ].<ref name="contra" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/miscellanea/museums/apoxyomenos.html|title=Apoxyomenos}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ask.com/Lysippus|title=Lysippos}}</ref> Lysippos' sculpture, famous for its lifelike naturalism, as opposed to a stiffer, more static pose, is thought to be the most faithful depiction of Alexander.<ref>Boswroth p.19-20</ref> | |||
| Both Curtius and ] report a story that when ]'s mother, ], first met Alexander and ], she assumed that the latter was Alexander because he was the taller and more handsome of the two.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Siculus |first1=Diodorus |title=Diodorus of Sicily in Twelve Volumes with an English Translation by C. H. Oldfather. Vol. 4–8. |date=1989 |publisher=Harvard University Press |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0084%3Abook%3D17%3Achapter%3D37 |access-date=7 July 2021 |archive-date=9 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709192544/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0084:book%3D17:chapter%3D37 |url-status=live }}</ref> | |||
| ] (4th century BC)|left|upright]] | |||
| The Greek biographer ] ({{circa| 45|120 AD}}) discusses the accuracy of his depictions: | |||
| {{blockquote|The outward appearance of Alexander is best represented by the statues of him which Lysippus made, and it was by this artist alone that Alexander himself thought it fit that he should be modelled. For those peculiarities which many of his successors and friends afterwards tried to imitate, namely, the poise of the neck, which was bent slightly to the left, and the melting glance of his eyes, this artist has accurately observed. Apelles, however, in painting him as wielder of the thunder-bolt, did not reproduce his complexion, but made it too dark and swarthy. Whereas he was of a fair colour, as they say, and his fairness passed into ruddiness on his breast particularly, and in his face. Moreover, that a very pleasant odour exhaled from his skin and that there was a fragrance about his mouth and all his flesh, so that his garments were filled with it, this we have read in the ''Memoirs of Aristoxenus''.{{Sfn |Plutarch|1919|loc = }}}} | |||
| Historians have understood the detail of the pleasant fragrance attributed to Alexander as stemming from a belief in ancient Greece that pleasant scents are characteristic of gods and heroes.<ref name="Alexander the Great"/> | |||
| ] at ], the only known painting of Alexander made during his lifetime, 330s BC]] | |||
| The ] and contemporary coins portray Alexander with "a straight nose, a slightly protruding jaw, full lips and eyes deep set beneath a strongly pronounced forehead".<ref name="Alexander the Great"/> He is also described as having a slight upward tilt of his head to the left.{{sfn|Renault|2013|p=1}} | |||
| The ancient historian ] ({{circa|175}} – {{circa|235 AD}}), in his ''Varia Historia'' (12.14), describes Alexander's hair color as "''ξανθὴν''" (''xanthín''), which at the time, could mean blond, brown, tawny (light brown) or auburn.{{sfn|Liddell|Scott|1940|loc=}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Woodhouse |first=Sidney Chawner |title=English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language |publisher=Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited |year=1910 |location=London |pages=52,84,101}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Beekes |first1=Robert Stephen Paul |title=Etymological Dictionary of Greek |last2=Beek |first2=Lucien van |publisher=Brill |year=2010 |location=Leiden; Boston |pages=1033}}</ref> It is sometimes claimed that Alexander had ],<ref>{{cite book |first=Peter |last=Green |author-link=Peter Green (historian) |title=Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age |publisher=Orion Publishing Co |year=2008 |pages=15–16 |isbn=978-0-7538-2413-9}}</ref> referring to the '']'', which is however a fictional account that also claims Alexander "had sharp teeth like fangs" and "did not look like Philip or Olympias". Reconstruction, based on remaining traces of paint of the original ] on his ], indicates that he was depicted with brown eyes and chestnut brown hair.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Brinkmann |first1=Vinzenz |url=https://pictures.abebooks.com/inventory/31048007537_3.jpg |title=Gods in Color: Painted Sculpture of Classical Antiquity |last2=Wunsche |first2=Raimund |publisher=Arthur M. Sackler / Harvard University Art Museum |year=2007 |pages=159 |access-date=12 April 2022 |archive-date=31 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731043302/https://pictures.abebooks.com/inventory/31048007537_3.jpg |url-status=live }}</ref> While the acropolis museum suggests that trace amounts of red paint on a head statue of Alexander were most likely a base coat for golden hues to be painted over for his hair.<ref>{{cite web |title=Head of a statue of Alexander the Great {{!}} Acropolis Museum {{!}} Official website |url=https://www.theacropolismuseum.gr/en/head-statue-alexander-great |website=www.theacropolismuseum.gr |access-date=1 October 2024}}</ref> | |||
| ===Personality=== | ===Personality=== | ||
| ]'' and fighting an ] with his friend ] (detail); late 4th century BC ],<ref>] (2000). "Hephaestion's Pyre and the Royal Hunt of Alexander", in A.B. Bosworth and E.J. Baynham (eds), ''Alexander the Great in Fact and Fiction''. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-815287-3}}, p. 185.</ref> ] Museum]] | |||
| Some of Alexander's strongest personality traits formed in response to his parents.<ref name=g15/> His mother had huge ambitions for Alexander, and encouraged him to believe it was his destiny to conquer the Persian Empire.<ref name=g15/> Indeed, Olympias may have gone to the extent of poisoning Philip Arrhidaeus so as to disable him, and prevent him being a rival for Alexander.<ref name=PA77/> Olympias's influence instilled huge ambition and a sense of destiny in Alexander,<ref name=g4/> and Plutarch tells us that his ambition "kept his spirit serious and lofty in advance of his years".<ref name=PA4/> Alexander's relationship with his father generated the competitive side of his personality; he had a need to out-do his father, as his reckless nature in battle suggests.<ref name=g15/> While Alexander worried that his father would leave him "no great or brilliant achievement to be displayed to the world",<ref name=PA5/> he still attempted to downplay his father's achievements to his companions.<ref name=g15/> | |||
| Both of Alexander's parents encouraged his ambitions. His father Philip was probably Alexander's most immediate and influential role model, as the young Alexander watched him campaign practically every year, winning victory after victory while ignoring severe wounds.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=190}} Alexander's relationship with his father "forged" the competitive side of his personality; he had a need to outdo his father, illustrated by his reckless behavior in battle.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=15–16}} While Alexander worried that his father would leave him "no great or brilliant achievement to be displayed to the world",<ref name="PA5"/> he also downplayed his father's achievements to his companions.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=15–16}} Alexander's mother Olympia similarly had huge ambitions, and encouraged her son to believe it was his destiny to conquer the Persian Empire.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=15–16}} She instilled a sense of destiny in him,{{sfn|Green|2007|p=4}} and Plutarch tells how his ambition "kept his spirit serious and lofty in advance of his years".<ref name="PA4"/> | |||
| ]Alexander's most evident personality traits were his violent temper and rash, impulsive nature,<ref name=PA4/><ref name=AVII29/> which undoubtedly contributed to some of his decisions during his life.<ref name=g15/> Plutarch thought that this particular personality trait caused his weakness for alcohol.<ref name=PA4/> Although Alexander was stubborn and did not respond well to orders from his father, he was easier to persuade by reasoned debate.<ref name=PA7/> Indeed, set beside his fiery temperament, there was a calmer side to Alexander; perceptive, logical, and calculating. He had a great desire for knowledge, a love for philosophy, and was an avid reader.<ref name=PA8/> This was no doubt in part due to his tutelage by Aristotle; Alexander was intelligent and quick to learn.<ref name=PA7/><ref name=g15/> The tale of his "solving" the ] neatly demonstrates this. The intelligent and rational side to Alexander is amply demonstrated by his ability and success as a general.<ref name=AVII29/> He had great self-restraint in "pleasures of the body", contrasting with his lack of ] with alcohol.<ref name=PA4/><ref name=AVII28>Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' VII, 28</ref> | |||
| According to Plutarch, Alexander also had a violent temper and rash, impulsive nature,<ref name="AVII29"/> which could influence his decision making.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=15–16}} Although Alexander was stubborn and did not respond well to orders from his father, he was open to reasoned debate.<ref name="PA7"/> He had a calmer side—perceptive, logical, and calculating. He had a great desire for knowledge, a love for philosophy, and was an avid reader.<ref name="PA8"/> This was no doubt in part due to Aristotle's tutelage; Alexander was intelligent and quick to learn.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=15–16}} His intelligent and rational side was amply demonstrated by his ability and success as a general.<ref name="AVII29"/> He had great self-restraint in "pleasures of the body", in contrast with his lack of ] with alcohol.<ref name="AVII28">{{harvnb | Arrian|1976|loc=VII, 28}}</ref> | |||
| Alexander was undoubtedly erudite, and was a patron to both the arts and sciences.<ref name=PA8/><ref name=PA4/> However, he had little interest in sports, or the Olympic games (unlike his father), seeking only the ] ideals of glory and fame.<ref name=g4/><ref name=PA4/> He had great charisma and force of personality, characteristics, which made him a great leader.<ref name=g24/><ref name=AVII29/> This is further emphasised by the inability of any of his generals to unite the Macedonians and retain the Empire after his death – only Alexander had the personality to do so.<ref name=g24/> | |||
| ] of an original 3rd century BC ] depicting Alexander the Great, ], Copenhagen]] | |||
| ===Megalomania=== | |||
| Alexander was erudite and patronized both arts and sciences.<ref name="PA4"/><ref name="PA8"/> However, he had little interest in sports or the ] (unlike his father), seeking only the ] ideals of honour (''timê'') and glory (''kudos'').<ref>{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=190}}, {{harvnb|Green|2007|p=4}}</ref> He had great ] and force of personality, characteristics which made him a great leader.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=24–26}}<ref name="AVII29"/> His unique abilities were further demonstrated by the inability of any of his generals to unite Macedonia and retain the Empire after his death—only Alexander had the ability to do so.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=24–26}} | |||
| During his final years, and especially after the death of Hephaestion, Alexander began to exhibit signs of megalomania and paranoia.<ref name=g23/> His extraordinary achievements, coupled with his own ineffable sense of destiny and the flattery of his companions, may have combined to produce this effect.<ref name=g20/> His ] are readily visible in the ] that he ordered Craterus to fulfil, and in his desire to conquer the known world.<ref name=g23/> | |||
| During his final years, and especially after the death of Hephaestion, Alexander began to exhibit signs of ] and ].{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=23–24}} His extraordinary achievements, coupled with his own ineffable sense of destiny and the flattery of his companions, may have combined to produce this effect.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=20–21}} His ] are readily visible in his ] and in his desire to conquer the world,{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=23–24}} in as much as he is by various sources described as having ''boundless ambition'',<ref>M Wood (edited by T Gergel) – Penguin, 2004 {{ISBN|978-0-14-101312-1}} </ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TUqQbemlo80C&pg=PA7 |page=7 |title=Medieval French Alexander, the |isbn=978-0-7914-8832-4 |last1=Maddox |first1=Donald |last2=Sturm-Maddox |first2=Sara |date=February 2012 |publisher=State University of New York Press |access-date=17 October 2016}}</ref> an epithet, the meaning of which has descended into a historical cliché.<ref>G Highet<!-- taught classics at Oxford University until 1938; in 1950 he was appointed Anthon Professor of the Latin Language and Literature at Columbia University --> – , Oxford University Press, 31 December 1949 p. 68 (ed. c.f. – {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626135648/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clich%C3%A9 |date=26 June 2015 }})</ref><ref>Merriam-Webster {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150326115024/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epithet |date=26 March 2015 }} </ref> | |||
| He seems to have come to believe himself a deity, or at least sought to deify himself.<ref name=g23/> Olympias always insisted to him that he was the son of Zeus,<ref name=PA3/> a theory apparently confirmed to him by the oracle of Amun at ].<ref name=P27/> He began to identify himself as the son of Zeus-Ammon.<ref name=P27/> Alexander adopted some elements of Persian dress and customs at his court, notably the custom of '']'', a practice of which the Macedonians disapproved, and were loath to perform.<ref name=AVII11/><ref name=PA45/> Such behaviour cost him much in the sympathies of many of his countrymen.<ref name=PA45/> | |||
| He appears to have believed himself a deity, or at least sought to deify himself.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=23–24}} Olympias always insisted to him that he was the son of Zeus,<ref name="PA3" /> a theory apparently confirmed to him by the oracle of Amun at ].<ref name="P27"/> He began to identify himself as the son of Zeus-Ammon.<ref name="P27"/> Alexander adopted elements of Persian dress and customs at court, notably '']'', which was one aspect of Alexander's broad strategy aimed at securing the aid and support of the Iranian upper classes;{{sfn|Briant|1985|pages=827–830}} however the practise of ''proskynesis'' was disapproved by the Macedonians, and they were unwilling to perform it.<ref name="AVII11"/> This behaviour cost him the sympathies of many of his countrymen.<ref name="PA45"/> Alexander also was a pragmatic ruler who understood the difficulties of ruling culturally disparate peoples, many of whom lived in societies where the king was treated as divine.<ref>{{harvnb|Morkot|1996|p=111}}, {{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=195}}</ref> Thus, rather than megalomania, his behaviour may have been a practical attempt at strengthening his rule and keeping his empire together.<ref>{{harvnb|Morkot|1996|p=121}}, {{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=195}}</ref> | |||
| ===Personal relationships=== | ===Personal relationships=== | ||
| {{Main|Personal relationships of Alexander the Great}} | {{Main |Personal relationships of Alexander the Great}} | ||
| ] | ], depicting the marriage of Alexander to ] in 324 BC; the couple is apparently dressed as ] and ].]] | ||
| Alexander married three times: ], daughter of the ]n nobleman ] of ],<ref>Ahmed, S. Z. (2004), ''Chaghatai: the Fabulous Cities and People of the Silk Road'', West Conshokoken: Infinity Publishing, p. 61.</ref><ref>Strachan, Edward and Roy Bolton (2008), ''Russia and Europe in the Nineteenth Century'', London: Sphinx Fine Art, p. 87, {{ISBN|978-1-907200-02-1}}.</ref><ref>Livius.org. " {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414100829/https://www.livius.org/articles/person/roxane/ |date=14 April 2021}}." ''Articles on Ancient History''. Retrieved on 30 August 2016.</ref> out of love;{{Sfn|Plutarch|1919|loc= }} and the Persian princesses ] and ], the former a daughter of ] and the latter a daughter of ], for political reasons.<ref name="Carney">{{cite book |last=Carney |first=Elizabeth Donnelly |title=Women and Monarchy in Macedonia |date=2000 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |location=Norman |isbn=978-0-8061-3212-9}}</ref>{{Sfn |Plutarch|1936|loc= }} Alexander apparently had two children by Roxana: unnamed first child, who was born in India and died in infancy in November 326 BC,<ref>Metz Epitome 70 | |||
| The greatest emotional relationship of Alexander's life was with his friend, general, and bodyguard ], the son of a Macedonian noble.<ref name=AVII14/><ref name=g15/><ref name=DSXVII114/> Hephaestion's death devastated Alexander, sending him into a period of grieving.<ref name=AVII14/><ref name=P72/> This event may have contributed to Alexander's failing health, and detached ] during his final months.<ref name=g23/><ref name=AMD/> Alexander married twice: ], daughter of the ]n nobleman ], out of love;<ref>Plutarch, </ref> and ], a Persian princess and daughter of ] of Persia, as a matter of political interest.<ref>Plutarch, On the Fortune and Virtue of Alexander, Or2.6</ref> He apparently had two sons, Alexander IV of Macedon of Roxana and, possibly, ] from his mistress Barsine; and lost another child when Roxana miscarried at Babylon.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander01/alexander_iv.html|title=Alexander IV|publisher=livius.org|accessdate=13 December 2009}}</ref><ref>Renault, p. 100.</ref> | |||
| </ref> and ], born after his father's death. Additionaly ] was claimed to be his illegitimate son born of mistress, ]. | |||
| Alexander's sexuality has been the subject of speculation and controversy.<ref>Ogden, p. 204.</ref> Nowhere in the ancient sources is it stated that Alexander had homosexual relationships, or that Alexander's relationship with Hephaestion was sexual. Aelian, however, writes of Alexander's visit to ] where "Alexander garlanded the tomb of Achilles and Hephaestion that of ], the latter riddling that he was a beloved of Alexander, in just the same way as Patroclus was of Achilles".<ref name=AelXII7/> Noting that the word '']'' (ancient Greek for beloved) does not necessarily bear sexual meaning, Alexander may indeed have been bisexual, which in his time was not controversial.<ref>Sacks ''et al'', p. 16.</ref><ref>Worthington, p. 159.</ref> | |||
| Alexander also had a close relationship with his friend, general, and bodyguard ], the son of a Macedonian noble.<ref name="AVII14" />{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=15–16}}<ref name="DSXVII114" /> Hephaestion's death devastated Alexander.<ref name="AVII14" /><ref name="P72" /> This event may have contributed to Alexander's failing health and detached ] during his final months.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=23–24}}<ref name="AMD" /> | |||
| Green argues that there is little evidence in the ancient sources Alexander had much interest in women, particularly since he did not produce an heir until the very end of his life.<ref name=g15/> However, he was relatively young when he died, and Ogden suggests that Alexander's matrimonial record is more impressive than his father's at the same age.<ref>Ogden, Alexander the Great – A new history p. 208. "three attested pregnancies in eight years produces an attested impregnation rate of one every 2.7 years, which is actually superior to that of his father's.</ref> Apart from wives, Alexander had many more female companions. Alexander had accumulated a harem in the style of Persian kings but he used it rather sparingly;<ref name=DSXVII77/> showing great self-control in "pleasures of the body".<ref name=AVII28/> It is possible that Alexander was simply not a highly sexed person. Nevertheless, Plutarch describes how Alexander was infatuated by Roxanne while complimenting him on not forcing himself on her.<ref>Plutarch, ''On the Fortune and Virtue of Alexander'' I, 11</ref> Green suggests that, in the context of the period, Alexander formed quite strong friendships with women, including ], who adopted Alexander, and even Darius's mother Sisygambis, who supposedly died from grief when Alexander died.<ref name=g15/> | |||
| === Sexuality === | |||
| Alexander's sexuality has been the subject of speculation and controversy in modern times.{{sfn|Ogden|2009|p=204}} The Roman era writer ] says, based on the scholar ], who was Alexander's contemporary, that the king "was quite excessively keen on boys", and that Alexander kissed the ] ] in public.<ref>{{cite book |title=Homosexuality in Greece and Rome: A Sourcebook of Basic Documents |url=https://archive.org/details/homosexualitygre00hubb|url-access=limited |editor=Thomas K. Hubbard |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-520-23430-7 |publisher=University of California Press |page=}}</ref> This episode is also told by Plutarch, probably based on the same source. None of Alexander's contemporaries, however, are known to have explicitly described Alexander's relationship with Hephaestion as sexual, though the pair was often compared to ], who are often interpreted as a couple. Aelian writes of Alexander's visit to ] where "Alexander garlanded the tomb of Achilles, and Hephaestion that of ], the latter hinting that he was a beloved of Alexander, in just the same way as Patroclus was of Achilles."<ref name="AelXII7" /> Some modern historians (e.g., ]) believe not only that Alexander's youthful relationship with Hephaestion was sexual, but also that their sexual contacts may have continued into adulthood, which went against the social norms of at least some Greek cities, such as Athens,<ref>{{cite book |author=Marilyn Skinner |title=Sexuality in Greek and Roman Culture (Ancient Cultures) |edition=2nd |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=978-1-4443-4986-3 |page=190 |year=2013}}</ref>{{sfn|Sacks|1995|p=16}} though some modern researchers have tentatively proposed that Macedonia (or at least the Macedonian court) may have been more tolerant of homosexuality between adults.<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Hubbard|editor-first=Thomas |title=A Companion to Greek and Roman Sexualities |date=2014 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing Ltd |isbn=978-1-4051-9572-0 |page=143 |chapter=Chapter 8: Peer Homosexuality |author=Thomas Hubbard}}</ref> | |||
| ], at the ]|left]] | |||
| ] argues that there is little evidence in ancient sources that Alexander had much sexual interest in women; he did not produce an heir until the very end of his life.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=15–16}} However, Ogden calculates that Alexander, who impregnated his partners thrice in eight years, had a higher matrimonial record than his father at the same age.{{sfn|Ogden|2009|p=208|ps=... three attested pregnancies in eight years produces an attested impregnation rate of one every 2.7 years, which is actually superior to that of his father.}} Two of these pregnancies—Stateira's and Barsine's—are of dubious legitimacy.<ref>{{cite book |title=] |author=] |quote=No record at all exists of such a woman accompanying his march; nor of any claim by her, or her powerful kin, that she had borne him offspring. Yet twelve years after his death a boy was produced, seventeen years old, born therefore five years after Damascus, her alleged son "brought up in Pergamon"; a claimant and shortlived pawn in the succession wars, chosen probably for a physical resemblance to Alexander. That he actually did marry another Barsine must have helped both to launch and preserve the story; but no source reports any notice whatever taken by him of a child who, Roxane's being posthumous, would have been during his lifetime his only son, by a near-royal mother. In a man who named cities after his horse and dog, this strains credulity. |page=110 |year=1979 |publisher=Pantheon |isbn=978-0-394-73825-3}}</ref> | |||
| According to Diodorus Siculus, Alexander accumulated a harem in the style of Persian kings, but he used it rather sparingly, "not wishing to offend the Macedonians",<ref name="DSXVII77" /> showing great self-control in "pleasures of the body".<ref name="AVII28" /> Nevertheless, Plutarch described how Alexander was infatuated by Roxana while complimenting him on not forcing himself on her.<ref>{{cite web |year=1936 |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/Fortuna_Alexandri*/2.html |author=Plutarch |title=Moralia |id=I, 11 |publisher=University of Chicago |ref=none |access-date=19 February 2021}}</ref> Green suggested that, in the context of the period, Alexander formed quite strong friendships with women, including ], who adopted him, and even Darius's mother ], who supposedly died from grief upon hearing of Alexander's death.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=15–16}} | |||
| ==Battle record== | |||
| {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="width:100%; font-size:90%; margin:1em auto 1em auto;" | |||
| |- | |||
| !width="65"|Outcome | |||
| ! style="width:140px;"|Date | |||
| ! style="width:110px;"|War | |||
| ! style="width:auto;"|Action | |||
| ! style="width:170px;"|Opponent/s | |||
| !width="45"|Type | |||
| ! style="width:120px;"|Country<br>(present day) | |||
| !width="50"|Rank | |||
| |- | |||
| |{{yes2}}Victory | |||
| !scope="row"|<span style="display:none">338-08-02</span> 2 August 338 BC | |||
| |style="background:#ACBECF"|] | |||
| |<span style="display:none">Chaeronea</span> ] | |||
| |<span style="display:none">.</span>], ] and other Greek cities | |||
| |Battle | |||
| |] | |||
| |] | |||
| <span style="display:none">⁂</span> | |||
| |- | |||
| |{{yes2}}Victory | |||
| !scope="row"|<span style="display:none">335</span> 335 BC | |||
| |style="background:#ACBECF"|] | |||
| |<span style="display:none">Mount Haemus</span> Battle of Mount Haemus | |||
| |<span style="display:none">.</span>], ] | |||
| |Battle | |||
| | ] | |||
| |] | |||
| <span style="display:none">⁂</span> | |||
| |- | |||
| |{{yes2}}Victory | |||
| !scope="row"|<span style="display:none">335-12</span> December 335 BC | |||
| |style="background:#ACBECF"|Balkan Campaign | |||
| |<span style="display:none">Pelium</span> ] | |||
| |<span style="display:none">.</span>] | |||
| |Siege | |||
| |] | |||
| |King | |||
| <span style="display:none">⁂</span> | |||
| |- | |||
| |{{yes2}}Victory | |||
| !scope="row"|<span style="display:none">335-12</span> December 335 BC | |||
| |style="background:#ACBECF"|Balkan Campaign | |||
| |<span style="display:none">Pelium</span> ] | |||
| |<span style="display:none">.</span>] | |||
| |Battle | |||
| |Greece | |||
| |King | |||
| <span style="display:none">⁂</span> | |||
| |- | |||
| |{{yes2}}Victory | |||
| !scope="row"|<span style="display:none">334-05</span> May 334 BC | |||
| |style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign | |||
| |<span style="display:none">Granicus</span> ] | |||
| |<span style="display:none">.</span>] | |||
| |Battle | |||
| | ] | |||
| |King | |||
| <span style="display:none">⁂</span> | |||
| |- | |||
| |{{yes2}}Victory | |||
| !scope="row"|<span style="display:none">334</span> 334 BC | |||
| |style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign | |||
| |<span style="display:none">Miletus</span> ] | |||
| |<span style="display:none">.</span>], ] | |||
| |Siege | |||
| | Turkey | |||
| |King | |||
| <span style="display:none">⁂</span> | |||
| |- | |||
| |{{yes2}}Victory | |||
| !scope="row"|<span style="display:none">334</span> 334 BC | |||
| |style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign | |||
| |<span style="display:none">Halicarnassus</span> ] | |||
| |<span style="display:none">.</span>] | |||
| |Siege | |||
| |Turkey | |||
| |King | |||
| <span style="display:none">⁂</span> | |||
| |- | |||
| |{{yes2}}Victory | |||
| !scope="row"|<span style="display:none">333-11-05</span> 5 November 333 BC | |||
| |style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign | |||
| |<span style="display:none">Issus</span> ] | |||
| |<span style="display:none">.</span>] | |||
| |Battle | |||
| | Turkey | |||
| |King | |||
| <span style="display:none">⁂</span> | |||
| |- | |||
| |{{yes2}}Victory | |||
| !scope="row"|<span style="display:none">332</span> January–July 332 BC | |||
| |style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign | |||
| |<span style="display:none">Tyre</span> ] | |||
| |<span style="display:none">.</span>], ] | |||
| |Siege | |||
| | ] | |||
| |King | |||
| <span style="display:none">⁂</span> | |||
| |- | |||
| |{{yes2}}Victory | |||
| !scope="row"|<span style="display:none">332-10</span> October 332 BC | |||
| |style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign | |||
| |<span style="display:none">Tyre</span> ] | |||
| |<span style="display:none">.</span>] | |||
| |Siege | |||
| | ] | |||
| |King | |||
| <span style="display:none">⁂</span> | |||
| |- | |||
| |{{yes2}}Victory | |||
| !scope="row"|<span style="display:none">331-10-01</span> 1 October 331 BC | |||
| |style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign | |||
| |<span style="display:none">Gaugamela</span> ] | |||
| |<span style="display:none">.</span>] | |||
| |Battle | |||
| | ] | |||
| |King | |||
| <span style="display:none">⁂</span> | |||
| |- | |||
| |{{yes2}}Victory | |||
| !scope="row"|<span style="display:none">331-12</span> December 331 BC | |||
| |style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign | |||
| |<span style="display:none">Uxian Defile</span> ] | |||
| |<span style="display:none">.</span>] | |||
| |Battle | |||
| | ] | |||
| |King | |||
| <span style="display:none">⁂</span> | |||
| |- | |||
| |{{yes2}}Victory | |||
| !scope="row"|<span style="display:none">330-01-20</span> 20 January 330 BC | |||
| |style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign | |||
| |<span style="display:none">Persian Gate</span> ] | |||
| |<span style="display:none">.</span>] | |||
| |Battle | |||
| | Iran | |||
| |King | |||
| <span style="display:none">⁂</span> | |||
| |- | |||
| |{{yes2}}Victory | |||
| !scope="row"|<span style="display:none">329</span> 329 BC | |||
| |style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign | |||
| |<span style="display:none">Cyropolis</span> ] | |||
| |<span style="display:none">.</span>] | |||
| |Siege | |||
| | ] | |||
| |King | |||
| <span style="display:none">⁂</span> | |||
| |- | |||
| |{{yes2}}Victory | |||
| !scope="row"|<span style="display:none">329-10</span> October 329 BC | |||
| |style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign | |||
| |<span style="display:none">Jaxartes</span> ] | |||
| |<span style="display:none">.</span>] | |||
| |Battle | |||
| | ] | |||
| |King | |||
| <span style="display:none">⁂</span> | |||
| |- | |||
| |{{yes2}}Victory | |||
| !scope="row"|<span style="display:none">327</span> 327 BC | |||
| |style="background:#ACBECF"|Persian Campaign | |||
| |<span style="display:none">Sogdian Rock</span> ] | |||
| |<span style="display:none">.</span>] | |||
| |Siege | |||
| | Uzbekistan | |||
| |King | |||
| <span style="display:none">⁂</span> | |||
| |- | |||
| |{{yes2}}Victory | |||
| !scope="row"|<span style="display:none">327</span> May 327 – March 326 BC | |||
| |style="background:#ACBECF"|] | |||
| |<span style="display:none">Cophen</span> ] | |||
| |<span style="display:none">.</span>] | |||
| |Expedition | |||
| | ] and ] | |||
| |King | |||
| <span style="display:none">⁂</span> | |||
| |- | |||
| |{{yes2}}Victory | |||
| !scope="row"|<span style="display:none">326-04</span> April 326 BC | |||
| |style="background:#ACBECF"|Indian Campaign | |||
| |<span style="display:none">Aornos</span> ] | |||
| |<span style="display:none">.</span>] | |||
| |Siege | |||
| | Pakistan | |||
| |King | |||
| <span style="display:none">⁂</span> | |||
| |- | |||
| |{{yes2}}Victory | |||
| !scope="row"|<span style="display:none">326-05</span> May 326 BC | |||
| |style="background:#ACBECF"|Indian Campaign | |||
| |<span style="display:none">Hydaspes</span> ] | |||
| |<span style="display:none">.</span>] | |||
| |Battle | |||
| |Pakistan | |||
| |King | |||
| <span style="display:none">⁂</span> | |||
| |- | |||
| |{{yes2}}Victory | |||
| !scope="row"|<span style="display:none">325</span> November 326 – February 325 BC | |||
| |style="background:#ACBECF"|Indian Campaign | |||
| |<span style="display:none">Aornos</span> ] | |||
| |<span style="display:none">.</span>] | |||
| |Siege | |||
| | Pakistan | |||
| |King | |||
| <span style="display:none">⁂</span> | |||
| |} | |||
| ==Legacy== | ==Legacy== | ||
| Alexander's legacy extended beyond his military conquests, and his reign marked a turning point in European and Asian history.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Alexander the Great's Achievements|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/summary/Alexander-the-Greats-Achievements|access-date=19 August 2021|archive-date=2 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210702234248/https://www.britannica.com/summary/Alexander-the-Greats-Achievements|url-status=live}}</ref> His campaigns greatly increased contacts and trade between ] and ], and vast areas to the east were significantly exposed to ] and influence.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=186}} Some of the cities he founded became major cultural centers, many surviving into the 21st century. His chroniclers recorded valuable information about the areas through which he marched, while the Greeks themselves got a sense of belonging to a world beyond the Mediterranean.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=186}} | |||
| ===Hellenistic kingdoms=== | ===Hellenistic kingdoms=== | ||
| {{Main|Hellenistic period}} | {{Main|Hellenistic period}} | ||
| ] |
] world view: ] by ] (276–194 BC), using information from the campaigns of Alexander and his successors<ref>{{cite web |title=World map according to Eratosthenes (194 B.C.) |publisher=Henry Davis Consulting |work=henry-davis.com |url=http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/Ancient%20Web%20Pages/112.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981205015304/http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/Ancient%20Web%20Pages/112.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 December 1998 |access-date=16 December 2011 }}</ref>]] | ||
| Alexander's most |
Alexander's most immediate legacy was the introduction of Macedonian rule to huge new swathes of Asia. At the time of his death, Alexander's empire covered some {{convert|5200000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}},<ref name="uconn">Peter Turchin, Thomas D. Hall and Jonathan M. Adams, " {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070222011511/http://jwsr.ucr.edu/archive/vol12/number2/pdf/jwsr-v12n2-tah.pdf |date=22 February 2007 }}", ''Journal of World-Systems Research'' Vol. 12 (no. 2), pp. 219–29 (2006).</ref> and was the largest state of its time. Many of these areas remained in Macedonian hands or under Greek influence for the next 200–300 years. The ] that emerged were, at least initially, dominant forces, and these 300 years are often referred to as the ].{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=xii–xix}} | ||
| The eastern borders of Alexander's empire began to collapse even during his lifetime. |
The eastern borders of Alexander's empire began to collapse even during his lifetime.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=24–26}} However, the power vacuum he left in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent directly gave rise to one of the most powerful Indian dynasties in history, the ]. Taking advantage of this power vacuum, ] (referred to in Greek sources as "Sandrokottos"), of relatively humble origin, took control of the ], and with that power base proceeded to conquer the ].{{sfn|Keay|2001|pp=82–85}} | ||
| ===Founding of cities=== | |||
| {{Main|List of cities founded by Alexander the Great}} | |||
| ] | |||
| Over the course of his conquests, Alexander founded ], most of them east of the ].{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=111}}<ref name="livius">{{cite web |url=https://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_z2.html |title=Alexander the Great: his towns |publisher=livius.org |access-date=13 December 2009 |archive-date=3 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503150242/http://www.livius.org/aj-al/alexander/alexander_z2.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The first, and greatest, was ] in Egypt, which would become one of the leading Mediterranean cities.{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=111}} The cities' locations reflected trade routes as well as defensive positions. At first, the cities must have been inhospitable, little more than defensive garrisons.{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=111}} Following Alexander's death, many Greeks who had settled there tried to return to Greece.{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=111}}<ref name="livius" /> However, a century or so after Alexander's death, many of the Alexandrias were thriving, with elaborate public buildings and substantial populations that included both Greek and local peoples.{{sfn|Morkot|1996|p=111}} | |||
| ===Funding of temples=== | |||
| ] at ], now housed in the ]<ref name="Burn"/>]] | |||
| In 334 BC, Alexander the Great donated funds for the completion of the new temple of ] in ], in modern-day western Turkey.<ref name="BritishMuseum">{{cite web |url=http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=437260&partId=1&searchText=athena+polias&people=72426&page=1 |title=Collection online |publisher=] |access-date=15 December 2017 |archive-date=15 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215221426/http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=437260&partId=1&searchText=athena+polias&people=72426&page=1 |url-status=live }} "Marble wall block from the temple of Athena at Priene, inscribed on two sides. The inscription on the front records the gift of funds from Alexander the Great to complete the temple."</ref> An ], now housed in the ], declares: "King Alexander dedicated to Athena Polias."<ref name="Burn">{{cite book |last=Burn |first=Lucilla |date=2004 |title=Hellenistic Art: From Alexander the Great to Augustus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TmhjC_AdoNsC&pg=PA10 |location=London |publisher=The British Museum Press |isbn=978-0-89236-776-4 |pages=10–11 |access-date=15 December 2017}}</ref> This inscription is one of the few independent archaeological discoveries confirming an episode from Alexander's life.<ref name="Burn"/> The temple was designed by ], one of the architects of the ].<ref name="Burn"/><ref name="BritishMuseum"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?partid=1&assetid=457544001&objectid=437260 |title=Priene Inscription |publisher=] |access-date=15 December 2017 |archive-date=15 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215221617/http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details/collection_image_gallery.aspx?partid=1&assetid=457544001&objectid=437260 |url-status=live }} "Marble wall block from the temple of Athena at Priene, inscribed. Part of the marble wall of the temple of Athena at Priene. Above: "King Alexander dedicated the temple to Athena Polias."</ref> | |||
| ] wrote that Alexander founded the temple of Zeus Bottiaios ({{langx|grc|Βοττιαίου Δῖός}}), in the place where later the city of ] was built.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cts.perseids.org/read/greekLit/tlg2200/tlg00411/opp-grc1/88|title=Capitains Nemo|website=cts.perseids.org|access-date=23 May 2020|archive-date=15 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815194836/http://cts.perseids.org/read/greekLit/tlg2200/tlg00411/opp-grc1/88|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Downey |first1=Glanville |chapter=II The City of Seleucus the Conqueror |pages=27–44 |id={{Project MUSE|1708741|type=chapter}} |title=Ancient Antioch |date=2015 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-7671-6 }}</ref> | |||
| ] wrote that Alexander built a big temple to ].<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/sigma/117| title = Suda, sigma, 117| access-date = 12 August 2021| archive-date = 14 October 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211014070448/https://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/sigma/117| url-status = live}}</ref> | |||
| In 2023, ] experts have suggested the possibility that a Greek temple at ] in ], was founded by Alexander. According to the researchers, recent discoveries suggest that "this site honours Zeus and two divine sons. The sons are Heracles and Alexander."<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/11/18/ancient-iraqi-civilisation-worshipped-alexander-the-great/| title = Ancient Iraqis may have worshipped Alexander the Great, says British Museum| newspaper = The Telegraph| date = 18 November 2023| access-date = 18 November 2023| archive-date = 21 November 2023| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231121225300/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/11/18/ancient-iraqi-civilisation-worshipped-alexander-the-great/| url-status = live| last1 = Simpson| first1 = Craig}}</ref> | |||
| ===Hellenization=== | ===Hellenization=== | ||
| {{Main| |
{{Main|Hellenization}} | ||
| ] | |||
| Hellenization |
''Hellenization'' was coined by the German historian ] to denote the spread of Greek language, culture, and population into the former Persian empire after Alexander's conquest.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=xii–xix}} This process can be seen in such great Hellenistic cities as ], ]{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=56–59}} and ] (south of modern ]).<ref>{{cite web |last1=Waterman |first1=Leroy |last2=McDowell |first2=Robert H. |last3=Hopkins |first3=Clark |title=Seleucia on the Tigris, Iraq |publisher=The Kelsey Online |year=1998 |url=http://www.umich.edu/~kelseydb/Excavation/Seleucia.html |work=umich.edu |access-date=16 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104113121/http://www.umich.edu/~kelseydb/Excavation/Seleucia.html |archive-date=4 January 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Alexander sought to insert Greek elements into ] and to hybridize Greek and Persian culture, homogenizing the populations of Asia and Europe. Although his successors explicitly rejected such policies, Hellenization occurred throughout the region, accompanied by a distinct and opposite 'Orientalization' of the successor states.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=21, 56–59}} | ||
| The core of the Hellenistic culture promulgated by the conquests was essentially ].<ref>{{harvnb|Green|2007|pp=56–59}}, {{harvnb|McCarty|2004|p=17}}</ref> The close association of men from across Greece in Alexander's army directly led to the emergence of the largely ]-based "]", or "common" Greek dialect.{{sfn|Harrison|1971|p=51}} Koine spread throughout the Hellenistic world, becoming the ] of Hellenistic lands, and eventually the ancestor of ].{{sfn|Harrison|1971|p=51}} Furthermore, ], education, local government, and art current in the Hellenistic period were all based on Classical Greek ideals, evolving into distinct new forms commonly grouped as Hellenistic. Also, the ] was written in the ] language.{{sfn|Green|2007|pp=56–59}} Aspects of Hellenistic culture were still evident in the traditions of the Byzantine Empire in the mid-15th century.<ref>{{harvnb|Baynes|2007|p=170}}, {{harvnb|Gabriel|2002|p=277}}</ref> | |||
| ] inscription]] | |||
| ==== Hellenization in South and Central Asia ==== | |||
| The core of Hellenistic culture was essentially ] by origin.<ref name=g56/><ref name=murphy/> The Athenian ] dialect had been adopted long before Philip II for official use and was thus spread throughout the Hellenistic world, becoming the ] through Alexander's conquests. Furthermore, ], education, local government, and art current in the Hellenistic period were all based on Classical Greek ideals, evolving though into distinct new forms commonly grouped as Hellenistic.<ref name=g56/> Aspects of the Hellenistic culture were still evident in the traditions of the Byzantine Empire up until the mid-15th century.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gabriel |first=Richard A.|title=The Great Armies of Antiquity|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2002|page=277|chapter=The army of Byzantium|isbn=0275978095|url=http://books.google.com/?id=y1ngxn_xTOIC&printsec=frontcover&q=romano-Hellenistic}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Baynes|first=Norman G.|title=Byzantium: An Introduction to East Roman Civilization|publisher=Baynes Press|year=2007|page=170|chapter=Byzantine art|isbn=978-1406756593|url=http://books.google.com/?id=HdHiVlZ3ErIC&pg=PA170&dq=hellenistic+culture+in+byzantine+traditions&cd=39#v=onepage&q=hellenistic%20culture%20in%20byzantine%20traditions}}</ref> | |||
| {{Main|Indo-Greek Kingdom|Indo-Greek art|Greco-Buddhism}} | |||
| ], in ], 1st to 2nd century AD, ], northern Pakistan. ].]] | |||
| Some of the most pronounced effects of Hellenization can be seen in Afghanistan and India, in the region of the relatively late-rising ] (250–125 BC) (in modern ], ], and ]) and the ] (180 BC – 10 AD) in modern Afghanistan and India.{{sfn|Keay|2001|pp=101–109}} On the ] trade routes, Hellenistic culture hybridized with Iranian and ] cultures. The cosmopolitan art and mythology of ] (a region spanning the upper confluence of the Indus, Swat and Kabul rivers in modern Pakistan) of the ~3rd century BC to the ~5th century AD are most evident of the direct contact between Hellenistic civilization and South Asia, as are the ], which directly mention the Greeks within Ashoka's dominion as converting to Buddhism and the reception of Buddhist emissaries by Ashoka's contemporaries in the Hellenistic world.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Buddhist Heritage of Pakistan: Art of Gandhara |last=Proser |first=Adriana |publisher=Asia Society |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-87848-112-5 }}</ref> The resulting ] known as ] influenced the development of Buddhism<ref>{{cite web |url=https://neosalexandria.org/syncretism/greco-buddhism-a-brief-history/ |title=Greco-Buddhism: A Brief History |website=Neosalexandria |date=11 November 2010 |access-date=19 March 2021 |archive-date=26 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226133605/https://neosalexandria.org/syncretism/greco-buddhism-a-brief-history/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and created a culture of ]. These Greco-Buddhist kingdoms sent some of the first Buddhist missionaries to ], ] and Hellenistic Asia and Europe (]). | |||
| Some of the first and most influential figurative portrayals of ] appeared at this time, perhaps modelled on Greek statues of ] in the Greco-Buddhist style.{{sfn|Keay|2001|pp=101–09}} Several Buddhist traditions may have been influenced by the ]: the concept of ] is reminiscent of Greek divine heroes,<ref>{{harvnb|Luniya|1978|p=312}}</ref> and some ] ] (burning ], gifts of flowers, and food placed on altars) are similar to those practised by the ancient Greeks; however, similar practices were also observed amongst the native Indic culture. One Greek king, ], probably became Buddhist, and was immortalized in ] as 'Milinda'.{{sfn|Keay|2001|pp=101–09}} The process of Hellenization also spurred trade between the east and west.<ref name="Pingree (1978), 533, 554f.">{{harvnb|Pingree|1978|pp=533, 554ff}}</ref> For example, Greek astronomical instruments dating to the 3rd century BC were found in the ] city of ] in modern-day ],<ref>{{cite book |first1=Pierre |last1=Cambon |first2=Jean-François |last2=Jarrige |year=2006 |language=fr |title=Afghanistan, les trésors retrouvés: Collections du Musée national de Kaboul |trans-title=Afghanistan, the treasures found: collections of the Kabul national museum |publisher=Réunion des musées nationaux |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xJFtQgAACAAJ |page=269 |isbn=978-2-7118-5218-5 |access-date=5 September 2020}}</ref> while the Greek concept of a ] surrounded by the spheres of planets eventually supplanted the long-standing Indian cosmological belief of a disc consisting of four continents grouped around a central mountain (Mount Meru) like the petals of a flower.<ref name="Pingree (1978), 533, 554f." /><ref>{{harvnb|Glick|Livesey|Wallis|2005|p=463}}</ref><ref name="Hayashi08Aryabhata">Hayashi (2008), ''Aryabhata I''</ref> The ] (lit. Greek astronomical treatise) and ] texts depict the influence of Greek astronomical ideas on Indian astronomy. | |||
| ], in ], 1st–2nd century AD, ] (Modern Pakistan). ].]] | |||
| Some of the most unusual effects of Hellenization can be seen in India, in the region of the relatively late-arising ].<ref name=k101/> There, isolated from Europe, Greek culture apparently hybridised with Indian, and especially Buddhist, influences. The first realistic portrayals of the ] appeared at this time; they are modelled on Greek statues of ].<ref name=k101/> Several ] traditions may have been influenced by the ]: the concept of ] is reminiscent of Greek divine heroes,<ref>Luniya, p. 312.</ref> and some ] ] (burning incense, gifts of flowers, and food placed on altars) are similar to those practiced by the ancient Greeks. ] draws in part on the ideas of Greek ], such as ].<ref>Pratt, p. 237.</ref> One Greek king, ], probably became Buddhist, and is immortalized in ] as 'Milinda'.<ref name=k101/> | |||
| Following the conquests of Alexander the Great in the east, ] was far-reaching. In ], a few examples of the ] can be found as far as ] with the ] near ]. Several examples of ] displaying Ionic influences can be seen as far as ], especially with the ], dated to the 3rd century BC.<ref>{{cite book |page=438 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7DX-CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA438 |title=A Companion to Asian Art and Architecture |isbn=978-1-119-01953-4 |last1=Brown |first1=Rebecca M. |last2=Hutton |first2=Deborah S. |year=2015 | publisher=John Wiley & Sons |access-date=3 February 2017}}</ref> The ] is also heavily represented in the ], especially through ]s. | |||
| ===Influence on Rome=== | ===Influence on Rome=== | ||
| ], demonstrating the influence of Alexander's memory. ], ].]] | |||
| Alexander and his exploits were admired by many Romans who wanted to associate themselves with his achievements. ] started his '']'' by reminding Romans of his role, and thereafter subsequent Roman leaders saw him as their inspirational role model. Julius Caesar reportedly wept in Spain at the sight of Alexander's statue, because he thought he had achieved so little by the same age that Alexander had conquered the world.<ref name="Plutarch, Caesar, 11"/> ] searched the conquered lands of the east for Alexander's 260-year-old cloak, which he then wore as a sign of greatness. In his zeal to honor Alexander, ] accidentally broke the nose off the Macedonian's mummified corpse while laying a wreath at Alexander's tomb in Alexandria. The Macriani, a Roman family that in the person of ] briefly ascended to the imperial throne, kept images of Alexander on their persons, either on jewelry, or embroidered into their clothes.<ref name=Holt3/> | |||
| Alexander and his exploits were admired by many Romans, especially generals, who wanted to associate themselves with his achievements.<ref name="Asirvatham">{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|loc=Chapter 6, p. 114}}</ref> ] began his '']'' by reminding Romans of Alexander's achievements, and thereafter Roman leaders saw him as a role model. ] adopted the epithet "Magnus" and even Alexander's anastole-type haircut, and searched the conquered lands of the east for Alexander's 260-year-old cloak, which he then wore as a sign of greatness.<ref name="Asirvatham" /> ] dedicated a ] ] ] statue, but replaced Alexander's head with his own, while ] visited Alexander's tomb in Alexandria and temporarily changed his seal from a ] to Alexander's profile.<ref name="Asirvatham" /> The emperor ] also admired Alexander, as did ] and ].<ref name="Asirvatham" /> The Macriani, a Roman family that in the person of ] briefly ascended to the imperial throne, kept images of Alexander on their persons, either on jewellery or embroidered into their clothes.{{sfn|Holt|2003|p=3}} | |||
| On the other hand, some Roman writers, particularly Republican figures, used Alexander as a cautionary tale of how ] tendencies can be kept in check by ] values.<ref name="Asirvatham2">{{harvnb|Roisman|Worthington|2010|loc=Chapter 6, p. 115}}</ref> Alexander was used by these writers as an example of ruler values such as {{lang|la|amicitia}} (friendship) and {{lang|la|clementia}} (clemency), but also {{lang|la|iracundia}} (anger) and {{lang|la|cupiditas gloriae}} (over-desire for glory).<ref name="Asirvatham2" /> | |||
| In the summer of 1995, a statue of Alexander was recovered in an excavation of a Roman house in Alexandria, which was richly decorated with mosaic and marble pavements and probably was constructed in the 1st century AD and occupied until the 3rd century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.egyptology.com/kmt/fall96/nile.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20080209231921/http://www.egyptology.com/kmt/fall96/nile.html|archivedate=9 February 2008 |title=Salima Ikram. Nile Currents |publisher=Egyptology.com |accessdate=22 March 2009}}</ref> | |||
| ] king ] (reigned c. 200–180 BC), wearing an elephant scalp, took over Alexander's legacy in the east by again invading ] in 180 BC, and establishing the ] (180 BC–10 AD).]] | |||
| ] in his satire called "The Caesars", describes a contest between the previous Roman emperors, with Alexander the Great called in as an extra contestant, in the presence of the assembled gods.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.attalus.org/translate/caesars.html|title=Julian: Caesars – translation|website=attalus.org|access-date=29 March 2020|archive-date=26 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226035227/http://www.attalus.org/translate/caesars.html|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| ===Legend=== | |||
| {{Main|Alexander the Great in legend}} | |||
| The ] is a 4th-century Latin description of Alexander the Great's campaigns. ] went to serve his quaestorship in Hispania after his wife's funeral, in the spring or early summer of 69 BC. While there, he encountered a statue of Alexander the Great, and realised with dissatisfaction that he was now at an age when Alexander had the world at his feet, while he had achieved comparatively little.<ref>Goldsworthy, 100</ref><ref>Plutarch 1919, XI, 2</ref> | |||
| There are many legendary accounts surrounding the life of Alexander the Great, with a relatively large number deriving from his own lifetime, probably encouraged by Alexander himself. His court historian Callisthenes portrayed the sea in ] as drawing back from him in ]. Writing shortly after Alexander's death, another participant, ], went so far as to invent a tryst between Alexander and ], queen of the mythical ]. When Onesicritus read this passage to his patron, Alexander's general and later King ] reportedly quipped, "I wonder where I was at the time."<ref name=PA46/> | |||
| ]'' (dark blue) and the '']'' (yellow).]] | |||
| In the first centuries after Alexander's death, probably in Alexandria, a quantity of the more legendary material coalesced into a text known as the '']'', later falsely ascribed to the historian Callisthenes and therefore known as ''Pseudo-Callisthenes''. This text underwent numerous expansions and revisions throughout Antiquity and the ].<ref>{{cite book|last=Stoneman|first=Richard|title=Alexander the Great: A Life in Legend|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0-300-11203-0}}</ref> | |||
| ] posed as the "new Alexander" since he was his boyhood hero.<ref>Leach, John. Pompey the Great. p. 29.</ref> | |||
| ===In Persian literature=== | |||
| In Pre-Islamic middle Persian texts, ''Aleskandar'' is always accompanied by the title ''Gojastak'' or ''Gojaste'' which means damned. He is said to have originated from ''Arum'' which generally refers to the Byzantine empire or ancient Greece. In ] he is mentioned as ''Aleksandar ]'' who defeated '']'' and burned the holy book of the Zoroastrians, ]. The rule of Iranians on Iran was considered to be revived many years later by ] and as such Alexander was thought to be first in line of the Parthian kings. | |||
| After Caracalla concluded his campaign against the Alamanni, it became evident that he was inordinately preoccupied with Alexander the Great.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|last=Goldsworthy|first=Adrian|url=https://archive.org/details/howromefelldeath0000gold/page/74|title=How Rome Fell: death of a superpower|publisher=New Haven: Yale University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-300-16426-8|pages=}}</ref><ref name=":92">{{Cite book|last=Brauer|first=G.|title=The Decadent Emperors: Power and Depravity in Third-Century Rome|year=1967|pages=75}}</ref> He began openly mimicking Alexander in his personal style. In planning his invasion of the Parthian Empire, Caracalla decided to arrange 16,000 of his men in Macedonian-style ]es, despite the Roman army having made the phalanx an obsolete tactical formation.<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":92" /><ref name=":292">{{Cite book|last=Christopher|first=Matthew|title=An Invincible Beast: Understanding the Hellenistic Pike Phalanx in Action|publisher=Casemate Publishers|year=2015|pages=403}}</ref> The historian Christopher Matthew mentions that the term ''Phalangarii'' has two possible meanings, both with military connotations. The first refers merely to the Roman battle line and does not specifically mean that the men were armed with ], and the second bears similarity to the 'Marian Mules' of the late ] who carried their equipment suspended from a long pole, which were in use until at least the 2nd century AD.<ref name=":292" /> As a consequence, the ''Phalangarii'' of ] may not have been pikemen, but rather standard battle line troops or possibly '']''.<ref name=":292" /> | |||
| However, after the Islamic conquests there is a change in this stance and as early as the time ] was written, he was considered to be a legitimate Persian king, one who was son of ''Darab'' the Persian king and ''Nahid'' (Lydia) daughter of ]. Due to her bad breath, Darab sent back the girl to her homeland and there she bore a child named ''Eskandar'', who later rose to power and waged war with Iran. ''Dara'' was another son of Darab, who was eventually killed by his men and the Iranians accepted Eskandar as their new king and praised him. Some literature critiques believe that this change in the reputation was due to the use of a specific source by ] which no longer exists.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=AT8HI3S0NwMC&lpg=PP1&ots=k_JYEEoUpl&dq=Sikander%20SIKANDER%20firdausi&pg=PA327#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=Eskandarnameh |publisher=Books.google.co.uk |accessdate=29 January 2011}}</ref> | |||
| Caracalla's mania for Alexander went so far that Caracalla visited Alexandria while preparing for his Persian invasion and persecuted philosophers of the ] school based on a legend that ] had poisoned Alexander. This was a sign of Caracalla's increasingly erratic behaviour. But this mania for Alexander, strange as it was, was overshadowed by subsequent events in Alexandria.<ref name=":92" /> | |||
| Later it is mentioned that the name Eskandar was given because of the remedy it provided for his mother. Arab historians then referred to him as al-Iskandar. Based on that same source or other sources available, ] composed a Persian epic poem about Eskandar which is considered to be completely fictional and marks the finally evolved figure of Alexander which remained popular in Iran. In this poem Alexander is first a conqueror, then he searches unsuccessfully for the fountain of life and gradually becomes a man of wisdom, has debates with Greek and Indian philosophers and eventually becomes a prophet.<ref></ref> | |||
| In 39, Caligula performed a spectacular stunt by ordering a temporary ] to be built using ships as ], stretching for over two miles from the resort of ] to the neighbouring port of ].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wardle |first1=David |title=Caligula's Bridge of Boats – AD 39 or 40? |journal=Historia |date=2007 |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=118–120 |doi=10.25162/historia-2007-0009 |jstor=25598379 |s2cid=164017284 }}</ref><ref name="seutonius-calig-19">Suetonius, ''The Lives of Twelve Caesars'', Life of Caligula .</ref> It was said that the bridge was to rival the Persian king ] crossing of the Hellespont.<ref name="seutonius-calig-19" /> Caligula, who could not swim,<ref>Suetonius, ''The Lives of Twelve Caesars'', Life of Caligula .</ref> then proceeded to ride his favourite horse ] across, wearing the breastplate of ].<ref name="seutonius-calig-19" /> This act was in defiance of a prediction by Tiberius's soothsayer ] that Caligula had "no more chance of becoming emperor than of riding a horse across the Bay of Baiae".<ref name="seutonius-calig-19" /> | |||
| ===In ancient and modern culture=== | |||
| {{Main|Cultural depictions of Alexander the Great}} | |||
| The diffusion of Greek culture and language cemented by Alexander's conquests in West Asia and North Africa served as a "precondition" for the ] into these territories and ] for the ], according to ].<ref>{{harvnb|Errington|1990|p=249}}.</ref> | |||
| Alexander the Great's accomplishments and legacy have been preserved and depicted in many ways. Alexander has figured in works of both high and popular culture from his own era to the modern day. In the ] he was created a member of the ], a group of heroes encapsulating all the ideal qualities of ]. | |||
| ===Letters=== | |||
| In Punjab, the land of his final conquest, the name "Secunder" is commonly given to children even today. This is both due to respect and admiration for Alexander and also as a memento to the fact that fighting the people of Punjab fatigued his army to the point that they revolted against him. | |||
| {{main|Letters of Alexander the Great}} | |||
| Alexander wrote and received numerous letters, but no ] survive. A few official letters addressed to the Greek cities survive in copies inscribed in stone and the content of others is sometimes reported in historical sources. These only occasionally quote the letters and it is an open question how reliable such quotations are. Several fictitious letters, some perhaps based on actual letters, made their way into the ''Romance'' tradition.<ref name=LICP>{{cite journal |last1=Pearson |first1=Lionel |title=The Diary and the Letters of Alexander the Great |journal=Historia |date=1955 |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=429–455 |jstor=4434421 }}</ref> | |||
| ===In legend=== | |||
| A common proverb in the Punjab reads ''jit jit key jung, secunder jay haar'', in translation, "Alexander wins so many battles that he loses the war". It is used to address anyone who is good at winning but never takes advantage of those wins.<ref name="Philip Mataranyika">, by Philip Mataranyika, Thursday, 18 February 2010</ref> | |||
| {{Main|Alexander the Great in legend}} | |||
| ] | |||
| Many of the legends about Alexander derive from his own lifetime, probably encouraged by Alexander himself.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=187}} His court historian Callisthenes portrayed the sea in ] as drawing back from him in proskynesis. Writing shortly after Alexander's death, ] invented a tryst between Alexander and ], queen of the mythical ]. He reportedly read this passage to his patron King ], who had been one of Alexander's generals and who quipped, "I wonder where I was at the time."<ref name="PA46" /> | |||
| ==Historiography== | |||
| {{Main|Historical Alexander the Great}} | |||
| Texts written by people who actually knew Alexander or who gathered information from men who served with Alexander are all lost apart from a few inscriptions and fragments.<ref name="Roisman 2010 loc=Chapter 9: Dawn L. Gilley and Ian Worthington, Alexander the Great, Macedonia and Asia, p. 186"/> Contemporaries who wrote accounts of his life include Alexander's campaign historian ]; Alexander's generals ] and ]; ], a junior officer on the campaigns; and Onesicritus, Alexander's chief helmsman. These works have been lost, but later works based on these ] survive. The five main surviving accounts are by ], ], ], ], and ].<ref name=grxxii/> | |||
| In the first centuries after Alexander's death, probably in Alexandria, a quantity of the legendary material coalesced into a text known as the '']'', later falsely ascribed to Callisthenes and therefore known as ''Pseudo-Callisthenes''. This text underwent over one hundred recensions, translations, and derivations throughout the Islamic and European worlds in premodern times,<ref>{{harvnb|Stoneman|1996|loc=''passim''}}</ref> containing many dubious stories,{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=187}} and was translated into twenty-five languages,{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=117}} for example ], ] and ].<ref>{{harvnb|Darvishi|2022|loc=''117–152''}}</ref><ref name="auto"/> | |||
| ==Ancestry== | |||
| ===In ancient and modern culture=== | |||
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| Alexander the Great's accomplishments and legacy have been depicted in many cultures. Alexander has featured in both high and popular culture, beginning from his own era to the present day. The ''Alexander Romance'', in particular, has had a significant impact on portrayals of Alexander in later cultures, from Persian to medieval European, to modern Greek.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=117}} | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| Alexander features prominently in modern Greek folklore, more than any other ancient figure.<ref name="Fermor">{{harvnb|Fermor|2006|page=215}}</ref> The colloquial form of his name in modern Greek ("O Megalexandros") is a household name, and he is the only ancient hero to appear in the ] shadow play.<ref name="Fermor" /> One well-known fable among Greek seamen involves a solitary ] who would grasp a ship's prow during a storm and ask the captain, "Is King Alexander alive?" The answer should be "He is alive and well and rules the world!" causing the mermaid to vanish and the sea to calm. Any other answer would cause the mermaid to turn into a raging ] who would drag the ship to the bottom of the sea, all hands aboard.<ref name="Fermor" /> | |||
| ==Notes== | |||
| ]'' showing Alexander praying at the ], mid-16th century]] | |||
| {{Refbegin|colwidth=30em}} | |||
| {{Cnote|i| By the time of his death, he had conquered the entire ], adding it to Macedon's European territories; according to some modern writers, this was most of the world then known to the ancient Greeks (the ']').<ref name=danforth/><ref name=stoneman/> An approximate view of the world known to Alexander can be seen in ]'s map, see ].}} | |||
| {{Cnote|ii|For instance, ] supposedly ranked Alexander as the greatest general;<ref>Goldsworthy, pp. 327–328.</ref> Julius Caesar wept on seeing a statue of Alexander, since he had achieved so little by the same age;<ref name="Plutarch, Caesar, 11"/> ] consciously posed as the 'new Alexander';<ref>Holland, pp. 176–183.</ref> the young ] also encouraged comparisons with Alexander.<ref>Barnett, p. 45.</ref>}} | |||
| {{Cnote|iii| The name ''Αλέξανδρος'' derives from the Greek verb "ἀλέξω" (alexō), "to ward off, to avert, to defend"<ref>, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus Digital Library</ref> and the noun "ἀνδρός" (andros), genitive of "ἀνήρ" (anēr), "man"<ref>, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', on Perseus Digital Library</ref> and means "protector of men."<ref>{{cite web|accessdate=11 December 2009|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Alexander&searchmode=none|title=Alexander|publisher=]}}</ref>}} | |||
| {{Cnote|iv|"In the early 5th century the royal house of Macedon, the Temenidae, was recognised as Greek by the Presidents of the Olympic Games. Their verdict was and is decisive. It is certain that the Kings considered themselves to be of Greek descent from Heracles son of Zeus."<ref name=H86/> | |||
| }} | |||
| {{Cnote|v|"AEACIDS Descendants of Aeacus, son of Zeus and the nymph Aegina, eponymous (see the term) to the island of that name. His son was Peleus, father of Achilles, whose descendants (real or supposed) called themselves Aeacids: thus Pyrrhus and Alexander the Great."<ref name=CR03/> }} | |||
| {{Cnote|vi|There have been, since the time, many suspicions that Pausanias was actually hired to murder Philip. Suspicion has fallen upon Alexander, Olympias and even the newly crowned Persian Emperor, Darius III. All three of these people had motive to have Philip murdered.<ref name=Fox72-73/>}} | |||
| {{Refend}} | |||
| In pre-Islamic ] (]) literature, Alexander is referred to by the epithet ''gujastak'', meaning "accursed", and is accused of destroying temples and burning the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism.<ref>{{harvnb|Curtis|Tallis|Andre-Salvini|2005|p=154}}</ref> In ]ic Persia, under the influence of the '']'' (in {{langx|fa|اسکندرنامه}} '']''), a more positive portrayal of Alexander emerges.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=120}} ]'s '']'' ("The Book of Kings") ] in a line of legitimate Persian ]s, a mythical figure who explored the far reaches of the world in search of the ].<ref>{{harvnb|Fischer|2004|p=66}}</ref> In the ''Shahnameh'', Alexander's first journey is to ] to pray at the ].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kennedy|first=Hugh|title=Hajj : journey to the heart of Islam|publisher=The British Museum|year=2012|isbn=978-0-674-06218-4|editor-last=Porter|editor-first=Venetia|location=Cambridge, Mass.|pages=131|chapter=Journey to Mecca: A History|oclc=709670348}}</ref> Alexander was depicted as performing a ] (pilgrimage to Mecca) many times in subsequent Islamic art and literature.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Webb|first=Peter|title=The Hajj : collected essays|publisher=The British Museum|year=2013|isbn=978-0-86159-193-0|editor-last=Porter|editor-first=Venetia|location=London|pages=14 footnote 72|chapter=The Hajj before Muhammad: Journeys to Mecca in Muslim Narratives of Pre-Islamic History|oclc=857109543|editor2-last=Saif|editor2-first=Liana}}</ref> Later Persian writers associate him with philosophy, portraying him at a symposium with figures such as ], ] and Aristotle, in search of immortality.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=120}} | |||
| ==References== | |||
| {{reflist|colwidth=20em|refs= | |||
| <!-- List of named references in alphabetic order (grouped by 1st letter) --> | |||
| <ref name=Aelian>Aelian, </ref> | |||
| <ref name=AelXII7>Aelian, ''Varia Historia'' </ref> | |||
| <ref name=AIII16>Arrian, </ref> | |||
| <ref name=AMD>{{cite journal |author=Oldach DW, Richard RE, Borza EN, Benitez RM |title=A mysterious death |journal=N. Engl. J. Med. |volume=338 |issue=24 |pages=1764–1769 |year=1998 |month=June |pmid=9625631 |url=http://content.nejm.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=short&pmid=9625631&promo=ONFLNS19 |doi=10.1056/NEJM199806113382411}}</ref> | |||
| <ref name=appian>Appian, ''History of the Syrian Wars'', §10 and §11 at </ref> | |||
| <ref name=ashrafian>{{cite journal |author=Ashrafian, H|title=The death of Alexander the Great—a spinal twist of fate |journal=J Hist Neurosci |volume=13 |pages=138–142 |year=2004 |doi=10.1080/0964704049052157 |pmid=15370319 |issue=2}}</ref> | |||
| <ref name=AVI27>Arrian, </ref> | |||
| <ref name=AVI29>Arrian, </ref> | |||
| <ref name=AVII11>Arrian, </ref> | |||
| <ref name=AVII14>Arrian, </ref> | |||
| <ref name=AVII19>Arrian, </ref> | |||
| <ref name=AVII27>Arrian, </ref> | |||
| <ref name=AVII29>Arrian, </ref> | |||
| <ref name=AVII4>Arrian, </ref> | |||
| <!--<ref name=AVII8>Arrian, </ref> --> | |||
| ] depicting Alexander being lowered in a glass ]]] | |||
| <ref name=BriefLife81>Gergel, p. 81.</ref> | |||
| The figure of ] (]: ذو القرنين; lit. "The Two-Horned One") is believed by the majority of modern researchers of the ] as well as Islamic commentators to be a reference to Alexander.<ref name=":1">{{cite journal |last1=Griffith |first1=Sidney |title=Narratives of 'the Companions of the Cave,' Moses and His Servant, and Dhū 'l-Qarnayn in Sūrat al-Kahf: Late Antique Lore within the Purview of the Qurʾān |journal=Journal of the International Qur'anic Studies Association |date=15 March 2022 |volume=6 |issue=1 |doi=10.5913/jiqsa.6.2021.a005 |s2cid=251486595 }}</ref> The figure is also believed by scholars to be based on later legends of Alexander.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=120}} In this tradition, he was a heroic figure who ] to defend against the nations of ].{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=122}} He also travelled the known world in search of the Water of Life and Immortality, eventually becoming a prophet.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=122}} | |||
| <ref name=BriefLife99>Gergel, p. 99.</ref> | |||
| <ref name=BriefLife120>Gergel, p. 120.</ref> | |||
| The ] version of the ''Alexander Romance'' portrays him as an ideal Christian world conqueror who prayed to "the one true God".{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=120}} In Egypt, Alexander was portrayed as the son of ], the last ] before the Persian conquest.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=122}} His defeat of Darius was depicted as Egypt's salvation, "proving" Egypt was still ruled by an Egyptian.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=120}} | |||
| <ref name=CR03>Chamoux, François and Roussel, Michel. ''Hellenistic Civilization''. Blackwell Publishing, 2003, p. 396, ISBN 0631222421.</ref> | |||
| According to ], Alexander was shown the ] when he entered Jerusalem, which described a mighty Greek king who would conquer the Persian Empire. This is cited as a reason for sparing Jerusalem.<ref>Josephus, ], XI, 337 </ref> | |||
| <ref name=danforth>Danforth, pp38, 49, 167</ref> | |||
| ], ''Les faits et conquêtes d'Alexandre le Grand'', 1448–1449]] | |||
| <ref name=Depuydt>{{cite journal |author=Depuydt L |title=The Time of Death of Alexander the Great: 11 June 323 BC, ca. 4:00–5:00 pm |journal=Die Welt des Orients |volume=28|pages=117–135}}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="DiodXVI">Diodorus Siculus, </ref> | |||
| <ref name=DSXVII77>Diodorus Siculus, </ref> | |||
| <ref name=DSXVII114>Diodorus Siculus </ref> | |||
| <ref name=DSXVII117>Diodorus Siculus </ref> | |||
| <ref name=DSXVII118>Diodorus Siculus </ref> | |||
| <ref name=DSXVIII4>Diodorus Siculus, </ref> | |||
| In ] and ], the name "]", derived from the Persian name for Alexander, denotes a rising young talent, and the ] ruler ] stylized himself as "Sikandar-i-Sani" (the Second Alexander the Great).<ref>{{harvnb|Connerney|2009|p=68}}</ref> In ], Turkic and Afghan sovereigns from the Iranian-cultured region of Central Asia brought positive cultural connotations of Alexander to the Indian subcontinent, resulting in the efflorescence of ''Sikandernameh'' (]) written by Indo-Persian poets such as ] and the prominence of Alexander the Great as a popular subject in Mughal-era Persian miniatures.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Donde |first=Dipanwita |date=2014 |title=The Mughal Sikander: Influence of the Romance of Alexander on Mughal Manuscript Painting |url=https://www.academia.edu/6097802 |journal=International Conference of Greek Studies: An Asian Perspective |via=Academia |access-date=19 April 2019 |archive-date=12 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812151906/https://www.academia.edu/6097802 |url-status=live }}</ref> In ], Alexander the Great was revered as a member of the ]; a group of heroes whose lives were believed to encapsulate all the ideal qualities of ].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Noll |first1=Thomas |article=The Visual Image of Alexander the Great |title=Alexander the Great in the Middle Ages: Transcultural Perspectives |editor-last=Stock |editor-first=Markus |translator-last=Boettcher |translator-first=Susan |date=2016 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto |isbn=978-1-4426-4466-3 |page=258 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2nqMCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA258 |access-date=21 November 2017}}</ref> During the first ], in a question from ], asking whether he gave his preference to Alexander or Caesar, ] said that he places Alexander The Great in the first rank, the main reason being his campaign on Asia.<ref>Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne, Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte, pp 158</ref> | |||
| <ref name=Fox72-73>Fox, ''The Search For Alexander'', pp. 72–73.</ref> | |||
| In the '']'', there are poems referring to Alexander.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://topostext.org/work/534#9.699|title=ToposText|website=topostext.org|access-date=18 August 2019|archive-date=1 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201022239/https://topostext.org/work/534#9.699|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://topostext.org/work/748#122|title=ToposText|website=topostext.org|access-date=18 August 2019|archive-date=1 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210201022206/https://topostext.org/work/748#122|url-status=live}}</ref> | |||
| <ref name=g1>Green, ''Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age'', pp. 1–2.</ref> | |||
| <ref name=g4>Green, ''Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age'', p. 4.</ref> | |||
| <ref name=g15>Green, ''Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age'', pp. 15–16.</ref> | |||
| <ref name=g20>Green, ''Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age'', pp20–21</ref> | |||
| <ref name=g21>Green, ''Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age'', p. 21.</ref> | |||
| <ref name=g23>Green, ''Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age'', pp. 23–24.</ref> | |||
| <ref name=g24>Green, ''Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age'', pp. 24–26.</ref> | |||
| <ref name=g26>Green, ''Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age'', pp. 26–29.</ref> | |||
| <ref name=g29>Green, ''Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age'', pp. 29–45.</ref> | |||
| <ref name=g56>Green, ''Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age'', pp. 56–59.</ref> | |||
| <ref name=grimal>Grimal, p. 382.</ref> | |||
| <ref name=grxxii>Green, ''Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age'', pp. ''xxii–xxviii''.</ref> | |||
| <ref name=gxii>Green, ''Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age'', pp. ''xii–xix''.</ref> | |||
| Throughout time, art objects related to Alexander were being created. In addition to speech works, sculptures and paintings, in modern times Alexander is still the subject of musical and cinematic works. The song 'Alexander the Great' by the British heavy metal band ] is indicative. Some films that have been shot with the theme of Alexander are: | |||
| <ref name="H83">{{cite book|last=Hammond |first=N. G. L.|title=Sources for Alexander the Great|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1983|pages=72–73|isbn=9780521714716|url=http://books.google.com/?id=gay_i14p9oEC&pg=PA72&lpg=PA72&dq=%22statue+of+Xerxes%22+alexander&q=}}</ref> | |||
| * '']'' (1941), an Indian production directed by ] about the conquest of India by Alexander<ref>{{cite book|title=100 Bollywood Films|isbn=978-81-7436-990-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tk5gBAAAQBAJ&q=Sikandar+1941+Prithviraj+Kapoor&pg=PT165|last1=Dwyer|first1=Rachel|date=December 2005|publisher=Roli Books |access-date=6 April 2021}}</ref> | |||
| <ref name=H86>Hammond, N.G.L. ''A History of Greece to 323 BC''. Cambridge University, 1986, p. 516.</ref> | |||
| * '']'' (1956), produced by MGM and starring ] | |||
| <ref name=Holt3>Holt, p. 3.</ref> | |||
| * ''Sikandar-e-Azam'' (1965), an Indian production directed by Kedar Kapoor | |||
| * '']'' (2004), directed by ], starring ] | |||
| There are also many references to other movies and TV series. | |||
| <ref name="I, 1">Arrian, </ref> | |||
| <ref name=Ind118>{{cite book|title=History of Ancient India |author=Tripathi|pages=118–121|url=http://books.google.com/?id=WbrcVcT-GbUC | isbn=9788120800182 | year=1999 | publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.}}</ref> | |||
| <ref name=Ind124>{{cite book|title=History of Ancient India |author=Tripathi|pages=124–125|url=http://books.google.com/?id=WbrcVcT-GbUC | isbn=9788120800182 | year=1999 | publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.}}</ref> | |||
| <ref name=Ind126>{{cite book|title=History of Ancient India |author=Tripathi|pages=126–127|url=http://books.google.com/?id=WbrcVcT-GbUC | isbn=9788120800182 | year=1999 | publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.}}</ref> | |||
| <ref name=Ind129>{{cite book|title=History of Ancient India |author=Tripathi|pages=129–130|url=http://books.google.com/?id=WbrcVcT-GbUC | isbn=9788120800182 | year=1999 | publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.}}</ref> | |||
| <ref name=Ind137>{{cite book|title=History of Ancient India |author=Tripathi|pages=137–138|url=http://books.google.com/?id=WbrcVcT-GbUC&pg=PA134&dq=Malloi++Alexander | isbn=9788120800182 | year=1999 | publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.}}</ref> | |||
| <ref name=Ind141>{{cite book|title=History of Ancient India |author=Tripathi|page=141|url=http://books.google.com/?id=WbrcVcT-GbUC | isbn=9788120800182 | year=1999 | publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.}}</ref> | |||
| Newer novels about Alexander are: | |||
| <ref name=keay82>Keay, pp. 82–85.</ref> | |||
| The trilogy "Alexander the Great" by ] consisting of "The son of the dream", "The sand of Amon", and "The ends of the world". | |||
| <ref name=k101>Keay, pp. 101–109.</ref> | |||
| The trilogy of ] consisting of "]", "]" and "]". | |||
| * '']'', about Alexander the Great (2004), {{ISBN|978-0-385-50099-9}} and "* '']'', about Alexander the Great's conquests in Afghanistan (2006), {{ISBN|978-0-385-51641-9}}" by ]. | |||
| Irish playwright ] wrote '']''. | |||
| <ref name=M33-34-R>Renault, pp. 33–34.</ref> | |||
| <ref name=M50-51-R>Renault, pp. 50–51.</ref> | |||
| <ref name=M51-R>Renault, p. 51.</ref> | |||
| <ref name=M54-R>Renault, p. 54.</ref> | |||
| <ref name=McCarty27>McCarty, p. 27.</ref> | |||
| <ref name=murphy>Murphy, p. 17.</ref> | |||
| ==Historiography== | |||
| <ref name=N10-M>McCarty, p. 10.</ref> | |||
| {{Main|Historiography of Alexander the Great}} | |||
| <ref name=N30-31-M>McCarty, pp. 30–31.</ref> | |||
| Apart from a few inscriptions and fragments, texts written by people who actually knew Alexander or who gathered information from men who served with Alexander were all lost.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=186}} Contemporaries who wrote accounts of his life included Alexander's campaign historian Callisthenes, Alexander's generals; Ptolemy and ], ], a junior officer on the campaigns, and Onesicritus, Alexander's chief helmsman. Their works are lost, but later works based on these ] have survived. The earliest of these is ] (1st century BC), followed by Quintus Curtius Rufus (mid-to-late 1st century AD), ] (1st to 2nd century AD), the biographer Plutarch (1st to 2nd century AD), and finally ], whose work dated as late as the 4th century.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=186}} Of these, Arrian is generally considered the most reliable, given that he used Ptolemy and Aristobulus as his sources, closely followed by Diodorus.{{sfn|Roisman|Worthington|2010|p=186}} | |||
| <ref name=N31-M>McCarty, p. 31.</ref> | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| <ref name=P21-B>Bose, p. 21.</ref> | |||
| {{Portal|History|Greece|Iran|Egypt}} | |||
| <ref name=P27>Plutarch, </ref> | |||
| * ] | |||
| <ref name=P72>Plutarch, </ref> | |||
| * ] | |||
| <ref name=P75>Plutarch, </ref> | |||
| * ] | |||
| <ref name=P75-B>Bose, p. 75.</ref> | |||
| * ] | |||
| <!--<ref name=P76>Plutarch, </ref>--> | |||
| * ] | |||
| <ref name=P96-Bose>Bose, p. 96.</ref> | |||
| * ] | |||
| <ref name=PA2>Plutarch, </ref> | |||
| * ] | |||
| <ref name=PA3>Plutarch, </ref> | |||
| * ] | |||
| <ref name=PA4>Plutarch, </ref> | |||
| * ] | |||
| <ref name=PA5>Plutarch, </ref> | |||
| * ] | |||
| <ref name=PA6>Plutarch, </ref> | |||
| * ] | |||
| <ref name=PA7>Plutarch, </ref> | |||
| <ref name=PA8>Plutarch, </ref> | |||
| <ref name=PA9>Plutarch, </ref> | |||
| <ref name=PA45>Plutarch, </ref> | |||
| <ref name=PA46>Plutarch, </ref> | |||
| <ref name=PA62>Plutarch, </ref> | |||
| <ref name=PA77>Plutarch, </ref> | |||
| <ref name=plu>{{cite web|url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Pyrrhus*.html |title=Life of Pyrrhus |author=Plutarch|publisher=Penelope.uchicago.edu |accessdate=14 November 2009}}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="Plutarch, Caesar, 11">Plutarch, Caesar, 11</ref> | |||
| ==References== | |||
| <ref name=R64-F>Fox, ''The Search For Alexander'', p. 64.</ref> | |||
| ===Notes=== | |||
| <ref name=R65-F>Fox, ''The Search For Alexander'', p. 65.</ref> | |||
| {{Cnote2 Begin|liststyle=upper-alpha}} | |||
| <ref name=R65-66-F>Fox, ''The Search For Alexander'', pp. 65–66.</ref> | |||
| {{Cnote2|a| Heracles was Alexander's alleged illegitimate son.}} | |||
| <ref name=R68-F>Fox, ''The Search For Alexander'', p. 68.</ref> | |||
| {{Cnote2|b| The name {{lang|grc|Ἀλέξανδρος}} derives from the Greek verb {{lang|grc|ἀλέξω}} ({{transliteration|grc|aléxō}}, {{Literal translation|ward off, avert, defend|lk=on}}){{Sfn |Plutarch|1919|loc= | ps =: '{{lang|grc|ἀλέξω}}'.}}{{Sfn | Liddell | Scott | 1940}} and {{lang|grc|ἀνδρ-}} ({{transliteration|grc|andr-}}), the stem of {{lang|grc|ἀνήρ}} ({{transliteration|grc|anḗr}}, {{Literal translation|man}}),{{Sfn |Plutarch|1919|loc = | ps =: '{{lang|grc|ἀνήρ}}'.}}{{Sfn |Liddell|Scott|1940}} and means "protector of men".<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |access-date=11 December 2009 |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Alexander&searchmode=none |title=Alexander |dictionary=] |archive-date=20 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090920175420/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Alexander&searchmode=none |url-status=live }}</ref> }} | |||
| <ref name=ref1>{{cite web|accessdate=20 May 2008|url=http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol9no12/03-0288.htm|title=Alexander the Great and West Nile Virus Encephalitis|publisher=]}}</ref> | |||
| {{Cnote2|c|The first known person to call Alexander "the Great" was a Roman playwright named ] (254–184 BC) in his play '']''.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Diana Spencer|title=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Classics|year= 2019|chapter=Alexander the Great, reception of|chapter-url=https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-8048|series=Oxford Research Encyclopedias|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.8048|isbn=978-0-19-938113-5|access-date=9 November 2021|quote=Alexander enjoys the epithet ''the Great'' for the first time in Plautus's Roman comedy ''Mostellaria'' (775–777).|archive-date=10 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110030827/https://oxfordre.com/classics/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.001.0001/acrefore-9780199381135-e-8048|url-status=live}}</ref>}} | |||
| <ref name="Renault, p. 28">Renault, p. 28.</ref> | |||
| {{Cnote2|d|Macedon was an Ancient Greek polity; the Macedonians were a Greek tribe.<ref name="Macedonians">{{harvnb|Hornblower|2008|pp=55–58}}; {{harvnb|Joint Association of Classical Teachers|1984|pp=50–51}}; {{harvnb|Errington|1990|pp=3–4}}; {{harvnb|Fine|1983|pp=607–08}}; {{harvnb|Hammond|Walbank|2001|p=11}}; {{harvnb|Jones|2001|p=21}}; {{harvnb|Osborne|2004|p=127}}; {{harvnb|Hammond|1989|pp=12–13}}; {{harvnb|Hammond|1993|p=97}}; {{harvnb|Starr|1991|pp=260, 367}}; {{harvnb|Toynbee|1981|p=67}}; {{harvnb|Worthington|2008|pp=8, 219}}; {{harvnb|Cawkwell|1978|p=22}}; {{harvnb|Perlman|1973|p=78}}; {{harvnb|Hamilton|1974|p=23}}; {{harvnb|Bryant|1996|p=306}}; {{harvnb|O'Brien|1994|p=25}}.</ref>}} | |||
| <ref name=Renault47-49>Renault, pp. 47–49.</ref> | |||
| {{Cnote2|e| By the time of his death, he had conquered the entire ], adding it to Macedon's European territories; according to some modern writers, this was most of the world then known to the ancient Greeks (the ']').{{sfn|Danforth|1997|pp=38, 49, 167}}{{sfn|Stoneman|2004|p=2}} An approximate view of the world known to Alexander can be seen in ]'s map; see ]. }} | |||
| <ref name="Renault, p. 72">Renault, p. 72.</ref> | |||
| {{Cnote2|f| For instance, ] supposedly ranked Alexander as the greatest general;{{Sfn | Goldsworthy |2003|pp=327–28}} ] wept on seeing a statue of Alexander, since he had achieved so little by the same age;<ref name="Plutarch, Caesar, 11" /> ] and ] consciously posed as the 'new Alexander';{{sfn|Holland|2003|pp=176–83}} the young ] Bonaparte also encouraged comparisons with Alexander. Napoleon also placed Alexander in the first rank.{{sfn|Barnett|1997|p=45}} ] believed himself to be the actual reincarnation of Alexander.<ref>Ronald H. Fritze, Egyptomania: A History of Fascination, Obsession and Fantasy, p. 103.</ref><ref>Goldsworthy, Adrian (2009). How Rome Fell: death of a superpower. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 74. {{ISBN|978-0-300-16426-8}}.</ref><ref>Brauer, G. (1967). The Decadent Emperors: Power and Depravity in Third-Century Rome. p. 75.</ref> ] wore the breastplate of Alexander in order to show his power.<ref>Suetonius, The Lives of Twelve Caesars, Life of Caligula 19.</ref><ref>Geoff W. Adams, The Roman Emperor Gaius "Caligula" and His Hellenistic Aspirations, pp 46</ref> ]'s hero was Alexander the Great, whose Spanish equivalent ''Alejandro'' he adopted as his ''nom de guerre''.<ref>Leycester Coltman, The Real Fidel Castro, p 220.</ref> Among ], ]'s heroes were Alexander and ].<ref>Nicolle, David (2000). Constantinople 1453: The End of Byzantium. Osprey Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1-84176-091-9}}.</ref> In a letter to his rival, ], while equating himself with Alexander, compares ] as "Darius of our days".<ref>{{cite book|title=Imperial Citizen: Marriage and Citizenship in the Ottoman Frontier Provinces of Iraq|page=39|year=2011|author=Karen M. Kern}}</ref> ], in a work written for ], says that Selim holds Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar in the highest esteem above all the generals of old.<ref>{{cite book|author=Donald Presgrave Little|year=1976|page=227|title=Essays on Islamic civilization presented to Niyazi Berkes}}</ref>}} | |||
| {{Cnote2|g|In ancient historiography, the ] was traditionally regarded as having originated from ]. The Argeads themselves claimed Argive Greek descent from the hero ]. Through his parents' genealogy, ancient authors traced Alexander's descent back to heroes and other legendary figures from ], such as ] and ].<ref>Diodorus, '']'' , ; Plutarch, '']'' ; Pausanias, '']'' , , ; Arrian, '']'' ; Herodotus, '']'' , ; Isocrates, ''To Philip'' ; Thucydides, </ref><ref>{{harvnb|Errington|1990|p=3}}; {{harvnb|Hornblower|2008|pp=55–58}}</ref>}} | |||
| {{Cnote2|h| There have been, since the time, many suspicions that Pausanias was actually hired to murder Philip. Suspicion has fallen upon Alexander, Olympias and even the newly crowned Persian Emperor, Darius III. All three of these people had motive to have Philip murdered.{{sfn|Lane Fox|1980|pp=72–73}} }} | |||
| {{Cnote2|i| However, ], who used ] as a source, said that Alexander crossed with more than 5,000 horse and 30,000 foot; ] quoted the same totals, but listed 5,100 horse and 32,000 foot. Diodorus also referred to an advance force already present in Asia, which ], in his Stratagems of War (5.44.4), said numbered 10,000 men.}} | |||
| {{Cnote2 End}} | |||
| {{notelist}} | |||
| ===Citations=== | |||
| <ref name=sarco1>{{cite web|url=http://www.greece.org/alexandria/alexander/pages/location.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20040531025749/http://www.greece.org/alexandria/alexander/pages/location.html|archivedate=31 May 2004 |title=HEC |publisher=Greece.org |accessdate=18 July 2009}}</ref> | |||
| {{reflist|refs = | |||
| <ref name=sarco2>{{cite web|url=http://www.greece.org/alexandria/alexander/pages/aftermath.html|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20040827134332/http://www.greece.org/alexandria/alexander/pages/aftermath.html|archivedate=27 August 2004 |title=HEC |publisher=Greece.org |accessdate=18 July 2009}}</ref> | |||
| <!-- List of named references in alphabetic order (grouped by 1st letter) --> | |||
| <ref name=stoneman>Stoneman, p2</ref> | |||
| <ref name="Aelian">{{Citation |last=Aelian | chapter-url = http://penelope.uchicago.edu/aelian/varhist12.xhtml#chap64 |title=Varia Historia |volume=XII |chapter=64}}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="AelXII7">{{Citation |last=Aelian |title=Varia Historia | chapter-url = http://penelope.uchicago.edu/aelian/varhist12.xhtml#chap7 |volume=XII |chapter=7}}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="AIII16">{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="AMD">{{cite journal |last1=Oldach |first1=DW |last2=Richard |first2=RE |last3=Borza |first3=EN |last4=Benitez |first4=RM |title=A mysterious death |journal=N. Engl. J. Med. |volume=338 |issue=24 |pages=1764–69 |date=June 1998 |pmid=9625631 |doi=10.1056/NEJM199806113382411}}</ref> | |||
| <!--<ref name="appian">{{Citation |last=Appian |title=History of the Syrian Wars |at=§10 and §11 |url=https://www.livius.org/ap-ark/appian/appian_syriaca_02.html |publisher=Livius}}.</ref>--> | |||
| <ref name="ashrafian">{{cite journal |last=Ashrafian |first=H |title=The death of Alexander the Great – a spinal twist of fate |journal=J Hist Neurosci |volume=13 |pages=138–42 |year=2004 |doi=10.1080/0964704049052157 |pmid=15370319 |issue=2 |s2cid=36601180}}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="AVI27">{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="AVI29">{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="AVII11">{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="AVII14">{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="AVII19">{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="AVII27">{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="AVII29">{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="AVII4">{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="Depuydt">{{Cite journal |last=Depuydt |first=Leo |date=1997 |title=The Time of Death of Alexander the Great: 11 June 323 B.C. (–322), ca. 4:00–5:00 PM |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25683643 |journal=Die Welt des Orients |volume=28 |pages=117–135 |jstor=25683643 |issn=0043-2547}}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="DiodXVI">{{harvnb|Diodorus Siculus|1989|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="DSXVII77">{{harvnb|Diodorus Siculus|1989|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="DSXVII114">{{harvnb|Diodorus Siculus|1989|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="DSXVII117">{{harvnb|Diodorus Siculus|1989|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="DSXVII118">{{harvnb|Diodorus Siculus|1989|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="DSXVIII4">{{harvnb|Diodorus Siculus|1989|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="I, 1">{{harvnb|Arrian|1976|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="P27">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="P72">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="P75">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="PA2">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="PA3">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="PA4">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="PA5">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="PA6">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="PA7">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="PA8">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="PA9">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="PA62">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="PA46">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="PA77">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="PA45">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="Plutarch, Caesar, 11">{{harvnb|Plutarch|1919|loc= }}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="ref1">{{cite journal |last1=Marr |first1=John S|author2-link=Charles Calisher |last2=Calisher |first2=Charles H |year=2003 |title=Alexander the Great and West Nile Virus Encephalitis |journal=Emerging Infectious Diseases |volume=9 |issue=12 |pages=1599–1603 |doi=10.3201/eid0912.030288 |pmc=3034319 |pmid=14725285}}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="sarco1">{{cite web |last=Kosmetatou |first=Elizabeth |title=The Location of the Tomb: Facts and Speculation |year=1998 |publisher=Greece.org |url=http://www.greece.org/alexandria/alexander/pages/location.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040531025749/http://www.greece.org/alexandria/alexander/pages/location.html |archive-date=31 May 2004 |access-date=16 December 2011}}</ref> | |||
| <ref name="sarco2">{{cite web |last=Kosmetatou |first=Elizabeth |title=The Aftermath: The Burial of Alexander the Great |year=1998 |publisher=Greece.org |url=http://www.greece.org/alexandria/alexander/pages/aftermath.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040827134332/http://www.greece.org/alexandria/alexander/pages/aftermath.html |archive-date=27 August 2004 |access-date=16 December 2011}}</ref> | |||
| }} | }} | ||
| ==Sources== | ===Sources=== | ||
| {{refbegin|colwidth=30em}} | |||
| ===Primary sources=== | ====Primary sources==== | ||
| {{refbegin|30em}} | |||
| * Arrian, ''Anabasis Alexandri'' (''The Campaigns of Alexander''), translated by ]: {{Cite book|publisher=Penguin|year=1976 |isbn=0140442537|author=Arrian ; translated|title=The campaigns of Alexander}} | |||
| * {{cite book |isbn=978-0-14-044253-3 |author-link=Arrian |last=Arrian |title=Anabasis Alexandri (The Campaigns of Alexander) |editor1-first=Aubrey |editor1-last=de Sélincourt |editor1-link=Aubrey de Sélincourt |year=1976 |publisher=Penguin Books |title-link=Anabasis Alexandri}} | |||
| * Curtius Rufus, ''Historiae Alexandri Magni'' (''History of Alexander the Great''), {{cite web|url=http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Curtius/home.html |title=Curtius Rufus, History of Alexander the Great |publisher=penelope.uchicago.edu |accessdate=16 November 2009}} {{La icon}} | |||
| * {{cite book |url=http://www.attalus.org/info/curtius.html |title=History of Alexander |editor-first=John |editor-last=Rolfe |chapter=] |year=1946 |publisher=] |access-date=28 April 2015 |archive-date=23 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923180024/http://www.attalus.org/info/curtius.html |url-status=live}} | |||
| * Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca historica'', (''Library of History''), translated by C.H. Oldfather (1989), {{cite web|url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Diod.+toc |title=Diodorus Siculus, Library |publisher=perseus.tufts.edu |accessdate=14 November 2009}} {{En icon}} | |||
| * {{cite web |last=Siculus |first=Diodorus |author-link=Diodorus Siculus |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.perseus-grc2:18.4.4 |title=Library of History |publisher=] |access-date=14 November 2009 |year=1989 |ref={{SfnRef|Diodorus Siculus|1989}} |others=CH Oldfather, translator |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924214821/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.perseus-grc2:18.4.4 |url-status=live}} | |||
| * Justin, ''Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus'', translated by Rev. John Selby Watson (1853), {{cite web|url=http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/justin/english/index.html |title=Justin: Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus |publisher=forumromanum.org |accessdate=14 November 2009}} {{En icon}} | |||
| * |
* {{cite book |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0243 |title=Plutarch, Alexander |editor-first=Bernadotte |editor-last=Perrin |last=] |year=1919 |publisher=Perseus Project |access-date=6 December 2011 |archive-date=21 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111021034907/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.01.0243 |url-status=live}} | ||
| * |
* {{cite book |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Moralia/Fortuna_Alexandri*/ |title=On the Fortune of Alexander |last=Plutarch |publisher=] |editor-first=Frank Cole |editor-last=Babbitt |access-date=26 November 2011 |volume=IV |year=1936 |pages=379–487}} | ||
| * {{cite web |first=Pompeius |last=Trogus |year=1853 |url=http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/justin/english/ |editor-last=Justin |title=Epitome of the Philippic History |access-date=14 November 2009 |website=Corpus Scriptorum Latinorum |others=Rev. John Selby Watson, translator |archive-date=8 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131108235820/http://www.forumromanum.org/literature/justin/english/ |url-status=usurped}} | |||
| {{refend}} | |||
| ===Secondary sources=== | ====Secondary sources==== | ||
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| * {{cite book |last=Goldsworthy |first=A. |title=The Fall of Carthage |publisher=Cassel |year=2003 |isbn=0304366420}} | |||
| * {{cite book |editor1-last=Glick |editor1-first=Thomas F. |editor2-last=Livesey |editor2-first=Steven John |editor3-last=Wallis |editor3-first=Faith |year=2005 |title=Medieval Science, Technology, and Medicine: An Encyclopedia |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=978-0-415-96930-7}} | |||
| * {{cite book|last=Luniya |first=Bhanwarlal Nathuram|title=Life and Culture in Ancient India: From the Earliest Times to 1000 A.D. |year=1978 |publisher=Lakshmi Narain Agarwal|id=LCCN 78907043}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Goldsworthy |first=A. |year=2003 |title=The Fall of Carthage |publisher=Cassel |isbn=978-0-304-36642-2}} | |||
| *{{cite book|last=M'Crindle |first=J.W. |title= |location=Westminster |publisher=Archibald Constable and Co |year=1893}} | |||
| * {{cite book |first1=Anthony |last1=Grafton |year=2010 |editor1-last=Most |editor1-first=Glenn W |editor2-last=Settis |editor2-first=Salvatore |title=The Classical Tradition |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-03572-0}} | |||
| * {{cite book|last=McCarty |first=Nick |title=Alexander the Great |publisher=Penguin |year=2004 |isbn=0670042684|isbn-status=May be invalid – please double check}} | |||
| * {{cite book|last= |
* {{cite book |last=Green |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Green (historian) |year=2007 |title=Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Age |publisher=Phoenix |location=London |isbn=978-0-7538-2413-9}} | ||
| * {{cite book | |
* {{cite book |last=Gunther |first=John |year=2007 |title=Alexander the Great |publisher=Sterling |isbn=978-1-4027-4519-5}} | ||
| * {{cite book |last=Hamilton |first=J.R. |year=1974 |title=Alexander the Great |publisher=] |location=Pittsburgh |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qi0iL6r7v2IC |isbn=978-0-8229-6084-3}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last1=Nandan |first1=Y. |last2=Bhavan |first2=BV|title=British Death March Under Asiatic Impulse: Epic of Anglo-Indian Tragedy in Afghanistan |isbn=8172763018 |year=2003|publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan|location=Mumbai}} | |||
| * {{cite book|last= |
* {{cite book |author-link=N. G. L. Hammond |last=Hammond |first=NGL |year=1983 |title=Sources for Alexander the Great |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-71471-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gay_i14p9oEC |access-date=5 September 2020}} | ||
| * {{cite book|last= |
* {{cite book |last=Hammond |first=Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière |year=1986 |title=A History of Greece to 323 BC |publisher=Cambridge University |author-link=N. G. L. Hammond |author-mask=3}} | ||
| * {{cite book |last=Hammond |first=Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière |year=1993 |title=Studies concerning Epirus and Macedonia before Alexander |publisher=Hakkert |location=Amsterdam |isbn=978-90-256-1050-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TWwiAQAAIAAJ |access-date=3 October 2020}} | |||
| * {{cite book|last=Ogden|first=Daniel |chapter=Alexander's Sex Life|title=Alexander the Great: A New History|editor=Alice Heckel, Waldemar Heckel, Lawrence A. Tritle |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2009 |isbn=1405130822}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last1=Hammond |first1=Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière |author-link1=N. G. L. Hammond |last2=Walbank |first2=Frank William |author-link2=F. W. Walbank |year=2001 |title=A History of Macedonia: 336–167 B.C. |volume=3 |edition=reprint |publisher=] of the ] |location=Oxford |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qpb3JdwuDQIC |isbn=978-0-19-814815-9 |access-date=3 October 2020}} | |||
| * {{cite book|last=Pratt|first=James Bissett|title=The Pilgrimage of Buddhism and a Buddhist Pilgrimage |year=1996 |publisher=Laurier Books |isbn=8120611969}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Harrison |first=E. F. |year=1971 |title=The language of the New Testament |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qh7b4o6JQpIC |publisher=Wm B Eerdmans |page=508 |isbn=978-0-8028-4786-7 |access-date=5 September 2020 |archive-date=14 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414133402/https://books.google.com/books?id=qh7b4o6JQpIC |url-status=live}} | |||
| * {{cite book|author=Pomeroy, S.|coauthors=Burstein, S.; Dolan, W.; Roberts, J.|year=1998|title=Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0195097424}} | |||
| * {{cite book|last= |
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Heckel |editor1-first=Waldemar |editor2-first=Lawrence A |editor2-last=Tritle |year=2009 |title=Alexander the Great: A New History |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=978-1-4051-3082-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jbaPwpvt8ZQC |access-date=5 September 2020}} | ||
| * {{cite book |last=Holland |first=Tom |title=Rubicon: Triumph and Tragedy in the Roman Republic |year=2003 |publisher=Abacus |isbn=978-0-349-11563-4}} | |||
| * {{cite book |editor1-last= Ring |editor1-first=Trudy |editor2-last=Salkin |editor2-first=Robert M. |editor3-last=Berney|editor3-first=K. A. |editor4-last=Schellinger|editor4-first=Paul E. |title=International dictionary of historic places |year=1994 |isbn=9781884964036 |publisher=Chicago ; Fitzroy Dearborn, 1994–1996.}} | |||
| *{{cite book| |
* {{cite book |last=Holt |first=Frank Lee |title=Alexander the Great and The Mystery of the Elephant Medallions |year=2003 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-23881-7}} | ||
| * {{cite book |last=Hornblower |first=Simon |chapter=Greek Identity in the Archaic and Classical Periods |title=Hellenisms: Culture, Identity and Ethnicity from Antiquity to Modernity |url=https://archive.org/details/hellenismscultur00zach |url-access=limited |pages=–58 |editor-last=Zacharia |editor-first=K. |publisher=Ashgate |isbn=978-0-7546-6525-0 |year=2008}} | |||
| *{{cite book|last1=Roisman|first1=Joseph|last2=Worthington|first2=Ian|title=A Companion to Ancient Macedonia|publisher=John Wiley and Sons|year=2010|isbn=1405179368|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=lkYFVJ3U-BIC|ref=harv}} | |||
| * |
*{{cite book|last=Joint Association of Classical Teachers|title=The World of Athens: An Introduction to Classical Athenian Culture|location=Cambridge, UK |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1984|isbn=0-521-27389-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VgDKeqi4or8C}} | ||
| * {{cite book|last= |
* {{cite book |last=Jones |first=Archer |year=2001 |title=The Art of War in the Western World |publisher=] |location=Champaign |isbn=978-0-252-06966-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z2FRzcz2W0oC |access-date=3 October 2020}} | ||
| *{{cite book|last= |
* {{cite book |last=Keay |first=John |title=India: A History |publisher=Grove Press |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-8021-3797-5}} | ||
| *{{cite book|last= |
* {{cite book |last=Kosmin |first=Paul J. |author-link=Paul J. Kosmin |title=The Land of the Elephant Kings: Space, Territory, and Ideology in Seleucid Empire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9UWdAwAAQBAJ |publisher=Harvard University Press |date=2014 |isbn=978-0-674-72882-0 |access-date=24 August 2017}} | ||
| * {{cite book|last= |
* {{cite book |last=Lane Fox |first=Robin |year=1980 |title=The Search for Alexander |publisher=Little Brown & Co |place=Boston |isbn=978-0-316-29108-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/searchforalexand00lane}} | ||
| * {{cite book|last= |
* {{cite book |last=Lane Fox |first=Robin |author-link=Robin Lane Fox |year=2006 |title=Alexander the Great |publisher=ePenguin |asin=B002RI9DYW |author-mask=3}} | ||
| *{{cite book| |
* {{cite book |last1=LE RIDER |first1=George |title=Alexandre le Grand : Monnaie, finances et politique |date=2003 |publisher=PUF |page=Chapter V |edition=Histoire}} | ||
| * {{cite book |last1=Liddell |first1=Henry George |first2=Robert |last2=Scott |title=A Greek-English Lexicon on Perseus Digital Library |editor1-first=Sir Henry Stuart |editor1-last=Jones |editor2-first=Roderick |editor2-last=McKenzie |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1940}} | |||
| * {{cite book|author=Tripathi, Rama Shankar|title=History of Ancient India|year=1999|isbn=9788120800182}} | |||
| * {{cite book|last= |
* {{cite book |last=Luniya |first=Bhanwarlal Nathuram |title=Life and Culture in Ancient India: From the Earliest Times to 1000 AD |year=1978 |publisher=Lakshmi Narain Agarwal |lccn=78907043}} | ||
| * {{cite book|last= |
* {{cite book |last=McCarty |first=Nick |title=Alexander the Great |publisher=Penguin |location=Camberwell, Victoria |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-670-04268-5}} | ||
| * {{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lMoOAAAAQAAJ |title=Outsiders in the Greek cities in the fourth century BC |last=McKechnie |first=Paul |page=54 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=1989 |isbn=978-0-415-00340-7 |access-date=20 June 2015}} | |||
| * {{cite book|last=Worthington|first=Ian|title=Alexander the Great: Man And God|publisher=Pearson|isbn=9781405801621|year=2004}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Morkot |first=Robert |title=The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Greece |publisher=Penguin |year=1996}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Narain |first=A. K. |title=Alexander the Great: Greece and Rome–12 |year=1965}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Ogden |first=Daniel |chapter=Alexander's Sex Life |title=Alexander the Great: A New History |editor1-first=Alice |editor1-last=Heckel |editor2-first=Waldemar |editor2-last=Heckel |editor3-first=Lawrence A |editor3-last=Tritle |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-4051-3082-0}} | |||
| *{{cite book|last=Osborne|first=Robin|title=Greek History|location=New York, New York and London, UK |publisher=Routledge|year=2004|isbn=0-415-31717-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jXve_I_7u8QC}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Perlman |first=Samuel |year=1973 |title=Philip and Athens |publisher=Heffer |location=Cambridge |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s5sgAAAAMAAJ |isbn=978-0-85270-076-1}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Pingree |first=D. |volume=15 |year=1978 |pages=533–633 |chapter=History of Mathematical Astronomy in India |title=Dictionary of Scientific Biography}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Pratt |first=James Bissett |title=The Pilgrimage of Buddhism and a Buddhist Pilgrimage |year=1996 |publisher=Laurier Books |isbn=978-81-206-1196-2}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last1=Rebuffat |first1=Françoise |title=La monnaie dans l'Antiquité |date=1996 |publisher=Picard}} | |||
| <!-- Both version are in use, d not remove either until the reference are all corrected --> | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Renault |first=Mary |title=The Nature of Alexander the Great |publisher=Penguin |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-14-139076-5}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Renault |first=Mary |title=The Nature of Alexander |publisher=Open Road Media |year=2013 |isbn=978-1480432949}} | |||
| * {{cite book |editor1-last=Ring |editor1-first=Trudy |editor2-last=Salkin |editor2-first=Robert M |editor3-last=Berney |editor3-first=KA |editor4-last=Schellinger |editor4-first=Paul E |title=International dictionary of historic places |year=1994 |isbn=978-1-884964-04-6 |location=Chicago |publisher=Fitzroy Dearborn, 1994–1996}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last1=Roisman |first1=Joseph |last2=Worthington |first2=Ian |title=A Companion to Ancient Macedonia |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-4051-7936-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lkYFVJ3U-BIC |access-date=20 June 2015}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last1=Sabin |first1=P |last2=van Wees |first2=H |last3=Whitby |first3=M |title=The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare: Greece, the Hellenistic World and the Rise of Rome |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-78273-9 |year=2007}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Sacks |first=David |title=Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World |publisher=Constable & Co |isbn=978-0-09-475270-2 |year=1995}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Starr |first=Chester G. |year=1991 |title=A History of the Ancient World |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-506628-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bA3kgtZU1iMC |access-date=3 October 2020}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Stoneman |first=Richard |title=Alexander the Great |url=https://archive.org/details/alexandergreat0000ston |url-access=registration |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-31932-4 |year=2004}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Stoneman |first=Richard |title=The Novel in the Ancient World |url=https://archive.org/details/novelancientworl00schm |url-access=limited |editor-last=Schmeling |editor-first=Gareth L |chapter=The Metamorphoses of Alexander Romance |pages=–12 |publisher=Brill |year=1996 |isbn=978-90-04-09630-1}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Studniczka |first=Franz |title=Achäologische Jahrbook 9 |year=1894}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Tripathi |first=Rama Shankar |title=History of Ancient India |year=1999 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WbrcVcT-GbUC |isbn=978-81-208-0018-2 |access-date=5 September 2020}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Toynbee |first=Arnold Joseph |year=1981 |title=The Greeks and Their Heritages |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-215256-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/greekstheirheri00toyn |url-access=registration}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Wood |first=Michael |year=2001 |title=In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great: A Journey from Greece to Asia |publisher=University of California Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5wDWn1dL6HMC |isbn=978-0-520-23192-4 |access-date=5 September 2020}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Worthington |first=Ian |year=2003 |title=Alexander the Great: A Reader |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OiM51I7_A1gC |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-29187-3 |page=332 |access-date=5 September 2020}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Worthington |first=Ian |year=2008 |title=Philip II of Macedonia |publisher=] |location=New Haven, CT |isbn=978-0-300-12079-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CZsTAQAAIAAJ |access-date=20 June 2015}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Yenne |first=Bill |year=2010 |title=Alexander the Great: Lessons From History's Undefeated General |publisher=Palgrave MacMillan |isbn=978-0-230-61915-9}} | |||
| {{refend}} | {{refend}} | ||
| == |
==Further reading== | ||
| {{refbegin|30em}} | |||
| {{Sister project links|n=no|wikt=no}} | |||
| * {{cite journal |last=Badian |first=Ernst |author-link=Ernst Badian |year=1958 |title=Alexander the Great and the Unity of Mankind |journal=Historia |volume=7}} | |||
| {{Wikisource author|Alexander III of Macedon}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last1=Beazley |first1=JD |author1-link=J. D. Beazley |last2=Ashmole |first2=B |author2-link=Bernard Ashmole |year=1932 |title=Greek Sculpture and Painting |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-04131-7}} | |||
| *{{dmoz|Society/History/By_Time_Period/Ancient/Greece/People/Alexander_the_Great/}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Bowra |first=Maurice |author-link=Maurice Bowra |year=1994 |title=The Greek Experience |publisher=Phoenix |isbn=978-1-85799-122-2}} | |||
| * from Livius.org | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Boardman |first=John |author-link=John Boardman (art historian) |year=2019 |title=Alexander the Great: From His Death to the Present Day |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-18175-2}} | |||
| * | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Burn |first=AR |year=1951 |title=Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Empire |edition=2nd |location=London |publisher=English Universities Press}} | |||
| * {{cite web |language=la |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Curtius/home.html |last=Rufus |first=Quintus Curtius |title=Quintus Curtius Rufus, History of Alexander the Great |publisher=U Chicago |access-date=16 November 2009}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Cartledge |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Cartledge |year=2004 |title=Alexander the Great |url=https://archive.org/details/alexandergreatth00cart |url-access=registration |publisher=Overlook |isbn=978-1-58567-565-4}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Doherty |first=Paul |author-link=Paul C. Doherty |year=2004 |title=The Death of Alexander the Great |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780786713400 |url-access=registration |publisher=Carroll & Graf |isbn=978-0-7867-1340-0}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Engels |first=Donald W |year=1978 |title=Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army |location=Berkeley |publisher=University of California Press}} | |||
| * {{cite book |editor-last=Fawcett |editor-first=Bill |year=2006 |title=How To Lose A Battle: Foolish Plans and Great Military Blunders |publisher=Harper |isbn=978-0-06-076024-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/howtolosebattlef0000unse}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Fuller |first=JFC |author-link=J. F. C. Fuller |year=1958 |title=The Generalship of Alexander the Great |location=London |publisher=Eyre & Spottiswoode |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q3M0NE2RJgYC |isbn=978-0-306-80371-0 |access-date=20 June 2015}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Goldsworthy |first=Adrian |author-link=Adrian Goldsworthy |title=] |publisher=] |date=2020 |location=London |isbn=978-1-78497-869-3}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Green |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Green (historian) |year=1992 |title=Alexander of Macedon: 356–323 BC. A Historical Biography |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-07166-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/alexanderofmaced0000gree}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Greene |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Greene (American author) |year=2000 |title=The 48 Laws of Power |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780670881468 |url-access=registration |publisher=Penguin |page= |isbn=978-0-14-028019-7}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Hammond |first=NGL |author-link=N. G. L. Hammond |year=1989 |title=The Macedonian State: Origins, Institutions, and History |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-814883-8}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Hammond |first=NGL |year=1994 |title=Alexander the Great: King, Commander, and Statesman |edition=3rd |location=London |publisher=Bristol Classical Press}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Hammond |first=NGL |year=1997 |title=The Genius of Alexander the Great |url=https://archive.org/details/geniusofalexande00nglh |url-access=registration |location=Chapel Hill |publisher=University of North Carolina Press}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Lane Fox |first=Robin |author-link=Robin Lane Fox |year=1973 |title=Alexander the Great |location=London |publisher=Allen Lane |isbn=978-0-14-008878-6}}, also (1974) New York: E. P. Dutton and (1986) London: ]. | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Mercer |first=Charles |year=1962 |title=The Way of Alexander the Great |location=Boston |publisher=American Heritage Inc.}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=McCrindle |first=J. W. |year=1893 |title=The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great as Described by Arrian, Q Curtius, Diodorus, Plutarch, and Justin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A9YNAAAAIAAJ |location=Westminster |publisher=Archibald Constable & Co |access-date=20 June 2015}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last1=Monti |first1=Giustina |title=Alexander the Great: letters: a selection |date=2023 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |location=Liverpool |isbn=9781800348622}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last1=Murphy |first1=James Jerome |last2=Katula |first2=Richard A |last3=Hill |first3=Forbes I |last4=Ochs |first4=Donovan J |year=2003 |title=A Synoptic History of Classical Rhetoric |publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum Associates |page=17 |isbn=978-1-880393-35-2}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last1=Nandan |first1=Y |last2=Bhavan |first2=BV |year=2003 |title=British Death March Under Asiatic Impulse: Epic of Anglo-Indian Tragedy in Afghanistan |isbn=978-81-7276-301-5 |publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan |location=Mumbai}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=O'Brien |first=John Maxwell |year=1992 |title=Alexander the Great: The Invisible Enemy |location=London |publisher=Routledge}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last1=Pomeroy |first1=S |last2=Burstein |first2=S |last3=Dolan |first3=W |last4=Roberts |first4=J |year=1998 |title=Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-509742-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/ancientgreecepol00sara}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Prevas |first=John |author-link=John Prevas |year=2004 |title=Envy of the Gods: Alexander the Great's Ill-Fated Journey Across Asia |url=https://archive.org/details/envyofgodsalexan00prev |url-access=registration |edition=3rd |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=978-0-306-81268-2}} | |||
| * {{cite book |editor-last=Roisman |editor-first=Joseph |year=1995 |title=Alexander the Great Ancient and Modern Perspectives |series=Problems in European Civilization |location=Lexington, MA |publisher=DC Heath}} | |||
| *{{cite book |last=Rowson |first=Alex |year=2022 |title=The Young Alexander: The Making of Alexander the Great |location=London |publisher=William Collins |type=Hardcover |isbn=978-0-00-828439-8}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Savill |first=Agnes |author-link=l |year=1959 |title=Alexander the Great and His Time |url=https://archive.org/details/alexandergreathi0000savi_n3m7 |url-access=registration |edition=3rd |location=London |publisher=Barrie & Rockliff}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Stewart |first=Andrew |year=1993 |series=Hellenistic Culture and Society |title=Faces of Power: Alexander's Image and Hellenistic Politics |volume=11 |location=Berkeley |publisher=University of California Press}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Stoneman |first=Richard |year=2008 |title=Alexander the Great: A Life in Legend |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-11203-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/alexandergreatli00ston}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Tarn |first=WW |author-link=William Woodthorpe Tarn |year=1948 |title=Alexander the Great |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.499219 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Wheeler |first=Benjamin Ide |author-link=Benjamin Ide Wheeler |year=1900 |title=Alexander the Great; the merging of East and West in universal history |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.173405 |location=New York |publisher=GP Putnam's sons}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Wilcken |first=Ulrich |year=1997 |author-link=Ulrich Wilcken |orig-year=1932 |title=Alexander the Great |location=New York |publisher=WW Norton & Co |isbn=978-0-393-00381-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/alexandergreat00wilc}} | |||
| * {{cite book |last=Worthington |first=Ian |year=2004 |title=Alexander the Great: Man And God |publisher=Pearson |isbn=978-1-4058-0162-1}} | |||
| {{refend}} | |||
| == External links == | |||
| {{Sister project links |s=Author:Alexander III of Macedon |n=no |voy=On the trail of Alexander the Great}} | |||
| {{Library resources box |by=no |onlinebooks=yes |others=yes |about=yes |label=Alexander the Great | |||
| |viaf= |lccn= |lcheading= |wikititle= }} | |||
| * {{cite map |url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11738/ |title=The Empire and Expeditions of Alexander the Great |first=Félix |last=Delamarche |author-link=Félix Delamarche |year=1833}} | |||
| * {{cite news |title=Two Great Historians on Alexander the Great |type=conversations |first1=James |last1=Romm |first2=Paul |last2=Cartledge |author2-link=Paul Cartledge |newspaper=Forbes}} , , , , , . | |||
| * . Livius. Archived from on 4 December 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2020. | |||
| * {{snd}}BBC discussion with Paul Cartledge, Diana Spencer and Rachel Mairs hosted by Melvyn Bragg, first broadcast 1 October 2015. | |||
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| {{Ancient Greece topics}} | |||
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| {{Persondata | |||
| |NAME = Alexander the Great | |||
| |ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Alexander III, Μέγας Aλέξανδρος (Greek) | |||
| |SHORT DESCRIPTION = Greek military commander | |||
| |DATE OF BIRTH = 20 July 356 BC | |||
| |PLACE OF BIRTH = ], Macedon | |||
| |DATE OF DEATH = 10 June 323 BC | |||
| |PLACE OF DEATH = ]}} | |||
| {{DEFAULTSORT:Great, Alexander The}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 14:12, 23 December 2024
Military commander and king of Macedon (356–323 BC) This article is about the ancient king of Macedon. For other uses, see Alexander the Great (disambiguation).
| Alexander the Great | |
|---|---|
| Basileus | |
.jpg) Alexander in the Alexander Mosaic | |
| King of Macedon | |
| Reign | October 336 – June 323 BC |
| Predecessor | Philip II |
| Successor | |
| Hegemon of the Hellenic League | |
| Reign | 336–323 BC |
| Predecessor | Philip II |
| Successor | Demetrius I of Macedon |
| Pharaoh of Egypt | |
| Reign | 332–323 BC |
| Predecessor | Darius III |
| Successor |
|
| King of Persia | |
| Reign | 330–323 BC |
| Predecessor | Darius III |
| Successor |
|
| Born | 20 or 21 July 356 BC Pella, Macedon |
| Died | 10 or 11 June 323 BC (aged 32) Babylon, Macedon |
| Spouse | |
| Issue | 3, including |
| Greek | Ἀλέξανδρος |
| Dynasty | Argead |
| Father | Philip II of Macedon |
| Mother | Olympias of Epirus |
| Religion | Ancient Greek religion |
Alexander III of Macedon (Ancient Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος, romanized: Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to the throne in 336 BC at the age of 20 and spent most of his ruling years conducting a lengthy military campaign throughout Western Asia, Central Asia, parts of South Asia, and Egypt. By the age of 30, he had created one of the largest empires in history, stretching from Greece to northwestern India. He was undefeated in battle and is widely considered to be one of history's greatest and most successful military commanders.
Until the age of 16, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle. In 335 BC, shortly after his assumption of kingship over Macedon, he campaigned in the Balkans and reasserted control over Thrace and parts of Illyria before marching on the city of Thebes, which was subsequently destroyed in battle. Alexander then led the League of Corinth, and used his authority to launch the pan-Hellenic project envisaged by his father, assuming leadership over all Greeks in their conquest of Persia.
In 334 BC, he invaded the Achaemenid Persian Empire and began a series of campaigns that lasted for 10 years. Following his conquest of Asia Minor, Alexander broke the power of Achaemenid Persia in a series of decisive battles, including those at Issus and Gaugamela; he subsequently overthrew Darius III and conquered the Achaemenid Empire in its entirety. After the fall of Persia, the Macedonian Empire held a vast swath of territory between the Adriatic Sea and the Indus River. Alexander endeavored to reach the "ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea" and invaded India in 326 BC, achieving an important victory over Porus, an ancient Indian king of present-day Punjab, at the Battle of the Hydaspes. Due to the mutiny of his homesick troops, he eventually turned back at the Beas River and later died in 323 BC in Babylon, the city of Mesopotamia that he had planned to establish as his empire's capital. Alexander's death left unexecuted an additional series of planned military and mercantile campaigns that would have begun with a Greek invasion of Arabia. In the years following his death, a series of civil wars broke out across the Macedonian Empire, eventually leading to its disintegration at the hands of the Diadochi.
With his death marking the start of the Hellenistic period, Alexander's legacy includes the cultural diffusion and syncretism that his conquests engendered, such as Greco-Buddhism and Hellenistic Judaism. He founded more than twenty cities, with the most prominent being the city of Alexandria in Egypt. Alexander's settlement of Greek colonists and the resulting spread of Greek culture led to the overwhelming dominance of Hellenistic civilization and influence as far east as the Indian subcontinent. The Hellenistic period developed through the Roman Empire into modern Western culture; the Greek language became the lingua franca of the region and was the predominant language of the Byzantine Empire until its collapse in the mid-15th century AD.
Alexander became legendary as a classical hero in the mould of Achilles, featuring prominently in the historical and mythical traditions of both Greek and non-Greek cultures. His military achievements and unprecedented enduring successes in battle made him the measure against which many later military leaders would compare themselves, and his tactics remain a significant subject of study in military academies worldwide. Legends of Alexander's exploits coalesced into the third-century Alexander Romance which, in the premodern period, went through over one hundred recensions, translations, and derivations and was translated into almost every European vernacular and every language of the Islamic world. After the Bible, it was the most popular form of European literature.
Early life
Lineage and childhood
Alexander III was born in Pella, the capital of the Kingdom of Macedon, on the sixth day of the ancient Greek month of Hekatombaion, which probably corresponds to 20 July 356 BC (although the exact date is uncertain). He was the son of the erstwhile king of Macedon, Philip II, and his fourth wife, Olympias (daughter of Neoptolemus I, king of Epirus). Although Philip had seven or eight wives, Olympias was his principal wife for some time, likely because she gave birth to Alexander.
Several legends surround Alexander's birth and childhood. According to the ancient Greek biographer Plutarch, on the eve of the consummation of her marriage to Philip, Olympias dreamed that her womb was struck by a thunderbolt that caused a flame to spread "far and wide" before dying away. Sometime after the wedding, Philip is said to have seen himself, in a dream, securing his wife's womb with a seal engraved with a lion's image. Plutarch offered a variety of interpretations for these dreams: that Olympias was pregnant before her marriage, indicated by the sealing of her womb; or that Alexander's father was Zeus. Ancient commentators were divided about whether the ambitious Olympias promulgated the story of Alexander's divine parentage, variously claiming that she had told Alexander, or that she dismissed the suggestion as impious.
On the day Alexander was born, Philip was preparing a siege on the city of Potidea on the peninsula of Chalcidice. That same day, Philip received news that his general Parmenion had defeated the combined Illyrian and Paeonian armies and that his horses had won at the Olympic Games. It was also said that on this day, the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, burnt down. This led Hegesias of Magnesia to say that it had burnt down because Artemis was away, attending the birth of Alexander. Such legends may have emerged when Alexander was king, and possibly at his instigation, to show that he was superhuman and destined for greatness from conception.
In his early years, Alexander was raised by a nurse, Lanike, sister of Alexander's future general Cleitus the Black. Later in his childhood, Alexander was tutored by the strict Leonidas, a relative of his mother, and by Lysimachus of Acarnania. Alexander was raised in the manner of noble Macedonian youths, learning to read, play the lyre, ride, fight, and hunt. When Alexander was ten years old, a trader from Thessaly brought Philip a horse, which he offered to sell for thirteen talents. The horse refused to be mounted, and Philip ordered it away. Alexander, however, detecting the horse's fear of its own shadow, asked to tame the horse, which he eventually managed. Plutarch stated that Philip, overjoyed at this display of courage and ambition, kissed his son tearfully, declaring: "My boy, you must find a kingdom big enough for your ambitions. Macedon is too small for you", and bought the horse for him. Alexander named it Bucephalas, meaning "ox-head". Bucephalas carried Alexander as far as India. When the animal died (because of old age, according to Plutarch, at age 30), Alexander named a city after him, Bucephala.
Education
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Early rule Conquest of the Persian Empire Expedition into India Death and legacy Cultural impact  |
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When Alexander was 13, Philip began to search for a tutor, and considered such academics as Isocrates and Speusippus, the latter offering to resign from his stewardship of the Academy to take up the post. In the end, Philip chose Aristotle and provided the Temple of the Nymphs at Mieza as a classroom. In return for teaching Alexander, Philip agreed to rebuild Aristotle's hometown of Stageira, which Philip had razed, and to repopulate it by buying and freeing the ex-citizens who were slaves, or pardoning those who were in exile.
Mieza was like a boarding school for Alexander and the children of Macedonian nobles, such as Ptolemy, Hephaistion, and Cassander. Many of these students would become his friends and future generals, and are often known as the "Companions". Aristotle taught Alexander and his companions about medicine, philosophy, morals, religion, logic, and art. Under Aristotle's tutelage, Alexander developed a passion for the works of Homer, and in particular the Iliad; Aristotle gave him an annotated copy, which Alexander later carried on his campaigns. Alexander was able to quote Euripides from memory.
In his youth, Alexander was also acquainted with Persian exiles at the Macedonian court, who received the protection of Philip II for several years as they opposed Artaxerxes III. Among them were Artabazos II and his daughter Barsine, possible future mistress of Alexander, who resided at the Macedonian court from 352 to 342 BC, as well as Amminapes, future satrap of Alexander, and a Persian nobleman named Sisines. This gave the Macedonian court a good knowledge of Persian issues, and may even have influenced some of the innovations in the management of the Macedonian state.
Suda writes that Anaximenes of Lampsacus was one of Alexander's teachers, and that Anaximenes also accompanied Alexander on his campaigns.
Heir of Philip II
Regency and ascent of Macedon
Main articles: Philip II of Macedon and Rise of Macedon Further information: History of Macedonia (ancient kingdom)
At the age of 16, Alexander's education under Aristotle ended. Philip II had waged war against the Thracians to the north, which left Alexander in charge as regent and heir apparent. During Philip's absence, the Thracian tribe of Maedi revolted against Macedonia. Alexander responded quickly and drove them from their territory. The territory was colonized, and a city, named Alexandropolis, was founded.
Upon Philip's return, Alexander was dispatched with a small force to subdue the revolts in southern Thrace. Campaigning against the Greek city of Perinthus, Alexander reportedly saved his father's life. Meanwhile, the city of Amphissa began to work lands that were sacred to Apollo near Delphi, a sacrilege that gave Philip the opportunity to further intervene in Greek affairs. While Philip was occupied in Thrace, Alexander was ordered to muster an army for a campaign in southern Greece. Concerned that other Greek states might intervene, Alexander made it look as though he was preparing to attack Illyria instead. During this turmoil, the Illyrians invaded Macedonia, only to be repelled by Alexander.
Philip and his army joined his son in 338 BC, and they marched south through Thermopylae, taking it after stubborn resistance from its Theban garrison. They went on to occupy the city of Elatea, only a few days' march from both Athens and Thebes. The Athenians, led by Demosthenes, voted to seek alliance with Thebes against Macedonia. Both Athens and Philip sent embassies to win Thebes's favour, but Athens won the contest. Philip marched on Amphissa (ostensibly acting on the request of the Amphictyonic League), capturing the mercenaries sent there by Demosthenes and accepting the city's surrender. Philip then returned to Elatea, sending a final offer of peace to Athens and Thebes, who both rejected it.
As Philip marched south, his opponents blocked him near Chaeronea, Boeotia. During the ensuing Battle of Chaeronea, Philip commanded the right wing and Alexander the left, accompanied by a group of Philip's trusted generals. According to the ancient sources, the two sides fought bitterly for some time. Philip deliberately commanded his troops to retreat, counting on the untested Athenian hoplites to follow, thus breaking their line. Alexander was the first to break the Theban lines, followed by Philip's generals. Having damaged the enemy's cohesion, Philip ordered his troops to press forward and quickly routed them. With the Athenians lost, the Thebans were surrounded. Left to fight alone, they were defeated.
After the victory at Chaeronea, Philip and Alexander marched unopposed into the Peloponnese, devastating much of Laconia and ejecting the Spartans from various parts of it. At Corinth, Philip established a "Hellenic Alliance" (modelled on the old anti-Persian alliance of the Greco-Persian Wars), which included most Greek city-states except Sparta. Philip was then named Hegemon (often translated as "Supreme Commander") of this league (known by modern scholars as the League of Corinth), and announced his plans to attack the Persian Empire.
Exile and return
When Philip returned to Pella, he fell in love with and married Cleopatra Eurydice in 338 BC, the niece of his general Attalus. The marriage made Alexander's position as heir less secure, since any son of Cleopatra Eurydice would be a fully Macedonian heir, while Alexander was only half-Macedonian. During the wedding banquet, a drunken Attalus publicly prayed to the gods that the union would produce a legitimate heir.
At the wedding of Cleopatra, whom Philip fell in love with and married, she being much too young for him, her uncle Attalus in his drink desired the Macedonians would implore the gods to give them a lawful successor to the kingdom by his niece. This so irritated Alexander that throwing one of the cups at his head, "You villain," said he, "what, am I then a bastard?" Then Philip, taking Attalus's part, rose up and would have run his son through; but by good fortune for them both, either his over-hasty rage, or the wine he had drunk, made his foot slip, so that he fell down on the floor, at which Alexander reproachfully insulted him: "See there," said he, "the man who makes preparations to pass out of Europe into Asia, overturned in passing from one seat to another."
— Plutarch, describing the feud at Philip's wedding.
In 337 BC, Alexander fled Macedon with his mother, dropping her off with her brother, King Alexander I of Epirus in Dodona, capital of the Molossians. He continued to Illyria where he sought refuge with one or more Illyrian kings, perhaps with Glaucias, and was treated as a guest, despite having defeated them in battle a few years before. However, it appears Philip never intended to disown his politically and militarily trained son. Accordingly, Alexander returned to Macedon after six months due to the efforts of a family friend, Demaratus, who mediated between the two parties.
In the following year, the Persian satrap (governor) of Caria, Pixodarus, offered his eldest daughter to Alexander's half-brother, Philip Arrhidaeus. Olympias and several of Alexander's friends suggested this showed Philip intended to make Arrhidaeus his heir. Alexander reacted by sending an actor, Thessalus of Corinth, to tell Pixodarus that he should not offer his daughter's hand to an illegitimate son, but instead to Alexander. When Philip heard of this, he stopped the negotiations and scolded Alexander for wishing to marry the daughter of a Carian, explaining that he wanted a better bride for him. Philip exiled four of Alexander's friends, Harpalus, Nearchus, Ptolemy and Erigyius, and had the Corinthians bring Thessalus to him in chains.
King of Macedon
Accession
Further information: Government of Macedonia (ancient kingdom).jpg)
In the 24th day of the Macedonian month Dios, which probably corresponds to 25 October 336 BC, while at Aegae attending the wedding of his daughter Cleopatra to Olympias's brother, Alexander I of Epirus, Philip was assassinated by the captain of his bodyguards, Pausanias. As Pausanias tried to escape, he tripped over a vine and was killed by his pursuers, including two of Alexander's companions, Perdiccas and Leonnatus. Alexander was proclaimed king on the spot by the nobles and army at the age of 20.
Consolidation of power
Alexander began his reign by eliminating potential rivals to the throne. He had his cousin, the former Amyntas IV, executed. He also had two Macedonian princes from the region of Lyncestis killed for having been involved in his father's assassination, but spared a third, Alexander Lyncestes. Olympias had Cleopatra Eurydice, and Europa, her daughter by Philip, burned alive. When Alexander learned about this, he was furious. Alexander also ordered the murder of Attalus, who was in command of the advance guard of the army in Asia Minor and Cleopatra's uncle.
Attalus was at that time corresponding with Demosthenes, regarding the possibility of defecting to Athens. Attalus also had severely insulted Alexander, and following Cleopatra's murder, Alexander may have considered him too dangerous to be left alive. Alexander spared Arrhidaeus, who was by all accounts mentally disabled, possibly as a result of poisoning by Olympias.
News of Philip's death roused many states into revolt, including Thebes, Athens, Thessaly, and the Thracian tribes north of Macedon. When news of the revolts reached Alexander, he responded quickly. Though advised to use diplomacy, Alexander mustered 3,000 Macedonian cavalry and rode south towards Thessaly. He found the Thessalian army occupying the pass between Mount Olympus and Mount Ossa, and ordered his men to ride over Mount Ossa. When the Thessalians awoke the next day, they found Alexander in their rear and promptly surrendered, adding their cavalry to Alexander's force. He then continued south towards the Peloponnese.
Alexander stopped at Thermopylae where he was recognized as the leader of the Amphictyonic League before heading south to Corinth. Athens sued for peace and Alexander pardoned the rebels. The famous encounter between Alexander and Diogenes the Cynic occurred during Alexander's stay in Corinth. When Alexander asked Diogenes what he could do for him, the philosopher disdainfully asked Alexander to stand a little to the side, as he was blocking the sunlight. This reply apparently delighted Alexander who is reported to have said, "But verily, if I were not Alexander, I would like to be Diogenes." At Corinth, Alexander took the title of Hegemon ("leader") and, like Philip, was appointed commander for the coming war against Persia. He also received news of a Thracian uprising.
Balkan campaign
Main article: Alexander's Balkan campaign
Before crossing to Asia, Alexander wanted to safeguard his northern borders. In the spring of 335 BC, he advanced to suppress several revolts. Starting from Amphipolis, he travelled east into the country of the "Independent Thracians", and at Mount Haemus, the Macedonian army attacked and defeated the Thracian forces manning the heights. The Macedonians marched into the country of the Triballi and defeated their army near the Lyginus river (a tributary of the Danube). Alexander then marched for three days to the Danube, encountering the Getae tribe on the opposite shore. Crossing the river at night, he surprised them and forced their army to retreat after the first cavalry skirmish.
News then reached Alexander that the Illyrian chieftain Cleitus and King Glaukias of the Taulantii were in open revolt against his authority. Marching west into Illyria, Alexander defeated each in turn, forcing the two rulers to flee with their troops. With these victories, he secured his northern frontier.
Destruction of Thebes
While Alexander campaigned north, the Thebans and Athenians rebelled once again. Alexander immediately headed south. While the other cities again hesitated, Thebes decided to fight. The Theban resistance was ineffective and Alexander razed the city and divided its territory between the other Boeotian cities. The end of Thebes cowed Athens, leaving all of Greece temporarily at peace. Alexander then set out on his Asian campaign, leaving Antipater as regent.
Conquest of the Achaemenid Persian Empire
Main articles: Wars of Alexander the Great and Chronology of the expedition of Alexander the Great into AsiaAsia Minor
Further information: Battle of the Granicus, Siege of Halicarnassus, and Siege of Miletus
| Campaigns of Alexander the Great | |
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1200km820miles Babylon15
Malavas14
Hydaspes13
Cophen12
Cyropolis11
Persian Gate10
Uxians9
Gaugamela8
Alexandria7
Gaza6
Tyre5
Issus4
Miletus3
Granicus2
Pella1
After his victory at the Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC), Philip II began the work of establishing himself as hēgemṓn (Greek: ἡγεμών) of a league which according to Diodorus was to wage a campaign against the Persians for the sundry grievances Greece suffered in 480 and free the Greek cities of the western coast and islands from Achaemenid rule. In 336 he sent Parmenion, Amyntas, Andromenes, Attalus, and an army of 10,000 men into Anatolia to make preparations for an invasion. The Greek cities on the western coast of Anatolia revolted until the news arrived that Philip had been murdered and had been succeeded by his young son Alexander. The Macedonians were demoralized by Philip's death and were subsequently defeated near Magnesia by the Achaemenids under the command of the mercenary Memnon of Rhodes.
Taking over the invasion project of Philip II, Alexander's army crossed the Hellespont in 334 BC with approximately 48,100 soldiers, 6,100 cavalry, and a fleet of 120 ships with crews numbering 38,000 drawn from Macedon and various Greek city states, mercenaries, and feudally raised soldiers from Thrace, Paionia, and Illyria. He showed his intent to conquer the entirety of the Persian Empire by throwing a spear into Asian soil and saying he accepted Asia as a gift from the gods. This also showed Alexander's eagerness to fight, in contrast to his father's preference for diplomacy.
After an initial victory against Persian forces at the Battle of the Granicus, Alexander accepted the surrender of the Persian provincial capital and treasury of Sardis; he then proceeded along the Ionian coast, granting autonomy and democracy to the cities. Miletus, held by Achaemenid forces, required a delicate siege operation, with Persian naval forces nearby. Further south, at Halicarnassus, in Caria, Alexander successfully waged his first large-scale siege, eventually forcing his opponents, the mercenary captain Memnon of Rhodes and the Persian satrap of Caria, Orontobates, to withdraw by sea. Alexander left the government of Caria to a member of the Hecatomnid dynasty, Ada, who adopted Alexander.
From Halicarnassus, Alexander proceeded into mountainous Lycia and the Pamphylian plain, asserting control over all coastal cities to deny the Persians naval bases. From Pamphylia onwards, the coast held no major ports and Alexander moved inland. At Termessos, Alexander humbled and did not storm the Pisidian city. At the ancient Phrygian capital of Gordium, Alexander "undid" the hitherto unsolvable Gordian Knot, a feat said to await the future "king of Asia". According to the story, Alexander proclaimed that it did not matter how the knot was undone, and hacked it apart with his sword.
The Levant and Syria
Further information: Battle of Issus and Siege of Tyre (332 BC)In spring 333 BC, Alexander crossed the Taurus into Cilicia. After a long pause due to an illness, he marched on towards Syria. Though outmanoeuvered by Darius's significantly larger army, he marched back to Cilicia, where he defeated Darius at Issus. Darius fled the battle, causing his army to collapse, and left behind his wife, his two daughters, his mother Sisygambis, and a fabulous treasure. He offered a peace treaty that included the lands he had already lost, and a ransom of 10,000 talents for his family. Alexander replied that since he was now king of Asia, it was he alone who decided territorial divisions. Alexander proceeded to take possession of Syria, and most of the coast of the Levant. In the following year, 332 BC, he was forced to attack Tyre, which he captured after a long and difficult siege. The men of military age were massacred and the women and children sold into slavery.
Egypt
Further information: Siege of Gaza (332 BCE)
When Alexander destroyed Tyre, most of the towns on the route to Egypt quickly capitulated. However, Alexander was met with resistance at Gaza. The stronghold was heavily fortified and built on a hill, requiring a siege. When "his engineers pointed out to him that because of the height of the mound it would be impossible... this encouraged Alexander all the more to make the attempt". After three unsuccessful assaults, the stronghold fell, but not before Alexander had received a serious shoulder wound. As in Tyre, men of military age were put to the sword, and the women and children were sold into slavery.
Egypt was only one of a large number of territories taken by Alexander from the Persians. After his trip to Siwa, Alexander was crowned in the temple of Ptah at Memphis. It appears that the Egyptian people did not find it disturbing that he was a foreigner – nor that he was absent for virtually his entire reign. Alexander restored the temples neglected by the Persians and dedicated new monuments to the Egyptian gods. In the temple of Luxor, near Karnak, he built a chapel for the sacred barge. During his brief months in Egypt, he reformed the taxation system on the Greek models and organized the military occupation of the country, but in early 331 BC he left for Asia in pursuit of the Persians.
Alexander advanced on Egypt in later 332 BC where he was regarded as a liberator. To legitimize taking power and be recognized as the descendant of the long line of pharaohs, Alexander made sacrifices to the gods at Memphis and went to consult the famous oracle of Amun-Ra at the Siwa Oasis in the Libyan desert, at which he was pronounced the son of the deity Amun. Henceforth, Alexander often referred to Zeus-Ammon as his true father, and after his death, currency depicted him adorned with horns, using the Horns of Ammon as a symbol of his divinity. The Greeks interpreted this message – one that the gods addressed to all pharaohs – as a prophecy.
During his stay in Egypt, he founded Alexandria, which would become the prosperous capital of the Ptolemaic Kingdom after his death. Control of Egypt passed to Ptolemy I (son of Lagos), the founder of the Ptolemaic Dynasty (305–30 BC) after the death of Alexander.
Assyria and Babylonia
Further information: Battle of Gaugamela
Leaving Egypt in 331 BC, Alexander marched eastward into Achaemenid Assyria in Upper Mesopotamia (now northern Iraq) and defeated Darius again at the Battle of Gaugamela. Darius once more fled the field, and Alexander chased him as far as Arbela. Gaugamela would be the final and decisive encounter between the two. Darius fled over the mountains to Ecbatana (modern Hamadan) while Alexander captured Babylon.
Babylonian astronomical diaries say that "the king of the world, Alexander" sent his scouts with a message to the people of Babylon before entering the city: "I shall not enter your houses".
Persia
Further information: Battle of the Persian Gate
From Babylon, Alexander went to Susa, one of the Achaemenid capitals, and captured its treasury. He sent the bulk of his army to the Persian ceremonial capital of Persepolis via the Persian Royal Road. Alexander himself took selected troops on the direct route to the city. He then stormed the pass of the Persian Gates (in the modern Zagros Mountains) which had been blocked by a Persian army under Ariobarzanes and then hurried to Persepolis before its garrison could loot the treasury.
On entering Persepolis, Alexander allowed his troops to loot the city for several days. Alexander stayed in Persepolis for five months. During his stay, a fire broke out in the eastern palace of Xerxes I and spread to the rest of the city. Possible causes include a drunken accident or deliberate revenge for the burning of the Acropolis of Athens during the Second Persian War by Xerxes; Plutarch and Diodorus allege that Alexander's companion, the hetaera Thaïs, instigated and started the fire. Even as he watched the city burn, Alexander immediately began to regret his decision. Plutarch claims that he ordered his men to put out the fires but the flames had already spread to most of the city. Curtius claims that Alexander did not regret his decision until the next morning. Plutarch recounts an anecdote in which Alexander pauses and talks to a fallen statue of Xerxes as if it were a live person:
Shall I pass by and leave you lying there because of the expeditions you led against Greece, or shall I set you up again because of your magnanimity and your virtues in other respects?
Fall of the Persian Empire and the East
Alexander then chased Darius, first into Media, and then Parthia. The Persian king no longer controlled his own destiny, and was taken prisoner by Bessus, his Bactrian satrap and kinsman. As Alexander approached, Bessus had his men fatally stab the Great King and then declared himself Darius's successor as Artaxerxes V, before retreating into Central Asia to launch a guerrilla campaign against Alexander. Alexander buried Darius's remains next to his Achaemenid predecessors in a regal funeral. He claimed that, while dying, Darius had named him as his successor to the Achaemenid throne. The Achaemenid Empire is normally considered to have fallen with Darius. However, as basic forms of community life and the general structure of government were maintained and resuscitated by Alexander under his own rule, he, in the words of the Iranologist Pierre Briant "may therefore be considered to have acted in many ways as the last of the Achaemenids."
Alexander viewed Bessus as a usurper and set out to defeat him. This campaign, initially against Bessus, turned into a grand tour of central Asia. Alexander founded a series of new cities, all called Alexandria, including modern Kandahar in Afghanistan, and Alexandria Eschate ("The Furthest") in modern Tajikistan. The campaign took Alexander through Media, Parthia, Aria (West Afghanistan), Drangiana, Arachosia (South and Central Afghanistan), Bactria (North and Central Afghanistan), and Scythia.
In 329 BC, Spitamenes, who held an undefined position in the satrapy of Sogdiana, betrayed Bessus to Ptolemy, one of Alexander's trusted companions, and Bessus was executed. However, at some point later when Alexander was on the Jaxartes dealing with an incursion by a horse nomad army, Spitamenes raised Sogdiana in revolt. Alexander personally defeated the Scythians at the Battle of Jaxartes and immediately launched a campaign against Spitamenes, defeating him in the Battle of Gabai. After the defeat, Spitamenes was killed by his own men, who then sued for peace.
Problems and plots
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During this time, Alexander adopted some elements of Persian dress and customs at his court, notably the custom of proskynesis, either a symbolic kissing of the hand, or prostration on the ground, that Persians showed to their social superiors. This was one aspect of Alexander's broad strategy aimed at securing the aid and support of the Iranian upper classes. The Greeks however regarded the gesture of proskynesis as the province of deities and believed that Alexander meant to deify himself by requiring it. This cost him the sympathies of many of his countrymen, and he eventually abandoned it.
During the long rule of the Achaemenids, the elite positions in many segments of the empire including the central government, the army, and the many satrapies were specifically reserved for Iranians and to a major degree, Persian noblemen. The latter were in many cases additionally connected through marriage alliances with the royal Achaemenid family. This created a problem for Alexander as to whether he had to make use of the various segments and people that had given the empire its solidity and unity for a lengthy period of time. Pierre Briant explains that Alexander realized that it was insufficient to merely exploit the internal contradictions within the imperial system as in Asia Minor, Babylonia or Egypt; he also had to (re)create a central government with or without the support of the Iranians. As early as 334 BC he demonstrated awareness of this, when he challenged incumbent King Darius III "by appropriating the main elements of the Achaemenid monarchy's ideology, particularly the theme of the king who protects the lands and the peasants". Alexander wrote a letter in 332 BC to Darius III, wherein he argued that he was worthier than Darius "to succeed to the Achaemenid throne". However, Alexander's eventual decision to burn the Achaemenid palace at Persepolis in conjunction with the major rejection and opposition of the "entire Persian people" made it impracticable for him to pose himself as Darius' legitimate successor. Against Bessus (Artaxerxes V) however, Briant adds, Alexander reasserted "his claim to legitimacy as the avenger of Darius III".
A plot against his life was revealed, and one of his officers, Philotas, was executed for failing to alert Alexander. The death of the son necessitated the death of the father, and thus Parmenion, who had been charged with guarding the treasury at Ecbatana, was assassinated at Alexander's command, to prevent attempts at vengeance. Most infamously, Alexander personally killed the man who had saved his life at Granicus, Cleitus the Black, during a violent drunken altercation at Maracanda (modern day Samarkand in Uzbekistan), in which Cleitus accused Alexander of several judgmental mistakes and especially of having forgotten the Macedonian ways in favour of a corrupt oriental lifestyle.
Later, in the Central Asian campaign, a second plot against his life was revealed. This one was instigated by his own royal pages. His official historian, Callisthenes of Olynthus, was implicated in the plot, and in the Anabasis of Alexander, Arrian states that Callisthenes and the pages were then tortured on the rack as punishment, and likely died soon after. It remains unclear if Callisthenes was actually involved in the plot, for prior to his accusation he had fallen out of favour by leading the opposition to the attempt to introduce proskynesis.
Macedon in Alexander's absence
When Alexander set out for Asia, he left his general Antipater, an experienced military and political leader, and part of Philip II's "Old Guard", in charge of Macedon. Alexander's sacking of Thebes ensured that Greece remained quiet during his absence. The one exception was a call to arms by Spartan king Agis III in 331 BC, whom Antipater defeated and killed in the battle of Megalopolis. Antipater referred the Spartans' punishment to the League of Corinth, which then deferred to Alexander, who chose to pardon them. There was also considerable friction between Antipater and Olympias, and each complained to Alexander about the other.
In general, Greece enjoyed a period of peace and prosperity during Alexander's campaign in Asia. Alexander sent back vast sums from his conquest, which stimulated the economy and increased trade across his empire. However, Alexander's constant demands for troops and the migration of Macedonians throughout his empire depleted Macedon's strength, greatly weakening it in the years after Alexander, and ultimately led to its subjugation by Rome after the Third Macedonian War (171–168 BC).
Coinage
The conquest by Philip II of Pangaeum, and then of the island of Thasos between 356 and 342 BC brought rich gold and silver mines under Macedonian control.
Alexander appears to have introduced a new coinage in Cilicia in Tarsus, after the Battle of Issus in 333 BC, which went on to become the main coinage of the empire. Alexander minted gold staters, silver tetradrachms and drachims, and various fractional bronze coins. The types of these coins remained constant in his empire. The gold series had the head of Athena on the obverse and a winged Nike (Victory) on the reverse. The silver coinage had a beardless head of Heracles wearing a lionskin headdress on the obverse and Zeus aetophoros ('eagle bearer') enthroned with a scepter in his left hand, on the reverse. There are both Greek and non-Greek aspects to this design. Heracles and Zeus were important deities for the Macedonians, with Heracles considered to be the ancestor of the Temenid dynasty and Zeus the patron of the main Macedonian sanctuary, Dium. The lion was also the symbolic animal of the Anatolian god Sandas, worshipped at Tarsus. The reverse design of Alexander's tetradrachms is closely modelled on the depiction of the god Baaltars (Baal of Tarsus), on the silver staters minted at Tarsus by the Persian satrap Mazaeus before Alexander's conquest.
Alexander did not attempt to impose uniform imperial coinage throughout his new conquests. Persian coins continued to circulate in all the satrapies of the empire.
Indian campaign
Main article: Indian campaign of Alexander the GreatForays into the Indian subcontinent
After the death of Spitamenes and his marriage to Roxana (Raoxshna in Old Iranian) to cement relations with his new satrapies, Alexander turned to the Indian subcontinent. He invited the chieftains of the former satrapy of Gandhara (a region presently straddling eastern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan), to come to him and submit to his authority. Omphis (Indian name Ambhi), the ruler of Taxila, whose kingdom extended from the Indus to the Hydaspes (Jhelum), complied, but the chieftains of some hill clans, including the Aspasioi and Assakenoi sections of the Kambojas (known in Indian texts also as Ashvayanas and Ashvakayanas), refused to submit. Ambhi hastened to relieve Alexander of his apprehension and met him with valuable presents, placing himself and all his forces at his disposal. Alexander not only returned Ambhi his title and the gifts but he also presented him with a wardrobe of "Persian robes, gold and silver ornaments, 30 horses and 1,000 talents in gold". Alexander was emboldened to divide his forces, and Ambhi assisted Hephaestion and Perdiccas in constructing a bridge over the Indus where it bends at Hund, supplied their troops with provisions, and he received Alexander and his whole army in his capital city of Taxila, with every demonstration of friendship and the most liberal hospitality.
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On the subsequent advance of the Macedonian king, Taxiles accompanied him with a force of 5,000 men and took part in the Battle of the Hydaspes. After that victory, he was sent by Alexander in pursuit of Porus, to whom he was charged to offer favourable terms, but narrowly escaped losing his life at the hands of his old enemy. Subsequently, the two rivals were reconciled by the personal mediation of Alexander; Taxiles contributed zealously to the equipment of the fleet on the Hydaspes and was entrusted by Alexander with the government of the whole territory between that river and the Indus. A considerable accession of power was granted him after the death of Philip, son of Machatas, and he was allowed to retain his authority at the death of Alexander himself (323 BC), as well as in the subsequent partition of the provinces at Triparadisus, 321 BC.
In the winter of 327/326 BC, Alexander personally led a campaign against the Aspasioi of the Kunar Valley, the Guraeans of the Guraeus Valley, and the Assakenoi of the Swat and Buner Valleys. A fierce contest ensued with the Aspasioi in which Alexander was wounded in the shoulder by a dart, but eventually the Aspasioi lost. Alexander then faced the Assakenoi who fought against him from the strongholds of Massaga, Ora, and Aornos.
The fort of Massaga was reduced after days of bloody fighting in which Alexander was seriously wounded in the ankle. According to Curtius, "Not only did Alexander slaughter the entire population of Massaga, but also did he reduce its buildings to rubble." A similar slaughter followed at Ora. In the aftermath of Massaga and Ora, numerous Assakenians fled to the fortress of Aornos. Alexander followed close behind and captured the strategic hill-fort after four bloody days.
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After Aornos, Alexander crossed the Indus and won an epic battle against King Porus, who ruled a region lying between the Hydaspes and the Acesines (Chenab), in what is now the Punjab, in the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC. Alexander was impressed by Porus's bravery and made him an ally. He appointed Porus as satrap, and added to Porus's territory land that he did not previously own, towards the south-east, up to the Hyphasis (Beas). Choosing a local helped him control these lands that were distant from Greece. Alexander founded two cities on opposite sides of the Hydaspes river, naming one Bucephala, in honour of his horse, who died around this time. The other was Nicaea (Victory), thought to be located at the site of modern-day Mong, Punjab. Philostratus the Elder in the Life of Apollonius of Tyana writes that in the army of Porus, there was an elephant who fought bravely against Alexander's army, and Alexander dedicated it to the Helios (Sun) and named it Ajax because he thought that such a great animal deserved a great name. The elephant had gold rings around its tusks and an inscription was on them written in Greek: "Alexander the son of Zeus dedicates Ajax to the Helios" (ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ Ο ΔΙΟΣ ΤΟΝ ΑΙΑΝΤΑ ΤΩΙ ΗΛΙΩΙ).
Revolt of the Hellenic army
East of Porus's kingdom, near the Ganges River, was the Nanda Empire of Magadha, and further east, the Gangaridai Empire of Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent. Fearing the prospect of facing other large armies and exhausted by years of campaigning, Alexander's army mutinied at the Hyphasis River (Beas), refusing to march farther east. This river thus marks the easternmost extent of Alexander's conquests.
As for the Macedonians, however, their struggle with Porus blunted their courage and stayed their further advance into India. For having had all they could do to repulse an enemy who mustered only twenty thousand infantry and two thousand horse, they violently opposed Alexander when he insisted on crossing the river Ganges also, the width of which, as they learned, was thirty-two furlongs , its depth one hundred fathoms , while its banks on the further side were covered with multitudes of men-at-arms and horsemen and elephants. For they were told that the kings of the Ganderites and Praesii were awaiting them with eighty thousand horsemen, two hundred thousand footmen, eight thousand chariots, and six thousand war elephants.
Alexander tried to persuade his soldiers to march farther, but his general Coenus pleaded with him to change his opinion and return; the men, he said, "longed to again see their parents, their wives and children, their homeland". Alexander eventually agreed and turned south, marching along the Indus. Along the way his army conquered the Malhi (in modern-day Multan) and other Indian tribes; while besieging the Mallian citadel, Alexander suffered a near-fatal injury when an arrow penetrated his armor and entered his lung.
Alexander sent much of his army to Carmania (modern southern Iran) with general Craterus, and commissioned a fleet to explore the Persian Gulf shore under his admiral Nearchus, while he led the rest back to Persia through the more difficult southern route along the Gedrosian Desert and Makran. Alexander reached Susa in 324 BC, but not before losing many men to the harsh desert.
Last years in Persia
Discovering that many of his satraps and military governors had misbehaved in his absence, Alexander executed several of them as examples on his way to Susa. As a gesture of thanks, he paid off the debts of his soldiers, and announced that he would send over-aged and disabled veterans back to Macedon, led by Craterus. His troops misunderstood his intention and mutinied at the town of Opis. They refused to be sent away and criticized his adoption of Persian customs and dress and the introduction of Persian officers and soldiers into Macedonian units.
After three days, unable to persuade his men to back down, Alexander gave Persians command posts in the army and conferred Macedonian military titles upon Persian units. The Macedonians quickly begged forgiveness, which Alexander accepted, and held a great banquet with several thousand of his men. In an attempt to craft a lasting harmony between his Macedonian and Persian subjects, Alexander held a mass marriage of his senior officers to Persian and other noblewomen at Susa, but few of those marriages seem to have lasted much beyond a year.
Meanwhile, upon his return to Persia, Alexander learned that guards of the tomb of Cyrus the Great in Pasargadae had desecrated it, and swiftly executed them. Alexander admired Cyrus the Great, from an early age reading Xenophon's Cyropaedia, which described Cyrus's heroism in battle and governance as a king and legislator. During his visit to Pasargadae, Alexander ordered his architect Aristobulus to decorate the interior of the sepulchral chamber of Cyrus's tomb.
Afterwards, Alexander travelled to Ecbatana to retrieve the bulk of the Persian treasure. There, his closest friend, Hephaestion, died of illness or poisoning. Hephaestion's death devastated Alexander and he ordered the preparation of an expensive funeral pyre in Babylon along with a decree for public mourning. Back in Babylon, Alexander planned a series of new campaigns, beginning with an invasion of Arabia.
Death and succession
Main article: Death of Alexander the Great.jpg)
On either 10 or 11 June 323 BC, Alexander died in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar II, in Babylon, at age 32. There are two different versions of Alexander's death, differing slightly in details. Plutarch's account is that roughly 14 days before his death, Alexander entertained admiral Nearchus and spent the night and next day drinking with Medius of Larissa. Alexander developed a fever, which worsened until he was unable to speak. The common soldiers, anxious about his health, were granted the right to file past him as he silently waved at them. In the second account, Diodorus recounts that Alexander was struck with pain after downing a large bowl of unmixed wine in honour of Heracles followed by 11 days of weakness; he did not develop a fever, instead dying after some agony. Arrian also mentioned this as an alternative, but Plutarch specifically denied this claim.
Given the propensity of the Macedonian aristocracy to assassination, foul play featured in multiple accounts of his death. Diodorus, Plutarch, Arrian and Justin all mentioned the theory that Alexander was poisoned. Justin stated that Alexander was the victim of a poisoning conspiracy, Plutarch dismissed it as a fabrication, while both Diodorus and Arrian noted that they mentioned it only for the sake of completeness. The accounts were nevertheless fairly consistent in designating Antipater, recently removed as Macedonian viceroy, replaced by Craterus, as the head of the alleged plot. Perhaps taking his summons to Babylon as a death sentence and having seen the fate of Parmenion and Philotas, Antipater purportedly arranged for Alexander to be poisoned by his son Iollas, who was Alexander's wine-pourer. There was even a suggestion that Aristotle may have participated. The strongest argument against the poison theory is the fact that twelve days passed between the start of his illness and his death; such long-acting poisons were probably not available. However, in a 2003 BBC documentary investigating the death of Alexander, Leo Schep from the New Zealand National Poisons Centre proposed that the plant white hellebore (Veratrum album), which was known in antiquity, may have been used to poison Alexander. In a 2014 manuscript in the journal Clinical Toxicology, Schep suggested Alexander's wine was spiked with Veratrum album, and that this would produce poisoning symptoms that match the course of events described in the Alexander Romance. Veratrum album poisoning can have a prolonged course and it was suggested that if Alexander was poisoned, Veratrum album offers the most plausible cause. Another poisoning explanation put forward in 2010 proposed that the circumstances of his death were compatible with poisoning by water of the river Styx (modern-day Mavroneri in Arcadia, Greece) that contained calicheamicin, a dangerous compound produced by bacteria.
Several natural causes (diseases) have been suggested, including malaria and typhoid fever. A 1998 article in the New England Journal of Medicine attributed his death to typhoid fever complicated by bowel perforation and ascending paralysis. A 2004 analysis suggested pyogenic (infectious) spondylitis or meningitis. Other illnesses fit the symptoms, including acute pancreatitis, West Nile virus, and Guillain-Barré syndrome. Natural-cause theories also tend to emphasize that Alexander's health may have been in general decline after years of heavy drinking and severe wounds. The anguish that Alexander felt after Hephaestion's death may also have contributed to his declining health.
Post-death events
See also: Tomb of Alexander the GreatAlexander's body was laid in a gold anthropoid sarcophagus that was filled with honey, which was in turn placed in a gold casket. According to Aelian, a seer called Aristander foretold that the land where Alexander was laid to rest "would be happy and unvanquishable forever". Perhaps more likely, the successors may have seen possession of the body as a symbol of legitimacy, since burying the prior king was a royal prerogative.
While Alexander's funeral cortege was on its way to Macedon, Ptolemy seized it and took it temporarily to Memphis. His successor, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, transferred the sarcophagus to Alexandria, where it remained until at least late antiquity. Ptolemy IX Lathyros, one of Ptolemy's final successors, replaced Alexander's sarcophagus with a glass one so he could convert the original to coinage. The 2014 discovery of an enormous tomb in northern Greece, at Amphipolis, dating from the time of Alexander the Great has given rise to speculation that its original intent was to be the burial place of Alexander. This would fit with the intended destination of Alexander's funeral cortege. However, the memorial was found to be dedicated to the dearest friend of Alexander the Great, Hephaestion.
Pompey, Julius Caesar and Augustus all visited the tomb in Alexandria where Augustus, allegedly, accidentally knocked the nose of Alexander's mummified body off. Caligula was said to have taken Alexander's breastplate from the tomb for his own use. Around AD 200, Emperor Septimius Severus closed Alexander's tomb to the public. His son and successor, Caracalla, a great admirer, visited the tomb during his own reign. After this, details on the fate of the tomb are hazy.
The so-called "Alexander Sarcophagus", discovered near Sidon and now in the Istanbul Archaeology Museum, is so named not because it was thought to have contained Alexander's remains, but because its bas-reliefs depict Alexander and his companions fighting the Persians and hunting. It was originally thought to have been the sarcophagus of Abdalonymus (died 311 BC), the king of Sidon appointed by Alexander immediately following the battle of Issus in 331. However, in 1969, it was suggested by Karl Schefold that it may date from earlier than Abdalonymus's death.
Demades likened the Macedonian army, after the death of Alexander, to the blinded Cyclops due to the many random and disorderly movements that it made. In addition, Leosthenes also likened the anarchy between the generals, after Alexander's death, to the blinded Cyclops "who after he had lost his eye went feeling and groping about with his hands before him, not knowing where to lay them".
Division of the Macedonian Empire
Main articles: Partition of Babylon and Diadochi
Alexander's death was so sudden that when reports of his death reached Greece, they were not immediately believed. Alexander had no obvious or legitimate heir, his son Alexander IV by Roxane being born after Alexander's death. According to Diodorus, Alexander's companions asked him on his deathbed to whom he bequeathed his kingdom; his laconic reply was "tôi kratistôi"—"to the strongest". Another theory is that his successors wilfully or erroneously misheard "tôi Kraterôi"—"to Craterus", the general leading his Macedonian troops home and newly entrusted with the regency of Macedonia.
Arrian and Plutarch claimed that Alexander was speechless by this time, implying that this was an apocryphal story. Diodorus, Curtius and Justin offered the more plausible story that Alexander passed his signet ring to Perdiccas, a bodyguard and leader of the companion cavalry, in front of witnesses, thereby nominating him.
Perdiccas initially did not claim power, instead suggesting that Roxane's baby would be king, if male, with himself, Craterus, Leonnatus, and Antipater as guardians. However, the infantry, under the command of Meleager, rejected this arrangement since they had been excluded from the discussion. Instead, they supported Alexander's half-brother Philip Arrhidaeus. Eventually, the two sides reconciled, and after the birth of Alexander IV, he and Philip III were appointed joint kings, albeit in name only.
Dissension and rivalry soon affected the Macedonians. The satrapies handed out by Perdiccas at the Partition of Babylon became power bases each general used to bid for power. After the assassination of Perdiccas in 321 BC, Macedonian unity collapsed, and 40 years of war between "The Successors" (Diadochi) ensued before the Hellenistic world settled into three stable power blocs: Ptolemaic Egypt, Seleucid Syria and East, and Antigonid Macedonia. In the process, both Alexander IV and Philip III were murdered.
Last plans
Diodorus stated that Alexander had given detailed written instructions to Craterus some time before his death, which are known as Alexander's "last plans". Craterus started to carry out Alexander's commands, but the successors chose not to further implement them, on the grounds they were impractical and extravagant. Furthermore, Perdiccas had read the notebooks containing Alexander's last plans to the Macedonian troops in Babylon, who voted not to carry them out.
According to Diodorus, Alexander's last plans called for military expansion into the southern and western Mediterranean, monumental constructions, and the intermixing of Eastern and Western populations. It included:
- Construction of 1,000 ships larger than triremes, along with harbours and a road running along the African coast all the way to the Pillars of Hercules, to be used for an invasion of Carthage and the western Mediterranean;
- Erection of great temples in Delos, Delphi, Dodona, Dium, Amphipolis, all costing 1,500 talents, and a monumental temple to Athena at Troy
- Amalgamation of small settlements into larger cities ("synoecisms") and the "transplant of populations from Asia to Europe and in the opposite direction from Europe to Asia, in order to bring the largest continent to common unity and to friendship by means of intermarriage and family ties"
- Construction of a monumental tomb for his father Philip, "to match the greatest of the pyramids of Egypt"
- Conquest of Arabia
- Circumnavigation of Africa
The enormous scale of these plans has led many scholars to doubt their historicity. Ernst Badian argued that they were exaggerated by Perdiccas in order to ensure that the Macedonian troops voted not to carry them out. Other scholars have proposed that they were invented by later authors within the tradition of the Alexander Romance.
Character
Generalship
Further information: Military tactics of Alexander the GreatAlexander perhaps earned the epithet "the Great" due to his unparalleled success as a military commander; he never lost a battle, despite typically being outnumbered. This was due to use of terrain, phalanx and cavalry tactics, bold strategy, and the fierce loyalty of his troops. The Macedonian phalanx, armed with the sarissa, a spear 6 metres (20 ft) long, had been developed and perfected by Philip II through rigorous training, and Alexander used its speed and manoeuvrability to great effect against larger but more disparate Persian forces. Alexander also recognized the potential for disunity among his diverse army, which employed various languages and weapons. He overcame this by being personally involved in battle, in the manner of a Macedonian king.
In his first battle in Asia, at Granicus, Alexander used only a small part of his forces, perhaps 13,000 infantry with 5,000 cavalry, against a much larger Persian force of 40,000. Alexander placed the phalanx at the center and cavalry and archers on the wings, so that his line matched the length of the Persian cavalry line, about 3 km (1.86 mi). By contrast, the Persian infantry was stationed behind its cavalry. This ensured that Alexander would not be outflanked, while his phalanx, armed with long pikes, had a considerable advantage over the Persians' scimitars and javelins. Macedonian losses were negligible compared to those of the Persians.
At Issus in 333 BC, his first confrontation with Darius, he used the same deployment, and again the central phalanx pushed through. Alexander personally led the charge in the center, routing the opposing army. At the decisive encounter with Darius at Gaugamela, Darius equipped his chariots with scythes on the wheels to break up the phalanx and equipped his cavalry with pikes. Alexander arranged a double phalanx, with the center advancing at an angle, parting when the chariots bore down and then reforming. The advance was successful and broke Darius's center, causing the latter to flee once again.
When faced with opponents who used unfamiliar fighting techniques, such as in Central Asia and India, Alexander adapted his forces to his opponents' style. Thus, in Bactria and Sogdiana, Alexander successfully used his javelin throwers and archers to prevent outflanking movements, while massing his cavalry at the center. In India, confronted by Porus's elephant corps, the Macedonians opened their ranks to envelop the elephants and used their sarissas to strike upwards and dislodge the elephants' handlers.
Physical appearance
Historical sources frequently give conflicting accounts of Alexander's appearance, and the earliest sources are the most scant in their detail. During his lifetime, Alexander carefully curated his image by commissioning works from famous and great artists of the time. This included commissioning sculptures by Lysippos, paintings by Apelles and gem engravings by Pyrgoteles. Ancient authors recorded that Alexander was so pleased with portraits of himself created by Lysippos that he forbade other sculptors from crafting his image; scholars today, however, find the claim dubious. Nevertheless, Andrew Stewart highlights the fact that artistic portraits, not least because of who they are commissioned by, are always partisan, and that artistic portrayals of Alexander "seek to legitimize him (or, by extension, his Successors), to interpret him to their audiences, to answer their critiques, and to persuade them of his greatness", and thus should be considered within a framework of "praise and blame", in the same way sources such as praise poetry are. Despite those caveats, Lysippos's sculpture, famous for its naturalism, as opposed to a stiffer, more static pose, is thought to be the most faithful depiction.
Curtius Rufus, a Roman historian from the first century AD, who wrote the Histories of Alexander the Great, gives this account of Alexander sitting on the throne of Darius III:
Then Alexander seating himself on the royal throne, which was far too high for his bodily stature. Therefore, since his feet did not reach its lowest step, one of the royal pages placed a table under his feet.
Both Curtius and Diodorus report a story that when Darius III's mother, Sisygambis, first met Alexander and Hephaestion, she assumed that the latter was Alexander because he was the taller and more handsome of the two.
The Greek biographer Plutarch (c. 45 – c. 120 AD) discusses the accuracy of his depictions:
The outward appearance of Alexander is best represented by the statues of him which Lysippus made, and it was by this artist alone that Alexander himself thought it fit that he should be modelled. For those peculiarities which many of his successors and friends afterwards tried to imitate, namely, the poise of the neck, which was bent slightly to the left, and the melting glance of his eyes, this artist has accurately observed. Apelles, however, in painting him as wielder of the thunder-bolt, did not reproduce his complexion, but made it too dark and swarthy. Whereas he was of a fair colour, as they say, and his fairness passed into ruddiness on his breast particularly, and in his face. Moreover, that a very pleasant odour exhaled from his skin and that there was a fragrance about his mouth and all his flesh, so that his garments were filled with it, this we have read in the Memoirs of Aristoxenus.
Historians have understood the detail of the pleasant fragrance attributed to Alexander as stemming from a belief in ancient Greece that pleasant scents are characteristic of gods and heroes.
The Alexander Mosaic and contemporary coins portray Alexander with "a straight nose, a slightly protruding jaw, full lips and eyes deep set beneath a strongly pronounced forehead". He is also described as having a slight upward tilt of his head to the left.
The ancient historian Aelian (c. 175 – c. 235 AD), in his Varia Historia (12.14), describes Alexander's hair color as "ξανθὴν" (xanthín), which at the time, could mean blond, brown, tawny (light brown) or auburn. It is sometimes claimed that Alexander had one blue and one brown eye, referring to the Alexander Romance, which is however a fictional account that also claims Alexander "had sharp teeth like fangs" and "did not look like Philip or Olympias". Reconstruction, based on remaining traces of paint of the original polychromy on his sarcophagus, indicates that he was depicted with brown eyes and chestnut brown hair. While the acropolis museum suggests that trace amounts of red paint on a head statue of Alexander were most likely a base coat for golden hues to be painted over for his hair.
Personality
Both of Alexander's parents encouraged his ambitions. His father Philip was probably Alexander's most immediate and influential role model, as the young Alexander watched him campaign practically every year, winning victory after victory while ignoring severe wounds. Alexander's relationship with his father "forged" the competitive side of his personality; he had a need to outdo his father, illustrated by his reckless behavior in battle. While Alexander worried that his father would leave him "no great or brilliant achievement to be displayed to the world", he also downplayed his father's achievements to his companions. Alexander's mother Olympia similarly had huge ambitions, and encouraged her son to believe it was his destiny to conquer the Persian Empire. She instilled a sense of destiny in him, and Plutarch tells how his ambition "kept his spirit serious and lofty in advance of his years".
According to Plutarch, Alexander also had a violent temper and rash, impulsive nature, which could influence his decision making. Although Alexander was stubborn and did not respond well to orders from his father, he was open to reasoned debate. He had a calmer side—perceptive, logical, and calculating. He had a great desire for knowledge, a love for philosophy, and was an avid reader. This was no doubt in part due to Aristotle's tutelage; Alexander was intelligent and quick to learn. His intelligent and rational side was amply demonstrated by his ability and success as a general. He had great self-restraint in "pleasures of the body", in contrast with his lack of self-control with alcohol.
Alexander was erudite and patronized both arts and sciences. However, he had little interest in sports or the Olympic Games (unlike his father), seeking only the Homeric ideals of honour (timê) and glory (kudos). He had great charisma and force of personality, characteristics which made him a great leader. His unique abilities were further demonstrated by the inability of any of his generals to unite Macedonia and retain the Empire after his death—only Alexander had the ability to do so.
During his final years, and especially after the death of Hephaestion, Alexander began to exhibit signs of megalomania and paranoia. His extraordinary achievements, coupled with his own ineffable sense of destiny and the flattery of his companions, may have combined to produce this effect. His delusions of grandeur are readily visible in his will and in his desire to conquer the world, in as much as he is by various sources described as having boundless ambition, an epithet, the meaning of which has descended into a historical cliché.
He appears to have believed himself a deity, or at least sought to deify himself. Olympias always insisted to him that he was the son of Zeus, a theory apparently confirmed to him by the oracle of Amun at Siwa. He began to identify himself as the son of Zeus-Ammon. Alexander adopted elements of Persian dress and customs at court, notably proskynesis, which was one aspect of Alexander's broad strategy aimed at securing the aid and support of the Iranian upper classes; however the practise of proskynesis was disapproved by the Macedonians, and they were unwilling to perform it. This behaviour cost him the sympathies of many of his countrymen. Alexander also was a pragmatic ruler who understood the difficulties of ruling culturally disparate peoples, many of whom lived in societies where the king was treated as divine. Thus, rather than megalomania, his behaviour may have been a practical attempt at strengthening his rule and keeping his empire together.
Personal relationships
Main article: Personal relationships of Alexander the Great
Alexander married three times: Roxana, daughter of the Sogdian nobleman Oxyartes of Bactria, out of love; and the Persian princesses Stateira and Parysatis, the former a daughter of Darius III and the latter a daughter of Artaxerxes III, for political reasons. Alexander apparently had two children by Roxana: unnamed first child, who was born in India and died in infancy in November 326 BC, and Alexander IV of Macedon, born after his father's death. Additionaly Heracles of Macedon was claimed to be his illegitimate son born of mistress, Barsine.
Alexander also had a close relationship with his friend, general, and bodyguard Hephaestion, the son of a Macedonian noble. Hephaestion's death devastated Alexander. This event may have contributed to Alexander's failing health and detached mental state during his final months.
Sexuality
Alexander's sexuality has been the subject of speculation and controversy in modern times. The Roman era writer Athenaeus says, based on the scholar Dicaearchus, who was Alexander's contemporary, that the king "was quite excessively keen on boys", and that Alexander kissed the eunuch Bagoas in public. This episode is also told by Plutarch, probably based on the same source. None of Alexander's contemporaries, however, are known to have explicitly described Alexander's relationship with Hephaestion as sexual, though the pair was often compared to Achilles and Patroclus, who are often interpreted as a couple. Aelian writes of Alexander's visit to Troy where "Alexander garlanded the tomb of Achilles, and Hephaestion that of Patroclus, the latter hinting that he was a beloved of Alexander, in just the same way as Patroclus was of Achilles." Some modern historians (e.g., Robin Lane Fox) believe not only that Alexander's youthful relationship with Hephaestion was sexual, but also that their sexual contacts may have continued into adulthood, which went against the social norms of at least some Greek cities, such as Athens, though some modern researchers have tentatively proposed that Macedonia (or at least the Macedonian court) may have been more tolerant of homosexuality between adults.
Peter Green argues that there is little evidence in ancient sources that Alexander had much sexual interest in women; he did not produce an heir until the very end of his life. However, Ogden calculates that Alexander, who impregnated his partners thrice in eight years, had a higher matrimonial record than his father at the same age. Two of these pregnancies—Stateira's and Barsine's—are of dubious legitimacy.
According to Diodorus Siculus, Alexander accumulated a harem in the style of Persian kings, but he used it rather sparingly, "not wishing to offend the Macedonians", showing great self-control in "pleasures of the body". Nevertheless, Plutarch described how Alexander was infatuated by Roxana while complimenting him on not forcing himself on her. Green suggested that, in the context of the period, Alexander formed quite strong friendships with women, including Ada of Caria, who adopted him, and even Darius's mother Sisygambis, who supposedly died from grief upon hearing of Alexander's death.
Battle record
| Outcome | Date | War | Action | Opponent/s | Type | Country (present day) |
Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Victory | 338-08-02 2 August 338 BC | Philip II's submission of Greece | Chaeronea Battle of Chaeronea | .Thebans, Athenians and other Greek cities | Battle | Greece | Prince
⁂ |
| Victory | 335 335 BC | Balkan Campaign | Mount Haemus Battle of Mount Haemus | .Getae, Thracians | Battle | Bulgaria | King
⁂ |
| Victory | 335-12 December 335 BC | Balkan Campaign | Pelium Siege of Pelium | .Illyrians | Siege | Albania | King
⁂ |
| Victory | 335-12 December 335 BC | Balkan Campaign | Pelium Battle of Thebes | .Thebans | Battle | Greece | King
⁂ |
| Victory | 334-05 May 334 BC | Persian Campaign | Granicus Battle of the Granicus | .Achaemenid Empire | Battle | Turkey | King
⁂ |
| Victory | 334 334 BC | Persian Campaign | Miletus Siege of Miletus | .Achaemenid Empire, Milesians | Siege | Turkey | King
⁂ |
| Victory | 334 334 BC | Persian Campaign | Halicarnassus Siege of Halicarnassus | .Achaemenid Empire | Siege | Turkey | King
⁂ |
| Victory | 333-11-05 5 November 333 BC | Persian Campaign | Issus Battle of Issus | .Achaemenid Empire | Battle | Turkey | King
⁂ |
| Victory | 332 January–July 332 BC | Persian Campaign | Tyre Siege of Tyre | .Achaemenid Empire, Tyrians | Siege | Lebanon | King
⁂ |
| Victory | 332-10 October 332 BC | Persian Campaign | Tyre Siege of Gaza | .Achaemenid Empire | Siege | Palestine | King
⁂ |
| Victory | 331-10-01 1 October 331 BC | Persian Campaign | Gaugamela Battle of Gaugamela | .Achaemenid Empire | Battle | Iraq | King
⁂ |
| Victory | 331-12 December 331 BC | Persian Campaign | Uxian Defile Battle of the Uxian Defile | .Uxians | Battle | Iran | King
⁂ |
| Victory | 330-01-20 20 January 330 BC | Persian Campaign | Persian Gate Battle of the Persian Gate | .Achaemenid Empire | Battle | Iran | King
⁂ |
| Victory | 329 329 BC | Persian Campaign | Cyropolis Siege of Cyropolis | .Sogdians | Siege | Turkmenistan | King
⁂ |
| Victory | 329-10 October 329 BC | Persian Campaign | Jaxartes Battle of Jaxartes | .Scythians | Battle | Uzbekistan | King
⁂ |
| Victory | 327 327 BC | Persian Campaign | Sogdian Rock Siege of the Sogdian Rock | .Sogdians | Siege | Uzbekistan | King
⁂ |
| Victory | 327 May 327 – March 326 BC | Indian Campaign | Cophen Cophen campaign | .Aspasians | Expedition | Afghanistan and Pakistan | King
⁂ |
| Victory | 326-04 April 326 BC | Indian Campaign | Aornos Siege of Aornos | .Aśvaka | Siege | Pakistan | King
⁂ |
| Victory | 326-05 May 326 BC | Indian Campaign | Hydaspes Battle of the Hydaspes | .Porus | Battle | Pakistan | King
⁂ |
| Victory | 325 November 326 – February 325 BC | Indian Campaign | Aornos Siege of Multan | .Malli | Siege | Pakistan | King
⁂ |
Legacy
Alexander's legacy extended beyond his military conquests, and his reign marked a turning point in European and Asian history. His campaigns greatly increased contacts and trade between East and West, and vast areas to the east were significantly exposed to Greek civilization and influence. Some of the cities he founded became major cultural centers, many surviving into the 21st century. His chroniclers recorded valuable information about the areas through which he marched, while the Greeks themselves got a sense of belonging to a world beyond the Mediterranean.
Hellenistic kingdoms
Main article: Hellenistic period
Alexander's most immediate legacy was the introduction of Macedonian rule to huge new swathes of Asia. At the time of his death, Alexander's empire covered some 5,200,000 km (2,000,000 sq mi), and was the largest state of its time. Many of these areas remained in Macedonian hands or under Greek influence for the next 200–300 years. The successor states that emerged were, at least initially, dominant forces, and these 300 years are often referred to as the Hellenistic period.
The eastern borders of Alexander's empire began to collapse even during his lifetime. However, the power vacuum he left in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent directly gave rise to one of the most powerful Indian dynasties in history, the Maurya Empire. Taking advantage of this power vacuum, Chandragupta Maurya (referred to in Greek sources as "Sandrokottos"), of relatively humble origin, took control of the Punjab, and with that power base proceeded to conquer the Nanda Empire.
Founding of cities
Main article: List of cities founded by Alexander the Great
Over the course of his conquests, Alexander founded many cities that bore his name, most of them east of the Tigris. The first, and greatest, was Alexandria in Egypt, which would become one of the leading Mediterranean cities. The cities' locations reflected trade routes as well as defensive positions. At first, the cities must have been inhospitable, little more than defensive garrisons. Following Alexander's death, many Greeks who had settled there tried to return to Greece. However, a century or so after Alexander's death, many of the Alexandrias were thriving, with elaborate public buildings and substantial populations that included both Greek and local peoples.
Funding of temples
In 334 BC, Alexander the Great donated funds for the completion of the new temple of Athena Polias in Priene, in modern-day western Turkey. An inscription from the temple, now housed in the British Museum, declares: "King Alexander dedicated to Athena Polias." This inscription is one of the few independent archaeological discoveries confirming an episode from Alexander's life. The temple was designed by Pytheos, one of the architects of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.
Libanius wrote that Alexander founded the temple of Zeus Bottiaios (Ancient Greek: Βοττιαίου Δῖός), in the place where later the city of Antioch was built.
Suda wrote that Alexander built a big temple to Sarapis.
In 2023, British Museum experts have suggested the possibility that a Greek temple at Girsu in Iraq, was founded by Alexander. According to the researchers, recent discoveries suggest that "this site honours Zeus and two divine sons. The sons are Heracles and Alexander."
Hellenization
Main article: Hellenization
Hellenization was coined by the German historian Johann Gustav Droysen to denote the spread of Greek language, culture, and population into the former Persian empire after Alexander's conquest. This process can be seen in such great Hellenistic cities as Alexandria, Antioch and Seleucia (south of modern Baghdad). Alexander sought to insert Greek elements into Persian culture and to hybridize Greek and Persian culture, homogenizing the populations of Asia and Europe. Although his successors explicitly rejected such policies, Hellenization occurred throughout the region, accompanied by a distinct and opposite 'Orientalization' of the successor states.
The core of the Hellenistic culture promulgated by the conquests was essentially Athenian. The close association of men from across Greece in Alexander's army directly led to the emergence of the largely Attic-based "koine", or "common" Greek dialect. Koine spread throughout the Hellenistic world, becoming the lingua franca of Hellenistic lands, and eventually the ancestor of modern Greek. Furthermore, town planning, education, local government, and art current in the Hellenistic period were all based on Classical Greek ideals, evolving into distinct new forms commonly grouped as Hellenistic. Also, the New Testament was written in the Koine Greek language. Aspects of Hellenistic culture were still evident in the traditions of the Byzantine Empire in the mid-15th century.
Hellenization in South and Central Asia
Main articles: Indo-Greek Kingdom, Indo-Greek art, and Greco-Buddhism.jpeg)
Some of the most pronounced effects of Hellenization can be seen in Afghanistan and India, in the region of the relatively late-rising Greco-Bactrian Kingdom (250–125 BC) (in modern Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Tajikistan) and the Indo-Greek Kingdom (180 BC – 10 AD) in modern Afghanistan and India. On the Silk Road trade routes, Hellenistic culture hybridized with Iranian and Buddhist cultures. The cosmopolitan art and mythology of Gandhara (a region spanning the upper confluence of the Indus, Swat and Kabul rivers in modern Pakistan) of the ~3rd century BC to the ~5th century AD are most evident of the direct contact between Hellenistic civilization and South Asia, as are the Edicts of Ashoka, which directly mention the Greeks within Ashoka's dominion as converting to Buddhism and the reception of Buddhist emissaries by Ashoka's contemporaries in the Hellenistic world. The resulting syncretism known as Greco-Buddhism influenced the development of Buddhism and created a culture of Greco-Buddhist art. These Greco-Buddhist kingdoms sent some of the first Buddhist missionaries to China, Sri Lanka and Hellenistic Asia and Europe (Greco-Buddhist monasticism).
Some of the first and most influential figurative portrayals of The Buddha appeared at this time, perhaps modelled on Greek statues of Apollo in the Greco-Buddhist style. Several Buddhist traditions may have been influenced by the ancient Greek religion: the concept of Boddhisatvas is reminiscent of Greek divine heroes, and some Mahayana ceremonial practices (burning incense, gifts of flowers, and food placed on altars) are similar to those practised by the ancient Greeks; however, similar practices were also observed amongst the native Indic culture. One Greek king, Menander I, probably became Buddhist, and was immortalized in Buddhist literature as 'Milinda'. The process of Hellenization also spurred trade between the east and west. For example, Greek astronomical instruments dating to the 3rd century BC were found in the Greco-Bactrian city of Ai Khanoum in modern-day Afghanistan, while the Greek concept of a spherical Earth surrounded by the spheres of planets eventually supplanted the long-standing Indian cosmological belief of a disc consisting of four continents grouped around a central mountain (Mount Meru) like the petals of a flower. The Yavanajataka (lit. Greek astronomical treatise) and Paulisa Siddhanta texts depict the influence of Greek astronomical ideas on Indian astronomy.
Following the conquests of Alexander the Great in the east, Hellenistic influence on Indian art was far-reaching. In architecture, a few examples of the Ionic order can be found as far as Pakistan with the Jandial temple near Taxila. Several examples of capitals displaying Ionic influences can be seen as far as Patna, especially with the Pataliputra capital, dated to the 3rd century BC. The Corinthian order is also heavily represented in the art of Gandhara, especially through Indo-Corinthian capitals.
Influence on Rome
Alexander and his exploits were admired by many Romans, especially generals, who wanted to associate themselves with his achievements. Polybius began his Histories by reminding Romans of Alexander's achievements, and thereafter Roman leaders saw him as a role model. Pompey the Great adopted the epithet "Magnus" and even Alexander's anastole-type haircut, and searched the conquered lands of the east for Alexander's 260-year-old cloak, which he then wore as a sign of greatness. Julius Caesar dedicated a Lysippean equestrian bronze statue, but replaced Alexander's head with his own, while Octavian visited Alexander's tomb in Alexandria and temporarily changed his seal from a sphinx to Alexander's profile. The emperor Trajan also admired Alexander, as did Nero and Caracalla. The Macriani, a Roman family that in the person of Macrinus briefly ascended to the imperial throne, kept images of Alexander on their persons, either on jewellery or embroidered into their clothes.
On the other hand, some Roman writers, particularly Republican figures, used Alexander as a cautionary tale of how autocratic tendencies can be kept in check by republican values. Alexander was used by these writers as an example of ruler values such as amicitia (friendship) and clementia (clemency), but also iracundia (anger) and cupiditas gloriae (over-desire for glory).
Emperor Julian in his satire called "The Caesars", describes a contest between the previous Roman emperors, with Alexander the Great called in as an extra contestant, in the presence of the assembled gods.
The Itinerarium Alexandri is a 4th-century Latin description of Alexander the Great's campaigns. Julius Caesar went to serve his quaestorship in Hispania after his wife's funeral, in the spring or early summer of 69 BC. While there, he encountered a statue of Alexander the Great, and realised with dissatisfaction that he was now at an age when Alexander had the world at his feet, while he had achieved comparatively little.
Pompey posed as the "new Alexander" since he was his boyhood hero.
After Caracalla concluded his campaign against the Alamanni, it became evident that he was inordinately preoccupied with Alexander the Great. He began openly mimicking Alexander in his personal style. In planning his invasion of the Parthian Empire, Caracalla decided to arrange 16,000 of his men in Macedonian-style phalanxes, despite the Roman army having made the phalanx an obsolete tactical formation. The historian Christopher Matthew mentions that the term Phalangarii has two possible meanings, both with military connotations. The first refers merely to the Roman battle line and does not specifically mean that the men were armed with pikes, and the second bears similarity to the 'Marian Mules' of the late Roman Republic who carried their equipment suspended from a long pole, which were in use until at least the 2nd century AD. As a consequence, the Phalangarii of Legio II Parthica may not have been pikemen, but rather standard battle line troops or possibly Triarii.
Caracalla's mania for Alexander went so far that Caracalla visited Alexandria while preparing for his Persian invasion and persecuted philosophers of the Aristotelian school based on a legend that Aristotle had poisoned Alexander. This was a sign of Caracalla's increasingly erratic behaviour. But this mania for Alexander, strange as it was, was overshadowed by subsequent events in Alexandria.
In 39, Caligula performed a spectacular stunt by ordering a temporary floating bridge to be built using ships as pontoons, stretching for over two miles from the resort of Baiae to the neighbouring port of Puteoli. It was said that the bridge was to rival the Persian king Xerxes' pontoon bridge crossing of the Hellespont. Caligula, who could not swim, then proceeded to ride his favourite horse Incitatus across, wearing the breastplate of Alexander the Great. This act was in defiance of a prediction by Tiberius's soothsayer Thrasyllus of Mendes that Caligula had "no more chance of becoming emperor than of riding a horse across the Bay of Baiae".
The diffusion of Greek culture and language cemented by Alexander's conquests in West Asia and North Africa served as a "precondition" for the later Roman expansion into these territories and entire basis for the Byzantine Empire, according to Errington.
Letters
Main article: Letters of Alexander the GreatAlexander wrote and received numerous letters, but no originals survive. A few official letters addressed to the Greek cities survive in copies inscribed in stone and the content of others is sometimes reported in historical sources. These only occasionally quote the letters and it is an open question how reliable such quotations are. Several fictitious letters, some perhaps based on actual letters, made their way into the Romance tradition.
In legend
Main article: Alexander the Great in legend_(1).jpg)
Many of the legends about Alexander derive from his own lifetime, probably encouraged by Alexander himself. His court historian Callisthenes portrayed the sea in Cilicia as drawing back from him in proskynesis. Writing shortly after Alexander's death, Onesicritus invented a tryst between Alexander and Thalestris, queen of the mythical Amazons. He reportedly read this passage to his patron King Lysimachus, who had been one of Alexander's generals and who quipped, "I wonder where I was at the time."
In the first centuries after Alexander's death, probably in Alexandria, a quantity of the legendary material coalesced into a text known as the Alexander Romance, later falsely ascribed to Callisthenes and therefore known as Pseudo-Callisthenes. This text underwent over one hundred recensions, translations, and derivations throughout the Islamic and European worlds in premodern times, containing many dubious stories, and was translated into twenty-five languages, for example Middle Persian, Syriac and Arabic.
In ancient and modern culture
Main articles: Cultural depictions of Alexander the Great, Alexander the Great in Islamic tradition, and Alexander the Great in the Quran.JPG)
Alexander the Great's accomplishments and legacy have been depicted in many cultures. Alexander has featured in both high and popular culture, beginning from his own era to the present day. The Alexander Romance, in particular, has had a significant impact on portrayals of Alexander in later cultures, from Persian to medieval European, to modern Greek.
Alexander features prominently in modern Greek folklore, more than any other ancient figure. The colloquial form of his name in modern Greek ("O Megalexandros") is a household name, and he is the only ancient hero to appear in the Karagiozis shadow play. One well-known fable among Greek seamen involves a solitary mermaid who would grasp a ship's prow during a storm and ask the captain, "Is King Alexander alive?" The answer should be "He is alive and well and rules the world!" causing the mermaid to vanish and the sea to calm. Any other answer would cause the mermaid to turn into a raging Gorgon who would drag the ship to the bottom of the sea, all hands aboard.
In pre-Islamic Middle Persian (Zoroastrian) literature, Alexander is referred to by the epithet gujastak, meaning "accursed", and is accused of destroying temples and burning the sacred texts of Zoroastrianism. In Islamic Persia, under the influence of the Alexander Romance (in Persian: اسکندرنامه Iskandarnameh), a more positive portrayal of Alexander emerges. Firdausi's Shahnameh ("The Book of Kings") includes Alexander in a line of legitimate Persian shahs, a mythical figure who explored the far reaches of the world in search of the Fountain of Youth. In the Shahnameh, Alexander's first journey is to Mecca to pray at the Kaaba. Alexander was depicted as performing a Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca) many times in subsequent Islamic art and literature. Later Persian writers associate him with philosophy, portraying him at a symposium with figures such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, in search of immortality.
The figure of Dhu al-Qarnayn (Arabic: ذو القرنين; lit. "The Two-Horned One") is believed by the majority of modern researchers of the Qur'an as well as Islamic commentators to be a reference to Alexander. The figure is also believed by scholars to be based on later legends of Alexander. In this tradition, he was a heroic figure who built a wall to defend against the nations of Gog and Magog. He also travelled the known world in search of the Water of Life and Immortality, eventually becoming a prophet.
The Syriac version of the Alexander Romance portrays him as an ideal Christian world conqueror who prayed to "the one true God". In Egypt, Alexander was portrayed as the son of Nectanebo II, the last pharaoh before the Persian conquest. His defeat of Darius was depicted as Egypt's salvation, "proving" Egypt was still ruled by an Egyptian.
According to Josephus, Alexander was shown the Book of Daniel when he entered Jerusalem, which described a mighty Greek king who would conquer the Persian Empire. This is cited as a reason for sparing Jerusalem.
In Hindi and Urdu, the name "Sikandar", derived from the Persian name for Alexander, denotes a rising young talent, and the Delhi Sultanate ruler Alauddin Khalji stylized himself as "Sikandar-i-Sani" (the Second Alexander the Great). In medieval India, Turkic and Afghan sovereigns from the Iranian-cultured region of Central Asia brought positive cultural connotations of Alexander to the Indian subcontinent, resulting in the efflorescence of Sikandernameh (Alexander Romances) written by Indo-Persian poets such as Amir Khusrau and the prominence of Alexander the Great as a popular subject in Mughal-era Persian miniatures. In medieval Europe, Alexander the Great was revered as a member of the Nine Worthies; a group of heroes whose lives were believed to encapsulate all the ideal qualities of chivalry. During the first Italian campaign of the French Revolutionary Wars, in a question from Bourrienne, asking whether he gave his preference to Alexander or Caesar, Napoleon said that he places Alexander The Great in the first rank, the main reason being his campaign on Asia.
In the Greek Anthology, there are poems referring to Alexander.
Throughout time, art objects related to Alexander were being created. In addition to speech works, sculptures and paintings, in modern times Alexander is still the subject of musical and cinematic works. The song 'Alexander the Great' by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden is indicative. Some films that have been shot with the theme of Alexander are:
- Sikandar (1941), an Indian production directed by Sohrab Modi about the conquest of India by Alexander
- Alexander the Great (1956), produced by MGM and starring Richard Burton
- Sikandar-e-Azam (1965), an Indian production directed by Kedar Kapoor
- Alexander (2004), directed by Oliver Stone, starring Colin Farrell
There are also many references to other movies and TV series.
Newer novels about Alexander are: The trilogy "Alexander the Great" by Valerio Massimo Manfredi consisting of "The son of the dream", "The sand of Amon", and "The ends of the world". The trilogy of Mary Renault consisting of "Fire from Heaven", "The Persian Boy" and "Funeral Games".
- The Virtues of War, about Alexander the Great (2004), ISBN 978-0-385-50099-9 and "* The Afghan Campaign, about Alexander the Great's conquests in Afghanistan (2006), ISBN 978-0-385-51641-9" by Steven Pressfield.
Irish playwright Aubrey Thomas de Vere wrote Alexander the Great, a Dramatic Poem.
Historiography
Main article: Historiography of Alexander the GreatApart from a few inscriptions and fragments, texts written by people who actually knew Alexander or who gathered information from men who served with Alexander were all lost. Contemporaries who wrote accounts of his life included Alexander's campaign historian Callisthenes, Alexander's generals; Ptolemy and Nearchus, Aristobulus, a junior officer on the campaigns, and Onesicritus, Alexander's chief helmsman. Their works are lost, but later works based on these original sources have survived. The earliest of these is Diodorus Siculus (1st century BC), followed by Quintus Curtius Rufus (mid-to-late 1st century AD), Arrian (1st to 2nd century AD), the biographer Plutarch (1st to 2nd century AD), and finally Justin, whose work dated as late as the 4th century. Of these, Arrian is generally considered the most reliable, given that he used Ptolemy and Aristobulus as his sources, closely followed by Diodorus.
See also
- Alexander the Great in Islamic tradition
- Ancient Macedonian army
- Bucephalus
- Chronology of European exploration of Asia
- Horns of Alexander
- List of biblical figures identified in extra-biblical sources
- List of people known as The Great
- Gates of Alexander
- Military tactics of Alexander the Great
- Ptolemaic cult of Alexander the Great
- Theories about Alexander the Great in the Quran
References
Notes
- Heracles was Alexander's alleged illegitimate son.
- The name Ἀλέξανδρος derives from the Greek verb ἀλέξω (aléxō, lit. 'ward off, avert, defend') and ἀνδρ- (andr-), the stem of ἀνήρ (anḗr, lit. 'man'), and means "protector of men".
- The first known person to call Alexander "the Great" was a Roman playwright named Plautus (254–184 BC) in his play Mostellaria.
- Macedon was an Ancient Greek polity; the Macedonians were a Greek tribe.
- By the time of his death, he had conquered the entire Achaemenid Persian Empire, adding it to Macedon's European territories; according to some modern writers, this was most of the world then known to the ancient Greeks (the 'Ecumene'). An approximate view of the world known to Alexander can be seen in Hecataeus of Miletus's map; see Hecataeus world map.
- For instance, Hannibal supposedly ranked Alexander as the greatest general; Julius Caesar wept on seeing a statue of Alexander, since he had achieved so little by the same age; Pompey and Alauddin Khalji consciously posed as the 'new Alexander'; the young Napoleon Bonaparte also encouraged comparisons with Alexander. Napoleon also placed Alexander in the first rank. Caracalla believed himself to be the actual reincarnation of Alexander. Caligula wore the breastplate of Alexander in order to show his power. Fidel Castro's hero was Alexander the Great, whose Spanish equivalent Alejandro he adopted as his nom de guerre. Among Ottoman sultans, Mehmed II's heroes were Alexander and Achilles. In a letter to his rival, Selim I, while equating himself with Alexander, compares Ismail I as "Darius of our days". Paolo Giovio, in a work written for Charles V, says that Selim holds Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar in the highest esteem above all the generals of old.
- In ancient historiography, the Argead dynasty was traditionally regarded as having originated from Argos. The Argeads themselves claimed Argive Greek descent from the hero Temenus. Through his parents' genealogy, ancient authors traced Alexander's descent back to heroes and other legendary figures from Greek mythology, such as Heracles and Achilles.
- There have been, since the time, many suspicions that Pausanias was actually hired to murder Philip. Suspicion has fallen upon Alexander, Olympias and even the newly crowned Persian Emperor, Darius III. All three of these people had motive to have Philip murdered.
- However, Arrian, who used Ptolemy as a source, said that Alexander crossed with more than 5,000 horse and 30,000 foot; Diodorus quoted the same totals, but listed 5,100 horse and 32,000 foot. Diodorus also referred to an advance force already present in Asia, which Polyaenus, in his Stratagems of War (5.44.4), said numbered 10,000 men.
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Further reading
- Badian, Ernst (1958). "Alexander the Great and the Unity of Mankind". Historia. 7.
- Beazley, JD; Ashmole, B (1932). Greek Sculpture and Painting. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-04131-7.
- Bowra, Maurice (1994). The Greek Experience. Phoenix. ISBN 978-1-85799-122-2.
- Boardman, John (2019). Alexander the Great: From His Death to the Present Day. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-18175-2.
- Burn, AR (1951). Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic Empire (2nd ed.). London: English Universities Press.
- Rufus, Quintus Curtius. "Quintus Curtius Rufus, History of Alexander the Great" (in Latin). U Chicago. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
- Cartledge, Paul (2004). Alexander the Great. Overlook. ISBN 978-1-58567-565-4.
- Doherty, Paul (2004). The Death of Alexander the Great. Carroll & Graf. ISBN 978-0-7867-1340-0.
- Engels, Donald W (1978). Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Fawcett, Bill, ed. (2006). How To Lose A Battle: Foolish Plans and Great Military Blunders. Harper. ISBN 978-0-06-076024-3.
- Fuller, JFC (1958). The Generalship of Alexander the Great. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode. ISBN 978-0-306-80371-0. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
- Goldsworthy, Adrian (2020). Philip and Alexander: Kings and Conquerors. London: Head of Zeus. ISBN 978-1-78497-869-3.
- Green, Peter (1992). Alexander of Macedon: 356–323 BC. A Historical Biography. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-07166-7.
- Greene, Robert (2000). The 48 Laws of Power. Penguin. p. 351. ISBN 978-0-14-028019-7.
- Hammond, NGL (1989). The Macedonian State: Origins, Institutions, and History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-814883-8.
- Hammond, NGL (1994). Alexander the Great: King, Commander, and Statesman (3rd ed.). London: Bristol Classical Press.
- Hammond, NGL (1997). The Genius of Alexander the Great. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
- Lane Fox, Robin (1973). Alexander the Great. London: Allen Lane. ISBN 978-0-14-008878-6., also (1974) New York: E. P. Dutton and (1986) London: Penguin Books.
- Mercer, Charles (1962). The Way of Alexander the Great. Boston: American Heritage Inc.
- McCrindle, J. W. (1893). The Invasion of India by Alexander the Great as Described by Arrian, Q Curtius, Diodorus, Plutarch, and Justin. Westminster: Archibald Constable & Co. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
- Monti, Giustina (2023). Alexander the Great: letters: a selection. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. ISBN 9781800348622.
- Murphy, James Jerome; Katula, Richard A; Hill, Forbes I; Ochs, Donovan J (2003). A Synoptic History of Classical Rhetoric. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. p. 17. ISBN 978-1-880393-35-2.
- Nandan, Y; Bhavan, BV (2003). British Death March Under Asiatic Impulse: Epic of Anglo-Indian Tragedy in Afghanistan. Mumbai: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. ISBN 978-81-7276-301-5.
- O'Brien, John Maxwell (1992). Alexander the Great: The Invisible Enemy. London: Routledge.
- Pomeroy, S; Burstein, S; Dolan, W; Roberts, J (1998). Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-509742-9.
- Prevas, John (2004). Envy of the Gods: Alexander the Great's Ill-Fated Journey Across Asia (3rd ed.). Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81268-2.
- Roisman, Joseph, ed. (1995). Alexander the Great Ancient and Modern Perspectives. Problems in European Civilization. Lexington, MA: DC Heath.
- Rowson, Alex (2022). The Young Alexander: The Making of Alexander the Great (Hardcover). London: William Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-828439-8.
- Savill, Agnes (1959). Alexander the Great and His Time (3rd ed.). London: Barrie & Rockliff.
- Stewart, Andrew (1993). Faces of Power: Alexander's Image and Hellenistic Politics. Hellenistic Culture and Society. Vol. 11. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Stoneman, Richard (2008). Alexander the Great: A Life in Legend. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11203-0.
- Tarn, WW (1948). Alexander the Great. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Wheeler, Benjamin Ide (1900). Alexander the Great; the merging of East and West in universal history. New York: GP Putnam's sons.
- Wilcken, Ulrich (1997) . Alexander the Great. New York: WW Norton & Co. ISBN 978-0-393-00381-9.
- Worthington, Ian (2004). Alexander the Great: Man And God. Pearson. ISBN 978-1-4058-0162-1.
External links
Library resources aboutAlexander the Great
- Delamarche, Félix (1833). The Empire and Expeditions of Alexander the Great (Map).
- Romm, James; Cartledge, Paul. "Two Great Historians on Alexander the Great". Forbes (conversations). Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6.
- Alexander the Great: An annotated list of primary sources. Livius. Archived from the original on 4 December 2016. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
- In Our Time: "Alexander the Great" – BBC discussion with Paul Cartledge, Diana Spencer and Rachel Mairs hosted by Melvyn Bragg, first broadcast 1 October 2015.
| Alexander the Great Argead dynastyBorn: 356 BC Died: 323 BC | ||
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byPhilip II | King of Macedon 336–323 BC |
Succeeded byPhilip III Alexander IV |
| Preceded byDarius III | King of Persia 330–323 BC | |
| Pharaoh of Egypt 332–323 BC | ||
| New creation | Lord of Asia 331–323 BC | |
| Kings of Macedon | ||
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| Legendary | | |
| Argead dynasty | ||
| Antipatrid dynasty | ||
| Dynastic conflict | ||
| Antigonid dynasty | ||
| Post-Conquest Rebel Kings |
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| Debatable or disputed rulers are in italics. | ||
| Kings of Babylon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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- Alexander the Great
- Ancient Persia
- 356 BC births
- 323 BC deaths
- 4th-century BC Macedonian monarchs
- 4th-century BC pharaohs
- Ancient Macedonian generals
- Ancient Pellaeans
- Argead kings of Macedonia
- City founders
- Deified Greek people
- Deified male monarchs
- Hellenistic-era people
- Kayanians
- Monarchs of Persia
- People in the deuterocanonical books
- Pharaohs of the Argead dynasty
- Shahnameh characters
- Temple of Artemis