Alexander The Great Conquest Map

Serial of conflicts fought past Rex Alexander III of Macedon

Wars of Alexander the Slap-up
Alexander, depicted with his horse Bucephalus, fighting Persian king Darius III, from the Alexander Mosaic of Pompeii (Naples National Archaeological Museum, Italy)
Date 336–323 BC (xiii years) Location Greece, Illyria, Thrace, Danube Delta, Anatolia; Syria, Phoenicia (Israel, Palestine), Arab republic of egypt, Mesopotamia (Babylonia); Persia, Transitional islamic state of afghanistan, Sogdia, Bactria, India Result Macedonian Empire spans from the Balkans and Egypt in the west to Central Asia and Bharat in the east Starting time of the Hellenistic period
Belligerents
Kingdom of Macedonia Hellenic League	Achaemenid Empire In Balkans: Illyrians Thracians Greek metropolis-states In Western and Fundamental Asia: Uxiians Sogdia In Republic of india: Pauravas Indian tribes and kingdoms
Commanders and leaders
Alexander the Neat Parmenion Antipater Ptolemy Hephaestion Craterus Philotas Cleitus the Black Perdiccas Coenus Lysimachus Antigonus Nearchus Cassander Seleucus	Darius Iii Bessus Arsites Memnon of Rhodes Azemilcus Ariobarzanes Madates Agis 3 Spitamenes Porus

The Wars of Alexander the Great were a serial of conquests that were carried out by Alexander III of Macedon from 336 BC to 323 BC. They began with battles against the Achaemenid Farsi Empire, and then nether the rule of Darius III of Persia. After Alexander'southward chain of victories against Achaemenid Persia, he began a campaign against local chieftains and warlords that were stretched every bit far from Greece equally the region of Punjab in Southward Asia. Past the time of his death, he ruled over most regions of Greece and the conquered Achaemenid Empire (including much of Persian Arab republic of egypt); he did non, however, manage to conquer the Indian subcontinent in its entirety as was his initial plan. Despite his war machine accomplishments, Alexander did not provide any stable alternative to the rule of the Achaemenid Empire,^[1] and his untimely death threw the vast territories he conquered into a series of civil wars, commonly known every bit the Wars of the Diadochi.

Alexander assumed kingship over ancient Republic of macedonia following the bump-off of his father, Philip II of Macedon ( r. 359–336 BC). During his two-decades on the throne, Philip Ii had unified^[ii] the poleis (Greek city-states) of mainland Hellenic republic (with Macedonian hegemony) under the League of Corinth.^[3] Alexander proceeded to solidify Macedonian rule by quashing a rebellion that took place in the southern Greek metropolis-states, and also staged a short but bloody excursion confronting the metropolis-states to the north. He then proceeded east in order to carry out his plans to conquer the Achaemenid Empire. His campaign of conquests from Greece spanned across Anatolia, Syrian arab republic, Phoenicia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Afghanistan, and India. He extended the boundaries of his Macedonian Empire equally far east as the city of Taxila in modernistic-day Pakistan.

Prior to his death, Alexander had likewise made plans for a Hellenic military and mercantile expansion into the Arabian Peninsula, after which he planned to turn his armies to Carthage, Rome, and the Iberian Peninsula in the west. Yet, the Diadochi (his political rivals) abased these plans after he died; instead, within a few years of Alexander's decease, the Diadochi began a series of military campaigns against each other and divided the territories of the Macedonian Empire amongst themselves,^[4] triggering forty years of warfare during the Hellenistic period.

Groundwork [edit]

In 336, Philip II was assassinated past the helm of his bodyguard, Pausanias.^[5] Philip's son, and previously designated heir, Alexander, was proclaimed king by the Macedonian noblemen and ground forces.^[6] He besides succeeded his father as head of the League of Corinth, a confederation of Greek states that were nether the hegemony of Macedonia in order to gainsay the Achaemenid Empire.^[seven]

News of Philip'south death roused many states into revolt, including Thebes, Athens, Thessaly, too as the Thracian tribes to the north of Macedon. When news of the revolt reached Alexander, he took quick action. Although his advisers recommended the use of affairs, Alexander ignored the communication and instead proceeded to muster together his Macedonian cavalry of three,000 men. Together, the army rode south towards Thessaly (Macedon'southward immediate neighbor to the due south). When he establish the Thessalian ground forces blocking the pass between Mount Olympus and Mount Ossa, he had his men ride over Mount Ossa. When the Thessalians awoke, they constitute Alexander at their rear. The Thessalians quickly surrendered and their cavalry was added to Alexander's force. He then proceeded south, towards the Peloponnese.^[8]

Alexander stopped at Thermopylae, where he was recognized as the leader of the Sacred League before heading southward to Corinth. Athens sued for peace and Alexander received the envoy and pardoned anyone involved with the uprising. At Corinth, he was given the title 'Hegemon' of the Greek forces confronting the Persians. Whilst at Corinth, he heard the news of a Thracian uprising in the north.^[9]

Balkan campaign [edit]

Earlier crossing to Asia, Alexander wanted to safeguard his northern borders and, in the leap of 335 BC, he advanced into Thrace to deal with the revolt, which was led past the Illyrians and Triballi. At Mountain Haemus, the Macedonian army attacked and defeated a Thracian garrison manning the heights. The Macedonians were then attacked in the rear by the Triballi, who were crushed in plough. Alexander and then advanced on to the Danube, encountering the Getae tribe on the contrary shore. The Getae army retreated later on the first cavalry skirmish, leaving their town to the Macedonian army.^[ten] News then reached Alexander that Cleitus, King of Illyria, and Male monarch Glaukias of the Taulantii were in open defection confronting Macedonian authority. Alexander defeated each in turn, forcing Cleitus and Glaukias to flee with their armies, leaving Alexander's northern frontier secure.^[eleven]

While he was triumphantly campaigning n, the Thebans and Athenians rebelled once more. Alexander reacted immediately, but, while the other cities one time again hesitated, Thebes decided to resist with the utmost vigor. This resistance was useless, even so, as the city was razed to the ground amongst great bloodshed and its territory divided between the other Boeotian cities. The end of Thebes cowed Athens into submission, leaving all of Hellenic republic at least outwardly at peace with Alexander.^[12]

Persia [edit]

Asia Minor [edit]

In 334 BC, Alexander crossed the Hellespont into Asia. It took over i hundred triremes (triple-banked galleys) to send the unabridged Macedonian ground forces, simply the Persians decided to ignore the movement.^[13]

In these early months, Darius still refused to take Alexander seriously or mountain a serious challenge to Alexander'south movements. Memnon of Rhodes, the Greek mercenary who aligned himself with the Persians, advocated for a scorched earth strategy. He wanted the Persians to destroy the land in front of Alexander, which he hoped would force Alexander'southward army to starve, and so to turn back. The satraps in Anatolia rejected this communication, considering information technology their duty to defend their land.^[14] Eventually, with Alexander advancing deeper into Persian territory, Darius ordered all five satraps of the Anatolian provinces to puddle their war machine resources together and confront Alexander. This ground forces was guided by Memnon, while accented command was divide amid the five satraps.^[15]

Battle of the Granicus River [edit]

Map of what would become Alexander'south empire

The Boxing of the Granicus River in May 334 BC was fought in Northwestern Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), near the site of Troy. Afterwards crossing the Hellespont, Alexander advanced upwardly the route to the uppercase of the Satrapy of Phrygia. The various satraps of the Persian empire gathered their forces at the town of Zelea and offered battle on the banks of the Granicus River. Alexander ultimately fought many of his battles on a river banking company. By doing then, he was able to minimize the advantage the Persians had in numbers. In addition, the deadly Persian chariots were useless on a cramped, muddy river bank.^{[ citation needed ]}

Arrian, Diodorus, and Plutarch all mention the battle, with Arrian providing the most detail. The Persians placed their cavalry in front of their infantry, and drew up on the right (east) bank of the river. The Macedonian line was arrayed with the heavy Phalanxes in the middle, Macedonian cavalry led by Alexander on the correct, and allied Thessalian cavalry led past Parmenion on the left.^[16] The Persians expected the master assault to come up from Alexander's position and moved units from their eye to that flank.^{[ citation needed ]}

Alexander's 2d-in-command, Parmenion, suggested crossing the river upstream and attacking at dawn the adjacent twenty-four hour period, simply Alexander attacked immediately. He ordered a small group of cavalry and low-cal infantry to set on from the Macedonian correct to draw the Persians off the bank and into the river. Seeing that he had cleaved the Persian line, Alexander led his equus caballus companions in oblique gild further to the right in order to outflank the Persians and purchase time for his infantry to cross the river.^[16] Several loftier-ranking Persian nobles were killed by Alexander himself or his bodyguards, although Alexander was stunned by an axe-blow from a Persian nobleman named Spithridates. Before the noble could deal a expiry-blow, yet, he was himself killed by Cleitus the Black. The Macedonian cavalry opened a hole in the Persian line as the Macedonian infantry advanced, forcing the enemy back and eventually breaking their center. The Farsi cavalry turned and fled the battlefield, and the Greek mercenary infantry they held in reserve were encircled by the Macedonians and slaughtered; only around two-1000 of which survived, and were sent dorsum to Macedonia for labor.^[17]

Alexander consolidates back up in Asia Minor [edit]

After the boxing, Alexander buried the dead (Greeks and Persians), and sent the captured Greek mercenaries back to Greece to piece of work in the mines, as an abject lesson for whatever Greek who decided to fight for the Persians. He sent some of the spoils back to Greece, including three hundred panoplies (complete Western farsi suits of armor) back to Athens to be dedicated in the Parthenon with the inscription "Alexander, son of Philip and the Greeks, Lacedaemonians (Spartans) excepted, these spoils from the barbarians who dwell in Asia".^[18]

Antipater, whom Alexander had left in charge of Macedon in his absence, had been given a free hand to install dictators and tyrants wherever he saw fit in lodge to minimize the hazard of a rebellion. As he moved deeper into Persia, nevertheless, the threat of trouble seemed to grow. Many of these towns had been ruled for generations by heavy handed tyrants, so in these Persian towns, he did the opposite of what he did in Greece. Wanting to appear to be a liberator, he freed the population and allowed self-regime. As he continued marching into Persia, he saw that his victory at Granicus had been lost on no 1. Town after boondocks seemed to surrender to him. The satrap at Sardis, as well as his garrison, was among the first of many satraps to capitulate.^{[ commendation needed ]}

As these satraps gave upwardly, Alexander appointed new ones to replace them, and claimed to distrust the accumulation of absolute ability into anyone's hands. There appeared to be piddling change from the old system. Alexander, nevertheless, appointed independent boards to collect tribute and taxes from the satrapies, which appeared to do nothing more than than amend the efficiency of government. The true event, all the same, was to separate the civil from the financial function of these satrapies, thus ensuring that these governments, while technically independent of him, never truly were. Otherwise, he allowed the inhabitants of these towns to go along as they always had, and made no endeavour to impose Greek customs on them. Meanwhile, ambassadors from other Greek cities in Asia Small-scale came to Alexander, offering submission if he allowed their 'democracies' to continue. Alexander granted their wish, and immune them to stop paying taxes to Persia, simply just if they joined the League of Corinth. By doing then, they promised to provide monetary support to Alexander.^{[ citation needed ]}

Siege of Halicarnassus [edit]

Map of Halicarnassus at the time of the siege

The Siege of Halicarnassus was undertaken in 334 BC. Alexander, who had a weak navy, was constantly being threatened past the Persian navy. Information technology continuously attempted to provoke an engagement with Alexander, who would take none of it. Eventually, the Western farsi fleet sailed to Halicarnassus, in society to establish a new defense. Ada of Caria, the former queen of Halicarnassus, had been driven from her throne past her usurping blood brother. When he died, Darius had appointed Orontobates satrap of Caria, which included Halicarnassus in its jurisdiction. On the approach of Alexander in 334 BC, Ada, who was in possession of the fortress of Alinda, surrendered the fortress to him. Alexander and Ada announced to take formed an emotional connection. He called her "female parent", finding her more amicable than his megalomaniacal serpent-worshiping mother Olympias. In return for his support, Ada gave Alexander gifts, and fifty-fifty sent him some of the all-time cooks in Asia Minor, realizing that Alexander had a sweetness tooth. In the by, Alexander had referred to his biological father, Philip, every bit his "so-called" begetter, and preferred to call up of the deity Amon Zeus as his bodily father. Thus, he had finally managed to divorce himself from both of his biological parents.^{[ commendation needed ]}

Orontobates and Memnon of Rhodes entrenched themselves in Halicarnassus. Alexander had sent spies to see with dissidents within the city, who had promised to open the gates and allow Alexander to enter. When his spies arrived, nonetheless, the dissidents were nowhere to exist establish. A small boxing resulted, and Alexander's regular army managed to break through the metropolis walls. Memnon, nonetheless, at present deployed his catapults, and Alexander's army fell back. Memnon then deployed his infantry, and shortly before Alexander would have received his first (and only) defeat, his infantry managed to break through the city walls, surprising the Western farsi forces and killing Orontobates. Memnon, realizing the city was lost, set fire to it and withdrew with his regular army. A stiff current of air caused the fire to destroy much of the city. Alexander then committed the authorities of Caria to Ada; and she, in turn, formally adopted Alexander as her son, ensuring that the rule of Caria passed unconditionally to him upon her eventual death.^{[ citation needed ]}

Syria [edit]

Shortly after the boxing, Memnon died. His replacement was a Persian who had spent time in Macedonia called Pharnabazus. He disrupted Alexander'due south supply routes by taking Aegean islands near the Hellespont and by fomenting rebellion in southern Greece. Meanwhile, Darius took the Persian army to intercept Alexander.

Alexander marched his ground forces eastward through Cappadocia, where, for a stretch of nearly 150 km (93 mi), there was no water. As his army approached Mountain Taurus, they found only i route through which to laissez passer, which was a narrow defile chosen "The Gates". The defile was very narrow, and could have been hands defended. Nevertheless, the Persian satrap of Cappadocia had an inflated view of his ain abilities. He had been at the Boxing of the Granicus River, and had believed that Memnon's scorched Earth strategy would work here. He didn't realize that the different circumstances of the terrain fabricated that strategy useless. Had he mounted a apparent defence of the defile, Alexander would have been hands repulsed. He left only a pocket-size contingent to guard the defile, and took his entire regular army to destroy the plain that lay alee of Alexander'due south army. The Persian contingent that was supposed to guard the defile shortly abandoned it, and Alexander passed through without any problems. Alexander supposedly said later this incident that he had never been so lucky in his entire career.^{[ commendation needed ]}

After reaching Mount Taurus, Alexander's army found a stream that flowed from the mountain with h2o that was ice common cold. Non thinking, Alexander jumped into the stream, suffered a cramp and then a convulsion, and was pulled out nearly dead. He quickly developed pneumonia, but none of his physicians would care for him, considering they feared that, if he died, they would be held responsible. One physician named Philip, who had treated Alexander since he was a kid, agreed to treat him. Although he soon savage into a coma, he eventually recovered.^{[ citation needed ]}

Boxing of Issus [edit]

Alexander's decisive assault

The Boxing of Issus took place in southern Anatolia on Nov 333 BC.^[seven] Afterwards Alexander'south forces defeated the Persians at the Battle of the Granicus, Darius took personal charge of his army, gathered a big army from the depths of the empire, and maneuvered to cutting the Greek line of supply, requiring Alexander to countermarch his forces, setting the stage for the battle near the mouth of the Pinarus River and southward of the village of Issus. Darius was apparently unaware that, by deciding to stage the boxing on a river banking company, he was minimizing the numerical advantage his army had over Alexander's.^[19]

Initially, Alexander chose what was apparently unfavorable ground. This surprised Darius who mistakenly elected to hold the incorrect position while Alexander instructed his infantry to take up a defensive posture. Alexander personally led the more aristocracy Greek Companion cavalry against the Persian left up against the hills, and cutting up the enemy on the less encumbering terrain, thereby generating a quick rout. After achieving a breakthrough, Alexander demonstrated he could practise the difficult thing and held the cavalry in cheque later it broke the Persian right. Alexander then mounted his beloved horse Bucephalus, took his place at the head of his Companion cavalry, and led a direct assault against Darius. The horses that were pulling Darius' chariot were injured, and began tossing at the yoke. Darius, near to fall off his chariot, instead jumped off. He threw his royal diadem away, mounted a horse, and fled the scene. The Persian troops, realizing they had lost, either surrendered or fled with their hapless king. The Macedonian cavalry pursued the fleeing Persians for as long equally there was calorie-free. Equally with virtually ancient battles, pregnant carnage occurred after the boxing as pursuing Macedonians slaughtered their crowded, disorganized foe.^{[ citation needed ]}

The invading troops led by Alexander were outnumbered more than 2:one, yet they defeated the ground forces personally led by Darius Three of Achaemenid Persia. The boxing was a decisive Macedonian victory and it marked the commencement of the end of Persian power. Information technology was the first time the Persian army had been defeated with the Rex present on the field. Darius left his married woman and an enormous corporeality of treasure behind every bit his army fled. The greed of the Macedonians helped to persuade them to proceed going, as did the large number of Persian concubines and prostitutes they picked up in the battle. Darius, now fearing for both his throne and his life, sent a letter to Alexander in which he promised to pay a substantial ransom in exchange for the prisoners of war, and agreeing to a treaty of brotherhood with and the forfeiture of half of his empire to Alexander. Darius received a response which began "Rex Alexander to Darius". In the letter, Alexander blamed Darius for his begetter'southward death and claimed Darius was but a vulgar usurper, who planned to take Macedonia. He agreed to render the prisoners without ransom, but told Darius that he and Alexander were non equals, and that Darius was to henceforth address Alexander as "Male monarch of all Asia". Darius was also curtly informed that, if he wanted to dispute Alexander's claim to the Achaemenid throne, that he would accept to stand and fight, and that if he instead fled, Alexander would pursue and kill him. By this, Alexander revealed for the get-go time that his plan was to conquer the unabridged Persian Empire.^{[ citation needed ]}

Siege of Tyre [edit]

The Siege of Tyre occurred in 332 BC when Alexander set out to conquer Tyre, a strategic coastal base of operations. Tyre was the site of the merely remaining Persian port that did non capitulate to Alexander. Even by this point in the war, the Persian navy nevertheless posed a major threat to Alexander. Tyre, the largest and most important urban center-state of Phoenicia, was located both on the Mediterranean coast besides as a nearby Island with two natural harbors on the landward side. At the time of the siege, the city held approximately xl,000 people, though the women and children were evacuated to Carthage, an aboriginal Phoenician colony.^{[ citation needed ]}

Alexander sent an envoy to Tyre, proposing a peace treaty, and asked to visit their city and offering sacrifices to their God Melqart. The Tyrians politely told Alexander that their town was neutral in the war, and that allowing him to offer sacrifices to Melqart would be tantamount to recognizing him as their rex. Alexander considered building a causeway that would allow his army to take the town by forcefulness. His engineers didn't believe information technology would be possible to build such a massive structure, then Alexander sent peace envoys in one case more to propose an alliance. The Tyrians believed this to be a sign of weakness, so they killed the envoys and threw their bodies over the city wall. The dissent against Alexander's plans to take the city by force disappeared, and his engineers began to pattern the structure. Alexander began with an engineering feat that shows the truthful extent of his luminescence; as he could not attack the city from bounding main, he built a kilometer-long causeway stretching out to the island on a natural country bridge no more than two meters deep.^[20] Alexander then synthetic 2 towers 150 feet high and moved them to the stop of the causeway. The Tyrians, yet, chop-chop devised a counterattack. They used an erstwhile horse ship send, filling information technology with stale branches, pitch, sulfur, and various other combustibles. They so lit it on fire, creating what nosotros might telephone call a primitive form of napalm, and ran information technology upwardly onto the causeway. The burn spread speedily, engulfing both towers and other siege equipment that had been brought upwards.^{[ citation needed ]}

This convinced Alexander that he would exist unable to have Tyre without a navy. Fate would soon provide him with ane. Presently, the Persian navy returned to find their home cities under Alexander's control. Since their fidelity was to their city, they were therefore Alexander'due south. He now had eighty ships. This coincided with the arrival of another hundred and twenty from Cyprus, which had heard of his victories and wished to join him. Alexander and then sailed on Tyre and quickly blockaded both ports with his superior numbers. He had several of the slower galleys, and a few barges, refit with battering rams, the merely known case of battering rams being used on ships. Alexander started testing the wall at various points with his rams, until he made a small-scale breach in the south end of the isle. He so coordinated an attack across the breach with a bombardment from all sides past his navy. Once his troops forced their fashion into the urban center, they easily overtook the garrison, and quickly captured the city. Those citizens that took shelter in the temple of Heracles were pardoned by Alexander. It is said that Alexander was then enraged at the Tyrians' defense force and the loss of his men that he destroyed half the city. Alexander granted pardon to the rex and his family, whilst xxx,000 residents and foreigners taken were sold into slavery. In that location was a family unit, though, that Alexander gave a very high position in his authorities, only the only contact he ever had with them was when he spent the night with the wife of the household.^{[ citation needed ]}

Arab republic of egypt [edit]

Siege of Gaza [edit]

The stronghold at Gaza was congenital on a hill and was heavily fortified.^[21] The inhabitants of Gaza and their Nabataean allies did not want to lose the lucrative trade which was controlled by Gaza.^[21]

Batis, the commander of the fortress of Gaza, refused to surrender to Alexander. Though a eunuch, Batis was physically imposing and ruthless. Afterward 3 unsuccessful assaults, the stronghold was finally taken past force,^[22] but non before Alexander received a serious shoulder wound. When Gaza was taken, the male population was put to the sword and the women and children were sold into slavery. According to the Roman historian Quintus Curtius Rufus, Batis was killed past Alexander in false of Achilles' treatment of the fallen Hector. A rope was forced through Batis'due south ankles, probably between the ankle bone and the Achilles tendon, and Batis was dragged live by chariot beneath the walls of the metropolis. Alexander, who admired courage in his enemies and might have been inclined to show mercy to the brave Persian general, was infuriated at Batis's refusal to kneel and by the enemy commander'southward haughty silence and contemptuous mode.

With Gaza taken, Alexander marched into Egypt. His entry was described equally "closer to a triumphant procession than an invasion."^[7] They welcomed Alexander as their male monarch, placed him on the throne of the Pharaohs,^[7] giving him the crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, and named him the incarnation of Ra and Osiris. He set in motion plans to build Alexandria, and, though future tax revenues would be channeled to him, he left Egypt under the management of Egyptians, which helped to win him their support.^{[ citation needed ]}

Mesopotamia [edit]

Battle of Gaugamela [edit]

The Battle of Gaugamela took place in 331 BC in what is at present Iraqi Kurdistan, possibly near Dohuk,^{[23] [24]} and resulted in a decisive victory for the Macedonians. After the Siege of Gaza, Alexander advanced from Syria towards the heart of the Persian empire, crossing both the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers without any opposition. Darius was edifice up a massive army, drawing men from the far reaches of his empire, and planned to use sheer numbers to beat Alexander. Though Alexander had conquered part of the Farsi empire, it was still vast in area and in manpower reserves, and Darius could recruit more men than Alexander could dream of. Likewise present in the Persian army, a sign that the Persians were still very powerful, were the feared war elephants. While Darius had a significant advantage in number of soldiers, most of his troops weren't as organized every bit Alexander'due south.^{[ commendation needed ]}

Alexander's decisive attack

The battle began with the Persians already present at the battlefield. Darius had recruited the finest cavalry from his eastern satrapies. Darius placed himself in the center with his all-time infantry as was the tradition among Persian kings. The Macedonians were divided into two, with the correct side of the army falling nether the direct control of Alexander, and the left to Parmenion. Alexander began by ordering his infantry to march in phalanx formation towards the center of the enemy line. Darius now launched his chariots, which were intercepted by the Agrianians, and apace rendered useless. Alexander, while leading the charge, formed his units into a giant wedge, which chop-chop smashed right into the weakened Persian center. Darius' charioteer was killed past a spear, and chaos rang out as anybody (incorrectly) thought information technology was Darius who had been killed. The Farsi line then collapsed, and Darius fled. Darius escaped with a pocket-sized core of his forces remaining intact, although the Bactrian cavalry and Bessus shortly caught up with him. The remaining Persian resistance was quickly put down. In all, the Battle of Gaugamela was a disastrous defeat for the Persians, and maybe i of Alexander's finest victories.^{[ commendation needed ]}

Bactria [edit]

Alexander'due south kickoff victory over the Persian king Darius, depicted in medieval European style in the 15th century romance The History of Alexander's Battles

After the battle, Parmenion rounded up the Persian baggage train while Alexander and his own babysitter chased after Darius in hopes of catching up. Substantial amounts of boodle were gained following the battle, with 4,000 talents captured, every bit well as the King'south personal chariot and bow. Darius planned to head further eastward, and raise another army to face Alexander while he and the Macedonians headed to 1 of the Persian capitals, Babylon, and then to some other, Susa. At that place, Alexander constitute wealth that even he had never imagined possible. He paid his troops, and sent a sum of money half-dozen times the almanac income of Athens to Greece, in guild to put down a Spartan rebellion. Darius, meanwhile, dispatched letters to his eastern satrapies asking them to remain loyal. The satrapies, notwithstanding, had other intentions, and chop-chop capitulated to Alexander.^{[ commendation needed ]}

Bessus fatally stabbed Darius, before fleeing eastwards. Darius was plant past one of Alexander's scouts, moaning in pain. Darius, dying and chained to a baggage train beingness pulled by an ox, was lying next to a lone dog and his royal robes were covered in blood. He asked for water, and then, clutching the Macedonian soldier's paw, said that he was thankful that he would not die utterly alone and abandoned. Alexander, who may have felt genuinely saddened at Darius' decease, buried Darius side by side to his Achaemenid predecessors in a full military funeral. Alexander claimed that, while dying, Darius had named Alexander equally his successor to the Achaemenid throne and had asked Alexander to avenge his expiry, a striking irony since it was Alexander who had pursued him to his expiry. The Achaemenid Persian Empire is considered to take fallen with the death of Darius.^{[ commendation needed ]}

Alexander, viewing himself as the legitimate Achaemenid successor to Darius, viewed Bessus as a usurper to the Achaemenid throne, and eventually found and executed this 'usurper'. The majority of the existing satraps were to give their loyalty to Alexander, and exist allowed to keep their positions. Alexander's troops at present idea the war was over. Alexander was unsure how to bargain with this, so he decided to scare them into submission. He gave a speech, arguing that their conquests were not secure, that the Persians did not want the Greeks to remain in their country, and that simply the strength of Macedon could secure the country. The spoken language worked, and Alexander's troops agreed to remain with him. Alexander, now the Persian "King of Kings", adopted Farsi wearing apparel and mannerisms, which, in time, the Greeks began to view as decadent and autocratic. They began to fear that Alexander, the king they had hero-worshiped, was turning into an eastern despot, although a young eunuch was eventually introduced to Alexander, and helped to go along his decadence in bank check.^{[ commendation needed ]}

Battle of the Farsi Gate [edit]

In the wintertime of 330 BC, at the Battle of the Farsi Gate northeast of today's Yasuj in Iran, the Persian satrap Ariobarzanes led a concluding stand of the Persian forces.^{[25] [26]} After the Battle of Gaugamela in present-day Iraqi Kurdistan, Alexander had advanced to Babylon and Susa. A Royal Road continued Susa with the more eastern capitals of Persepolis and Pasargadae in Persis (the Persian Empire had several "capitals"), and was the natural venue for Alexander's continued campaign. Afterward the conquest of Susa, Alexander separate the Macedonian army into 2 parts. Alexander's general, Parmenion, took one half along the Royal Road, and Alexander himself took the route towards Persis. Passing into Persis required traversing the Persian Gates, a narrow mountain pass that lent itself easily to deadfall.^[27]

Believing that, subsequently his victory over the Uxians, he would non encounter any more enemy forces during his march, Alexander neglected to send scouts ahead of his vanguard, and thus walked into Ariobarzanes' deadfall. Once the Macedonian army had advanced sufficiently into the narrow pass, the Persians rained downwardly boulders on them from the northern slopes. From the southern slope, Persian archers and catapults launched their projectiles. Alexander'south army initially suffered heavy casualties, losing entire platoons at a fourth dimension.^[28] Ariobarzanes had hoped that defeating Alexander at the Persian Gates would allow the Persians more than time to field some other army, and possibly stop the Macedonian invasion altogether.

Ariobarzanes held the laissez passer for a month,^[29] but Alexander succeeded in encircling the Persian army and broke through the Persian defenses. The defeat of Ariobarzanes'south forces at the Persian Gate removed the terminal war machine obstacle between Alexander and Persepolis. Upon his inflow at the metropolis of Persepolis, Alexander appointed a full general named Phrasaortes as successor of Ariobarzanes. 4 months subsequently, Alexander immune the troops to boodle Persepolis. A fire broke out and spread to the balance of the metropolis. Information technology is not articulate if it had been a drunken accident, or a deliberate act of revenge for the burning of the Acropolis of Athens during the Second Greco-Persian War.^[30]

Siege of the Sogdian Rock [edit]

Subsequently Alexander defeated the last of the Achaemenid Empire's forces in 328 BC, he began a new campaign to Ariana in 327 BC. He wanted to conquer the unabridged known world, which in Alexander's twenty-four hours, ended on the eastern stop of India. Greeks of Alexander's day knew nothing of People's republic of china, or any other lands east of Bactria. The Siege of the Sogdian Rock, a fortress located north of Bactria in Sogdiana, occurred in 327 BC. Oxyartes of Bactria had sent his wife and daughters, one of whom was Roxana, to take refuge in the fortress, equally information technology was thought to exist impregnable, and was provisioned for a long siege. When Alexander asked the defenders to surrender, they refused, telling him that he would need "men with wings" to capture it. Alexander asked for volunteers, whom he would advantage if they could climb the cliffs under the fortress. There were some 300 men who from previous sieges had gained feel in rock-climbing. Using tent-pegs and potent flaxen lines, they climbed the cliff confront at nighttime, losing about 30 of their number during the ascent. In accordance with Alexander's orders, they signaled their success to the troops below by waving bits of linen, and Alexander sent a herald to shout the news to the enemy'south advanced posts that they might now surrender without further delay. The defenders were so surprised and demoralized by this that they surrendered. Alexander fell in honey with Roxana, whom ancient historians call the "most beautiful woman in the world" (not an uncommon claim for an aboriginal queen), on sight and eventually married her. The story of the siege is told by the Roman historian Arrian of Nicomedia, in Anabasis (department iv.18.4–19.6).^{[ commendation needed ]}

Indian Campaign [edit]

Campaigns and landmarks of Alexander'due south invasion of the Indian subcontinent

Subsequently the death of Spitamenes and his union to Roxana (Roshanak in Bactrian) to cement his relations with his new Fundamental Asian satrapies, Alexander was finally free to plough his attending to the Indian subcontinent. Alexander invited all the chieftains of the sometime satrapy of Gandhara, in the north of what is at present Jhelum River, Pakistani region (Mordern History) to come up to him and submit to his say-so. Omphis, ruler of Taxila, whose kingdom extended from the Indus to the Hydaspes, 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.

In the wintertime of 327/326 BC, Alexander personally led a entrada against these clans; the Aspasioi of Kunar valley, the Guraeans of the Guraeus valley, and the Assakenoi of the Swat and Buner valleys.^[31] A fierce contest ensued with the Aspasioi in which Alexander himself was wounded in the shoulder by a dart merely eventually the Aspasioi lost the fight. Alexander then faced the Assakenoi, who fought bravely and offered stubborn resistance to Alexander in the strongholds of Massaga, Ora and Aornos. The fort of Massaga could only exist reduced afterwards several days of bloody fighting in which Alexander himself was wounded seriously in the talocrural joint. According to Curtius, "Not only did Alexander slaughter the entire population of Massaga, but also did he reduce its buildings to rubbles".^[32] A like slaughter then followed at Ora, another stronghold of the Assakenoi. In the aftermath of Massaga and Ora, numerous Assakenians fled to the fortress of Aornos. Alexander followed shut backside their heels and captured the strategic hill-fort after the fourth day of a bloody fight. This fight was the claiming Alexander was looking for, an army with huge elephants that were well-nigh able to defeat Alexander.

Afterwards gaining control of the old Achaemenid satrapy of Gandhara, including the city of Taxila, Alexander avant-garde into Punjab, where he engaged in battle against the regional male monarch Porus, whom Alexander defeated in the Battle of the Hydaspes in 326 BC,^{[33] [34]} simply was and then impressed by the demeanor with which the male monarch carried himself that he allowed Porus to keep governing his own kingdom as a satrap.^[35] Although victorious, Boxing of the Hydaspes was also the most costly battle fought by the Macedonians.^[36]

East of Porus' kingdom, near the Ganges River, was the powerful Nanda Empire of Magadha. According to the Greek sources, the Nanda army was 5 times larger than the Macedonian army.^[37] Fearing the prospects of facing the powerful Nanda Empire armies and wearied by years of campaigning, his regular army mutinied at the Hyphasis River, refusing to march further 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 accelerate into India. For having washed all they could do to repulse an enemy who mustered only twenty thou infantry and 2 thousand horse, they violently opposed Alexander when he insisted on crossing the river Ganges besides, the width of which, as they learned, was 30-two furlongs, its depth a 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 pending them with eighty thousand horsemen, ii hundred thousand footmen, eight thousand chariots, and six thousand fighting elephants.^[38]

Alexander spoke to his army and tried to persuade them to march farther into India but 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, seeing the unwillingness of his men agreed and diverted. Along the fashion his regular army conquered the Malli clans (in modern-twenty-four hours Multan). In the territory of the Indus, he nominated his officeholder Peithon as a satrap, a position he would agree for the next ten years until 316 BC, and in the Punjab he left Eudemus in charge of the army, at the side of the satrap Porus and Taxiles. Eudemus became ruler of a part of the Punjab afterwards their death. Both rulers returned to the West in 316 BC with their armies. In 321 BC, Chandragupta Maurya founded the Maurya Empire in India and overthrew the Greek satraps.

Return from India [edit]

Alexander at present sent much of his army to Carmania (modern southern Iran) with his general Craterus, and commissioned a fleet to explore the Persian Gulf shore under his admiral Nearchus, while he led the rest of his forces back to Persia past the southern route through the Gedrosian Desert (now function of southern Islamic republic of iran and Makran now part of Islamic republic of pakistan). According to Plutarch, during the threescore-day march through the desert, Alexander lost 3-quarters of his army to the harsh desert conditions along the fashion.^[39]

Boxing record [edit]

See also [edit]

• Ancient Macedonian army
• Military tactics of Alexander the Slap-up
• Wars of Cyrus the Groovy
• Diadochi
• Roman-Persian wars

References [edit]

1. ^ Freeman, Charles. The Greek Accomplishment: The Foundation of the Western World. Allen Lane, 1999. ISBN 9780713992243. p.172: "In telescopic and extent his achievements ranked far above that of the Macedonian king, Alexander ("the Keen") who was to demolish the empire in the 320s just fail to provide any stable alternative."
2. ^ Bowra, C. Maurice (1994) [1957]. The Greek Experience. London: Phoenix Orion Books Ltd. p. 9. ISBN1-85799-122-two.
3. ^ Sacks, David, (1995), Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek Globe, London: Constable and Co. Ltd, ISBN 0-09-475270-2, p. sixteen.
4. ^ Strudwick 2013, p. 97.
5. ^ "Philip II: rex of Macedonia". Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
6. ^
   • McCarty, Alexander the Dandy, p. 30-31.
   • Plutarch, The Age of Alexander, p. 262-263
   • Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 61-62
   • Fox, The Search For Alexander, p. 72
7. ^ ^{a b c d} Strudwick 2013, p. 96.
8. ^
   • McCarty, Alexander the Keen, p. 31.
   • Plutarch, The Historic period of Alexander, p. 263
   • Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 72
   • Fox, The Search For Alexander, p. 104
   • Bose, Alexander the Keen's Art of Strategy, p. 95
9. ^
   • Bose, Alexander the Great'due south Art of Strategy, p. 96.
   • Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 72
10. ^
    • Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander, p. 44–48.
    • Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 73–74.
11. ^
    • Arrian, The Campaigns of Alexander, p. 50–54.
    • Renault, The Nature of Alexander the Great, p. 77.
12. ^ Plutarch. Phocion. p. 17.
13. ^ cf. Justinus, Marcus Junianus. Paradigm of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus. p. 11.6.
14. ^ Strauss, Barry. Masters of Control. p. l.
15. ^ Strauss, Barry. Masters of Command. p. 48.
16. ^ ^{a b} Strauss, Barry. Masters of Command. p. 51.
17. ^ Strauss, Barry. Masters of Command. pp. 51–53.
18. ^ https://issuu.com/sonjcemarceva/docs/alexander_the_great_-_historical_so, see page 72 [Arrian, 1.16.vii.]
19. ^ Murison, C. Fifty. (1972). "Darius 3 and the Boxing of Issus". Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte. 21 (three): 399–423. ISSN 0018-2311. JSTOR 4435274.
20. ^ Stafford, Ned (14 May 2007). "How geology came to help Alexander the Slap-up". Nature.com . Retrieved 17 May 2007.
21. ^ ^{a b} "Siege of Tyre and Gaza". Retrieved 19 January 2007.
22. ^ "Leaders and Battles: Gaza, Siege of". Leaders and Battles Database. Archived from the original on 22 October 2006. Retrieved eighteen Jan 2007.
23. ^ "KurdishGlobe- The Location of the Battle of Gaugamela Discovered". www.kurdishglobe.cyberspace. Archived from the original on xiii April 2014.
24. ^ HighBeam
25. ^ Robinson, Cyril Edward (1929). A History of Greece. Methuen & Company Express. ISBN9781846031083.
26. ^ Farrokh, Kaveh (24 April 2007). Shadows in the Desert: Aboriginal Persia at War (Full general Military). Osprey Publishing. p. 106. ISBN978-1846031083. ISBN 978-1846031083.
27. ^ For the identification, see Henry Speck, "Alexander at the Western farsi Gates. A Study in Historiography and Topography" in: American Journal of Aboriginal History n.due south. 1.i (2002) 15-234; more than....
28. ^ Quintus Curtius Rufus
29. ^ Due north. G. L. Hammond (1992). "The Archaeological and Literary Evidence for the Burning of the Persepolis Palace", The Classical Quarterly 42 (two), p. 358-364.
30. ^ John Prevas (2005). Envy of the Gods: Alexander the Great's Ill-Fated Journey Across Asia. Da Capo Press. p. 38. ISBN978-0-306-81442-vi.
31. ^ Narain, A. K. (1965). Alexander the Not bad: Greece and Rome – 12. pp. 155–165.
32. ^ 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. One thousand. Joshi; Kambojas Through the Ages, 2005, p 134, Kirpal Singh.
33. ^ Fuller, p. 198:
    

    "While the boxing raged, Craterus forced his way over the Haranpur ford. When he saw that Alexander was winning a vivid victory he pressed on and, as his men were fresh, took over the pursuit."

34. ^ The Anabasis of Alexander/Volume V/Chapter XVIII
35. ^ The Anabasis of Alexander/Book 5/Chapter 19
36. ^ Peter Connolly. Greece and Rome at War. Macdonald Phoebus Ltd, 1981, p. 66
37. ^ Bongard-Levin, G. (1979). A History of India. Moscow: Progress Publishers. p. 264.
38. ^ Plutarch, "Alexander". p. 62.
39. ^ Plutarch, The Life of Alexander, 66.

Bibliography [edit]

• Arrian (1976) [140s AD]. The Campaigns of Alexander. trans. Aubrey de Sélincourt. Penguin Books. ISBN0-fourteen-044253-vii.
• Bowra, C. Maurice (1994) [1957]. The Greek Experience. London: Phoenix Orion Books Ltd. p. ix. ISBNi-85799-122-2.
• Farrokh, Kaveh (24 Apr 2007). Shadows in the Desert: Ancient Persia at War (General Military machine). Osprey Publishing. p. 106. ISBN978-1846031083. ISBN 978-1846031083.
• Lane Fox, Robin (1973). Alexander the Swell. Allen Lane. ISBN0-86007-707-1.
• Lane Fob, Robin (1980). The Search for Alexander. Footling Brown & Co. Boston. ISBN0-316-29108-0.
• Green, Peter (1992). Alexander of Macedon: 356–323 B.C. A Historical Biography . University of California Press. ISBN0-520-07166-2.
• Plutarch (2004). Life of Alexander. Modernistic Library. ISBN0-8129-7133-7.
• Renault, Mary (1979). The Nature of Alexander. Pantheon Books. ISBN0-394-73825-10.
• Robinson, Cyril Edward (1929). A History of Hellenic republic. Methuen & Company Limited. ISBN9781846031083.
• Strudwick, Helen (2013). The Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. London: Amber Books. ISBN978-ane-4351-4654-9.
• Wilcken, Ulrich (1997) [1932]. Alexander the Great. W. W. Norton & Visitor. ISBN0-393-00381-7.
• Worthington, Ian (2003). Alexander the Great . Routledge. ISBN0-415-29187-9.
• Worthington, Ian (2004). Alexander the Bang-up: Human And God. Pearson. ISBN978-1-4058-0162-1.

Farther reading [edit]

• Alexander the Great in Fact and Fiction, edited by A.B. Bosworth, East.J. Baynham. New York: Oxford University Press (USA), 2002 (Paperback, ISBN 0-19-925275-0).
• Baynham, Elizabeth. Alexander the Swell: The Unique History of Quintus Curtius. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Printing, 1998 (hardcover, ISBN 0-472-10858-one); 2004 (paperback, ISBN 0-472-03081-7).
• Brill'south Companion to Alexander the Great past Joseph Roisman (editor). Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2003.
• Cartledge, Paul. Alexander the Great: The Chase for a New Past. Woodstock, NY; New York: The Overlook Press, 2004 (hardcover, ISBN 1-58567-565-2); London: PanMacmillan, 2004 (hardcover, ISBN 1-4050-3292-8); ;: Vintage, 2005 (paperback, ISBN i-4000-7919-5).
• Dahmen, Karsten. The Legend of Alexander the Great on Greek and Roman Coins. Oxford: Routledge, 2006 (hardcover, ISBN 0-415-39451-i; paperback, ISBN 0-415-39452-X).
• De Santis, Marc Yard. "At The Crossroads of Conquest". Armed services Heritage, December 2001. Volume 3, No. three: 46–55, 97 (Alexander the Bang-up, his military, his strategy at the Battle of Gaugamela and his defeat of Darius making Alexander the King of Kings).
• Fuller, J.F. C; A Military History of the Western World: From the earliest times to the Battle of Lepanto; New York: Da Capo Printing, Inc., 1987 and 1988. ISBN 0-306-80304-6
• Gergel, Tania Editor Alexander the Neat (2004) published by the Penguin Group, London ISBN 0-14-200140-6 Cursory collection of ancient accounts translated into English language
• Larsen, Jakob A. O. "Alexander at the Oracle of Ammon", Classical Philology, Vol. 27, No. ane. (January 1932), pp. 70–75.
• Lonsdale, David. Alexander the Neat, Killer of Men: History's Greatest Conqueror and the Macedonian Fashion of War, New York, Carroll & Graf, 2004, ISBN 0-7867-1429-8
• Pearson, Lionel Ignacius Cusack. The Lost Histories of Alexander the Great. Chicago Ridge, IL: Ares Publishers, 2004 (paperback, ISBN 0-89005-590-four).
• Thomas, Carol M. Alexander the Smashing in his World (Blackwell Ancient Lives). Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2006 (hardcover, ISBN 0-631-23245-one; paperback, ISBN 0-631-23246-X).

External links [edit]

Primary sources

• Plutarch, Of the Fortune or Virtue of Alexander the Great (in English)
• Justin, Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus (in English language)
• Alexander the Great: An annotated listing of primary sources from Livius.org
• Wiki Classical Lexicon, extant sources and fragmentary and lost sources

Other

• A Bibliography of Alexander the Great by Waldemar Heckel Archived 7 Oct 2009 at the Wayback Machine
• Pothos.org: Alexander'south Home on the Spider web
• Alexander Three the Neat, entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith
• Alexander the Great on the Web, a comprehensive directory of some 1,000 sites
• Alexander The Smashing in the French museum Le Louvre
• Alexander, The Great Mystery past T. Peter Limber in "Saudi Aramco Magazine"
• Trace Alexander'southward conquests on an animated map
• Alexander the Cracking of Macedon, a project past John J. Popovic
• Alexander in the Punjab. A Photo Essay, photos of all sites Alexander visited
• Alexander the Great Coins, a site depicting Alexander'south coins and later coins featuring Alexander's image

Alexander The Great Conquest Map,

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wars_of_Alexander_the_Great

Posted by: swingleketter.blogspot.com

Share this post