ALEXANDER THE GREAT

Alexander the great



Alexander the great

Introduction

Alexander was the son of Philip II, king of Macedonia, who united the city-states of Greece for the purpose of making war with the Persians. In 338 BCE Philip II, through a complex and efficient military system, along with a knack for diplomacy, organized the Greek city-states into a union, the Corinthian League (Bowra, 1994). The league's states were to be independent and self-governing with Philip as their commander-in-chief. Philip's concept of conquering through unity would later be perfected by his son and heir, Alexander. Aristotle, the star pupil of Greek philosopher Plato was employed as tutor to Alexander. Hunting was a passion Alexander often pursued, as the Macedonian countryside contained an abundance of deer and foxes, with bears and lions still roaming the highlands.

At 16, while his father was laying siege to Byzantium, Alexander was left as regent in Macedonia. During this time, Alexander thwarted a Thracian rebellion. He overtook a city in Thrace and renamed it Alexandropolis, after himself. In 336 BCE, at the age of 20, Alexander ascended to the Macedonian throne after Philip II was murdered by Pausanias, a king's guard and friend to Alexander. After the death of his father, Alexander quickly won the allegiance of the Macedonian army and its generals. A revolt in the two cities of Athens and Thebes soon erupted, conveniently while Alexander was away once again securing Macedonia's northern frontier in Thrace (Bose, 2003).

Alexander the Great Accomplishments (Conquest to Persia)

The first greek-Macedonian expedition sent by Philip II in Asia Minor, under the command of General Parmenion, had been rejected by the army on the coast of the Persian, the latter was commanded by General rhodium Memnon (and before him by Mentor), who occupied the city of Abydos , where the Macedonians would have to disembark (Beazley & Ashmole, 1932).

In the spring of 334 BC Alexander, after consolidating its position in Greece and after he left Antipater as his representative in the country, landed in Asia Minor with an army of 40,000 men, of which 32,000 infantry, cavalry could count on in 1200 Thessalian hetaîroi and 1800 ("companions" of the king), all under the command of Parmenion . The main body of the Macedonian army was formed, reinforced by contingents from the few Greek cities.

After crossing the coast of Thrace came in about twenty days to the Dardanelles, in the sixth was hit by Allied ships 160-170 (subsequently assigned to Nicanor) with whom he reached the opposite bank, not fearing the enemy fleet, which was occupied to hold off the coast of Egypt (in fact, in January 335 BC, the king was dead rebellious Egyptian and committed part of the fleet there could not intervene to stop the Macedonians). So he visited, as a good omen, to what was believed to be the tomb of Protesilaus and we performed a ritual he began driving a trireme, walked away from the coast, he sacrificed a bull and another, and returned before reaching the shore, put ...