[12], Several legends surround Alexander's birth and childhood. [159] Veratrum album poisoning can have a prolonged course and it was suggested that if Alexander was poisoned, Veratrum album offers the most plausible cause. [286] Alexander was used by these writers as an example of ruler values such as amicita (friendship) and clementia (clemency), but also iracundia (anger) and cupiditas gloriae (over-desire for glory). Alexander the Great was apparently fascinated with everything that could be seen as a symbol of power. [62], After his victory at the Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC), Philip II began the work of establishing himself as hgemn (Greek: ) 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 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. [citation needed] Perhaps taking his summons to Babylon as a death sentence[153] and having seen the fate of Parmenion and Philotas,[154] Antipater purportedly arranged for Alexander to be poisoned by his son Iollas, who was Alexander's wine-pourer. [196] 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. Alexander III of Macedon (Ancient Greek: , romanized:Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great,[a] was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. Their very number, however, and the large array of monograms and symbols used to identify the mints where the coins were struck and the mint officials who supervised the work, make this one of the most . [81] The Greeks interpreted this message - one that the gods addressed to all pharaohs - as a prophecy.[78]. Ancient Greek Macedonian Symbol. 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.[87]. [293], 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. [180], Alexander's death was so sudden that when reports of his death reached Greece, they were not immediately believed. [177][178][179] 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". [252], 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",[253] showing great self-control in "pleasures of the body". BRIANT Pierre, Alexandre Le Grand, "Que sais-je? 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. [146] There are two different versions of Alexander's death, differing slightly in details. [50] 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. 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. 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. [62] The one exception was a call to arms by Spartan king Agis III in 331BC, whom Antipater defeated and killed in the battle of Megalopolis. [23][24][25] 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, or a Persian nobleman named Sisines. [98] Alexander buried Darius's remains next to his Achaemenid predecessors in a regal funeral. [78] He was pronounced son of the deity Amun at the Oracle of Siwa Oasis in the Libyan desert. Alexander was proclaimed king on the spot by the nobles and army at the age of 20. Attalus also had severely insulted Alexander, and following Cleopatra's murder, Alexander may have considered him too dangerous to be left alive. [239][240] He apparently had two sons, Alexander IV of Macedon by Roxana and, possibly, Heracles of Macedon from his mistress Barsine. [216] Alexander's mother Olympia similarly had huge ambitions, and encouraged her son to believe it was his destiny to conquer the Persian Empire. 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. 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. [2] He was undefeated in battle and is widely considered to be one of history's greatest and most successful military commanders. Ronald H. Fritze, Egyptomania: A History of Fascination, Obsession and Fantasy, p 103. [30], Upon Philip's return, Alexander was dispatched with a small force to subdue the revolts in southern Thrace. [222] This was no doubt in part due to Aristotle's tutelage; Alexander was intelligent and quick to learn. [85], 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". [279] 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,[280] 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. [284] The emperor Trajan also admired Alexander, as did Nero and Caracalla. Alexander eventually agreed and turned south, marching along the Indus. [124] Alexander was impressed by Porus's bravery, and made him an ally. 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. 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. [50] 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. 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, whom classical Greek culture painted as a couple. [145], On the evening of May 29, Alexander organized a banquet for his army to celebrate the end of the campaign of India and the onset of the invasion of the Arabian Peninsula. [216] Although Alexander was stubborn and did not respond well to orders from his father, he was open to reasoned debate. Among Alexander's family, "the king or ruler who ended up dying in his bed was rare," says Philip Freeman, a biographer of Alexander the Great and a classical historian at Luther College in . Aristotle of Stagira (l. 384-322 BCE) was a Greek philosopher who pioneered systematic, scientific examination in literally every area of human knowledge and was known, in his time, as "the man who knew everything" and later simply as "The Philosopher", needing no further qualification as his fame was so widespread. After the assassination of Perdiccas in 321BC, Macedonian unity collapsed, and 40years 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. When the Thessalians awoke the next day, they found Alexander in their rear and promptly surrendered, adding their cavalry to Alexander's force. 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. [261], The city of Pella, in modern Jordan, was founded by veterans of Alexander's army, and named it after the city of Pella, in Greece, which was the birthplace of Alexander. [181][220] His unique abilities were further demonstrated by the inability of any of his generals to unite Macedonia and retain the Empire after his deathonly Alexander had the ability to do so. [104] However, when, at some point later, Alexander was on the Jaxartes dealing with an incursion by a horse nomad army, Spitamenes raised Sogdiana in revolt. Alexander was the first king to wear the all-important royal diadem, a band of cloth tied around the hair that was to become the symbol of Hellenistic kingship. 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. 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. Julius Caesar went to serve his quaestorship in Hispania after his wife's funeral, in the spring or early summer of 69 BC. He is described as having one eye light and one eye dark. [51], Attalus was at that time corresponding with Demosthenes, regarding the possibility of defecting to Athens. There he was shown the chariot of the ancient founder of the city, Gordius, with its yoke lashed to the pole by means of an intricate knot with its end hidden. In the spring of 335BC, he advanced to suppress several revolts. This led Hegesias of Magnesia to say that it had burnt down because Artemis was away, attending the birth of Alexander. 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. [66] Alexander left the government of Caria to a member of the Hecatomnid dynasty, Ada, who adopted Alexander. In 334 BC, he invaded the Achaemenid Persian Empire and began a series of campaigns that lasted for 10 years. [107], The foundation of the "new" Smyrna was also associated with Alexander. [284] Polybius began his Histories by reminding Romans of Alexander's achievements, and thereafter Roman leaders saw him as a role model. 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. [285], 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. 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. [304] In Islamic Persia, under the influence of the Alexander Romance (in Persian: Iskandarnamah), a more positive portrayal of Alexander emerges. It was also said that on this day, the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, burnt down. 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". Although his successors explicitly rejected such policies, Hellenization occurred throughout the region, accompanied by a distinct and opposite 'Orientalization' of the successor states. [131] This river thus marks the easternmost extent of Alexander's conquests. At the time of his death, Alexander's empire covered some 5,200,000km2 (2,000,000sqmi),[257] and was the largest state of its time. [57] The Macedonians marched into the country of the Triballi, and defeated their army near the Lyginus river[58] (a tributary of the Danube). Details from the Alexander Sarcophagus show that he had a fair complexion with ruddy cheeks. [306] In the Shahnameh, Alexander's first journey is to Mecca to pray at the Kaaba. Macedonian losses were negligible compared to those of the Persians. [264] An inscription from the temple, now housed in the British Museum, declares: "King Alexander dedicated [this temple] to Athena Polias.
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