King Alexander at only 25 years old, his reputation already one of greatness had led his men into Asia. To his soldiers, their invasion of Persia was to fight back after half a century of devastation brought onto Greece during the Persian wars between 499 and 448 BC. Alexander’s private desire, however, was to cast a shadow on the large Persian empire by winning all its lands and bringing it under his rule. Gaugamela, named after the village it was fought by, was the decisive battle in the struggle between Alexander III and Darius II for the Persian Empire. The battle occurred in 331 BC, this battle was one of importance as it shows a significant amount of Alexander’s tactical and military genius while including examples of his great …show more content…
The arrangements ended up being parallel to that of the battle of Issus. However, realizing that the Persian cavalry was moderately powerful, Alexander reinforced his wings and ordered them to lengthen if there was any risk of being out-flanked. These well designed decisions would have made a huge impact on the final outcome of the battle, this shows Alexander’s ability to adapt his tactics to suit different situations and develop ways to overcome problems that may occur. The battle turned out better than it possibly could have for Alexander, as we can see his well thought out plan coincided with the actual events of the battle and all went as he had pre-determined. Alexander initially ordered his right wing cavalry to advance on an angle, as always, to the right. Consequently forcing the Persian cavalry further left to pursue them, thus moving away from the specially cleared area Darius had so carefully arranged for them. To counteract these actions Darius ordered his men to stop moving to the left and head directly forward to attack Alexander’s right wing as intended. This arrangement worked well for Alexander as he postponed a rather dominant attack to his right wing and would have
One reason Alexander was great, was because he was a military genius. As stated in document B, “When Alexander saw this, he decided to move his troops in all different directions so that Porus would be puzzled…(Doc B)”.
In history Alexander the Great is always one of the topics to learn, and one of the most asked question is what did Alexander do to be so great. Alexander might have been born great to achieve greatness or have greatness thrust upon him and this one of the reasons we still talk about him today. Alexander the Great took the crown at the age of 20. When he was only 13 Alexander tamed a horse that no one else could ride that was named Bucephalus which impressed his father. At the age of 16 he was a horseman and went to war, riding his horse that no one was able to ride on. Alexander the Great was born in Pella (capital of Macedonia) on July 20, 356 B.C and died from a fever in Babylon on June 323 B.C. After the assassination of Philip II in 336 B.C his son Alexander inherited one of the most powerful armies in the world and started an invasion attack in Persia. Alexander defeated his rival King Darius of Persia during the Battle of Issus in 333 B.C completing his father's dream and becoming a great leader. Through his schooling with his tutor Aristotle, Aristotle philosophy helped him achieve invading attacks his father couldn’t accomplish and giving him a chance to “admire and maintain these disparate cultures” (Jarus). Alot was accomplished by Alexander after he had died and for that he was known to be great. Even when he died because of a fever his people wanted to believe it was caused by alcohol poisoning or asassianly-poisoning. He had defeated
Great men have lived on the face of the earth and left marks of their prowess and legacy that men of the present and even the future find it hard to emulate; a good example of such men is Alexander the Great. This paper seeks to explain further Alexander’s military genius and its positive impact on military impact over the past centuries. The paper also gives a well thought analysis why Alexander was so much successful in his wars and conquests. His big empire spread all the way from Gibraltar to the Punjab and in his leadership made Greek the lingua franca of his new World (Cary, M, 1932).
The Persian Wars were a series of conflicts fought between the Greek states and the Persian Empire from 500-449 BC. It started in 500 BC, when a few Greek city-states on the coast of Asia Minor, who were under the control of the Persian Empire, revolted against the despotic rule of the Persian king Darius. Athens and Eretria in Euboea gave aid to these Greek cities but not enough, and they were subdued by the Persians. The Persians became determined to conquer Hellas and make Athens and Eretria pay for helping the Ionian cities. In 492 BC, the first Persian invasion had its fleet crippled by a storm before it could do any damage. King Darius sent another Persian expedition in 490 which destroyed
After crossing the Hellespont with an army of 35,000 men, he met his first Persian battle on the banks of the Granicus River. His cavalry charged across the Granicus and overwhelmed the Persians. From there, Alexander went on to conquer all of Asia Minor with little resistance (“Alexander the Great.'; 2). After recovering from a serious illness in 333 B.C., Alexander marched to Syria, where the king of Persia, Darius III, had fortified a riverbank near Issus with 600,000 men (Durant 544). Again Alexander attacked with his cavalry and defeated the Persians. Darius III managed to escape but left behind his family and a large amount of money.
Later on in his life, Alexander continued to show his ability to accomplish many difficult tasks. "After three grueling years of warfare and three decisive battles, Alexander smashed the Persian armies at the Tigris River and conquered the mighty Persian Empire, including the legendary city of Babylon" (“Alexander the Great” ushistory.org). This was a great victory that proved Alexander had what it took to be a great leader. Defeating the Persians was something many leaders could never do, but Alexander
When it comes to history, many important figures have received titles, although the great majority do not actually deserve them. Alexander III of Macedon, commonly called Alexander the Great, is an example of this. Throughout history, he has accomplished many things, but his defeats were greater than his victories: after his death, his empire fell apart, he sacrificed his own allies in order to conquer places and crucified 2,000 men. After conquering the city of Tyre, Alexander crucified over 2,000 men of military age, and sold the rest of the population, about 30,000, into slavery. According to a historian's account about the battle of Tyre: "The remaining survivors, some 30,000 in number, he sold into slavery.
In document C it states “In the end, however, the causeway was completed and Alexander’s army smashed into the city.”, this is saying that even if the fight was 7 months he would never quit (Doc C). While on the move back to Greece Alexander’s followers wanted to quit and didn’t want to go on, so some stayed behind while he went on and “conquered the world” (Doc F). “At the time, Persia was probably the most powerful kingdom in the world. This mattered little to Alexander. Using his disciplined cavalry and infantry in both ways, Alexander fought his way through lands controlled by Persia - across Asia Minor, down the Mediterranean coast, into Egypt, and then to Mesopotamia. There he defeated a huge Persian army at Gaugamela.” (BGE). This quote is saying that even though Persia may be strong and powerful Alexander would still get his way wherever he went. This evidence helps explain why Alexander was great because when going through the difficult parts of his battles he would always stay strong and brave through it all despite the hard
Alexander the Great was able to defeat King Darius III at the Battle of Gaugamela because of his advanced battle strategies. These included upgrading the phalanx position. Instead of the spears either being straight forward or directly up, he had the back rows' spears point at a 75º angle to deflect arrows and javelins while the front row has their spears straight forward. On both sides of his phalanx, Alexander had set up cavalry. Alexander also had a second phalanx to prevent defeat. Alex first decided to lead the Persians away from the middle ground where the king was. After King Darius III had noticed what was happening, he ordered part of his cavalry to attack from the side. To avoid being surrounded, Alexandre charged straight into the
Alexander was a good general, he won lots of wars, and had great strategies. The article states,”He realized that he could not cross at the point… When Alexander saw this, he[decided] move his troops in all different directions so that Porus would keep puzzled,”(Arrianus, Document B). Alexander had a good idea, if Porus and Alexander went head on head it would be even but, if Alexander could attack Porus from all different sides he has an advantage. The article says,”At night he would take most of his cavalry to various points along the river bank where he would create a clamour, raise the war cry and produce all other such noises as would come from men preparing to cross river,”(Arrianus, Document B). Alexander made the noise so Puros would get his men ready for war but, Alexander figured out Porus movements, and he could then send his troops to attack Porus. Alexander was a great conquer because he had so many great strategies when he went into war, helping him expand his vast
I think Alexander deserves the title of Alexander the Great. He was 20 years old when he launched his invasion into the Persian Empire. The evidence I will use are these documents. The legend of the helmet, document D. The battle of Porus, document B. Alexander's empire compared to the Roman Empire, document A, E. I think Alexander was great, because of the size his empire and how little time it took him to make.
Alexander knew that if he was not going to come up with a way to puzzle his enemy that otherwise he could possibly lose all of his land. Alexander was creative the time when he puzzled Porous. Alexander saw that Porous had elephants. “He realized that he could not cross at the point where Porous was encamped-his elephants were to numerous.” (Doc B). So that night Alexander sent troops in all different directions and when Porous heard different sounds from all different directions that made Porous puzzled and made him quit. (Doc B). This evidence explains how Alexander was great because that was a very smart move to make someone quit fighting against you before the war has even started. Just because you are the little guy doesn’t mean you just give
Alexander the Great is hailed, by most historians, as “The Great Conqueror” of the world in the days of ancient Mesopotamia. “Alexander III of Macedon, better known as Alexander the Great, single-handedly changed the nature of the ancient world in little more than a decade. Alexander was born in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia in July 356 BCE. His parents were Philip II of Macedon and his wife Olympias. Philip was assassinated in 336 BCE and Alexander inherited a powerful yet volatile kingdom. He quickly dealt with his enemies at home and reasserted Macedonian power within Greece. He then set out to conquer the massive Persian Empire” (Web, BBC History). It is important to note, which will maybe explain his brutal actions, that
During the course of his life and reign, Alexander had fought and won many battles and wars, defeating many kings and warlords throughout the ancient world. Perhaps his most recognized conquest was of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia and its ‘King of Kings’ Darius III during the Battle of Issus 1. After defeating the Persians at the Battle
Alexander grew up to conquer the world regardless the cost. Alexander’s military successes was beyond believe, because he conquered Asian minor and Egypt in a decade. The size of the army led by Alexander it vary in different books but according to Arrian (Ptolemy) , there was 32,000 infantry and 5100 cavalry, agree by Diodorus (17.17)(page 34). Even though with this small army Alexander the Great smashed the Persian with less difficulty. ”Alexander, therefore, while the enemy’s attention was engaged by the siege engines and the attempted assault within their sector , order the Guards, the archer, the Agrianes, and his personal guard to hold themselves in readiness, and himself, with a few men only, crept unobserved by the dried-up water-course, under the wall, into the town. Once inside he broke open the nearest gates and admitted the rest of the troops without difficulty” (Page 204). First, Alexander order to his siege engine was to build batter defense and force an entrance through the breaches, soon something has changed his tactics. There were a stream, under the bed, Alexander soldiers pass under the town and opened the gate. While the Cyropolis were engaged in the front. Alexander the great took the town and killed about 8,000, the rest surrounded. Alexander brought down the greatest empire in the world at that period, without difficulty and most