Alexander`s military expertise was introduced when he commanded the left wing in the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 B.C.E. In 336, in the result of Philip II death Alexander inherited his title of king of Macedon. After titled king Alexander got rid of all threats to his throne. When chosen king of Macedon he did not acquire command of the Corinthian League immediately. Athens and southern Greek states planned to lead the league under Demosthenes. Instantly showing leader-like qualities the League entrusted Alexander with absolute powers to campaign against Persia. He lacked wealth, so needed the riches of Persia to be able to maintain the force assembled by Philip. They crossed Asia Minor and sacked cities to gain wealth. After he freed a Greek …show more content…
During the siege of Tyre, Darius offered he would reward Alexander with 10,000 talents and all his territory on the west side of the Euphrates river for his family. Alexander never accepted it. He attacks Tyre in 332, many are killed and many women and children are put into slavery. The conquering of Tyre was one of his greatest accomplishments. He continued going south through Jerusalem to Gaza. At Gaza he got to the walls, and rolled over them into Egypt after a few unsuccessful attempts. Without opposition, Egypt fell and the Egyptians praised Alexander as their deliverer from Persian supremacy. Mazaces, the Persian satrap, intelligently surrendered. Later on, he founded the city of Alexandria close to western side of the Nile Delta and Lake Mareotis. Alexander also commanded a group to find out the causes of the flooding of the Nile. He was an influential part in the promotion of Greek Culture in …show more content…
At Arbela, Alexander encountered the Persians, this was the Battle of Gaugamela. At the end, the Persian army fell, and into the Kurdish mountains Alexander followed Darius. As they pursued Darius they found Babylonia, Alexander then decided to desert the chase. He probed the all the riches of the land Darius ditched. Later, Alexander defeated the superb palace of Susa and took their riches. Next, he departed to the capital of the Persian Empire, Persepolis. Alexander believed Persepolis was their worst enemy among the cities of Asia. Also, they were the wealthiest city. Alexander sacked and burned the city to stop its uprising, and as a consequence for the demolition of Athens. Then he went to Darius's last capital, Ecbatana, where he left the Macedonian general in command of the seized valuables. Alexander set out in search for Darius. Darius and his eastern satraps have ran off past the Caspian Gates. The satraps had assassinated Darius when Alexander got to them, he demanded a royal funeral. As Darius's inheritor and avenger, Alexander according to Persian principles, maltreated them. He became the Persian king, started to dress in Persian royal clothing and embraced the Persian court ceremonials. Like anywhere else, he placed officials in his management. But, he retained his place of the head of the Corinthian League with regard to the Greek ambassadors. Alexander professed that he was the King of Asia and
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.
Alexander recognized he could not allow the barbarian nation neighboring him grow to independent so he quashed them with the might of his army. (Doc. 1) It became obvious that the author who was responsible for writing Document 1 was biased towards Alexander when the author wrote that ONLY thirty-four of Alexander's men were killed. Alexander said that he shared the labor with his men and would not have had them do anything he would not do. (Doc. 2) When Alexander took the Persian capital of Persepolis he took the treasure from the palace and burned it to the ground. With this move, he effectively cut down upon the Persian's supplies and stroke a crippling blow to the moral of Persia's army. (Doc. 4) When Alexander and his forces were marching through a desert one of his men found a little bit of water and offered it to Alexander, when he took it he promptly dumped it all on the ground so that he could suffer along with his
As stated in document A, “in 334 BCE, Alexander crossed from Macedonia to Asia with an army of 40,000.” That sounds like he is going to try to take over land and will not give up until he gets that land. According to document C, because the city Tyre, did not surrender, he built a bridge to get to the island. The city held out for 7 months but Alexander continued to destroy it, and the city’s people because he was so angry they were up for the battle. Alexander the great also took over 70 cities as said in document E. As you can tell, he was very greedy and seemed as if he could not help it but to keep destroying cities and taking over land. In conclusion, Alexander was overall very greedy and decided to take over land for no purpose other than he wanted
Alexander had been taught many things from a very young age such as academic subjects, politics, sports, and warfare which made him think very highly of himself. His father Philip of Macedonia made an extremely strong army and took over many Greek polises and wanted to take over the Persian Empire. This struck Alexander’s aspiration to take over the Persian Empire as well. Alexander then inherited his father’s kingdom at the age of 18 after his father
In the fourth century BC, rapid cultural, economic, social, and political changes were occurring in the Mediterranean and Asia Minor as a result of the conquests of Alexander the Great. In 337 BC, Alexander the Third inherited the Macedonian kingdom after his father, Philip the Second, died. Philip the Second has already taken control over all of Greece, and Alexander used the manpower and money from this to expand even further, into Persia. Beginning in 334 BC, Alexander started an intense campaign through Persia, concurring city after city. Eventually, Alexander had conquered all of Persia and forced the Persian king Darius the third to the city of Ecbatana, where he was killed. Instead of returning to Greece after his victory over the Persian
Alexander went to Corinth for the assembly of the Greek league and was named the supreme commander of all Greece. At that time the Thebans’ revolted; he destroyed everything in their city except the temples. This served as a reminder to the other communities and tribes in Macedonia respected and honored Alexander. He proceeded to conquer the Asia Minor, and used his knowledge to plan and organize the army. During the Persian expedition Alexander had in his army more than 100 000 but only a few fought. Alexander honored veterans; he left them in charge of cities. He was a military genius and could change his army within seconds and used to make decisions as fast as possible. He could even change his plan of action if the enemy changed plans. To him it was not about numbers but leadership and plan in battle. The first commander to have backup reserves was Alexander; this affected the way wars were staged and fought in the coming years. Alexander defeated the Persians; he was an unwavering fighter and fought with his soldiers. He conquered the Phoenician coast, Syria and Egypt (Louis, W. R, 1984).
Alexander wanted to conquer the city
At an early age Alexander’s father Philip hired a tutor. Alexander’s tutor was Aristotle, Philip II hired him to ensure Alexander had the best education. Aristotle worked with Alexander to help improve his intelligence. Alexander was able to conquer more land than his father. He was a very ambitious man he wanted to conquer the world. After his father was murdered he became ruler of the Macedonia empire (57). Under Alexander’s rule the Macedonia empire had control over Persia, Greece, Egypt, Iran, Afghanistan and some of India (64).
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
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
Alexander the Great left him home in Macedonia in 336 BC with the goal of conquering all of Persia after the death of his father. Alexander the Great traveled north and defeated the Persians who were led by Memnon a Greek mercenary at the Battle of River Granicus. He defeated Memnon another time at Halicarnassus along the coast of Asia Minor. The kIng of Macedonia, Darius, constantly underestimated Alexander's skill in battle causing Alexander to have upset wins. He was winning so many battles and was making progress towards his goal. This made
The Generals of Alexander who supported Perdiccas were given parts of the Empire in the partition of Babylon. This sparked later wars between them which are known as the wars of the Diadochi (which means “successors”). Ten years earlier in 333 BC Alexander conquered Egypt and was regarded by the people as a liberator or a deliverer. At this time he also established Alexandria which became the capital of Egypt for many years. Alexander left Clemonenes of Naucratis as nomarch of the Arabian district of Egypt. Clemones was a dishonest man who did anything for money. He cheated his own soldiers out of a month’s pay. He made money by taking advantage of the people and even used their superstitions to earn money at their expense. He held his position until Ptolemy arrived in Egypt.
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
Throughout his life, he conquered many places, including the empire of Persia, Egypt, Mesopotamia, etc. He went on and on conquering many lands along with his troops. In fact, he travelled with builders, engineers, poets, scientists, etc. These specialized workers were one of the reasons he was successful in battles. Alexander brought them along for entertainment, and they also supported the army with carriages, supplies, built camps, and support for wounded soldiers. When attacking, his army led battles from the front which define their courage, and he ensured that his men were well-fed and rewarded them so that they were motivated. Alexander may be cruel at times. For instance, he killed lots and lots of men who were traitors in his army. Along with that, he treated his adversaries with respect while conquered people were freed when he’s generous, but killed when he’s disrespected. Alexander the Great defeated the powerful empire of Persia and extended his empire from Greece to India, making it the largest empire of the ancient
For the next few years he would lay siege and conquer many cities and countries and gains control of a vast majority of Asia Minor and Egypt. After Alexander had conquered Babylon he set his sights on Persia. He took Susa, one of the capitals and Persepolis the ceremonial capital. Alexander had set his sights on taking Darius III and pursed him into Media then Parthia. In the year 330BC, Darius was taken prisoner by the Bactrian Satrap Bessus who had Darius stabbed as Alexander approached, He declared himself the new king under the name of Artaxerxes V. Alexander gave Darius a proper burial next to his Achaemenid ancestors and proclaims himself the rightful successor. Though Bessus proclaims himself as King of the Empire, he had no relations to anyone of the royal family, therefore it is generally accepted that the death of Darius the III marked the end of Achaemenid Empire. Much of the remaining Empire falls to Alexander or gains independence for themselves. Alexander succeeded in conquering the Achaemenid Empire because of his great tactical prowess on the battlefield making him and his army a formidable enemy for the generals of the Empire. He conquers many cities and state swiftly, many were willing to submit after seeing what they had done to other armies. In conquering the cities he began to merge Greek language, Greek Culture and Greek population with these conquered areas making the original culture of Persia decline.