Alexander the Great was one of the greatest ruler's and conquerors of all time. He conquered the mighty Persian Empire and most of the known world at that time. Alexander was born in Pella, the ancient capital of Macedonia. He was the son of an excellent general and organizer, named Philip II King of Macedon. His mother was Olympias, princess of Epirus. She was brilliant and hot-tempered. Alexander inherited the best qualities of both his parents. But he was even more ambitious than his father. He wept bitterly when he heard of Philip's conquests and said, " My father will get ahead of me in everything, and will leave nothing great for me to do." Alexander's mother taught him that Achilles was his ancestor, and that his father …show more content…
In the spring of 334 Alex began his war against the Persians by crossing the Hellespont with an army of thirty-five thousand Macedonian and Greek troops. This army included chief officers, and Antigonus, Ptolemy, and Seleucus. At Granicus, a river near the ancient city of Troy, Alex attacked and army of Persians and Greek Hoplites (mercenaries) exacting about forty thousand. Alex's forces defeated them and Alex only lost 110 men. All of the states in Asia Minor submitted to Alex after that defeat. Also while passing through Phrygia Alex cut the Gordian knot with his sword. The Gordian knot is a knot that was tied by Gordius ancient king of Phrygia. The prophecy of the knot said that the Knot was to be undone by the person who was to rule Asia. Going southward Alex and his troops came upon the main Persian army led by King Darius III, at Issus in northeastern Syria. Intelligence on both sides was imprecise, and the two armies had in fact been advancing randomly. Alex was already encamped by Myriandrus (near modern Iskenderun, Turkey) when he found out that Darius was along his line of communications at Issus. Alex came head to head with King Darius during the Battle of Issus on the northeast Mediterranean coast. Although Alexander was advancing south he was surprised to find Darius approaching from his north! Turning, Alexander found Darius drawn up along the Piraeus River. In the battle that followed, Alexander won a decisive
Alexander the Great was king of the Macedonians and one of the greatest generals in history. As a student of the Greek philosopher Aristotle, Alexander was embedded with lasting interests in philosophy, politics and warfare. As king, he settled problems by immediate action, making quick decisions and taking great risks. His armies overcame these risks by sheer force and by the ingenious tactics instilled in them by Alexander. He and his armies conquered the Persian Empire, which stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to India and formed much of what was then considered the civilized world. Through his conquests, Alexander helped spread Greek ideas, customs and laws throughout Asia and Egypt and adopted a uniform
Alexander the Great, born of King Philip of Macedonia, was one of the greatest conquerors of history. In my opinion, Alexander was a great leader and warrior. For example, in Document B, Alexander used strategy to win over a battle. The strategy he used was complicated, but well thought out; Alexander moved his troops in all different directions to keep Porus puzzled, and took his cavalry to various points along the river bank where he would create a war cry so that Porus would parallel the movements on the other sides of the river until he no longer responded. Now Porus elephants were boxed in, and the elephants trampled their own men because they had no driver's upon them. In this way Alexander won a battle, and through his cleverness, he
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 the Great was the king of Macedonia, conqueror of the Persian Empire, and one of the greatest military geniuses of all times. Even at an early age, Alexander had the promise to become a great leader. Through all his victories and conquests, he has become a great hero and has had a large impact on history. That is why I chose he book Alexander the Great, by J.R. Hamilton for my review. Hamilton does a very good job with the story of Alexander the Great.
Alexander the Great conquered a lot of land and showed many qualities of a great leader. Alexander became king of Macedonia in 323 BC at age 20, after his dad died. Alexander took on his dad's legacy of conquering Persia and continued conquering land. Alexander the Great deserves this title because he spread Greek culture throughout the Ancient world, he had great leadership skills, and great military tactics and leadership.
Darius’ troops under Datis and Artapherrnes, which included Ionians and other subject peoples as well as Persians, captured several island towns and took Eretrea on Euboea by treachery. The fleet then crossed the narrow strait from Euboea to the Greek mainland and disembarked about 25000 men, both cavalry and infantry, on the beach at Marathon in northeastern Attica. Here there was fine shelving sand that would make it easy to haul up the large Persian warships and disembarked their horses. Hippias, the tyrant of Athens who had been exiled in 510 BC accompanied the Persians. His “inside information” was obviously useful. The location also provided natural protection on the landward side, an easy line of retreat by sea, and good grazing for the Persians’ horses.
Alexander the Great was great because is his 13 year reign he founded 70 cities. When Alexander died his empire was about 2,000,000 square miles (Doc E). He was an intelligent man when it came
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
Alexander the Great truly does deserve the word great in his name. He was fantastic leader, who conquered thousands of square miles, defeated one of the best military’s at the time. He was devoted to his work, he was an honorable and hard-working leader who cared about his army and people greatly.
On the day of the battle it was cold and rainy. Even though King Darius's army was much larger than Alexanders they weren't as well trained. Alexander had more room than Darius because of his smaller army so he was more mobile and he could spread out his troops quicker and better. When the battle began, King Darius's army was on the offense but they were soon on the defense. Alexander was using a phalanx formation and using that he evenly spread out his army when King darius saw this he attempted to take alexanders right flank with his calvary but he
The First Persian War took place at the Battle of the Marathon near Athens and it was known as one of the infamous battle between the Athenians and the Persians. In 501 B.C.E., a Greek tyrant named Aristogorus provoked the Persian rulers by instigating an uprising in Miletus and Ionia to revolt against the Persian Empire. In order to ward off the Persian Empire’s wrath, Aristogorus reached out to his compatriots on the mainland in Greece of Athens and Sparta. “Sparta refused, but Athens sent twenty ships-enough just to anger the Persians, but not to save Miletus.” Nevertheless, the Athenians conquered the Persian’s capital of Lydian in Sardis in order to steal the golds, but they accidentally ended up burning down the richest capital of Sardis.
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
Alexander the Great is without doubt one of the greatest military leaders of history. Not only did Alexander of Macedon conquer enormous areas of the known world but also he demonstrated dynamic leadership and masterful strategy on a large scale and tactics on the battlefield. During his life, he ruled the largest empire the world had ever seen, which stretched from ancient Greece to India. The son of King Phillip II of Macedon, Alexander was educated by the philosopher Aristotle and first led Macedonian troops at age 18. Many times Alexander was worshipped as a god in some of the countries he ruled. He had a huge impact on world history spreading the seeds of western culture and philosophy across the world and has legends and stories
Alexander the Great is remembered as a conquering man who built one of the largest empires. Some describe him as a man with a vision of world harmony. Others see him as a blood thirsty man with a mental illness. One thing that cannot be argued is that he and his empire are fascinating studies. From his rise to power to his mysterious death is interesting, but even after he died the story is fascinating. Due to his death, his empire was divided and a long power-struggle began starting with his generals. Each account has its own story of war and betrayal. These days must have been hard for those in power; they never knew who they could trust. Only the ones who were skilled in the strategy of war and ruthless enough to maintain their power
Alexander III of Macedon, more commonly known as Alexander the Great, is one of the most legendary figures in our history and in the history of the world. His conquests and endeavors echoed far and wide, bringing about new eras and ideas to the world. Alexander earned his place in the world’s history and is worthy of the title ‘The Great’ because of his military prowess, his idealism and his legacy.