Alexander the Great Conquest and Legacy
Alexander the Great was born in 356 B.C within Pella Macedonia Capital. As a son of King Philip II, his father invited Aristotle to teach and mentor him when he was 13 years old. He had to be more responsible since his father was expanding his kingdom during his teenage. While he was 16, he was left in charge of Macedonia as his father campaigned against Byzantium, and was able to crush a rebellious tribe of Thracians and found a town in their territory, which he named Alexandropoulos. He was also responsible for the cavalry charge, which decided the battle between Athens and Thebes in 338 B.C, and he was only 18.
After his father’s murder during his daughter’s wedding in 336 B.C, Alexander was made the king and started to execute his father’s plan. Before assuming his throne, Thebes rose to challenge his rule, but he did not only crush them but also sold the entire kingdom into slavery except his favorite poet decedents. When he attained 22 years in 334, B.C was determined to conquer Persia. First, he was given a shield dedicated to Athens by Trojans after running naked to the Achilles tomb in a Greek ceremony, a protector he was always carrying in his battles.
Furthermore, he was able to defeat a Persian army that was awaiting him a short distance from Troy, killing many fighters and the rest he sent them to Macedonia to serve as slaves. He later fought another Persian army led by emperor Darius III where he defeated them and captured the emperor’s mother, wife, and children and treated them with courtesy. Within one and half years, Alexander had cleared Persia out of Anatolia, and by 332 B.C, the Persian government had surrendered thus Alexander moved to Egypt.
One of the methods Alexander used in Egypt is establishing an outpost of Greek culture. Later he presented himself in the guise of the local ruler, where he even sacrificed apes, making him crowned as pharaoh. He also worshiped the sun god Amon making the priest recognize him as the son of god. Afterward, he moved to Mesopotamia, where he killed Darius and imprisoned his heir, making the Achaemenid throne his in 331 B.C. Still, he later had that Darius commander as he had proclaimed himself as the king. Still, he was able to deal with him through so many struggles after his commanders left him on roadside, and Alexander was able to set him back to Persia, where he was found guilty of treason and murdered.
In 328 B.C, Alexander was ready to invade India since he wanted to create a great legacy, for none of the rulers had ever succeeded conquering India. The first resistance he met was from Ptolemy troops, but he dealt with them accordingly, but he had him the ruler of the acquired empires, for he was pleased by Ptolemy’s bravery (Briant, 2012). He later met king Porus at the banks of river Hydaspes, though the river had over flooded. Alexander had fewer troops in qualification and numbers than Porus, and he tricked his opposes by first confusing them as if he would attack but did not until they gave up and decided to attack at that time in two groups. He instructed his men to spear the Porus army elephant feet while others banged their shield, creating a loud noise that made the elephants reverse and destroy their own forcing Porus to surrender.
Alexander moved home with the remaining Macedonians. Some had died in the war others had settled in the conquered land, where he caught the fever and died at the age of 32 years on June 11 ,323 B.C, and was buried next to other Macedonian kings in Pella. Since he had no heir for said, he should be succeeded by the most influential Alexander generals set about carving the new empire: Ptolemy taking Egypt and acquiring Alexander’s body. In contrast, Seleucid took Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Persia.
References
Boardman, J. (2019). Alexander the Great: from his death to the present day. Princeton University Press.
Briant, P. (2016). Alexander the Great and his empire: a short introduction. Princeton University Press.